HR 9695 Re-checks Congress.gov for new actions and updates the bill's status, and fills in any sponsors, committees, or related bills that are missing. It does not re-pull sponsors/cosponsors/committees/related — those rarely change — and it skips all work if nothing has changed upstream, so it's cheap to click.
McCarty and Heideman Air Safety Enhancement Act
To require the Administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration to review and update Federal Aviation Administration regulations, policies, and guidance related to low-altitude airspace safety, and for other purposes.
Summary
- Requires the Federal Aviation Administration to review existing policies and regulations related to low-altitude airspace safety within six months, consulting with helicopter operators, air medical operators, general aviation pilots, agricultural aviation operators, and other aviation stakeholders.
- Directs the FAA to examine whether existing policies adequately identify when slacklines and similar temporary obstructions must be marked, lighted, or otherwise identified to prevent aircraft strikes.
- Requires the FAA to assess whether it can improve Notices to Airmen and obstacle data to better support digital depiction across flight planning tools, electronic flight bags, and avionics systems.
- Requires the FAA to evaluate coordination with federal, state, tribal, and local land management agencies regarding activities that may create low-altitude aviation hazards.
- Requires the FAA to update regulations, guidance, or policies if the review finds existing policies inadequate, and to brief Congress on findings and recommendations within 90 days of completing the review.
AI-generated plain-language summary of the bill text — neutral, and may be imperfect. See the full text below for the exact wording.
Sponsor (1)
- Rep. Bentz, Cliff [R-OR-2] (R-OR)
2 cosponsors
- Rep. Crane, Elijah [R-AZ-2] (R-AZ)
- Rep. Hoyle, Val T. [D-OR-4] (D-OR)
Actions (2)
- Jul 15, 2026 Referred to the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure. · house
- Jul 15, 2026 Introduced in House
Similar bills (6)
Bills with similar text or summary — includes reintroductions across Congresses. Ranked by semantic similarity of the bill text (computed locally); a neutral discovery aid, not a claim the bills are duplicates.
Full text
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
July 15, 2026
Mr. Bentz (for himself, Ms. Hoyle of Oregon, and Mr. Crane) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure
A BILL
To require the Administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration to review and update Federal Aviation Administration regulations, policies, and guidance related to low-altitude airspace safety, and for other purposes.
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 “McCarty and Heideman Air Safety Enhancement Act”.
SEC. 2. REVIEW OF FAA POLICIES AND REGULATIONS RELATED TO LOW-ALTITUDE AIRSPACE SAFETY.
(a) Review.—
(1) In general.—Not later than 6 months after the date of enactment of this section, the Administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration (referred to in this section as the “Administrator”), in consultation with the stakeholders described in paragraph (3), shall review existing Federal Aviation Administration (referred to in this section as “FAA”) policies and regulations related to low-altitude airspace safety for the purpose of identifying appropriate policy, operational, or technical improvements, such as updated requirements related to markings on slacklines.
(2) Considerations.—In conducting the review required under paragraph (1), the Administrator shall consider the following:
(A) Whether existing FAA policies regarding obstruction marking and lighting clearly identify when slacklines, tight ropes, highlines, wires, and similar temporary obstructions should be marked, lighted, or otherwise identified and whether such policies are effective in reducing the risk of low-altitude aircraft strikes.
(B) Whether the FAA can improve Notices to Airmen, obstacle data, or other aeronautical information products to better support consistent digital depiction across flight planning tools, electronic flight bags, avionics systems, and other associated tools utilized by industry, including information related to coordinates, radius-distance, maximum height above ground level, effective dates and times, responsible party information, and any marking, lighting, or identification required by the FAA.
(C) Whether the FAA can improve coordination with relevant Federal, State, Tribal, and local land management agencies, including the National Park Service, the Bureau of Land Management, and the United States Forest Service, with respect to activities that may create low-altitude aviation hazards.
(D) Whether the existing penalties for violations of low-altitude airspace requirements are sufficient to ensure the safety of such airspace.
(E) Suggested improvements to FAA outreach to non- aviation communities whose activities may create hazards in the national airspace system to improve awareness of, and compliance with, applicable requirements and guidance.
(3) Consultation.—For purposes of paragraph (1), the stakeholders described in this paragraph are representatives of the following:
(A) Helicopter and powered-lift aircraft operators and pilots.
(B) Air medical operators.
(C) General aviation pilots and aircraft owners.
(D) Agricultural aviation operators.
(E) Uncrewed aircraft system operators.
(F) Aviation safety experts with specific knowledge of vertical flight operations.
(G) Any other stakeholder the Administrator determines appropriate.
(b) Updated Regulations, Guidance, and Policies.—If, upon conducting the review required under subsection (a), the Administrator determines that the policies described in subsection (a)(2)(A) do not adequately identify requirements related to markings or lightings for slacklines or other temporary obstructions, the Administrator shall, not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of this section, update FAA regulations, guidance, or policies as necessary.
(c) Briefing.—Not later than 90 days after the completion of the review required under subsection (a), the Administrator shall brief the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation and the Committee on Appropriations of the Senate and the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure and the Committee on Appropriations of the House of Representatives regarding—
(1) the findings of such review;
(2) the regulations, guidance, or policies to be updated pursuant to subsection (b); and
(3) any recommendations for legislative action determined appropriate by the Administrator to improve the safety of low- altitude airspace. <all>
Comments