On May 16, 2004, President Biden signed into law the FAA Reauthorization Act of 2024, the latest policy direction from Congress on how to run this magazine’s Favorite Aviation Agency. The 1083-page measure is designed to meet the FAA’s and the industry’s needs for the next few years, until it expires on September 30, 2028. Despite the time it took to develop and pass, the wait appears to have been worth it.
Among the many items of possible interest among general aviation pilots in the bill are an expansion of BasicMed and a requirement that the FAA issue a final rule on its MOSAIC aircraft certification proposal. The bill also creates an airman’s medical bill of rights, prohibits FAA’s use of ADS-B data to initiate an enforcement investigation and requires a study on the Washington, D.C., Special Flight Rules Area and Flight Restricted Zone to assess reducing operational impacts and improving GA access to local airports.
Plaudits
“Many months of hard work and bipartisan collaboration has resulted in legislation that serves general aviation in a way like never before,” AOPA President Mark Baker said on the bill’s enactment. “AOPA members and the GA community will reap the benefits of this reauthorization for years to come.”
“We are very pleased to see this important and historic legislation, after many months of work, advance to President Biden’s desk to be signed into law,” added NBAA President and CEO Ed Bolen. “Both sides of the aisle, on both sides of the Capitol, have come together and passed a bill that reflects the business aviation community’s priorities, provides a long-term roadmap for the agency and ensures that America will continue to lead the world in aviation safety, security, sustainability, innovation, workforce development and investment in airports and other critical infrastructure.”
“A long-term FAA reauthorization is essential for the stable operations of the National Airspace System,” said Jack Pelton, EAA CEO and chairman of the board. “This bill, in addition to funding key infrastructure for general aviation, advances many policy priorities of our community for innovation and modernization.”
More Details
Some other provisions in the bill, according to AOPA, include:
- Requires airport operators to not restrict or prohibit 100LL until at least January 1, 2031 (except in Santa Clara County California) if 100LL it was available on the airport at any time in 2022.
- Boosts FAA airport funding to $4 billion over the five-year bill, with a greatly expanded portion going to GA airports. Also allocates $34 million each year for GA itinerant/transient parking construction.
- Increases the federal share of an airport grant from 90 to 95 percent in FY 2025 and 2026, halving the local share requirement.
- The Government Accountability Office (GAO) is to conduct a study on FBO fee transparency.
- Requires the FAA to issue a final rule removing expiration dates from flight instructor certificates.
- Requires the GAO to review charitable flights, including applicable laws, regulations, policies, legal opinions and guidance pertaining to them, assess petitions for exemption from FARs prohibiting reimbursement for fuel costs to private pilots such flights conducted without an exemption.
- Requires the FAA to create a system for the design and operational approval of remote control towers.
- Requires FAA to withhold the registration and identifying information of non-commercial flights upon request. An aircraft owner or operator may also request that the FAA withhold from “broad dissemination or display” registration information and apply for a new ICAO aircraft identification code.
