Two amendments from U.S. Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA) made it into the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) reauthorization bill approved by the U.S. House of Representatives on April 27.
“This marks an important step toward advancing President Trump’s infrastructure agenda, and I’m grateful to get important wins included for people here in Eastern Washington,” said Rep. McMorris Rodgers following the 393-to-13 approval of the FAA Reauthorization Act of 2018, H.R. 4.
The measure, introduced on April 13 by U.S. Rep. Bill Shuster (R-PA), chairman of the U.S. House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, would extend FAA programs and funding for five years and implement significant reforms to the nation’s air traffic control system.
“Strengthening our roads, bridges and aviation is critical to support our national security and America’s growing economy,” Rep. McMorris Rodgers said. “That’s why I’m continuing to lead on rebuilding our infrastructure and supporting Eastern Washington’s airports.”
H.R. 4’s Section 134, the Contract Tower Program, includes language from McMorris Rodgers’ Amendment 175 to reform the contract tower cost-share program, as well as her Amendment 176 to prohibit elimination of the Contract Weather Observer program through 2023.
Amendment 175 exempts airports with more than 25,000 passenger enplanements in calendar year 2014 from any cost-share requirements under the contract tower program, according to the congresswoman’s staff. The FAA reports that 28 percent of all U.S. towers are covered under the program.
“This language will save Walla Walla Regional Airport approximately $90,000 per year,” said Port of Walla Walla Executive Director Pat Reay. “Passage of this critical amendment gives the Port of Walla Walla new flexibility in the ways we are able to invest our limited funds in vital aviation improvements at Walla Walla Regional.”
Amendment 176 regards the Contract Weather Observer program, which enhances safety by supplementing automated weather observation systems with additional weather observations, and by providing a backup in the event of automated system outages, according to the Airports Council International-North America.
Language from her amendment included in H.R. 4 to protect the Contract Weather Observation/Observer (CWO) program is critical to maintaining aviation safety at the Spokane International Airport, said Larry Krauter, CEO of the city’s airport. “We very much appreciate [her] efforts to ensure that the CWO program is continued to 2023,” Krauter said.
Elimination of this program would have resulted in a decline in aviation safety for the more than 3 million passengers that use Spokane International Airport annually, according to Rep. McMorris Rodgers’ staff.
Rep. McMorris Rodgers also applauded inclusion of an amendment that she cosponsored from U.S. Rep. Barbara Comstock (R-VA) in H.R. 4 to strike language that bars the FAA from allocating environmental research and development funding before the funding needs of all other research and development programs are met.
“We appreciate the commitment of our state’s congressional delegation to support aviation-based research and development,” said Kirk Schulz, president of Washington State University (WSU), “and are grateful to the leadership of Congresswoman McMorris Rodgers on an amendment to protect WSU’s and MIT’s FAA Center of Excellence for Aviation Biofuels and the Environment.”
Such commitment, Schulz said, means that WSU and its research partners can continue necessary research to maintain and expand the state’s competitive edge in aerospace.