Bill would cut FAA funds, undermine regulations

[April 01, 2011]  WASHINGTON (AP) -- The House debated a sweeping aviation bill Thursday that would cut funding for the Federal Aviation Administration and shield industry from safety regulations being drafted by the Obama administration.

The Republican-drafted bill, a blueprint for FAA programs, would cut the agency's budget by nearly $4 billion over the next three and a half years. The bill's sponsors said the government can spend less on aviation oversight and still maintain air travel safety.

But Democrats said the proposed cuts to the FAA budget would force the layoff of hundreds of workers, including safety inspectors, and would likely delay modernization of the nation's air traffic system, which is needed to accommodate forecasted increases in passengers and flights.

"It absolutely will affect safety," said Rep. Jerry Costello, D-Ill., pointing to incidents in the past week in which two air traffic supervisors were suspended, one for falling asleep on the job and another for creating a situation in which an airliner and a small plane came too close together over central Florida. "We have certainly seen accidents in past where air traffic control staffing and fatigue were a factor."

Rep. John Mica, R-Fla., chairman of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee and the bill's chief sponsor, said FAA could reduce "bureaucratic staff" without harming safety.

"I can tell you we can do more with less and we can prioritize," Mica said, reminding lawmakers of the nation's accumulating debt. A spokesman for Mica said the bill instructs FAA to identify cost savings without cutting safety critical activities.

The funding reductions come at a time when the agency had anticipated a larger, not smaller, budget. The FAA's program to switch to a new air traffic system is expected to cost the government as much as $20 billion over the next decade and industry as much as $22 billion. Much of the rest of the world is either using satellite-based air navigation and air traffic control or planning to upgrade to GPS technology.

The House added an amendment to the bill a voice vote that would exempt some cargo airlines and air medical flights from regulations proposed by FAA to place new limits on pilot work schedules to prevent them from flying when they are suffering from fatigue. The National Transportation Safety Board has cited pilot fatigue as a factor in several air crashes over the past decade. They've been pressing FAA for two decades to update its rules governing pilot work schedules.

Another amendment added to the bill would effectively block a regulation proposed by the Transportation Department aimed at preventing fires caused by air shipments of lithium batteries like those used in cameras, cell phones, laptops and countless other products. The batteries can short-circuit in flight and catch fire.

The proposed regulation has been the focus of an intense lobbying battle pitting pilots who warn that lives are at risk against U.S. industry and foreign governments, which say the regulation would disrupt international shipping and increase costs of countless consumer products.

The amendment, proposed by Mica, would require the department adopt international shipping standards that are weaker than the department's proposed regulation.

Rep. Bob Filner, D-Calif., abruptly withdrew an amendment he had planned to offer that would have blocked air shipments of non-rechargeable lithium batteries, countering Mica's amendment. He gave no reason for the withdrawal and his office didn't respond to requests for an explanation.

"We have always known since the beginning we were up against intense industry pressure," said pilot Lee Collins, executive vice president of the Coalition of Airline Pilot Associations.

Lawmakers also debated, but did not vote on, an amendment by Rep. Bill Shuster, R-Pa., that would require the FAA to tailor regulations to different segments of the aviation industry rather than set across-the-board safety standards. It would also increase requirements that the agency refrain from issuing safety regulations unless it can show that the cost to industry is justified.

Shuster said the amendment would only apply to future FAA regulations and wouldn't affect regulations the agency is already working on. But Rep. Jerry Costello, D-Ill., a former aviation subcommittee chairman, said the amendment is broadly written applying to all regulations and would make FAA's already cumbersome rulemaking process even more difficult.

Votes on more than a dozen amendments and final action on the bill is expected on Friday.

Lawmakers also clashed over a labor provision in the bill that makes it more difficult for airline and railroad workers to unionize. The provision would overturn a new National Mediation Board rule approved last year that allows employees in those industries to form a union by a simple majority of those voting. Under the old rule, workers who didn't vote were treated as "no" votes.

Republicans complain that the new rule reverses 75 years of precedent to favor labor unions. Democrats and union officials say the change puts airline and railroad elections under the same democratic rules required for unionizing all other companies.

The White House warned in a statement Wednesday that President Barack Obama may veto the bill if the funding levels and the labor provision are retained. The Senate has passed a version of the bill that doesn't include the labor provision.

[Associated Press; By JOAN LOWY]

Associated Press writer Sam Hananel contributed to this report.

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