21st Century AIRR Act
Latest action. Placed on the Union Calendar, Calendar No. 213.
21st Century Aviation Innovation, Reform, and Reauthorization Act or the 21st Century AIRR Act
This bill reauthorizes and modifies Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) programs. It also establishes the American Air Navigation Services Corporation as a federally chartered, not-for-profit corporation to assume operational control of FAA air traffic services on October 1, 2020.
The bill revises requirements for the pilot program for passenger facility charges at nonhub airports and the airport improvement program.
The bill extends the authorization for airport development at Midway Island Airport.
The Department of Transportation (DOT):
shall carry out an environmental mitigation pilot grant program for sponsors of public-use airports; and
may make grants to such sponsors for environmental mitigation projects to reduce or mitigate aviation impacts on noise, air quality, or water quality at the airport or within five miles of the airport.
DOT shall establish a Safety Oversight and Certification Advisory Committee.
The FAA must establish:
the FAA Task Force on Flight Standards Reform, a Regulatory Consistency Communications Board,
a safety workforce training strategy, and
minimum dimensions for passenger seats on aircraft operated by air carriers.
The FAA must also issue an order requiring the installation of a secondary cockpit barrier on aircraft manufactured for delivery to a passenger air carrier in the United States.
DOT shall take appropriate actions to promote U.S. aerospace standards, products, and services abroad.
DOT shall modify regulations regarding flight duty limitations and rest requirements to ensure that: (1) a flight attendant scheduled for a duty period of 14 hours or less is given a scheduled rest period of at least 10 consecutive hours, and (2) the rest period is not reduced under any circumstances.
The bill prescribes certain requirements for improving passenger air service.
The bill also reauthorizes the essential air service program and the small community air service development program.
DOT shall:
develop a comprehensive plan to accelerate the integration of civil unmanned aircraft systems (drones) into the national airspace system,
The summary continues for 6 more paragraphs. Read it in full on Congress.gov
Written by analysts at the Congressional Research Service and published on Congress.gov, not by Civibrief. Summarized at the "Reported to House with amendment(s)" stage on September 6, 2017. It describes the bill, it is not the legal text.
Where is it in the process, and what happens next?
4 steps remain before this bill could become law.
The record's latest action, on September 6, 2017: Placed on the Union Calendar, Calendar No. 213.
- Clearing the committees it was referred to, and being scheduled for a floor vote
- Passage by the House
- Passage by the Senate
- The President's signature. If the President vetoes it, two-thirds of both chambers must vote to override.
How likely is it to become law?
Civibrief does not forecast outcomes and this page has no opinion about this one. What the record supports is a base rate, which is a fact about the whole pile, not a prediction about this measure.
In the 115th Congress (2017-18), 442 of the 11,421 bills and joint resolutions introduced became law, about 3.9 percent. That count covers every measure at every stage, including the many that never left committee.
This one is not there yet: 4 steps are still outstanding, listed above.
Has anyone actually voted on it?
No. No roll call in this Congress cites this measure. That is the ordinary outcome: most measures never reach a recorded floor vote, and a committee ends most of them simply by not acting.
A vote is not the only thing that happens to a measure. Hearings, markups, and referrals are all recorded actions, and none of them is a vote of the full chamber.
Who is behind it?
Bill Shuster (R-PA) introduced it on June 22, 2017, and 22 members have since signed on as cosponsors.
They come from both major parties: 3 Democrats, 19 Republicans.
Cosponsoring is a formal signature on the text. It is not a commitment to vote for the measure, it does not bind anyone's party, and a long list of cosponsors is a measure of attention rather than of prospects.
How long has it been in play?
It was introduced on June 22, 2017, 3367 days ago. The most recent recorded action was 3291 days ago, on September 6, 2017.
Measures do not carry over. Anything the 115th Congress has not finished by January 3, 2019 dies when the term ends, and has to be introduced again from the start in the next Congress.
Every answer above is assembled from this measure's own record on Congress.gov and from published counts of what Congress has passed before. Civibrief does not predict outcomes and takes no position on any measure.
Vote history
- HouseIn committee, no floor vote yet
- SenateAwaits House passage
- PresidentAwaits both chambers