[Congressional Record Volume 169, Number 78 (Tuesday, May 9, 2023)]
[Senate]
[Pages S1571-S1572]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                     NOTAM IMPROVEMENT ACT OF 2023

  Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the 
Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation be discharged from 
further consideration of H.R. 346 and that the Senate proceed to its 
immediate consideration.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will report the bill by title.
  The senior assistant legislative clerk read as follows:

       A bill (H.R. 346) to establish a task force on improvements 
     for notices to air missions, and for other purposes.

  There being no objection, the committee was discharged and the Senate 
proceeded to consider the bill.
  Mr. SCHUMER. I ask unanimous consent that the Cantwell substitute 
amendment that is at the desk be considered agreed to; that the bill, 
as amended, be considered read a third time and passed, and that the 
motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  The amendment (No. 89) in the nature of a substitute was agreed to, 
as follows:

                (Purpose: In the nature of a substitute)

        Strike all after the enacting clause and insert the 
     following:

     SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

       This Act may be cited as the ``NOTAM Improvement Act of 
     2023''.

     SEC. 2. FAA TASK FORCE ON NOTAM IMPROVEMENT.

       (a) Establishment.--Not later than 180 days after the date 
     of enactment of this Act, the Administrator of the Federal 
     Aviation Administration shall establish a task force to be 
     known as the FAA Task Force on NOTAM Improvement (in this 
     section referred to as the ``Task Force'').
       (b) Composition.--The Task Force shall consist of members 
     appointed by the Administrator, including at least one member 
     of each of the following:
       (1) Air carrier representatives.
       (2) Airport representatives.
       (3) Labor union representatives of airline pilots.
       (4) Labor union representatives of aircraft dispatchers.
       (5) The labor union certified under section 7111 of title 
     5, United States Code, to represent FAA air traffic control 
     specialists assigned to the United States NOTAMs Office.
       (6) The labor union certified under section 7111 of title 
     5, United States Code, to represent FAA aeronautical 
     information specialists.
       (7) General and business aviation representatives.
       (8) Aviation safety experts with knowledge of NOTAMs.
       (9) Human factors experts.
       (10) Computer system architecture and cybersecurity 
     experts.
       (c) Duties.--The duties of the Task Force shall include--
       (1) reviewing existing methods for publishing NOTAMs and 
     flight operations information to pilots;
       (2) reviewing regulations, policies, systems, and 
     international standards relating to NOTAMs, including their 
     content and presentation to pilots;
       (3) evaluating and determining best practices to organize, 
     prioritize, and present flight operations information in a 
     manner that optimizes pilot review and retention of relevant 
     information; and
       (4) providing recommendations for--
       (A) improving the publication and delivery of NOTAM 
     information in a manner that prioritizes or highlights the 
     most important information, and optimizes pilot review and 
     retention of relevant information;
       (B) ways to ensure that NOTAMs are complete, accurate, 
     timely, relevant to safe flight operations, and contain 
     pertinent information;
       (C) any best practices that the FAA should consider to 
     improve the accuracy and understandability of NOTAMs and the 
     display of flight operations information;
       (D) ways to work with air carriers, other airspace users, 
     and aviation service providers to implement solutions that 
     are aligned with the recommendations under this paragraph; 
     and
       (E) ways to ensure the stability, resiliency, and 
     cybersecurity of the NOTAM computer system.
       (d) Report.--Not later than 1 year after the date of the 
     establishment of the Task Force, the Task Force shall submit 
     to the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure of the 
     House of Representatives and the Committee on Commerce, 
     Science, and Transportation of the Senate a report 
     detailing--
       (1) the results of the reviews and evaluations of the Task 
     Force under paragraphs (1) through (3) of subsection (c);
       (2) the best practices identified and recommendations 
     provided by the Task Force under subsection (c)(4);
       (3) any recommendations of the Task Force for additional 
     regulatory or policy actions to improve the publication of 
     NOTAMs; and
       (4) the degree to which implementing the recommendations of 
     the Task Force described under paragraph (2) will address 
     National Transportation Safety Board Safety Recommendation A-
     18-024.
       (e) Applicable Law.--Chapter 10 of title 5, United States 
     Code, shall not apply to the Task Force.
       (f) Sunset.--The Task Force shall terminate on the later 
     of--
       (1) the date on which the Task Force submits the report 
     required under subsection (d); or
       (2) the date that is 18 months after the date on which the 
     Task Force is established under subsection (a).
       (g) Authority.--The Administrator shall have the authority 
     to carry out the recommendations of the Task Force detailed 
     in the report required under subsection (d).
       (h) Rule of Construction.--Nothing in this section may be 
     construed to require the FAA to duplicate any prior, ongoing, 
     or planned efforts related to the improvement of NOTAMs, 
     including any efforts related to implementing any previously 
     enacted requirements.
       (i) Definitions.--In this section:
       (1) FAA.--The term ``FAA'' means the Federal Aviation 
     Administration.
       (2) NOTAM.--The term ``NOTAM'' means a notice containing 
     information (which is not known sufficiently in advance to 
     publicize by other means) concerning the establishment, 
     condition, or change in any component (including a facility, 
     service, or procedure thereof) or hazard in the National 
     Airspace System, the timely knowledge of which is essential 
     to personnel concerned with flight operations.

[[Page S1572]]

  


     SEC. 3. ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS.

       Not later than September 30, 2024, the Administrator of the 
     Federal Aviation Administration shall make the following 
     improvements:
       (1) Complete implementation of a Federal NOTAM System (in 
     this section referred to as a ``FNS'').
       (2) Implement a back-up system to the FNS.
       (3) Brief the Committee on Transportation and 
     Infrastructure of the House of Representatives and the 
     Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the 
     Senate on a plan to enhance the capability to deliver 
     information through the FNS that is machine-readable, 
     filterable, and in the format used by the International Civil 
     Aviation Organization (ICAO) to promote further global 
     harmonization among neighboring Air Navigation Service 
     Providers (ANSPs) and provide users of the National Airspace 
     System with one consistent format for domestic and 
     international operations.

  The amendment was ordered to be engrossed and the bill to be read a 
third time.
  The bill was read the third time.
  The bill (H.R. 346), as amended, was passed.
  Mr. SCHUMER. A word on what we just did. A few moments ago, the 
Senate unanimously passed the NOTAM Improvement Act requiring the FAA 
to look into the resiliency of the cyber security of Notice to Air 
Missions system, which is critical for alerting pilots of danger when 
flying.
  Nobody wants a repeat of the chaos and delay we saw at our airports 
back this January when FAA's NOTAM system went down.
  This legislation will get the FAA to take a hard look under the hood 
of NOTAM to ensure it is as safe and reliable and well-protected from 
cyber attacks and technical glitches as possible.
  I want to thank my colleagues who worked hard on this: Senator 
Klobuchar, the lead sponsor; Senator Capito; and Senator Moran for 
their work on this legislation. And, of course, I thank Senator 
Cantwell, chair of the Commerce Committee, for her good work on this as 
well. She gets a lot done.

                          ____________________