House leaders are planning to bring the revised five-year FAA reauthorization bill to the floor next week but must first sort through hundreds of amendments proposed so far through the bill and finalize a still-to-come manager’s amendment that is expected to call for a nearly 370 percent increase in the non-commercial jet-fuel tax. On April 13, House Transportation and Infrastructure (T&I) Republican and Democratic leaders jointly unveiled the new version of the bill, H.R.4, the FAA Reauthorization Act of 2018, that addresses a host of aviation issues but does not include the controversial air traffic control reform measure that had been the stumbling block to progress on previous FAA reauthorization bill.

H.R.4, which is packaged with the Disaster Recovery Reform Act, had been opened for proposed amendments on the Rules Committee through Thursday. As of midday Thursday more than 40 had been filed and a manager’s amendment was anticipated.

The Rules Committee said it plans to meet next week to outline the parameters for a floor vote. Full House consideration could come shortly after that: the T&I Committee is expecting that floor vote next week. Lawmakers had indicated a desire to move the bill quickly to prevent it from getting bogged down with non-germane controversial amendments that could come up during an election year.

Even so, more than 200 amendments have been proposed, not including a manager’s amendment from T&I chairman Bill Shuster that will cover a number of other provisions. These are believed to include a proposed boost in the non-commercial jet-fuel tax from 24 cents per gallon to 88 cents.

The manager’s amendment further is expected to include an amendment establishing an age-65 limitation for certain Part 135 and fractional operations. That amendment, however, is anticipated to be worded in such a way that the only operator affected would be NetJets.

Included in the proposed amendments is another attempt to pave the way for flight-sharing arrangements, as well as a provision that would bar the FAA from imposing fees for ATC services provided at airshows. 

Another amendment would call on the implementation of the recommendations from the FAA’s Rotorcraft Occupant Protection Working Group to require all newly manufactured helicopters to meet certain standards to improve helicopter fuel system crash resistance within 18 months.

Several more are aimed at Santa Monica operations, including a ban on operations on runways that are within 600 feet of residential housing. Another directs the FAA to regulate helicopters in the Los Angeles area, and still another measure would permit general aviation airports to restrict the number and type of aircraft operations for compensation or hire.

The Rules Committee must clear which amendments will come up for a vote.

NBAA president and CEO Ed Bolen welcomed the bill as introduced. “The fact that it’s a bipartisan bill increases its chances for passage, and the fact that it’s a long-term bill should give us an opportunity to focus all our efforts on maintaining, and even accelerating, our continuing work to make the Next Generation aviation system a reality,” he said.

However, the proposed amendments—should they be permitted to carry through—likely will draw concerns from business and general aviation leaders.

A provision in the bill calling for a research program on single-pilot cargo operations already has created some concern for pilot groups. “The desire by some in the industry to pursue single-piloted or autonomously piloted cargo aircraft seriously places the American public and the flight crews of these aircraft in a tenuous position,” said a statement of the cargo pilots of Air Line Pilots Association International, the Independent Pilots Association, and the International Brotherhood of Teamsters Airline Division.