[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1933 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
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118th CONGRESS
1st Session
S. 1933
To enhance flight options for consumers flying to and from Ronald
Reagan Washington National Airport.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
June 13, 2023
Mr. Warnock (for himself and Ms. Lummis) introduced the following bill;
which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce,
Science, and Transportation
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To enhance flight options for consumers flying to and from Ronald
Reagan Washington National Airport.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Direct Capital Access Act'' or the
``DCA Act''.
SEC. 2. ADDITIONAL WITHIN AND BEYOND PERIMETER SLOT EXEMPTIONS AT
RONALD REAGAN WASHINGTON NATIONAL AIRPORT.
(a) Increase in Number of Slot Exemptions.--Section 41718 of title
49, United States Code, is amended by adding at the end the following
new subsection:
``(i) Additional Slot Exemptions.--
``(1) Increase in slot exemptions.--Not later than 90 days
after the date of enactment of this subsection, the Secretary
shall grant, by order, 56 exemptions from--
``(A) the application of sections 49104(a)(5),
49109, and 41714 to air carriers to operate limited
frequencies and aircraft on routes between Ronald
Reagan Washington National Airport and airports located
within or beyond the perimeter described in section
49109; and
``(B) the requirements of subparts K, S, and T of
part 93, Code of Federal Regulations.
``(2) Incremental dca slot allocations.--
``(A) In general.--Of the slot exemptions made
available under paragraph (1), the Secretary shall make
40 available to incumbent air carriers qualifying for
status as a non-limited incumbent carrier and 16
available to incumbent carriers qualifying for status
as a limited incumbent carrier at Ronald Reagan
Washington National Airport as of the date of enactment
of this subsection.
``(B) Air carrier requirements.--An air carrier
granted a slot exemption made available under paragraph
(1)--
``(i) may operate up to a maximum of 8 of
the newly authorized slot exemptions;
``(ii) shall have sole discretion
concerning the use of an exemption made
available under paragraph (1), including the
initial or any subsequent within or beyond
perimeter destinations to be served; and
``(iii) shall file a notice of intent with
the Secretary and subsequent notices of intent,
when appropriate, to inform the Secretary of
any change in circumstances concerning the use
of any exemption made available under paragraph
(1).
``(3) Notices of intent.--Notices of intent under paragraph
(2)(B)(iii) shall specify the within or beyond perimeter
destinations to be served.
``(4) Conditions.--Flight operations carried out by an air
carrier using an exemption granted under this subsection shall
be subject to the following conditions:
``(A) An air carrier granted an exemption under
this subsection is prohibited from transferring the
rights to its slot exemptions pursuant to section
41714(j).
``(B) The exemptions granted under subsection (2)--
``(i) may not be for operations between the
hours of 10:00 p.m. and 7:00 a.m.; and
``(ii) may not increase the number of
operations at Ronald Reagan Washington National
Airport in any 1-hour period during the hours
between 7:00 a.m. and 9:59 p.m. by more than 8
operations.''.
(b) Conforming Amendments.--Section 41718 of title 49, United
States Code, is amended--
(1) in subsection (c)(2)--
(A) in subparagraph (A)--
(i) in clause (i), by inserting ``or
(i)(2)'' after ``(g)(2)''; and
(ii) in clause (ii), by striking ``and
(g)'' and inserting ``(g), and (i)''; and
(B) in subparagraph (B), by inserting ``or (i)(2)''
after ``(g)(3)''; and
(2) in subsection (h)(1), by inserting ``or (i)'' after
``subsection (g)''.
(c) Preservation of Existing Within-Perimeter Air Service.--In
recognition of the importance of preserving air service, as it exists
on the date of enactment of this section, between Ronald Reagan
Washington National Airport and within-perimeter airports and
communities, this section and the amendments made by this section shall
not be construed as authorizing any limited incumbent or non-limited
incumbent air carrier holding slots or slot exemptions at Ronald Reagan
Washington National Airport as of the date of enactment of this
subsection to use an existing within-perimeter slot to serve an airport
beyond the perimeter described in section 49109 of title 49, United
States Code.
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