Notes Increases In Certification Charges, Fuel Taxes
Continuing the cautiously optimistic response by other aviation
"letter groups" to Thursday's marked-up H.R. 2881, the House
version of the FAA Reauthorization Proposal, the Experimental
Aircraft Association called the House's bill "a positive step"
against establishing a user fee-based funding structure.
"EAA is appreciative of the members of the House Aviation
subcommittee who listened to general aviations concerns and
responded in such a positive way," said EAA president Tom
Poberezny.
As ANN reported, the House
Transportation and Infrastructure Committee introduced its version
of a FAA Reauthorization Proposal (H.R. 2881) late Wednesday
without the inclusion of any user fees. The bill now moves to the
House Ways and Means Committee, with a recommendation to increase
the current aviation gas tax from 19.3 cents per gallon to 24.1
cents per gallon and the Jet-A fuel tax rate from 21.8 cents per
gallon to 30.7 cents per gallon.
The House bill does include FAA and EAA supported language
regarding the release of information contained in abandoned type
certificates. The language in the bill does contain some
alterations that need to be evaluated but this is a good step in
addressing the needs of vintage aircraft owners.
The House bill also authorizes $13 billion for FAA Facilities
and Equipment for implementation of the Next Generation Air
Transportation System. This is important as it reinforces the GA
community's contention that the FAA could move forward with the
building of the next generation air transportation system without
imposing user fees.
Not all the news is good, however. The bill would increase fees
for various FAA services such as aircraft registration and
certification fees. For example, the one-time, five-dollar fee to
register an aircraft would increase to $130. The House also voted
to include additional amendments and revisions to the bill
Thursday, that could result in provisions that the White House has
indicated would result in a veto.
"This is a start, but we cannot rest with this news," said Earl
Lawrence, EAA vice president of industry and regulatory affairs.
"Now that the House has not proposed user fees, the airlines will
be redoubling their efforts to shift taxes to general aviation. In
addition, the taxes and fees in this proposed bill will be debated
by the House Finance Committee later this month."