Notice to Airmen Improvement Act of 2021

Floor Speech

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Ms. NORTON. Madam Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 1262) to establish a task force on improvements for certain notices to airmen, and for other purposes, as amended.

The Clerk read the title of the bill.

The text of the bill is as follows: H.R. 1262

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

This Act may be cited as the ``Notice to Airmen Improvement Act of 2021''. 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) Labor union representatives of airline pilots.

(3) Labor union certified under section 7111 of title 5, United States Code, to represent FAA air traffic control specialists assigned to the U.S. NOTAM Office.

(4) Labor union certified under section 7111 of title 5, United States Code, to represent FAA aeronautical information specialists.

(5) General and business aviation representatives.

(6) Aviation safety experts with knowledge of NOTAMs.

(7) Human factors experts.

(c) Duties.--The duties of the Task Force shall include--

(1) reviewing existing methods for presenting NOTAMs and flight operations information to pilots;

(2) reviewing regulations and policies 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 presentation 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, and contain the proper 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; and

(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.

(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 presentation 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.--The Federal Advisory Committee Act (5 U.S.C. App.) 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) Definitions.--In this section:

(1) FAA.--The term ``FAA'' means the Federal Aviation Administration.

(2) NOTAM.--The term ``NOTAM'' means notices to airmen required by international or domestic regulation or law, as described in the order issued by the FAA on December 11, 2018, titled ``Notices to Airmen (NOTAM)''.

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Ms. NORTON. 1262, as amended.

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Ms. NORTON. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Madam Speaker, I rise to support H.R. 1262, the Notice to Airmen Improvement Act, introduced by Mr. Stauber and Mr. DeSaulnier.

H.R. 1262 will create a task force to review existing methods for presenting notices to airmen. Notices to airmen provide pilots with essential and real-time information regarding abnormalities or issues in the National Airspace System. For example, notices to airmen alert pilots to potential hazards in the airspace or at an airport, such as a closed runway or taxiway. While pilots are required to review all notices to airmen before flight, there has been concern about the lengthiness and completeness of the critical information contained in notices to airmen and how the information is displayed to, and organized for, pilots.

Under H.R. 1262, the task force will determine best practices for organizing and presenting flight operations information to pilots in the most optimal manner and make recommendations to improve the presentation of notices to airmen while ensuring their accuracy and completeness.

Recommendations from the task force could help prevent future aviation accidents and near-accidents. We saw, in July 2017, an Air Canada A320 almost land on top of five jetliners, with more than a thousand people on board, awaiting takeoff at San Francisco International Airport, before executing a go-around. The aircraft came as close as 60 feet above one of the planes on the ground.

Thankfully, there were no injuries, but this could have been catastrophic. The National Transportation Safety Board determined the probable cause of the incident was the pilots' misidentification of the taxiway for a runway, based in part on their ineffective review of notices to airmen before flight.

Notices to airmen and airwomen can and must be better for pilots. I expect the task force established under H.R. 1262 will lead to recommendations that will improve aviation safety.

I urge my colleagues to support this bill, and I reserve the balance of my time.
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Ms. NORTON. Madam Speaker, I have no further speakers, and I reserve the balance of my time.

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Ms. NORTON. Madam Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support this legislation, and I yield back the balance of my time.

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