II
Calendar No. 282
118THCONGRESS
1
STSESSION S. 66
To establish a task force on improvements for notices to air missions, and
for other purposes.
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
JANUARY25, 2023
Ms. K
LOBUCHAR(for herself, Mr. MORAN, and Mrs. CAPITO) introduced the
following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on
Commerce, Science, and Transportation
D
ECEMBER13, 2023
Reported by Ms. C
ANTWELL, with an amendment
[Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed in italic]
A BILL
To establish a task force on improvements for notices to
air missions, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-1
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2
SECTION1.SHORTTITLE. 3
ThisActmaybecitedasthe‘‘NOTAMImprovement 4
Actof2023’’. 5
VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:42 Dec 14, 2023 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6401 E:\BILLS\S66.RS S66 2
•S 66 RS
SEC.2.FAATASKFORCEONNOTAMIMPROVEMENT. 1
(a)ESTABLISHMENT.—Notlaterthan180daysafter 2
thedateofenactmentofthisAct,theAdministratorof 3
theFederalAviationAdministrationshallestablishatask 4
forcetobeknownastheFAATaskForceonNOTAM 5
Improvement(inthissectionreferredtoasthe‘‘Task 6
Force’’). 7
(b)COMPOSITION.—TheTaskForceshallconsistof 8
membersappointedbytheAdministrator,includingat 9
leastonememberofeachofthefollowing: 10
(1)Aircarrierrepresentatives. 11
(2)Airportrepresentatives. 12
(3)Laborunionrepresentativesofairlinepilots. 13
(4)Laborunionrepresentativesofaircraftdis-14
patchers. 15
(5)Thelaborunioncertifiedundersection 16
7111oftitle5,UnitedStatesCode,torepresent 17
FAAairtrafficcontrolspecialistsassignedtothe 18
UnitedStatesNOTAMsOffice. 19
(6)Thelaborunioncertifiedundersection 20
7111oftitle5,UnitedStatesCode,torepresent 21
FAAaeronauticalinformationspecialists. 22
(7)Generalandbusinessaviationrepresenta-23
tives. 24
(8)Aviationsafetyexpertswithknowledgeof 25
NOTAMs. 26
VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:42 Dec 14, 2023 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6401 E:\BILLS\S66.RS S66 3
•S 66 RS
(9)Humanfactorsexperts. 1
(10)Computersystemarchitectureandcyberse-2
curityexperts. 3
(c)DUTIES.—ThedutiesoftheTaskForceshallin-4
clude— 5
(1)reviewingexistingmethodsforpresenting 6
NOTAMsandflightoperationsinformationtopilots; 7
(2)reviewingregulationsandpoliciesrelating 8
toNOTAMs,includingtheircontentandpresen-9
tationtopilots; 10
(3)evaluatinganddeterminingbestpracticesto 11
organize,prioritize,andpresentflightoperationsin-12
formationinamannerthatoptimizespilotreview 13
andretentionofrelevantinformation;and 14
(4)providingrecommendationsfor— 15
(A)improvingthepresentationofNOTAM 16
informationinamannerthatprioritizesor 17
highlightsthemostimportantinformation,and 18
optimizespilotreviewandretentionofrelevant 19
information; 20
(B)waystoensurethatNOTAMsare 21
complete,accurate,andcontaintheproperin-22
formation; 23
(C)anybestpracticesthattheFAA 24
shouldconsidertoimprovetheaccuracyand 25
VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:42 Dec 14, 2023 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6401 E:\BILLS\S66.RS S66 4
•S 66 RS
understandabilityofNOTAMsandthedisplay 1
offlightoperationsinformation; 2
(D)waystoworkwithaircarriers,other 3
airspaceusers,andaviationserviceprovidersto 4
implementsolutionsthatarealignedwiththe 5
recommendationsunderthisparagraph;and 6
(E)ensuringthestability,resiliency,and 7
cybersecurityoftheNOTAMcomputersystem. 8
(d)REPORT.—Notlaterthan1yearafterthedate 9
oftheestablishmentoftheTaskForce,theTaskForce 10
shallsubmittotheCommitteeonTransportationandIn-11
frastructureoftheHouseofRepresentativesandtheCom-12
mitteeonCommerce,Science,andTransportationofthe 13
Senateareportdetailing— 14
(1)theresultsofthereviewsandevaluationsof 15
theTaskForceunderparagraphs(1)through(3)of 16
subsection(c); 17
(2)thebestpracticesidentifiedandrec-18
ommendationsprovidedbytheTaskForceunder 19
subsection(c)(4); 20
(3)anyrecommendationsoftheTaskForcefor 21
additionalregulatoryorpolicyactionstoimprovethe 22
presentationofNOTAMs;and 23
(4)thedegreetowhichimplementingtherec-24
ommendationsoftheTaskForcedescribedunder 25
VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:42 Dec 14, 2023 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6401 E:\BILLS\S66.RS S66 5
•S 66 RS
paragraph(2)willaddressNationalTransportation 1
SafetyBoardSafetyRecommendationA–18–024. 2
(e)APPLICABLELAW.—TheFederalAdvisoryCom-3
mitteeAct(5U.S.C.App.)shallnotapplytotheTask 4
Force. 5
(f)SUNSET.—TheTaskForceshallterminateonthe 6
laterof— 7
(1)thedateonwhichtheTaskForcesubmits 8
thereportrequiredundersubsection(d);or 9
(2)thedatethatis18monthsafterthedate 10
onwhichtheTaskForceisestablishedundersub-11
section(a). 12
(g)AUTHORITY.—TheAdministratorshallhavethe 13
authoritytocarryouttherecommendationsoftheTask 14
Forcedetailedinthereportrequiredundersubsection(d). 15
(h)DEFINITIONS.—Inthissection: 16
(1)FAA.—Theterm‘‘FAA’’meanstheFed-17
eralAviationAdministration. 18
(2)NOTAM.—Theterm‘‘NOTAM’’meansno-19
ticestoairmissionsrequiredbyinternationalordo-20
mesticregulationorlaw,asdescribedinFAAOrder 21
7930.2S. 22
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 23
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘NOTAM Improvement 24
Act of 2023’’. 25
VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:42 Dec 14, 2023 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\S66.RS S66 6
•S 66 RS
SEC. 2. FAA TASK FORCE ON NOTAM IMPROVEMENT. 1
(a) E
STABLISHMENT.—Not later than 180 days after 2
the date of enactment of this Act, the Administrator of the 3
Federal Aviation Administration shall establish a task force 4
to be known as the FAA Task Force on NOTAM Improve-5
ment (in this section referred to as the ‘‘Task Force’’). 6
(b) C
OMPOSITION.—The Task Force shall consist of 7
members appointed by the Administrator, including at least 8
one member of each of the following: 9
(1) Air carrier representatives. 10
(2) Airport representatives. 11
(3) Labor union representatives of airline pilots. 12
(4) Labor union representatives of aircraft dis-13
patchers. 14
(5) The labor union certified under section 7111 15
of title 5, United States Code, to represent FAA air 16
traffic control specialists assigned to the United 17
States NOTAMs Office. 18
(6) The labor union certified under section 7111 19
of title 5, United States Code, to represent FAA aero-20
nautical information specialists. 21
(7) General and business aviation representa-22
tives. 23
(8) Aviation safety experts with knowledge of 24
NOTAMs. 25
(9) Human factors experts. 26
VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:42 Dec 14, 2023 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\S66.RS S66 7
•S 66 RS
(10) Computer system architecture and cyberse-1
curity experts. 2
(c) D
UTIES.—The duties of the Task Force shall in-3
clude— 4
(1) reviewing existing methods for publishing 5
NOTAMs and flight operations information to pilots; 6
(2) reviewing regulations, policies, systems, and 7
international standards relating to NOTAMs, includ-8
ing their content and presentation to pilots; 9
(3) evaluating and determining best practices to 10
organize, prioritize, and present flight operations in-11
formation in a manner that optimizes pilot review 12
and retention of relevant information; and 13
(4) providing recommendations for— 14
(A) improving the publication and delivery 15
of NOTAM information in a manner that 16
prioritizes or highlights the most important in-17
formation, and optimizes pilot review and reten-18
tion of relevant information; 19
(B) ways to ensure that NOTAMs are com-20
plete, accurate, timely, relevant to safe flight op-21
erations, and contain pertinent information; 22
(C) any best practices that the FAA should 23
consider to improve the accuracy and under-24
VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:42 Dec 14, 2023 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\S66.RS S66 8
•S 66 RS
standability of NOTAMs and the display of 1
flight operations information; 2
(D) ways to work with air carriers, other 3
airspace users, and aviation service providers to 4
implement solutions that are aligned with the 5
recommendations under this paragraph; and 6
(E) ways to ensure the stability, resiliency, 7
and cybersecurity of the NOTAM computer sys-8
tem. 9
(d) R
EPORT.—Not later than 1 year after the date of 10
the establishment of the Task Force, the Task Force shall 11
submit to the Committee on Transportation and Infrastruc-12
ture of the House of Representatives and the Committee on 13
Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the Senate a re-14
port detailing— 15
(1) the results of the reviews and evaluations of 16
the Task Force under paragraphs (1) through (3) of 17
subsection (c); 18
(2) the best practices identified and rec-19
ommendations provided by the Task Force under sub-20
section (c)(4); 21
(3) any recommendations of the Task Force for 22
additional regulatory or policy actions to improve the 23
publication of NOTAMs; and 24
VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:42 Dec 14, 2023 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\S66.RS S66 9
•S 66 RS
(4) the degree to which implementing the rec-1
ommendations of the Task Force described under 2
paragraph (2) will address National Transportation 3
Safety Board Safety Recommendation A–18–024. 4
(e) A
PPLICABLELAW.—Chapter 10 of title 5, United 5
States Code, shall not apply to the Task Force. 6
(f) S
UNSET.—The Task Force shall terminate on the 7
later of— 8
(1) the date on which the Task Force submits the 9
report required under subsection (d); or 10
(2) the date that is 18 months after the date on 11
which the Task Force is established under subsection 12
(a). 13
(g) A
UTHORITY.—The Administrator shall have the 14
authority to carry out the recommendations of the Task 15
Force detailed in the report required under subsection (d). 16
(h) R
ULE OFCONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this section 17
may be construed to require the FAA to duplicate any 18
prior, ongoing, or planned efforts related to the improve-19
ment of NOTAMs, including any efforts related to imple-20
menting any previously enacted requirements. 21
(i) D
EFINITIONS.—In this section: 22
(1) FAA.—The term ‘‘FAA’’ means the Federal 23
Aviation Administration. 24
VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:42 Dec 14, 2023 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\S66.RS S66 10
•S 66 RS
(2) NOTAM.—The term ‘‘NOTAM’’ means a no-1
tice containing information (which is not known suf-2
ficiently in advance to publicize by other means) con-3
cerning the establishment, condition, or change in 4
any component (including a facility, service, or pro-5
cedure thereof) or hazard in the National Airspace 6
System, the timely knowledge of which is essential to 7
personnel concerned with flight operations. 8
SEC. 3. ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS. 9
Not later than September 30, 2024, the Administrator 10
of the Federal Aviation Administration shall make the fol-11
lowing improvements: 12
(1) Complete implementation of a Federal 13
NOTAM System (in this section referred to as a 14
‘‘FNS’’). 15
(2) Implement a back-up system to the FNS. 16
(3) Brief the Committee on Transportation and 17
Infrastructure of the House of Representatives and the 18
Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transpor-19
tation of the Senate on a plan to enhance the capa-20
bility to deliver information through the FNS that is 21
machine-readable, filterable, and in the format used 22
by the International Civil Aviation Organization 23
(ICAO) to promote further global harmonization 24
among neighboring Air Navigation Service Providers 25
VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:42 Dec 14, 2023 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\S66.RS S66 11
•S 66 RS
(ANSPs) and provide users of the National Airspace 1
System with one consistent format for domestic and 2
international operations. 3
VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:42 Dec 14, 2023 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\S66.RS S66 Calendar No.
282
118
TH
CONGRESS
1
ST
S
ESSION
S. 66 A BILL
To establish a task force on improvements for
notices to air missions, and for other purposes.
D
ECEMBER
13, 2023
Reported with an amendment
VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:42 Dec 14, 2023 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6651 Sfmt 6651 E:\BILLS\S66.RS S66