[Congressional Bills 113th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1072 Reported in Senate (RS)]

                                                       Calendar No. 187
113th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                S. 1072

                          [Report No. 113-108]

To ensure that the Federal Aviation Administration advances the safety 
    of small airplanes and the continued development of the general 
               aviation industry, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                              May 23, 2013

Ms. Klobuchar (for herself, Ms. Murkowski, Mr. Moran, Mr. Roberts, Mr. 
 Johanns, Mr. Begich, Mr. Risch, Mr. Udall of New Mexico, Mr. Tester, 
  Mr. Inhofe, Ms. Heitkamp, Ms. Ayotte, Mr. Boozman, Mr. Franken, Mr. 
 Pryor, and Mr. Nelson) introduced the following bill; which was read 
     twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and 
                             Transportation

                           September 17, 2013

             Reported by Mr. Rockefeller, with an amendment
 [Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed 
                               in italic]

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To ensure that the Federal Aviation Administration advances the safety 
    of small airplanes and the continued development of the general 
               aviation industry, and for other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

<DELETED>SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.</DELETED>

<DELETED>    This Act may be cited as the ``Small Airplane 
Revitalization Act of 2013''.</DELETED>

<DELETED>SEC. 2. FINDINGS.</DELETED>

<DELETED>    Congress makes the following findings:</DELETED>
        <DELETED>    (1) A healthy small aircraft industry is integral 
        to economic growth and to maintaining an effective 
        transportation infrastructure for communities and countries 
        around the world.</DELETED>
        <DELETED>    (2) Small airplanes comprise nearly 90 percent of 
        general aviation aircraft certified by the Federal Aviation 
        Administration.</DELETED>
        <DELETED>    (3) General aviation provides for the cultivation 
        of a workforce of engineers, manufacturing and maintenance 
        professionals, and pilots who secure the economic success and 
        defense of the United States.</DELETED>
        <DELETED>    (4) General aviation contributes to well-paying 
        jobs in the manufacturing and technology sectors in the United 
        States and products produced by those sectors are exported in 
        great numbers.</DELETED>
        <DELETED>    (5) Technology developed and proven in general 
        aviation aids in the success and safety of all sectors of 
        aviation and scientific competence.</DELETED>
        <DELETED>    (6) The average small airplane in the United 
        States is now 40 years old and the regulatory barriers to 
        bringing new designs to the market are resulting in a lack of 
        innovation and investment in small airplane design.</DELETED>
        <DELETED>    (7) Since 2003, the United States lost 10,000 
        active private pilots per year on average, partially due to a 
        lack of cost-effective, new small airplanes.</DELETED>
        <DELETED>    (8) General aviation safety can be improved by 
        modernizing and revamping the regulations relating to small 
        airplanes to clear the path for technology adoption and cost-
        effective means to retrofit the existing fleet with new safety 
        technologies.</DELETED>

<DELETED>SEC. 3. SAFETY AND REGULATORY IMPROVEMENTS FOR GENERAL 
              AVIATION.</DELETED>

<DELETED>    (a) In General.--Not later than December 15, 2015, the 
Administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration shall issue a 
final rule--</DELETED>
        <DELETED>    (1) to advance the safety and continued 
        development of small airplanes by reorganizing the 
        certification requirements for such airplanes under part 23 to 
        streamline the approval of safety advancements; and</DELETED>
        <DELETED>    (2) that meets the objectives described in 
        subsection (b).</DELETED>
<DELETED>    (b) Objectives Described.--The objectives described in 
this subsection are the following objectives of the Part 23 
Reorganization Aviation Rulemaking Committee:</DELETED>
        <DELETED>    (1) The establishment of a regulatory regime for 
        small airplanes that will improve safety and decrease 
        certification costs.</DELETED>
        <DELETED>    (2) The establishment of broad, outcome-driven 
        safety objectives that will spur innovation and technology 
        adoption.</DELETED>
        <DELETED>    (3) The replacement of current, prescriptive 
        requirements under part 23 with performance-based 
        regulations.</DELETED>
        <DELETED>    (4) The use of consensus standards accepted by the 
        Federal Aviation Administration to clarify how the safety 
        objectives of part 23 may be met using specific designs and 
        technologies.</DELETED>
<DELETED>    (c) Consensus-Based Standards.--In prescribing regulations 
under this section, the Administrator shall use consensus standards, as 
described in section 12(d) of the National Technology Transfer and 
Advancement Act of 1996 (15 U.S.C. 272 note), to the extent practicable 
while continuing to evaluate traditional methods for meeting the 
objectives of part 23.</DELETED>
<DELETED>    (d) Safety Cooperation.--The Administrator shall lead the 
effort to improve general aviation safety by working with leading 
aviation regulators to assist them in adopting a complementary 
regulatory approach for small airplanes.</DELETED>
<DELETED>    (e) Definitions.--In this section:</DELETED>
        <DELETED>    (1) Consensus standards.--</DELETED>
                <DELETED>    (A) In general.--The term ``consensus 
                standards'' means standards developed by an 
                organization described in subparagraph (B) that may 
                include provisions requiring that owners of relevant 
                intellectual property have agreed to make that 
                intellectual property available on a nondiscriminatory, 
                royalty-free, or reasonable royalty basis to all 
                interested persons.</DELETED>
                <DELETED>    (B) Organizations described.--An 
                organization described in this subparagraph is a 
                domestic or international organization that--</DELETED>
                        <DELETED>    (i) plans, develops, establishes, 
                        or coordinates, through a process based on 
                        consensus and using agreed-upon procedures, 
                        voluntary standards; and</DELETED>
                        <DELETED>    (ii) operates in a transparent 
                        manner, considers a balanced set of interests 
                        with respect to such standards, and provides 
                        for due process and an appeals process with 
                        respect to such standards.</DELETED>
        <DELETED>    (2) General aviation.--The term ``general 
        aviation'' means all aviation activities other than scheduled 
        commercial air carrier operations and military 
        aviation.</DELETED>
        <DELETED>    (3) Part 23.--The term ``part 23'' means part 23 
        of title 14, Code of Federal Regulations.</DELETED>
        <DELETED>    (4) Part 23 reorganization aviation rulemaking 
        committee.--The term ``Part 23 Reorganization Aviation 
        Rulemaking Committee'' means the aviation rulemaking committee 
        established by the Federal Aviation Administration in August 
        2011 to consider the reorganization of the regulations under 
        part 23.</DELETED>
        <DELETED>    (5) Small airplane.--The term ``small airplane'' 
        means an airplane to which part 23 applies.</DELETED>

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Small Airplane Revitalization Act of 
2013''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress makes the following findings:
            (1) A healthy small aircraft industry is integral to 
        economic growth and to maintaining an effective transportation 
        infrastructure for communities and countries around the world.
            (2) Small airplanes comprise nearly 90 percent of general 
        aviation aircraft certified by the Federal Aviation 
        Administration.
            (3) General aviation provides for the cultivation of a 
        workforce of engineers, manufacturing and maintenance 
        professionals, and pilots who secure the economic success and 
        defense of the United States.
            (4) General aviation contributes to well-paying jobs in the 
        manufacturing and technology sectors in the United States and 
        products produced by those sectors are exported in great 
        numbers.
            (5) Technology developed and proven in general aviation 
        aids in the success and safety of all sectors of aviation and 
        scientific competence.
            (6) The average small airplane in the United States is now 
        40 years old and the regulatory barriers to bringing new 
        designs to the market are resulting in a lack of innovation and 
        investment in small airplane design.
            (7) Since 2003, the United States lost 10,000 active 
        private pilots per year on average, partially due to a lack of 
        cost-effective, new small airplanes.
            (8) General aviation safety can be improved by modernizing 
        and revamping the regulations relating to small airplanes to 
        clear the path for technology adoption and cost-effective means 
        to retrofit the existing fleet with new safety technologies.

SEC. 3. SAFETY AND REGULATORY IMPROVEMENTS FOR GENERAL AVIATION.

    (a) In General.--Not later than December 15, 2015, the 
Administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration shall issue a 
final rule--
            (1) to advance the safety and continued development of 
        small airplanes by reorganizing the certification requirements 
        for such airplanes under part 23 to streamline the approval of 
        safety advancements; and
            (2) that meets the objectives described in subsection (b).
    (b) Objectives Described.--The objectives described in this 
subsection are based on the recommendations of the Part 23 
Reorganization Aviation Rulemaking Committee:
            (1) The establishment of a regulatory regime for small 
        airplanes that will improve safety and reduce the regulatory 
        cost burden for the Federal Aviation Administration and the 
        aviation industry.
            (2) The establishment of broad, outcome-driven safety 
        objectives that will spur innovation and technology adoption.
            (3) The replacement of current, prescriptive requirements 
        under part 23 with performance-based regulations.
            (4) The use of consensus standards accepted by the Federal 
        Aviation Administration to clarify how the safety objectives of 
        part 23 may be met using specific designs and technologies.
    (c) Consensus-Based Standards.--In prescribing regulations under 
this section, the Administrator shall use consensus standards, as 
described in section 12(d) of the National Technology Transfer and 
Advancement Act of 1996 (15 U.S.C. 272 note), to the extent practicable 
while continuing traditional methods for meeting part 23.
    (d) Safety Cooperation.--The Administrator shall lead the effort to 
improve general aviation safety by working with leading aviation 
regulators to assist them in adopting a complementary regulatory 
approach for small airplanes.
    (e) Definitions.--In this section:
            (1) Consensus standards.--
                    (A) In general.--The term ``consensus standards'' 
                means standards developed by an organization described 
                in subparagraph (B) that may include provisions 
                requiring that owners of relevant intellectual property 
                have agreed to make that intellectual property 
                available on a nondiscriminatory, royalty-free, or 
                reasonable royalty basis to all interested persons.
                    (B) Organizations described.--An organization 
                described in this subparagraph is a domestic or 
                international organization that--
                            (i) plans, develops, establishes, or 
                        coordinates, through a process based on 
                        consensus and using agreed-upon procedures, 
                        voluntary standards; and
                            (ii) operates in a transparent manner, 
                        considers a balanced set of interests with 
                        respect to such standards, and provides for due 
                        process and an appeals process with respect to 
                        such standards.
            (2) Part 23.--The term ``part 23'' means part 23 of title 
        14, Code of Federal Regulations.
            (3) Part 23 reorganization aviation rulemaking committee.--
        The term ``Part 23 Reorganization Aviation Rulemaking 
        Committee'' means the aviation rulemaking committee established 
        by the Federal Aviation Administration in August 2011 to 
        consider the reorganization of the regulations under part 23.
            (4) Small airplane.--The term ``small airplane'' means an 
        airplane which is certified to part 23 standards.
                                                       Calendar No. 187

113th CONGRESS

  1st Session

                                S. 1072

                          [Report No. 113-108]

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL

To ensure that the Federal Aviation Administration advances the safety 
    of small airplanes and the continued development of the general 
               aviation industry, and for other purposes.

_______________________________________________________________________

                           September 17, 2013

                       Reported with an amendment