The U.S. Senate moved to reinstate the Block Aircraft Registration Request (BARR) program last week with an appropriations bill that passed by a 69-30 vote, heating up a fight that began earlier this year after the FAA announced plans to restrict the program.
The bill prohibits the appropriated funds from being used to limit participation in BARR, a program established a decade ago to allow aircraft owners to opt-out of having their N-number and flight tracking information made public.
In March of this year, the FAA announced that BARR would soon only be available to those with a “valid security concern,” a provision the administration began implementing in August.
The Senate bill now moves to the House, which placed a similar clause to reinstate BARR in its version of the appropriations bill in September. While the provision makes its way through Congress, the NBAA and AOPA are scheduled to make their case against restricted access to BARR to the U.S. Court of Appeals in early December.
