To amend title 49, United States Code, to authorize the Secretary of Transportation to consider the impact of severe weather conditions on Montana's aviation public and establish regulatory distinctions consistent with those applied to the State of Alaska.

May 24, 2001

Mr. BAUCUS introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation

To amend title 49, United States Code, to authorize the Secretary of Transportation to consider the impact of severe weather conditions on Montana's aviation public and establish regulatory distinctions consistent with those applied to the State of Alaska.

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 `Montana Rural Aviation Improvement Act'.

SEC. 2. MONTANA RURAL AVIATION IMPROVEMENT.

(a) IN GENERAL- Section 40113 of title 49, United States Code, is amended by adding at the end the following:

`(g) APPLICATION OF CERTAIN REGULATIONS TO MONTANA- In amending title 14, Code of Federal Regulations, in a manner affecting intrastate aviation in Montana, the Administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration shall consider the impact of severe weather conditions on Montana's aviation public and shall, on the basis of such considerations, establish regulatory distinctions consistent with those applied to the State of Alaska for mike-in-hand weather observation.'.

(b) IMPROVED AVAILABILITY OF INFORMATION ON WEATHER OBSERVATIONS-

(1) FINDING- Congress finds that the on-site certified weather observation programs at Service Level D sites in Montana are part of the essential air services in Montana and are frequently used by pilots of aircraft under emergency circumstances.

(2) MIKE-IN-HAND WEATHER OBSERVATION-

(A) REQUIREMENT- On-site weather observers at sites referred to in paragraph (1) shall use a mike-in-hand weather observation and reporting technique to correct and supplement weather information derived from Automated Surface Observation Sensors (ASOS) at the sites.

(B) MIKE-IN-HAND TECHNIQUE- For the purposes of this paragraph, a mike-in-hand weather observation and reporting technique is a routine practice by which a weather observer uses radio communication to report information on weather observations directly to a pilot requesting the information, thereby ensuring that the pilot has nearly real-time access to the information.

(C) PERSONNEL TO WHICH APPLICABLE- This paragraph applies to--

(i) on-site weather observers who are Federal Aviation Administration employees, National Weather Service employees, other Federal Government employees, or State employees; and

(ii) persons providing on-site weather observation services on a full-time or part-time basis under a contract for such services entered into by an official of the Federal Government, an official of the Government of Montana, or an official of a political subdivision of Montana.

END