Dedicated to an Airport and Aviation System Worthy of Great State

SENATE PASSES THREE-MONTH EXTENSION
Action Clears Way for President to Sign Bill Into Law

June 26, 2008 - With the current FAA extension set to expire in a few days and lawmakers about to adjourn for the July 4th recess, the United States senate this morning passed a bill to extend aviation programs and excise taxes through the end of September. The three-month extension would allow the FAA to distribute the remaining AIP funds that airports are slated to receive during the current fiscal year.

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HR228 - Update

It has been an interesting session at the State Capitol this time around. Having spent the past few days roaming the halls with Vernon Lee, I have gained even more respect for what the lobbyists are able to do for the Association. Those of you who have experienced the process will attest to the ever-changing mood of the legislature and the political haggling that goes on. I would urge others to take the opportunity to visit Atlanta and witness for yourselves the dynamics of our political process in action.

As you recall, HR228 proposes to amend the Georgia Constitution so that taxes collected on sales and use of jet fuel and aviation gasoline will be appropriated to activities incident to providing and maintaining an adequate system of public-use airports. I am happy to announce that our legislation made it out of committees, rules, and was to be voted upon in the House. Several legislators saw an opportunity to ammend the language to gain funds for their mass transit programs. Representative Carl Rogers has been able to pull the bill off of the docker to evade the additional amendments and hopefully the House will consider later. Duplicate legislation has been introduced in the Senate.

At this time it is still in sub-committee for discussion and Vernon Lee will advise when the Association needs to be involved. I urge all of you to communicate with your representatives regarding our legislation. One thing I have learned is to never assume that others understand the impact of a bill on an industry like ours. It is up to us to educate and inform all those who will listen. I want to publicly thank Vernon Lee again for the tremendous job he does in representing GAA. I also want to acknowledge the wonderful support we get from all of our Representatives.

John Crosby
President

POFZ Policy Clarification

In 2001 airports first learned of proposed changes to TERPS guidance that established a new requirement to keep taxiing aircraft free of POFZ and TERPS surfaces during low visibility conditions. ACI-NA members met with the then-new FAA administrator to express our concerns over the impact these proposals would have on arrival capacity, especially at airports with displaced thresholds or unique taxiway geometry.

Partially as a result of our raising the issues, a series of meetings occurred with FAA and resulted in the establishement of a formal process to better coordinate activities of the flight standards branch that affect airport capacity with the airports division. The Airport Obstruction Standards Committee (AOSC) was established to provide this internal FAA coordination. One of the products of the AOSC was Decision Document # 1, which addressed some of the airport concerns we raised. The implementation deadline for these new rquirements was set for January, 2007.

As the January 2007 POFZ implementation deadline approaches, FAA has begun working with stakeholders to develop airport-specific POFZ implementation plans. If you have not yet been contacted by FAA, you might want to inquire as to whether any of the requirements will affect your airport.

NBAA Welcomes Senate Attempt to Suspend Onerous "Fuel Fraud" Rules for Business Aviation

NBAA commends Sen. Conrad Burns (R-MT) for introducing a legislative proposal seeking suspension of so-called "fuel fraud"
tax rules that are confusing and time consuming for companies involved in the sale of aircraft fuel, and have the potential to adversely impact aviation infrastructure projects.

 "The business aviation community is grateful to Senator Burns for taking action on this issue of great importance to our industry,"
NBAA President and CEO Ed Bolen said. "Now, it is time for those
of us in business aviation to do our part to support the Senator's proposal."

Bolen urged everyone in business aviation to send a newly developed message of support for the legislation, available at NBAA's Contact Congress resource at http://www.nbaa.org/s2666.

The GAA urges all their members to click on the link above and complete the information required for the email to go to congress. It takes just a few short minutes and everyone's support is needed.