[Congressional Bills 117th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 8097 Introduced in House (IH)]
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117th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. R. 8097
To amend title 51, United States Code, to direct the Administrator of
the National Aeronautics and Space Administration to establish an
initiative to conduct research, development, and demonstration on
technologies capable of reducing both greenhouse gas emissions and
noise emissions from aircraft, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
June 16, 2022
Mr. Beyer (for himself, Mr. Lynch, Mr. Lowenthal, Mr. Sherman, Mr.
Huffman, Mr. Cohen, Ms. Bass, Mr. Suozzi, and Mr. Khanna) introduced
the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Science,
Space, and Technology
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To amend title 51, United States Code, to direct the Administrator of
the National Aeronautics and Space Administration to establish an
initiative to conduct research, development, and demonstration on
technologies capable of reducing both greenhouse gas emissions and
noise emissions from aircraft, 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 ``Cleaner, Quieter Airplanes Act''.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
Congress makes the following findings:
(1) Air travel currently contributes approximately 3
percent to global carbon emissions, but emissions from this
sector are expected to triple by 2050.
(2) A healthy, thriving aviation sector contributes to the
quality of life and economic well-being of the United States.
In 2016, the Federal Aviation Administration found that civil
aviation accounted for 5.2 percent of the United States gross
domestic product, generated $1.8 trillion, and supported
10,900,000 jobs.
(3) Existing aircraft technologies contribute to noise
pollution that has adverse impacts on the quality of life in
affected communities. As air traffic volumes increase and the
adoption of performance-based navigation technology proceeds,
the problem of noise pollution is becoming more severe in some
areas.
(4) The United States has adopted a goal of net-zero
greenhouse gas emissions from the United States aviation sector
by 2050.
(5) Research on technologies to lessen the environmental
and noise impacts of aviation is ongoing, but should
accelerate, and should include work on the further maturation
and integration of multiple enabling technologies on production
aircraft, including novel integrated systems at the aircraft
level.
SEC. 3. NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION INITIATIVE ON
REDUCTION OF GREENHOUSE GAS AND NOISE EMISSIONS FROM
AIRCRAFT.
(a) Initiative Required.--Section 40112 of title 51, United States
Code, is amended--
(1) by redesignating subsections (b) through (f) as
subsections (c) through (g), respectively; and
(2) by inserting after subsection (a) the following:
``(b) Research and Development Initiative on Reduction of
Greenhouse Gas and Noise Emissions From Aircraft.--
``(1) In general.--The Administrator shall establish an
initiative to research, develop, and demonstrate new
technologies and concepts for the purposes of reducing
greenhouse gas emissions from aviation, including carbon
dioxide, (CO2), nitrogen oxides (NOx), other greenhouse gases,
water vapor, black carbon and sulfate aerosols, increased
cloudiness due to contrail formation, noise emissions from
aircraft, and to enable associated aircraft performance
characteristics.
``(2) Goals.--The goals of the initiative shall be to--
``(A) ensure United States leadership in research
and technology innovation leading to substantial
reductions in aviation noise and greenhouse gas
emissions;
``(B) enhance and expand basic research, and the
translation of basic research into applications, that
may lead to transformational advances in reducing
aviation noise and greenhouse gas emissions;
``(C) accelerate research and development that
contributes to maturing new technologies for reducing
aircraft noise and greenhouse gas emissions; and
``(D) obtain and disseminate associated testing and
performance data that facilitates the incorporation of
new technologies into commercial aircraft development
as soon as practicable.
``(3) Objectives.--The objectives of the initiative and
goals in paragraph (1) shall include--
``(A) as soon as practicable, a reduction of
greenhouse gas emissions from new aircraft by at least
50 percent compared to the highest-performing aircraft
technologies in service as of December 31, 2021;
``(B) noise levels from aircraft throughout all
phases of flight that do not exceed ambient noise
levels in the absence of flight operations in the
vicinity of the flight route;
``(C) net-zero greenhouse gas emissions from
aircraft by 2050; and
``(D) demonstrating new technologies developed
pursuant to the initiative established under paragraph
(1) on regional aircraft intended to enter into service
by 2030 and single-aisle aircraft designed to
accommodate more than 125 passengers intended to enter
into service by 2040.''.
(b) Technology Focus Areas.--In carrying out the research and
development initiative established under subsection (b) of section
40112 of title 51, United States Code, the Administrator of the
National Aeronautics and Space Administration shall advance research,
development, and demonstration projects on promising technologies such
as--
(1) advanced subsonic propulsion technology, design, and
integration;
(2) electric and hybrid-electric propulsion, including
battery electric and hydrogen fuel cell electric systems;
(3) airframe concepts and configurations;
(4) analysis of technology options, including cost-benefit
analysis of greenhouse gas and noise emissions reduction
technologies;
(5) analytical tools for system- and system-of-systems-
level modeling and integration;
(6) airspace operations improvements;
(7) noise emission reduction; and
(8) other efforts, as determined by the Administration,
that contribute to a sustainable future for aviation.
(c) Implementation.--In implementing the initiative established
under subsection (b) of section 40112 of title 51, United States Code,
the Administrator of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration
shall, to the extent practicable--
(1) ensure that testing and performance data integrates the
results of community acceptance surveys conducted by the
Federal Aviation Administration and other relevant studies,
including studies on the impacts of new noise effects from
novel propulsion systems and from airspace operations changes;
(2) provide testing and performance data on the
technologies described in subsection (b) to the Administrator
of the Federal Aviation Administration to facilitate the work
of the Federal Aviation Administration in identifying new
requirements for policy, infrastructure, and administrative
capacity necessary to enable the safe integration of such
technologies on aircraft;
(3) pursue partnerships with organizations, current
commercial production aircraft providers, academic
institutions, small businesses and new entrants, including
partnerships to advance research and development activities
related to both regional aircraft and aircraft designed to
accommodate more than 125 passengers;
(4) include universities, academic institutions, and other
research organizations in the partnerships under paragraph (3);
(5) expand basic research;
(6) ensure equity in research sponsorship and partnership
opportunities with underrepresented students, faculty, and
minority-serving-institutions;
(7) continue to coordinate with the Department of Energy on
battery technology research;
(8) make available the research and development carried out
under the initiative established under subsection (b) of
section 40112 of title 51, United States Code, to help enable
an industry-wide shift toward aircraft concepts that reduce
greenhouse gas emissions and aircraft noise to achieve the
goals and objectives under paragraphs (2) and (3) of such
subsection; and
(9) continue to support research, development, and
demonstration of aircraft concepts, including systems
architecture, materials and components, integration of systems
and airframe structures, human factors, airspace planning and
operations, and the integration of related advanced
technologies and concepts, with the goal of carrying out test
flights with integrated subsystems by 2025.
(d) Annual Report.--Not later than 1 year after the date of the
enactment of this Act, and annually thereafter, the Administrator of
the National Aeronautics and Space Administration shall submit 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 progress of the work under the
initiative established under subsection (b) of section 40112 of title
51, United States Code, including--
(1) the status of progress on the initiative under such
subsection;
(2) an updated, anticipated timeframe for readiness of
technologies and aircraft to be adopted by industry with the
emissions reduction levels directed under such subsection; and
(3) an identification of fundamental aeronautics research
activities contributing to achieving the initiative under such
subsection, as well as a description of any obstacles to
achieving such goals and objectives under paragraphs (2) and
(3) of such subsection.
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