training, and staffing. The Committee is encouraged that FAA has recently launched a host of initiatives to address these problems. Even with these new initiatives and the progress it has made in the hiring and certifying new controllers, FAĂ may not be able to meet staffing goals set by the Committee. The agency also faces a major policy decision on how it will maintain its current equipment and how it will staff the needs of operating and maintaining the new more technologically advanced equipment associated with the national airspace system [NAS] modernization. The Committee supports increased funding for aviation safety inspectors and the field maintenance work force. The Committee is concerned, however, that FAA needs to develop a system to generate new hires to replace its existing work force, including safety inspectors and maintenance technicians. This problem can become even more acute in the maintenance area, if NAS plan delays require the existing equipment to be used longer than originally planned. The Committee is recommending approximately $1,700,000,000 in the "Facilities and equipment" account for the modernization of the national airspace. It is incumbent upon the FAA to ensure, in addition to procuring the equipment necessary to modernize the Nation's airspace, that qualified, trained personnel are available to operate and maintain that system. In addition, the growth in aviation requires a work force that is trained in the latest airframe, powerplants, and avionics technology. The need for which was tragically underscored by the recent DC-10 powerplants explosion on United flight 232. Accordingly, the Committee has provided $3,000,000 above that requested to assist in establishing the MidAtlantic Aviation Training and Education Center in Clarksburg, WV. DIRECTION, STAFF, AND SUPPORTING SERVICES The Committee recommends $125,342,000 and 1,067 positions for this activity which supports FAA's primary programs. The Committee's recommendation is the same as the House allowance. The amount recommended represents an increase of $12,092,000 and 121 positions over the fiscal year 1989 enacted level. HEADQUARTERS ADMINISTRATION As noted, the Committee concurs with the budget request to include funding for headquarters administration within the overall "Operations" account. The Committee has included $28,641,000 for this activity which includes the following administrative functions: accounting, budget, civil rights, international aviation, management systems, data systems, and policy and plans. The FAA is considering regulations on exit row seating of passengers in commercial aircraft. These regulations are being developed in response to the Air Carriers Access Act of 1986, Public Law 99-435, which prohibits air carriers from discriminating against otherwise qualified handicapped individuals. The Committee is concerned that in developing these regulations that FAA not impose discriminatory seating restrictions on blind individuals, as required by Senate Commerce Committee Report 101-45 GENERAL PROVISIONS The Committee has included bill language in title III, general provisions, which would affect the FAA. One of the provisions allows for the transfer of airport property in Wyoming to the State highway department for use as a highway rest area. There are two provisions which affect Hawaii. The first would allow the State to use general aviation funds at primary airports. The other provision would allow the FAA to convey land, known as the Naval Recreation Area at Keehi Lagoon, for the purpose of improving and expanding adjacent harbor facilities. AIRLINE SMOKING BAN The Committee has amended section 335 of the House-passed bill, to permanently ban cigarette smoking on domestic airline flights. On February 10, 1989, a study on the exposure of nonsmokers on airline flights to cigarette smoke was published in the journal of the American Medical Association. That study, conducted by a group of scientists led by researchers from the National Cancer Institute and the Environmental Protection Agency, showed that nonsmoking passengers and flight attendants are exposed to equivalent amounts of nicotine as smoking passengers. This study confirmed concerns about the health risks posed by passive smoking. In the United States, 390,000 people die each year from smoking-related causes. The Surgeon General estimated that as many as 5,000 nonsmokers die each year from inhaling smoke of others. The problems posed by cigarette smoke on airplanes can be even worse than those in other environments. Newer, more fuel-efficient planes utilize increasing amounts of recirculated air, increasing the exposure of passengers to smoke. The dangers of passive smoking continue to be of continuing concern to the Committee. The Committee adopted a provision on the fiscal year 1988 Transportation appropriations bill banning smoking on some commercial domestic flights. That ban has been implemented very successfully, with overwhelming public acceptance. Based on this experience, and mounting scientific evidence on the dangers of passive smoking, especially in a confined environment like an airline cabin, the Committee has included this provision to prohibit smoking on domestic airline flights. The Senate amendment treats all airlines alike, that is, if the prohibition on smoking applies to any airline's flight segment between any two cities it applies to all airlines' flight segments between those two cities. This prohibition is applied without regard to whether the airline in question is a domestic or is a foreign airline flying within the United States on the continuing segment of a flight from a foreign port to a U.S. gateway. FACILITIES AND EQUIPMENT (AIRPORT AND AIRWAY TRUST FUND) Appropriations, 1989. Budget estimate, 1990. House allowance. $1,384,528,000 1,955,000,000 1,732,000,000 1,780,131,000 Under the "Facilities and equipment" appropriation, safety, capacity and efficiency of the Federal airway system are improved by the procurement and installation of new equipment and the construction and modernization of facilities to keep pace with aeronautical activity and in accordance with the Federal Aviation Administration's comprehensive national airspace system [NAS] plan. The bill includes an appropriation of $1,780,131,000 for the facilities and equipment of the Federal Aviation Administration. The funding breakdown follows: 1 Includes undistributed reduction of $4,082,000 for program slippages and deobligations. The Committee's recommended distributions of the funds for each of the major accounts are as follows: |