To help ensure general aviation aircraft access to Federal land and to the airspace over that land.

July 17, 2003

Mr. OTTER (for himself, Mr. SIMPSON, Mr. BOSWELL, Mr. HEFLEY, Mr. JONES of North Carolina, Mr. HASTINGS of Washington, Mr. FLAKE, and Mr. NETHERCUTT) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Resources, and in addition to the Committees on Agriculture, and Transportation and Infrastructure, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned

To help ensure general aviation aircraft access to Federal land and to the airspace over that land.

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 `Backcountry Landing Strip Access Act'.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

The Congress finds as follows:

(1) Aircraft landing strips serve an essential safety role as emergency landing areas.

(2) Aircraft landing strips provide access to people who would otherwise be physically unable to enjoy national parks, national forests, and other Federal lands.

(3) Aircraft landing strips serve an essential purpose in search and rescue, forest and ecological management, research, and aerial mapping.

(4) Aircraft landing strips serve an essential role in firefighting and disaster relief.

(5) The Secretary of the Interior and the Secretary of Agriculture should adopt a nationwide policy for governing backcountry aviation issues related to the management of Federal land under the jurisdiction of those Secretaries and should require regional managers to adhere to that policy.

SEC. 3. PROCEDURE FOR CONSIDERATION OF ACTIONS AFFECTING AIRCRAFT LANDING STRIPS.

(a) IN GENERAL- Neither the Secretary of the Interior nor the Secretary of Agriculture shall take any action which would permanently close or render or declare as unserviceable any aircraft landing strip located on Federal land under the administrative jurisdiction of either Secretary unless--

(1) the head of the aviation department of each State in which the aircraft landing strip is located has approved the action;

(2) notice of the proposed action and the fact that the action would permanently close or render or declare as unserviceable the aircraft landing strip has been published in the Federal Register;

(3) a 90-day public comment period on the action has been provided after the publication under paragraph (2); and

(4) any comments received during the comment period provided under paragraph (3) have been taken into consideration by the Secretary of the Interior or the Secretary of Agriculture, as the case may be, and the head of the aviation department of each State in which the affected aircraft landing strip is located.

(b) NATIONAL POLICY- Not later than 2 years after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of the Interior and the Secretary of Agriculture shall--

(1) adopt a nationwide policy that is in accordance with this Act for governing backcountry aviation issues related to the management of Federal land under the jurisdiction of those Secretaries; and

(2) require regional managers to adhere to that policy.

(c) REQUIREMENTS FOR POLICIES- A policy affecting air access to an aircraft landing strip located on Federal land under the jurisdiction of the Secretary of the Interior or the Secretary of Agriculture, including the policy required by subsection (b), shall not take effect unless the policy--

(1) states that the Federal Aviation Administration has the sole authority to control aviation and airspace over the United States; and

(2) seeks and considers comments from State governments and the public.

(d) MAINTENANCE OF AIRSTRIPS-

(1) IN GENERAL- The Secretary of the Interior and the Secretary of Agriculture shall consult with--

(A) the head of the aviation department of each State in which an aircraft landing strip on Federal land under the jurisdiction of that Secretary is located; and

(B) other interested parties,

to ensure that such aircraft landing strips are maintained in a manner that is consistent with the resource values of the adjacent area.

(2) COOPERATIVE AGREEMENTS- The Secretary of the Interior and the Secretary of Agriculture may enter into cooperative agreements with interested parties for the maintenance of aircraft landing strips located on Federal land.

(e) EXCHANGES OR ACQUISITIONS- Closure or purposeful neglect of any aircraft landing strip, or any other action which would render any aircraft landing strip unserviceable, shall not be a condition of any Federal acquisition of or exchange involving private property upon which the aircraft landing strip is located.

(f) NEW AIRCRAFT LANDING STRIPS NOT CREATED- Nothing in this Act shall be construed to create or authorize additional aircraft landing strips.

(g) PERMANENTLY CLOSE- For the purposes of this Act, the term `permanently close' means any closure the duration of which is more than 180 days in any calendar year.

(h) APPLICABILITY-

(1) AIRCRAFT LANDING STRIPS- This Act shall apply only to established aircraft landing strips on Federal lands administered by the Secretary of the Interior or the Secretary of Agriculture that are commonly known and have been or are consistently used for aircraft landing and departure activities.

(2) ACTIONS, POLICIES, EXCHANGES, AND ACQUISITIONS- Subsections (a), (c), and (e) shall apply to any action, policy, exchange, or acquisition, respectively, that is not final on the date of the enactment of this Act.

(i) FAA AUTHORITY NOT AFFECTED- Nothing in this Act shall be construed to affect the authority of the Federal Aviation Administration over aviation or airspace.

END