LEXIS-NEXIS® Academic Universe-Document

LEXIS-NEXIS® Academic

March 16, 2000, Thursday 3 STAR EDITION

SECTION: A; Pg. 1

LENGTH: 759 words

HEADLINE: House OKs $ 40 billion for aviation;
Millions for Houston airports, but passengers could see fees

SOURCE: Staff

BYLINE: JOHN C. HENRY, Houston Chronicle Washington Bureau

DATELINE: WASHINGTON

BODY:
WASHINGTON - After months of delay, the House approved a $ 40 billion measure Wednesday that will double federal aviation funding over the next three years at Houston's Bush Intercontinental and Hobby airports.

The legislation, which cleared the Senate last week, will increase funding nationwide for construction, provide money to modernize air-traffic control and allow airports to raise passenger fees by as much as $ 6 per round-trip ticket.

"This bill will make our skies safer, reduce flight delays and increase competition by improving our airports," said Rep. Nick Lampson, a Beaumont Democrat who serves on the House aviation subcommittee.

The measure, which had been stalled in Congress since October, now goes to the White House where aides said President Clinton will sign it into law. The House approved the bill 318-102. It sailed through the Senate, 82-17. In addition to allowing for an increase in passenger fees, which critics characterized as a tax increase, the bill clears the way for more flights out of four of the nation's busiest airports - O'Hare in Chicago, Reagan National in Washington and LaGuardia and JFK in New York. It also regulates commercial air tours over national parks.

FAA and airline officials pressed for the additional funding to expand airports and modernize air-traffic control systems in an effort to avoid delays and deal with growth in air travel over the next decade.

About 665 million people flew aboard U.S. airlines in 1999. By 2011, the number of passengers is expected to top 1 billion, according to an FAA forecast released earlier this week.

Over the next three years, the bill will increase money for airport projects by $ 10 billion. In the next year, for example, Houston's Bush Intercontinental Airport will get an increase to $ 16.2 million, up from $ 8.1 million this year. Hobby will receive almost $ 7 million, up from $ 3.5 million. An additional $ 1 million was earmarked for Ellington Field.

"This could not have come at a better time to support our $ 2 billion-plus development program," said Richard Vacar, director of the Houston Aviation Department.

The additional federal money can be used to help cover the costs of the department's five-year, $ 2.2 billion capital improvement plan for the three facilities. Without the extra federal funding, projects that included upgrading air terminals, lengthening runways and taxiways, and expanding passenger-vehicle parking, are being financed through the sale of revenue bonds.

The bill also sets aside almost $ 1.4 million this year for the Southeast Texas Regional Airport, formerly the Jefferson County Airport near Beaumont. An additional $ 36 million will be funneled through the Texas Department of Transportation, which will oversee grants to smaller airports such as Galveston's Scholes Field.

Most of Wednesday's debate in the House focused on the authority the measure gives airports to boost passenger fees, which currently are set at $ 3 per flight with a cap of $ 12 for each passenger regardless of the number of flights, or legs, included on each ticket. Houston currently does not assess passengers a fee for airport use.

The bill approved by Congress sets the maximum fee at $ 4.50 per flight with an $ 18 cap. If all airports imposed the user fee - known as a "passenger facility charge" - more than $ 700 million a year would be raised for local airport improvements.

"This bill is a tax bill, and I'm not sure this Congress wants to be on record raising taxes," said Rep. C.W. "Bill" Young, a Florida Republican who chairs the House Appropriations Committee.

House Transportation Committee Chairman E.G. "Bud" Shuster, R-Pa., said because the fees are under "local control," the funding measure is a "conservative issue."

Similar versions of the aviation bill passed the House and Senate last year. A committee appointed to work out the differences bogged down when Shuster insisted that the Aviation Trust Fund, which is fueled by airport user fees, be kept separate from the rest of the federal budget.

Early this month, Shuster and his allies won concessions that, although still a part of the federal budget process, the trust fund and its $ 10 billion-a-year in user fees will be spent only on aviation projects.

Action on the bill came as the Federal Aviation Agency took steps to avoid delays this year similar to those caused by inclement weather in 1999. The airline industry estimated that delays ordered by the FAA last year cost airlines and passengers nearly $ 5 billion.

LOAD-DATE: March 17, 2000