NBAA is praising the Senate for passing an appropriations bill containing language that would reinstate the Block Aircraft Registration Request (Barr) program. The FAA dismantled the aircraft tail-number blocking privacy program in August. H.R.2112 was passed on Tuesday by a 69 to 30 vote. “We thank the Senate for approving this bill with language to restore the Barr program, and we hope the House will finalize [companion] legislation to reinstate the program as soon as possible,” said NBAA president and CEO Ed Bolen. The language included in the funding bill for the DOT–the FAA’s parent department–and other government agencies states: “None of the funds made available…may be used to implement or to continue to implement any limitation on the ability of any owner or operator of a private aircraft to obtain, upon a request to the Administrator of the [FAA], a blocking of that owner’s or operator’s aircraft registration number from any display of the [FAA’s] Aircraft Situational Display to Industry data.” The bill is now at the House of Representatives for final consideration. NBAA and AOPA also filed a lawsuit against the FAA, seeking to force the agency to reinstate Barr. Court hearings in that case are scheduled to start on December 3.