[Congressional Record Volume 169, Number 86 (Monday, May 22, 2023)]
[House]
[Pages H2481-H2482]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                     NOTAM IMPROVEMENT ACT OF 2023

  Mr. STAUBER. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and concur in 
the Senate amendment to the bill (H.R. 346) to establish a task force 
on improvements for notices to air missions, and for other purposes.
  The Clerk read the title of the bill.
  The text of the Senate amendment is as follows:
  Senate amendment:
        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.

     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 SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from 
Minnesota (Mr. Stauber) and the gentleman from California (Mr. 
DeSaulnier) each will control 20 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Minnesota.


                             General Leave

  Mr. STAUBER. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members 
may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks 
and include extraneous material in the Record on the Senate amendment 
to H.R. 346.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentleman from Minnesota?
  There was no objection.
  Mr. STAUBER. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to rise in support of my bipartisan 
legislation that improves the safety of air travel.
  NOTAMs provide current, up-to-the-minute data to pilots on any aspect 
of their flight. Unfortunately, NOTAMs are often buried in lengthy 
reports, conflating important safety information with more common 
alerts. These inefficiencies have created some life-threatening 
situations over the years.
  On January 11, 2023, all U.S. domestic flights were grounded for the 
first time since 9/11. The NOTAM system crashed. Old and antiquated, it 
comes as no real surprise that the system easily went down.
  Unfortunately, leadership at the Department of Transportation has 
left me uninspired. Instead of focusing resources on safety 
improvements and upgrades, Secretary Buttigieg has spent his time 
retitling programs and systems.
  I will tell you that no pilot cares what the system is called, just 
that it works and provides her with the information she needs to get 
her crew and her passengers to safety.
  Mr. Speaker, I have been advocating for NOTAM upgrades for 4 years. 
My

[[Page H2482]]

legislation, which creates a task force at the FAA with important input 
from safety experts, industry professionals, and unions to address both 
the efficiency and resiliency of the NOTAM system, has passed out of 
the House in both the 116th and the 117th Congresses.
  However, it is only after a disastrous event that this legislation 
finally got the traction it deserves. We must stop reacting in 
Congress. We must be thoughtful, considerate, and proactive in how we 
legislate.
  I thank my good friend and colleague, Mr. DeSaulnier, for his support 
and his leadership on this legislation and Senators Klobuchar and 
Capito for pushing the legislation in the Senate.
  I encourage my colleagues to support this legislation before another 
failure of the NOTAM system occurs. Our pilots, our crews, and our 
passengers are counting on us.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. DeSAULNIER. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may 
consume.
  I thank my good friend, Representative Stauber, for his work on the 
bill.
  I am really grateful to be here once again to support H.R. 346, the 
NOTAM Improvement Act, which we introduced together and worked on and 
will continue to work on together.
  The Notice to Air Mission System is an essential part of our aviation 
infrastructure as it provides critical real-time flight safety 
information, including potential hazards to pilots, flight dispatchers, 
and other airspace users.
  In 2017, an Air Canada plane at San Francisco International Airport 
preparing to land flew within 59 feet of four fully loaded planes, 
narrowly avoiding an unimaginable disaster. It would have been the 
greatest aviation disaster in American history. If it wasn't for the 
quick thinking of a couple of United Airlines pilots who saw him 
approaching inappropriately, we would have had that disaster. The 
National Transportation Safety Board investigation found that the 
outdated NOTAM system was a significant part of the problem.
  The importance of this work was further emphasized when earlier this 
year in January, U.S. airspace came to a standstill when the Federal 
Aviation Administration grounded all airline domestic departures due to 
an outage of the system.
  Although the FAA worked to quickly solve the problem and lift all of 
the domestic flight stops, airlines and passengers faced the cascading 
effects of mass delays and cancellations for hours.
  The NOTAM outage also exposed significant vulnerabilities in the 
FAA's legacy IT infrastructure and underscored the need for Congress to 
take decisive action to quickly modernize these critical safety systems 
that flight crews and airline passengers depend on.
  To help strengthen the integrity of the NOTAM system, this bipartisan 
bill directs the FAA to create a task force on NOTAM improvement to:
  Identify best practices to make sure that critical flight information 
is disseminated to pilots in a way that optimizes review and retention; 
and
  Develop recommendations to ensure the stability, resiliency, and 
cybersecurity of the NOTAM system.
  This task force will consist of key aviation stakeholders including: 
airline pilots, air traffic controllers, aircraft dispatchers, air 
carriers, and aviation safety and computer system experts.
  It also requires the FAA to complete its NOTAM modernization efforts 
and do other IT system upgrades by the fall of 2024.
  As the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee continues to work 
on the upcoming FAA reauthorization bill, we will build upon the 2018 
law and implement any necessary improvements to safeguard U.S. airspace 
from cascading system outages.
  The task force created under this bill will play an important role in 
the FAA's ongoing NOTAM modernization initiative to ensure pilots, 
flight crews, and other airspace users receive NOTAMs that are timely, 
relevant, and accurate.

  I am very proud to have worked with Representative Stauber on the 
NOTAM Improvement Act to protect the safety of the flying public. At a 
time when there is much disagreement within our parties, I am glad that 
we worked together in a bipartisan manner to prioritize aviation 
safety.
  I am also grateful that our Senate colleagues recognized the 
importance of this issue and worked quickly to pass this bipartisan 
bill.
  Our unwavering bipartisan commitment to aviation safety continues to 
be a priority for Congress and the FAA.
  As we enter what is expected to be a busy summer travel season, H.R. 
346 will help put us on course to pursue best practices that bolster 
safety, prevent future disruptions, and allow for pilots, air traffic 
controllers, crews, and customers to be safe and feel confident in the 
technology and in the U.S. aviation system.
  I am proud to support this legislation and urge my colleagues to do 
the same, and I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. STAUBER. Mr. Chair, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from 
Tennessee (Mr. Burchett), my good friend.
  Mr. BURCHETT. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of the NOTAM Improvement 
Act.
  I thank my friend from the great State of Minnesota, my friends 
across the aisle, George, everyone here. I thank you all so much for 
being here today.
  Nearly 3 million people every day count on flights in the United 
States to safely get them to where they need to go.
  The Notice to Air Mission System is how we make sure that that will 
happen. The system is how we tell pilots about possible hazards.
  When the system gets all jacked up, flights can't take off. It is 
just that simple. Back in January, planes across the country were 
grounded for the first time since 2001 because of a damaged file in our 
Notice to Air Mission database.
  We need to prevent this from happening, Mr. Speaker. We need to 
prevent it from happening again and also look at what other 
improvements could be made.
  Safety isn't a joke. It should be one of the Federal Aviation 
Administration's top priorities, not worrying about over 4 ounces of 
honey in your baggage.
  This bill has bipartisan support, and there isn't any reason that it 
shouldn't pass with overwhelming support now.
  The reason the press isn't here is mainly because we are agreeing on 
something, and we are working together, which is what this body is 
supposed to be doing, dadgummit.
  Mr. Speaker, I thank you all so much for allowing me to be here.
  Mr. STAUBER. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. DeSAULNIER. Mr. Speaker, once again I will say how fulfilling 
this has been and how much work we still have to do, but I know we will 
work in partnership to make sure that we fulfill a long history in this 
country of aviation safety and make sure it gets even better.
  Mr. Speaker, I have no other Members on my side to speak, and I yield 
back the balance of my time.
  Mr. STAUBER. Mr. Speaker, H.R. 346 is a key step toward safeguarding 
the integrity and safety of America's national airspace.
  This legislation proves that Congress can rise to the challenges of 
the day, and I urge all Members to support the bill.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the 
gentleman from Minnesota (Mr. Stauber) that the House suspend the rules 
and concur in the Senate amendment to the bill, H.R. 346.
  The question was taken; and (two-thirds being in the affirmative) the 
rules were suspended and the Senate amendment was concurred in.
  A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.

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