[Congressional Record Volume 159, Number 136 (Friday, October 4, 2013)]
[Senate]
[Pages S7212-S7213]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




               SMALL AIRPLANE REVITALIZATION ACT OF 2013

  Mr. REID. I ask unanimous consent that the Commerce Committee be 
discharged from further action on H.R. 1848.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  The clerk will report the bill by title.
  The legislative clerk read as follows:

       A bill (H.R. 1848) 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.

  There being no objection, the Senate proceeded to consider the bill.
  Mr. REID. I further ask that the substitute amendment, which is at 
the desk and is the text of S. 1072, as reported by the Commerce 
Committee, be agreed to; the bill, as amended, be read a third time and 
passed; and that the motions to reconsider be laid upon the table with 
no intervening action or debate.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  The amendment (No. 1999) was agreed to, as follows:

       Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert:

     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:

[[Page S7213]]

       (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.

  The amendment was ordered to be engrossed and the bill to be read a 
third time.
  The bill was read the third time.
  The bill (H.R. 1848), as amended, was passed.

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