[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 3958 Introduced in House (IH)]

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118th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 3958

 To direct the Administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration to 
 publish guidance and implementation procedures for unmanned aircraft 
 systems with respect to environmental reviews, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                              June 9, 2023

 Mr. D'Esposito (for himself and Mr. Stanton) introduced the following 
    bill; which was referred to the Committee on Transportation and 
                             Infrastructure

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To direct the Administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration to 
 publish guidance and implementation procedures for unmanned aircraft 
 systems with respect to environmental reviews, 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. ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW RELATING TO UNMANNED AIRCRAFT SYSTEMS.

    (a) Guidance Updates.--Not later than 180 days after the date of 
enactment of this Act, the Administrator of the Federal Aviation 
Administration shall publish unmanned aircraft system-specific guidance 
and implementation procedures. Such guidance and implementation 
procedures shall--
            (1) provide guidance to streamline environmental 
        assessments at a programmatic level, as the Administrator 
        considers appropriate, for an unmanned aircraft system 
        operator's network of operations within a defined geographical 
        region, including within and over approved commercial or 
        industrial sites closed or restricted to the public;
            (2) provide guidance for nationwide programmatic approaches 
        for large scale distributed unmanned aircraft system operations 
        whereby a Programmatic Environmental Assessment or 
        Environmental Impact Statement can be leveraged for subsequent 
        related actions to ensure efficient environmental review;
            (3) consider additional Categorical Exclusions based on 
        previously prepared and finalized Environmental Assessments or 
        in consultation with the Council on Environmental Quality;
            (4) prioritize proposed projects or activities that can be 
        shown to--
                    (A) offset or limit the impacts of non-zero 
                emission activities;
                    (B) offset or limit the release of environmental 
                pollutants to soil or water; or
                    (C) contain other factors to the benefit of the 
                environment as determined by the Administrator;
            (5) contain intra-agency process improvements to avoid 
        providing conflicting safety and environmental feedback to 
        operators;
            (6) contain standards and criteria for engaging specialized 
        third parties to support the Administration's preparation and 
        review of documentation relating to the requirements of the 
        National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et 
        seq.) to ensure streamlined timelines for complex reviews; and
            (7) any other modifications the Administrator considers 
        necessary within the stated environmental objectives of the 
        National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et 
        seq.) and the Federal priority to maintain global leadership in 
        aviation innovation.
    (b) Briefing.--No later than 90 days after the date of enactment of 
this Act, the Administrator shall brief the Committee on Transportation 
and Infrastructure of the House of Representatives and the Committee on 
Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the Senate on the plan of the 
Administration to implement subsection (b), including each of the 
considerations specified in the subsection, and an explanation for any 
consideration the Administrator does not intend to implement.
    (c) Concurrent Reviews.--If the Administrator determines that the 
review of an unmanned aircraft system's design, construction, 
maintenance and operational sustainability, airworthiness approval, or 
operational approval requires environmental assessment, including 
requirements under the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 
U.S.C. 4321 et seq.), the Administrator shall, to the maximum extent 
practicable, conduct such reviews and analyses concurrent with one 
another.
    (d) Rule of Construction.--Nothing in this section shall be 
construed as prohibiting, restricting or otherwise limiting the 
authority of the Secretary of Transportation or the Administrator from 
implementing or complying with the requirements of the National 
Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.) and any 
related requirements to ensure the protection of the environment and 
aviation safety.
    (e) Associated UAS Certification Standards.--
            (1) In general.--The Administrator shall develop and 
        establish substantive criteria and standards metrics used by 
        the Administrator to determine whether to approve or disapprove 
        the airworthiness of an unmanned aircraft pursuant to part 36 
        of title 14, Code of Federal Regulations.
            (2) Substantive criteria and standards metrics.--In 
        establishing the substantive criteria and standards metrics as 
        required under paragraph (1), the Administrator shall include 
        such criteria and metrics related to the airworthiness of 
        unmanned aircraft for the following:
                    (A) Noise impacts.
                    (B) Visual impacts.
            (3) Publication.--The Administrator shall publish in the 
        Federal Register and post on a website of the Federal Aviation 
        Administration the criteria and metrics established pursuant to 
        paragraph (1).
    (f) Definition of Unmanned Aircraft System.--In this section, the 
term ``unmanned aircraft system'' has the meaning given such term in 
section 44801 of title 49, United States Code.
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