NATA News

 Congress Approves FY 2011 Funding Bill

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) was provided $41.8 billion in discretionary funding, reduced by $784 million or 2% below FY10. All critical operations for the DHS, including Customs and Border Protection, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the Transportation Security Administration (TSA), the Coast Guard and Secret Service, are funded to meet mission requirements and to sustain staffing levels. However, the bill caps the amount of TSA screener personnel at 46,000. For aviation programs, the FAA’s Airport Improvement Program received level funding of $3.5 billion. 

While this is a historic reduction in funding for the federal government, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) analysis of the spending bill will only reduce federal outlays by $352 million below 2010 spending rates. The nonpartisan budget agency also projects that total outlays are actually some $3.3 billion more than in 2010, if emergency spending is included in the total. The astonishing result, according to CBO, is the result of several factors: increases in spending included in the deal, especially at the Department of Defense; decisions to draw over half of the savings from rescissions, cuts to reserve funds, and mandatory-spending programs; and writing off cuts from funding that might never have been spent. 

U.S. Representative John Duncan (R-TN) and U.S. Senator John Thune (R-SD) recently introduced legislation, the Freedom from Government Competition Act (and H.R. 1474 and S. 785, respectively) to reduce unfair government competition with the private sector, including small business. 

The legislation seeks to end government monopolies by subjecting commercial activities being performed by federal employees within government agencies to market competition to benefit the taxpayer. Not only do federal agencies duplicate private business, but many also engage in unfair government competition with the private sector. Many aviation businesses have been affected by unfair government competition. 

NATA members are being asked to contact their Members of Congress to request they co-sponsor this legislation. The more co-sponsors the bill has, the more likely it will be taken up by Congress.  H.R. 1474 and S. 785 have been referred to their respective committees of jurisdiction for further review.

Last week, NATA issued an Action Call asking its members located in the state of California to contact the Members of the California Senate Committee on Business, Professions and Economic Development in support of Senate Bill 619 (SB 619). SB 619 would provide a permanent exemption for certain flight training facilities and instructors from the rules issued by the California Bureau of Private Postsecondary Education (BPPE). These rules were issued as a result of the passage of a bill in 2009 that extended the state’s regulation of private educational institutions to flight training. Unfortunately, these rules were poorly designed to regulate the unique nature of the flight training industry and, therefore, threaten to impose an unbearable regulatory burden on many facilities. An NATA member survey conducted in 2010 indicated that up to 90% of flight training facilities could be forced to close their doors due to the burden of these new rules.

NATA has been working closely with the flight training industry and other industry groups, including the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association, to find relief for flight training facilities from the regulations issued by the BPPE. SB 619, if enacted, would provide a complete exemption to all flight training facilities and instructors that:

• Do not require students to enter into a contract of indebtedness in return for training; and
• Do not require prepayment of “tuition” or fees for training=

SB 619 has additional language that would allow exempted facilities to accept advance payment for “block time” in amounts less than $2,500.

The road forward for SB 619 will be difficult as NATA expects significant hesitancy on the part of the California legislature to revise the statutes regulating flight training. SB 619 will first be heard in the Senate Committee on Business, Professions and Economic Development on April 25. NATA strongly encourages all of its California members to contact the Members of this committee in support of SB 619.

Click here to view NATA’s Action Call on SB 619.

Last week, the FAA published a proposed legal interpretation regarding questions, submitted by the Airworthiness Directive Implementation Aviation Rulemaking Committee (ADI-ARC), relating to Title 14 of the Code of Federal Regulations Part 39, Airworthiness Directives (AD). The ADI-ARC’s questions to the FAA cover the following areas:

• Continuing obligations in regards to AD compliance
• Additional Actions required by ADs
• Use of the term applicable
• Impossibility

The proposed legal interpretations are open for public comment until May 16, 2011. NATA will review the interpretations and submit comments.

Click here to view the full airworthiness legal interpretation.

On March 31, the first round of aircraft registrations expired under the FAA’s re-registration program. Current reports are that it is taking the FAA approximately 25-30 days to complete the re-registration once the registration application is received.

All aircraft registration certificates originally issued in April of any year are set to expire on June 30, 2011. Owners of these aircraft should have already received notification from the FAA that re-registration is needed.  Learn more about the re-registration requirements in NATA’s Regulatory Report.

Owners with a June expiration date are strongly urged to ensure their re-registration application is submitted on or before April 30. The FAA, in the re-registration final rule, indicated that two months prior to expiration is the time interval needed to ensure that the new registration certificate is received before the current certificate expires.

There is little recourse for any owner who fails to submit the registration application at least two months before the planned expiration date. Aircraft without a valid registration may not be operated until the new certificate arrives.

NATA has partnered with AIC Title Service to provide aircraft operators with a system to complete and monitor the progress of re-registration. The AIC system provides many benefits, particularly to air charter operators and flight schools that do not own aircraft they utilize but may manage the registration process for the owners. Learn more about the benefits offered by the NATA/AIC partnership service. 

Question: 
Since NATA sets the congressional visits for members who are attending the event, am I guaranteed to see my Members of Congress?

Answer:
NATA makes scheduling requests with your Members of Congress on your behalf; however, due to the Members’ committee assignments oftentimes the request is not granted. In such cases, legislative staff to the Member of Congress will handle the meeting request. Legislative staff handle all policy matters for the Member of Congress and thus are oftentimes more aware of the issues and legislation you wish to discuss. In addition, establishing a relationship with staff is helpful if you ever need to call on them for assistance with a local or legislative issue in the future.
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Question:
How long do the meetings typically last?

Answer:
Members of Congress and their staff typically schedule meetings 15 to 20 minutes in length. Due to the close proximity of most offices (all U.S. House of Representatives offices are on one side of the Capitol and U.S. Senate offices are together on the opposite side of the Capitol) your meetings may be 30 minutes apart, (15 to 20 minutes to meet and 10 to 15 minutes to walk to the next meeting).
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Question:
Will I be attending meetings alone or with a group?

Answer:
It entirely depends on whether other NATA members will be attending who are from your state and/or congressional district. You may be meeting with your U.S. Senators with others but with your Member of Congress representing your congressional district alone. NATA staff will be leading several groups around the Capitol.
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Question:
How long does it take to get from one side of the Capitol (Senate side) to the other (House side)?

Answer:
Walking from one side of the Capitol to the other takes roughly 15 to 20 minutes. If you walk on the east side of the Capitol through the new visitor’s center area, you’ll walk the fastest route. Taking a taxi cab from one side of the Capitol to the other is also an option and is approximately $10.00.
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Question:
Are maps of the Capitol ground available?

Answer:
You will be given a new congressional directory that contains information on all Members of Congress and that includes a map of the House and Senate office buildings and Metro map of the Washington subway system.
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If you have additional questions regarding this event, please contact Kristen Moore:
Kristen Moore
Director, Legislative Affairs
703-845-9000
kmoore@nata.aero

Register Today! http://www.nata.aero/Events/2011-Day-On-The-Hill-and-Committee-Meetings.aspx

In 2010, NATA and the general aviation community worked tirelessly to change or eliminate numerous provisions negatively affecting general aviation. In 2011, we must remain vigilant and work together to educate the public and especially Members of Congress and their staff on the important role general aviation plays and its economic value to our country. We will likely face a number of legislative hurdles this year, which is another reason to reach out to your elected officials and let them know how these issues affect YOU, their constituent. The inevitable passage of FAA Reauthorization and aviation security measures continue to be the most pressing legislative issues so far this year.

A tour of your facility is a valuable way to inform key congressional leaders on the principal issues confronting our national air transportation system while allowing you to address other issues affecting your business. This one-on-one interaction will give Members of Congress and their staff a better understanding of the value of America’s aviation businesses and airline services companies. In addition, NATA members can introduce their business to new and prospective Members of Congress, and forge stronger relationships with existing Members. Host a tour today!

To learn more about how to host a Congressional tour, please click here.

David Feherty, CBS Sports Broadcaster
David Feherty, one of the most charismatic players in golf, joined CBS Sports full time in 1997 after having served as analyst for the CBS Television Network's coverage of several 1996 events, including the PGA Championship, Presidents Cup and Doral-Ryder Open. He serves as an on-course reporter for the majority of CBS's golf tournaments and as an analyst for the Masters and the PGA Championship. He and Gary McCord host CBS Sports' offbeat, critically acclaimed late-night highlight shows for early-round coverage of several PGA TOUR events.

Born and raised in Bangor, Northern Ireland, Feherty represented Ireland several times, captaining its team to victory in the 1990 Alfred Dunhill Cup. He also played for Europe in the 1991 Ryder Cup. When he was a regular on the European Tour, his victories included the ICI International, Italian Open, Scottish Open, South Africa PGA, BMW Open, Cannes Open, Bell's Cup and Madrid Open. He retired from both the European Tour and the PGA TOUR in 1997. Feherty is a regular contributor to Golf Magazine with his popular "Sidespin" column. He is also the New York Times and Booksense bestselling author of three books, A Nasty Bit of Rough, Somewhere in Ireland a Village Is Missing an Idiot, and David Feherty's Totally Subjective History of the Ryder Cup.

Visit www.nata.aero/acs for more details on the Air Charter Summit agenda and to find out how you can help NATA and McFarren Aviation Consulting raise funds for the Veterans Airlift Command.

NATA Vice President of Government and Industry Affairs Eric R. Byer’s latest blog discusses Congressman Jimmy Duncan’s legislation on government competing against private business.

To read Byer’s blog, please click here.

According to the Courthouse News Service a federal judge issued a ruling last week that prevented several aviation industry groups from intervening in a suit that “could force the Environmental Protection Agency to regulate greenhouse-gas emissions from "non-road vehicles," including aircraft.”

The judge’s rational for preventing the aviation groups from intervening in the suit, brought against the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency by several environmental groups, was that any harm to the aviation industry due to eventual regulation of greenhouse gas emission, as a result of this suit, was too far removed to provide legal standing. In his ruling, U.S. District Judge Henry Kennedy Jr. stated that “[The environmental groups initiating this suit] argue ... that the implementation and enforcement of new emissions standards - and thus, the economic consequences thereof - are too hypothetical and too far removed from a judgment of this Court to constitute a 'certainly impending,' causally connected injury for standing purposes. [They] are correct.”

Click here to read the full article.