[Congressional Bills 112th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 970 Introduced in House (IH)]

112th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 970

To reauthorize the civil aviation research and development projects and 
   activities of the Federal Aviation Administration, and for other 
                               purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             March 9, 2011

 Mr. Hall (for himself and Mr. Palazzo) introduced the following bill; 
 which was referred to the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To reauthorize the civil aviation research and development projects and 
   activities of the Federal Aviation Administration, 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; TABLE OF CONTENTS.

    (a) Short Title.--This Act may be cited as the ``Federal Aviation 
Research and Development Reauthorization Act of 2011''.
    (b) Table of Contents.--The table of contents for this Act is as 
follows:

Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents.
Sec. 2. Amendments to title 49, United States Code.
Sec. 3. Definitions.
                        TITLE I--AUTHORIZATIONS

Sec. 101. Authorization of appropriations.
Sec. 102. Unmanned aircraft systems.
Sec. 103. Research program on runways.
Sec. 104. Research on design for certification.
Sec. 105. Airport cooperative research program.
Sec. 106. Centers of excellence.
Sec. 107. Interagency research on aviation and the environment.
Sec. 108. Aviation fuel research and development program.
Sec. 109. Research program on alternative jet fuel technology for civil 
                            aircraft.
Sec. 110. Review of FAA's energy- and environment-related research 
                            programs.
Sec. 111. Review of FAA's aviation safety-related research programs.

SEC. 2. AMENDMENTS TO TITLE 49, UNITED STATES CODE.

    Except as otherwise expressly provided, whenever in this Act an 
amendment or repeal is expressed in terms of an amendment to, or a 
repeal of, a section or other provision, the reference shall be 
considered to be made to a section or other provision of title 49, 
United States Code.

SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.

    As used in this Act, the following definition apply:
            (1) Administrator.--The term ``Administrator'' means the 
        Administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration.
            (2) FAA.--The term ``FAA'' means the Federal Aviation 
        Administration.
            (3) Institution of higher education.--The term 
        ``institution of higher education'' has the same meaning given 
        the term in section 101(a) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 
        (20 U.S.C. 1001(a)).
            (4) NASA.--The term ``NASA'' means the National Aeronautics 
        and Space Administration.
            (5) National research council.--The term ``National 
        Research Council'' means the National Research Council of the 
        National Academies of Science and Engineering.
            (6) NOAA.--The term ``NOAA'' means the National Oceanic and 
        Atmospheric Administration.
            (7) Secretary.--The term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary 
        of Transportation.

                        TITLE I--AUTHORIZATIONS

SEC. 101. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

    (a) In General.--Section 48102(a) is amended--
            (1) in the matter before paragraph (1) by striking ``of 
        this title'' and inserting ``of this title and, for each of 
        fiscal years 2011 through 2014, under subsection (g)'';
            (2) in paragraph (11)--
                    (A) in subparagraph (K) by inserting ``and'' at the 
                end; and
                    (B) in subparagraph (L) by striking ``and'' at the 
                end;
            (3) in paragraph (12)(L) by striking ``and'' at the end;
            (4) in paragraph (14) by striking the period at the end and 
        inserting a semicolon; and
            (5) by adding at the end the following:
            ``(15) for fiscal year 2011, $165,020,000; and
            ``(16) for each of the fiscal years 2012 through 2014, 
        $146,827,000.''.
    (b) Specific Program Limitations.--Section 48102 is amended by 
inserting after subsection (f) the following:
    ``(g) Specific Authorizations.--The following programs described in 
the research, engineering, and development account of the national 
aviation research plan required under section 44501(c) are authorized:
            ``(1) Fire Research and Safety.
            ``(2) Propulsion and Fuel Systems.
            ``(3) Advanced Materials/Structural Safety.
            ``(4) Atmospheric Hazards--Aircraft Icing/Digital System 
        Safety.
            ``(5) Continued Airworthiness.
            ``(6) Aircraft Catastrophic Failure Prevention Research.
            ``(7) Flightdeck/Maintenance/System Integration Human 
        Factors.
            ``(8) System Safety Management.
            ``(9) Air Traffic Control/Technical Operations Human 
        Factors.
            ``(10) Aeromedical Research.
            ``(11) Weather Program.
            ``(12) Unmanned Aircraft Systems Research.
            ``(13) NextGen--Alternative Fuels for General Aviation.
            ``(14) Joint Planning and Development Office.
            ``(15) NextGen--Wake Turbulence research.
            ``(16) NextGen--Air Ground Integration Human Factors.
            ``(17) NextGen--Self Separation Human Factors.
            ``(18) NextGen--Weather Technology in the Cockpit.
            ``(19) Environment and Energy Research.
            ``(20) NextGen Environmental Research--Aircraft 
        Technologies, Fuels, and Metrics.
            ``(21) System Planning and Resource Management.
            ``(22) The William J. Hughes Technical Center Laboratory 
        Facility.''.
    (c) Program Authorizations.--From the other accounts described in 
the national aviation research plan required under section 44501(c) of 
title 49, United States Code, for each of the fiscal years 2011 through 
2014, the following research and development activities are authorized:
            (1) Runway Incursion Reduction.
            (2) Systems Capacity, Planning and Improvement.
            (3) Operations Concept Validation.
            (4) NAS Weather Requirements.
            (5) Airspace Management Program.
            (6) NextGen--Air Traffic Control/Technical Operations Human 
        Factors.
            (7) NextGen--Environment and Energy--Environmental 
        Management System and Advanced Noise and Emissions reduction.
            (8) NextGen--New Air Traffic Management Requirements.
            (9) NextGen--Operations Concept Validation--Validation 
        Modeling.
            (10) NextGen--System Safety Management Transformation.
            (11) NextGen--Wake Turbulence--Recategorization.
            (12) NextGen--Operational Assessments.
            (13) NextGen--Staffed NextGen Towers.
            (14) Center for Advanced Aviation System Development.
            (15) Airports Technology Research Program--Capacity.
            (16) Airports Technology Research Program--Safety.
            (17) Airports Technology Research Program--Environment.
            (18) Airport Cooperative Research--Capacity.
            (19) Airport Cooperative Research--Environment.
            (20) Airport Cooperative Research--Safety.

SEC. 102. UNMANNED AIRCRAFT SYSTEMS.

    (a) Research Initiative.--Section 44504(b) is amended--
            (1) in paragraph (6) by striking ``and'' after the 
        semicolon;
            (2) in paragraph (7) by striking the period at the end and 
        inserting ``; and''; and
            (3) by adding at the end the following:
            ``(8) in conjunction with other Federal agencies, as 
        appropriate, to develop technologies and methods to assess the 
        risk of and prevent defects, failures, and malfunctions of 
        products, parts, and processes, for use in all classes of 
        unmanned aircraft systems that could result in a catastrophic 
        failure of the unmanned aircraft that would endanger other 
        aircraft in the national airspace system.''.
    (b) Systems, Procedures, Facilities, and Devices.--Section 44505(b) 
is amended--
            (1) in paragraph (4) by striking ``and'' after the 
        semicolon;
            (2) in paragraph (5)(C) by striking the period at the end 
        and inserting a semicolon; and
            (3) by adding at the end the following:
            ``(6) to develop a better understanding of the relationship 
        between human factors and unmanned aircraft system safety; and
            ``(7) to develop dynamic simulation models for integrating 
        all classes of unmanned aircraft systems into the national 
        airspace system without any degradation of existing levels of 
        safety for all national airspace system users.''.

SEC. 103. RESEARCH PROGRAM ON RUNWAYS.

    Section 44505(c) is amended--
            (1) by redesignating paragraphs (3) through (6) as 
        paragraphs (5) through (8); and
            (2) by inserting after paragraph (2) the following:
            ``(3) improved runway surfaces;
            ``(4) engineered material restraining systems for runways 
        at both general aviation airports and airports with commercial 
        air carrier operations;''.

SEC. 104. RESEARCH ON DESIGN FOR CERTIFICATION.

    Section 44505 is amended--
            (1) by redesignating subsection (d) as subsection (e); and
            (2) by inserting after subsection (c) the following:
    ``(d) Research on Design for Certification.--
            ``(1) Research.--Not later than 1 year after the date of 
        enactment of the Federal Aviation Research and Development 
        Reauthorization Act of 2011, the Administrator shall conduct 
        research on methods and procedures to improve both confidence 
        in and the timeliness of certification of new technologies for 
        their introduction into the national airspace system.
            ``(2) Research plan.--Not later than 6 months after the 
        date of enactment of the Federal Aviation Research and 
        Development Reauthorization Act of 2011, the Administrator 
        shall develop a plan for the research under subsection (a) that 
        contains the objectives, proposed tasks, milestones, and 5-year 
        budgetary profile.
            ``(3) Review.--The Administrator shall enter into an 
        arrangement with the National Research Council to conduct an 
        independent review of the plan developed under subsection (b) 
        and shall provide the results of that review to the Committee 
        on Science, Space, and Technology of the House of 
        Representatives and the Committee on Commerce, Science, and 
        Transportation of the Senate not later than 18 months after the 
        date of enactment of the Federal Aviation Research and 
        Development Reauthorization Act of 2011.''.

SEC. 105. AIRPORT COOPERATIVE RESEARCH PROGRAM.

    Section 44511(f) is amended--
            (1) in paragraph (1) by striking ``establish a 4-year 
        pilot'' and inserting ``maintain an''; and
            (2) in paragraph (4)--
                    (A) by striking ``Not later than 6 months after the 
                expiration of the program under this subsection,'' and 
                inserting ``Not later than September 30, 2012,''; and
                    (B) by striking ``program, including 
                recommendations as to the need for establishing a 
                permanent airport cooperative research program'' and 
                inserting ``program''.

SEC. 106. CENTERS OF EXCELLENCE.

    (a) Government's Share of Costs.--Section 44513(f) is amended to 
read as follows:
    ``(f) Government's Share of Costs.--The United States Government's 
share of establishing and operating the center and all related research 
activities that grant recipients carry out shall not exceed 50 percent 
of the costs, except that the Administrator may increase such share to 
a maximum of 75 percent of the costs for any fiscal year if the 
Administrator determines that a center would be unable to carry out the 
authorized activities described in this section without additional 
funds.''.
    (b) Annual Report.--Section 44513 is amended by adding at the end 
the following:
    ``(h) Annual Report.--The Administrator shall transmit annually to 
the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology of the House of 
Representatives and the Committee on Commerce, Science, and 
Transportation of the Senate at the time of the President's budget 
request a report that lists--
            ``(1) the research projects that have been initiated by 
        each Center of Excellence in the preceding year;
            ``(2) the amount of funding for each research project and 
        the funding source;
            ``(3) the institutions participating in each project and 
        their shares of the overall funding for each research project; 
        and
            ``(4) the level of cost-sharing for each research 
        project.''.

SEC. 107. INTERAGENCY RESEARCH ON AVIATION AND THE ENVIRONMENT.

    (a) In General.--The Administrator, in coordination with NASA and 
after consultation with other relevant agencies, may maintain a 
research program to assess the potential effect of aviation on the 
environment and, if warranted, to evaluate approaches to address any 
such effect.
    (b) Research Plan.--
            (1) In general.--The Administrator, in coordination with 
        NASA and after consultation with other relevant agencies, shall 
        jointly develop a plan to carry out the research under 
        subsection (a).
            (2) Contents.--Such plan shall contain an inventory of 
        current interagency research being undertaken in this area, 
        future research objectives, proposed tasks, milestones, and a 
        5-year budgetary profile.
            (3) Requirements.--Such plan--
                    (A) shall be completed not later than 1 year after 
                the date of enactment of this Act;
                    (B) shall be submitted to Congress for review; and
                    (C) shall be updated, as appropriate, every 3 years 
                after the initial submission.

SEC. 108. AVIATION FUEL RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM.

    (a) In General.--Using amounts made available under section 
48102(a) of title 49, United States Code, the Administrator, in 
coordination with the NASA Administrator, shall continue research and 
development activities into the qualification of an unleaded aviation 
fuel and safe transition to this fuel for the fleet of piston engine 
aircraft.
    (b) Requirements.--In carrying out the program under subsection 
(a), the Administrator shall, at a minimum--
            (1) not later than 120 days after the date of enactment of 
        this Act, develop a research and development plan containing 
        the specific research and development objectives, including 
        consideration of aviation safety, technical feasibility, and 
        other relevant factors, and the anticipated timetable for 
        achieving the objectives;
            (2) assess the methods and processes by which the FAA and 
        industry may expeditiously certify and approve new aircraft and 
        recertify existing aircraft with respect to unleaded aviation 
        fuel;
            (3) assess technologies that modify existing piston engine 
        aircraft to enable safe operation of the aircraft using 
        unleaded aviation fuel and determine the resources necessary to 
        certify those technologies; and
            (4) develop recommendations for appropriate policies and 
        guidelines to facilitate a transition to unleaded aviation fuel 
        for piston engine aircraft.
    (c) Collaborations.--In carrying out the program under subsection 
(a), the Administrator shall collaborate with--
            (1) industry groups representing aviation consumers, 
        manufacturers, and fuel producers and distributors; and
            (2) other appropriate Federal agencies.
    (d) Report.--Not later than 270 days after the date of enactment of 
this Act, the Administrator shall provide a report to the Committee on 
Science, Space, and Technology of the House of Representatives and the 
Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the Senate on the 
plan, information obtained, and policies and guidelines developed 
pursuant to subsection (b).

SEC. 109. RESEARCH PROGRAM ON ALTERNATIVE JET FUEL TECHNOLOGY FOR CIVIL 
              AIRCRAFT.

    (a) Research Program.--Using amounts made available under section 
48102(a) of title 49, United States Code, the Secretary shall conduct a 
research program related to developing and certifying jet fuel from 
alternative sources (such as coal, natural gas, biomass, ethanol, 
butanol, and hydrogen) through grants or other measures authorized 
under section 106(l)(6) of such title, including reimbursable 
agreements with other Federal agencies.
    (b) Participation by Stakeholders.--In conducting the program, the 
Secretary shall provide for participation by educational and research 
institutions and by industry partners that have existing facilities and 
experience in the research and development of technology for 
alternative jet fuels.
    (c) Collaborations.--In conducting the program, the Secretary may 
collaborate with existing interagency programs--
            (1) to further the research and development of alternative 
        jet fuel technology for civil aircraft, including feasibility 
        studies; and
            (2) to exchange information with the participants in the 
        Commercial Aviation Alternative Fuels Initiative.

SEC. 110. REVIEW OF FAA'S ENERGY- AND ENVIRONMENT-RELATED RESEARCH 
              PROGRAMS.

    (a) Review.--The Administrator shall enter into an arrangement with 
the National Research Council for a review of FAA energy-related and 
environment-related research programs. The review shall assess 
whether--
            (1) the programs have well-defined, prioritized, and 
        appropriate research objectives;
            (2) the programs are properly coordinated with the energy- 
        and environment-related research programs at NASA, NOAA, and 
        other relevant agencies;
            (3) the programs have allocated appropriate resources to 
        each of the research objectives; and
            (4) there exist suitable mechanisms for transitioning the 
        research results into FAA's operational technologies and 
        procedures and certification activities.
    (b) Report.--A report containing the results of such review shall 
be provided to the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology of the 
House of Representatives and the Committee on Commerce, Science, and 
Transportation of the Senate not later than 18 months after the date of 
enactment of this Act.

SEC. 111. REVIEW OF FAA'S AVIATION SAFETY-RELATED RESEARCH PROGRAMS.

    (a) Review.--The Administrator shall enter into an arrangement with 
the National Research Council for an independent review of the FAA's 
aviation safety-related research programs. The review shall assess 
whether--
            (1) the programs have well-defined, prioritized, and 
        appropriate research objectives;
            (2) the programs are properly coordinated with the safety 
        research programs of NASA and other relevant Federal agencies;
            (3) the programs have allocated appropriate resources to 
        each of the research objectives; and
            (4) there exist suitable mechanisms for transitioning the 
        research results from the programs into the FAA's operational 
        technologies and procedures and certification activities in a 
        timely manner.
    (b) Aviation Safety-Related Research Programs To Be Assessed.--The 
FAA aviation safety-related research programs to be assessed under the 
review shall include, at a minimum, the following:
            (1) Air traffic control/technical operations human factors.
            (2) Runway incursion reduction.
            (3) Flightdeck/maintenance system integration human 
        factors.
            (4) Airports technology research--safety.
            (5) Airport Cooperative Research Program--safety.
            (6) Weather Program.
            (7) Atmospheric hazards/digital system safety.
            (8) Fire research and safety.
            (9) Propulsion and fuel systems.
            (10) Advanced materials/structural safety.
            (11) Aging aircraft.
            (12) Aircraft catastrophic failure prevention research.
            (13) Aeromedical research.
            (14) Aviation safety risk analysis.
            (15) Unmanned aircraft systems research.
    (c) Report.--Not later than 14 months after the date of enactment 
of this Act, the Administrator shall submit to Congress a report on the 
results of such review.
                                 <all>