Sec. 122. FUTURE AVIATION INFRASTRUCTURE AND FINANCING STUDY

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## SEC. 122 FUTURE AVIATION INFRASTRUCTURE AND FINANCING STUDY ###

(a)Future Aviation Infrastructure and Financing Study Not later than 60 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Transportation shall enter into an agreement with a qualified organization to conduct a study assessing the infrastructure needs of airports and existing financial resources for commercial service airports and make recommendations on the actions needed to upgrade the national aviation infrastructure system to meet the growing and shifting demands of the 21st century. ###

(b)Consultation In carrying out the study, the qualified organization shall convene and consult with a panel of national experts, including representatives of— ####

(1)nonhub airports; ####

(2)small hub airports; ####

(3)medium hub airports; ####

(4)large hub airports; ####

(5)airports with international service; ####

(6)nonprimary airports; ####

(7)local elected officials; ####

(8)relevant labor organizations; ####

(9)passengers; ####

(10)air carriers; ####

(11)the tourism industry; and ####

(12)the business travel industry. ###

(c)Considerations In carrying out the study, the qualified organization shall consider— ####

(1)the ability of airport infrastructure to meet current and projected passenger volumes; ####

(2)the available financial tools and resources for airports of different sizes; ####

(3)the available financing tools and resources for airports in rural areas; ####

(4)the current debt held by airports, and its impact on future construction and capacity needs; ####

(5)the impact of capacity constraints on passengers and ticket prices; ####

(6)the purchasing power of the passenger facility charge from the last increase in 2000 to the year of enactment of this Act; ####

(7)the impact to passengers and airports of indexing the passenger facility charge for inflation; ####

(8)how long airports are constrained with current passenger facility charge collections; ####

(9)the impact of passenger facility charges on promoting competition; ####

(10)the additional resources or options to fund terminal construction projects; ####

(11)the resources eligible for use toward noise reduction and emission reduction projects; ####

(12)the gap between the cost of projects eligible for the airport improvement program and the annual Federal funding provided; ####

(13)the impact of regulatory requirements on airport infrastructure financing needs; ####

(14)airline competition; ####

(15)airline ancillary fees and their impact on ticket pricing and taxable revenue; and ####

(16)the ability of airports to finance necessary safety, security, capacity, and environmental projects identified in capital improvement plans. ###

(d)Large Hub Airports The study shall, to the extent not considered under subsection (c), separately evaluate the infrastructure requirements of the large hub airports identified in the National Plan of Integrated Airport Systems (NPIAS). The evaluation shall— ####

(1)analyze the current and future capacity constraints of large hub airports; ####

(2)quantify large hub airports’ infrastructure requirements, including terminal, landside, and airside infrastructure; ####

(3)quantify the percentage growth in infrastructure requirements of the large hub airports relative to other commercial service airports; ####

(4)analyze how much funding from the airport improvement program

(AIP)has gone to meet the requirements of large hub airports over the past 10 years; and ####

(5)project how much AIP funding would be available to meet the requirements of large hub airports in the next 5 years if funding levels are held constant. ###

(e)Report Not later than 15 months after the date of enactment of this Act, the qualified organization shall submit to the Secretary and the appropriate committees of Congress a report on the results of the study described in subsection (a), including its findings and recommendations related to each item in subsections

(c)and (d). ###

(f)Definition of Qualified Organization In this section, the term “qualified organization” means an independent nonprofit organization that recommends solutions to public policy challenges through objective analysis.