Statement of Administration Policy: Senate Substitute Amendment to H.R. 3935 - FAA Reauthorization Act of 2024

STATEMENT OF ADMINISTRATION POLICY

(Senate)

The Administration supports enactment of a Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) reauthorization bill and appreciates the comprehensive bipartisan, bicameral agreement of the House and Senate. Reauthorizing the FAA is critical to enhancing aviation safety, improving the efficiency of the aviation system, strengthening passenger rights, and collaborating with international partners. The agreement would support the aviation workforce and invest in airport infrastructure. It would also further the integration of new entrants, such as Advanced Air Mobility and Unmanned Aircraft Systems operations, into the National Airspace System (NAS), and would strengthen the general aviation sector. The agreement would help further the FAA's work to enhance its oversight of air carriers, manufacturers, and all components of the aviation system. The agreement harmonizes with the Administration's recent final rule to provide passengers with automatic refunds when owed, and includes key consumer protection provisions on airline reimbursement for incurred costs due to controllable disruptions and family seating fee policies that would set a floor that the Department of Transportation could build on as deemed appropriate by the Secretary of Transportation. The agreement would also enable safe future operations by requiring research on the effective and efficient use of radiofrequency spectrum in civil aviation, including standards for next-generation radio altimeters, in support of the National Spectrum Strategy.

Additionally, the Administration is grateful that the agreement would temporarily extend the Department of Homeland Security's and Department of Justice's existing counter-drone authorities through October 1, 2024 and their missions to protect against drone threats. However, we urge the Congress to pass a durable, multi-year reauthorization and expansion of counter-drone authority to remedy significant gaps, consistent with the Administration's legislative proposal as well as the bipartisan S. 1631 and H.R. 4333, which we strongly support.

The agreement unfortunately does not include a number of other provisions the Administration had sought. These provisions include U.S. implementation of global market-based measures of the International Civil Aviation Organization that were developed with the support of the U.S. aviation industry; provisions to advance U.S. leadership relating to the understanding and mitigation of the non-greenhouse gas climate impacts of aviation; provisions to improve job quality for airport service workers; and sustaining safe and efficient NAS operations in the decades to come through the Administration's proposed authorization of an $8 billion Facility Replacement and Radar Modernization program that would bolster the FAA's ability to continue critical recapitalization efforts for major assets like air traffic control towers and radars. The Administration looks forward to working with Congress to address these issues in the future.