[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.
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