WASHINGTON - The Federal Aviation Administration has chosen not to take on more hot air balloon oversight.
The decision comes two months after 16 people died in a balloon crash near Lockhart.
Last November the FAA refused a National Transportation Safety Board recommendation to tighten hot air balloon regulations.
The NTSB warned of the potential of a deadly crash without better regulation.
Congressman Lloyd Doggett pushed for the FAA to reconsider its 2015 decision, but Thursday, the FAA refused again.
"The FAA drug its feet, denied it. The NTSB said, 'If you don't act, people will die.' And tragically, in the Lockhart area, 15 of them plus the operator did," said Rep. Lloyd Doggett, D – Texas.
Doggett says the FAA should adopt the NTSB's proposed standards now and then adopt further safety measures based on the results of the investigation into the Lockhart crash.
That NTSB investigation could take up to a year and a half.