A proposed four-year reauthorization of the Federal Aviation Administration unveiled Feb. 11 by the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee would reduce agency funding by $4 billion, an act that FAA Administrator Randy Babbitt has earlier said could slow down the deployment of NextGen.

Congress last passed a comprehensive FAA reauthorization bill in 2003, and that law expired in 2007. Since then, the FAA has operated under a series of 17 short-term extensions.

"Given less money, then we certainly would have to again take a look at the priorities...and it certainly would slow down the deployment of NextGen," Babbitt told the House committee during a Feb. 8 hearing.

In a press release, committee Chairman John Mica (R-Fla.) said the proposed authorization, which would allow the FAA to spend about $9 billion through 2014, requires the agency to "find significant cost savings without negatively impacting safety."

It would also strengthen oversight over NextGen, the FAA's at least $40 billion collection of efforts to modernize air traffic control with satellite signals.

Among the bill's provisions is creation of a Chief NextGen Officer to be appointed by the FAA administrator and revelation of the NextGen Joint Planning and Development Office director to associate administrator status.

It also calls on the FAA to start a rulemaking process that would make mandatory by 2020 equipage of Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast In by aircraft operating in high capacity airspace. ADS-B In is a cockpit display that shows airplane location relative to other aircraft, something which has been impossible until very recently. In order for it to be accurate, airplanes must not only relay satellite position data on to air traffic controllers (which is what ADS-B Out accomplishes), but also receive radio transmissions with aircraft position data back from ground. The FAA mandated in May 2010 that airplanes carry avionics to transmit Global Positioning System signals--that is, to have ADS-B Out--but has indicated that it hopes aircraft operators will voluntarily adopt ADS-B In.  

The FAA would also have to test out a policy of giving flight priority to aircraft equipped with ADS-B technology ahead of the 2020 deadline, under a bill provision.

The bill would also require the JPDO director to establish a process with the Office of Management and Budget to identity all federal projects related to NextGen, and consider funding for them "as a unified, cross-agency program." The government's inability to manage NextGen as a portfolio has been a point of criticism from watchdogs such as the Government Accountability Office.

In addition, the bill calls for a transition plan with specific dates for implementation of new capabilities and a review by the National Research Council  on the technical, cost and schedule risks for NextGen software development.

NextGen performance metrics, also characterized as an area of weakness by watchdogs, would become mandatory under the bill, too. The FAA would have to come up with a set of measurements that would be used to measure progress in NextGen implantation.

The full Senate is considering a companion bill introduced by Sen. Jay Rockefeller (D-W. Va.) directly onto the floor.   

For more:
- download the proposed House FAA reauthorization (.pdf)
- go to the THOMAS page for the bill, H.R. 658
- see a press release (and supporting materials) released by the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee
- go to the THOMAS page for the Senate FAA reauthorization bill, S. 223

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