[House Report 113-151]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]


113th Congress                                                   Report
                        HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
 1st Session                                                    113-151

======================================================================



 
               SMALL AIRPLANE REVITALIZATION ACT OF 2013

                                _______
                                

 July 16, 2013.--Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the 
              State of the Union and ordered to be printed

                                _______
                                

 Mr. Shuster, from the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, 
                        submitted the following

                              R E P O R T

                        [To accompany H.R. 1848]

      [Including cost estimate of the Congressional Budget Office]

    The Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, to whom 
was referred the 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, having considered the same, report 
favorably thereon with an amendment and recommend that the bill 
as amended do pass.

                                CONTENTS

                                                                   Page
Purpose of Legislation...........................................     3
Background and Need for Legislation..............................     3
Hearings.........................................................     3
Legislative History and Consideration............................     3
Committee Votes..................................................     4
Committee Oversight Findings.....................................     4
New Budget Authority and Tax Expenditures........................     4
Congressional Budget Office Cost Estimate........................     4
Performance Goals and Objectives.................................     5
Advisory of Earmarks.............................................     5
Duplication of Federal Programs..................................     5
Disclosure of Directed Rule Makings..............................     5
Federal Mandate Statement........................................     5
Preemption Clarification.........................................     6
Advisory Committee Statement.....................................     6
Applicability of Legislative Branch..............................     6
Section-by-Section Analysis of Legislation.......................     6
Changes in Existing Law made by the Bill, as Reported............     7
    The amendment is as follows:
  Strike all after the enacting clause and insert the 
following:

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

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

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

  Congress finds the following:
          (1) A healthy small aircraft industry is integral to economic 
        growth and to maintaining an effective transportation 
        infrastructure for communities and nations around the world.
          (2) Small aircraft comprise nearly 90 percent of FAA type 
        certified general aviation aircraft.
          (3) General aviation provides for the cultivation of a 
        workforce of engineers, manufacturing and maintenance 
        professionals, and pilots, who secure the Nation's economic 
        success and defense.
          (4) General aviation contributes to well-paying manufacturing 
        and technology jobs in the United States, and these products 
        are exported in great numbers, providing a positive trade 
        balance.
          (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 market are resulting in a lack of innovation and investment 
        in small airplane design;
          (7) Over the past decade, the United States has typically 
        lost 10,000 active private pilots per year, partially due to a 
        lack of cost-effective, new small airplanes.
          (8) General aviation safety can be improved by modernizing 
        and revamping the regulations for this sector to clear the path 
        for technology adoption and cost-effective means to retrofit 
        the existing fleet with new safety technologies.

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

  (a) Establishment of FAA Safety and Regulatory Improvements for 
General Aviation.--The Administrator shall advance the safety and 
continued development of small airplanes by reorganizing the 
certification requirements applicable to small airplanes to streamline 
the approval of safety advancements.
  (b) Regulations.--The Administrator shall issue a final rule based on 
the FAA's Part 23 Reorganization Aviation Rulemaking Committee 
(established in August 2011) by December 31, 2015. The final rule shall 
meet the following objectives of the Part 23 Committee:
          (1) Create a regulatory regime for small airplanes that will 
        improve safety and decrease certification costs.
          (2) Set broad, outcome-driven safety objectives that will 
        spur innovation and technology adoption.
          (3) Replace current, prescriptive requirements contained in 
        FAA rules with performance-based regulations.
          (4) Use FAA-accepted consensus standards to clarify how the 
        part 23 safety objectives may be met by specific designs and 
        technologies.
  (c) Consensus-Based Standards.--The Administrator shall use 
acceptable consensus-based standards whenever possible in the spirit of 
the National Technology Transfer and Advancement Act of 1996 (15 U.S.C. 
3701 note), 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.

SEC. 4. DEFINITIONS.

  In this Act, the following definitions apply:
          (1) Administrator.--The term ``Administrator'' means the 
        Administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration.
          (2) Consensus standards.--The term ``consensus standards'' 
        means standards developed by voluntary organizations which 
        plan, develop, establish, or coordinate voluntary standards 
        using agreed-upon procedures, both domestic and international. 
        These standards include provisions requiring that owners of 
        relevant intellectual property agree to make that intellectual 
        property available on a nondiscriminatory, royalty-free or 
        reasonable-royalty basis to all interested parties. These 
        bodies have the attributes of openness, balance of interest, 
        due process, an appeals process, and consensus.
          (3) FAA.--The term ``FAA'' means the Federal Aviation 
        Administration.
          (4) General aviation.--The term ``general aviation'' means 
        all aviation activities other than scheduled commercial airline 
        operations and military aviation.
          (5) Part 23.--The term ``part 23'' means part 23 of title 14, 
        Code of Federal Regulations.
          (6) Small airplane.--The term ``small airplane'' means FAA 
        type certificated airplanes that meet the parameters of part 23 
        of title 14, Code of Federal Regulations.

                         PURPOSE OF LEGISLATION

    H.R. 1848 advances the safety and continued development of 
small airplanes by directing the Administrator of the Federal 
Aviation Administration (FAA) to reorganize certification 
requirements to streamline the approval of safety advancements.

                  BACKGROUND AND NEED FOR LEGISLATION

    The U.S. general aviation industry includes nearly 600,000 
pilots, employs roughly 1.3 million people, and contributes 
approximately $150 billion annually to the economy. The general 
aviation industry is one of the few remaining U.S. 
manufacturing industries that provide a trade surplus for the 
United States. However, over the last few decades the general 
aviation industry has experienced unique challenges, including 
a steady decline in new pilots, flight activity, and the sale 
of new aircraft. In part, these challenges are due to overly 
prescriptive and outdated FAA certification processes that 
greatly increase the cost to bring new products to market and 
ultimately increase the cost for consumers.
    H.R. 1848 directs the Administrator to issue a final rule 
by December 31, 2015, based on the recommendations of the FAA's 
Part 23 Reorganization Rulemaking Committee. The final rule 
must (1) create a regulatory regime for small airplanes that 
will improve safety and decrease certification costs; (2) set 
broad, outcome-driven safety objectives that will spur 
innovation and technology adoption; (3) replace current, 
prescriptive requirements contained in FAA rules with 
performance-based regulations; and (4) use FAA-accepted 
consensus standards to clarify how the Part 23 safety 
objectives may be met by specific designs and technologies.

                                HEARINGS

    No hearings were specifically held on H.R. 1848; however, 
the legislation was discussed at the Subcommittee on Aviation's 
May 16, 2013 hearing entitled, ``Review of Progress 
Implementing FAA Reform Act''.

                 LEGISLATIVE HISTORY AND CONSIDERATION

    On May 7, 2013, Representative Mike Pompeo introduced H.R. 
1848, along with original co-sponsors Representatives Dan 
Lipinski, Sam Graves, Richard Nolan, and Todd Rokita.
    On July 10, 2013, the Committee on Transportation and 
Infrastructure met in open session and ordered the bill 
reported favorably to the House by voice vote with a quorum 
present. A manager's amendment was offered in Committee by Mr. 
LoBiondo. The manager's amendment was a technical amendment to 
a provision in the bill that requires the FAA to use consensus-
based standards when possible for Part 23 compliance and 
clarified that traditional methods for Part 23 compliance will 
remain acceptable. The manager's amendment was adopted by voice 
vote with a quorum present.

                            COMMITTEE VOTES

    Clause 3(b) of rule XIII of the Rules of the House of 
Representatives requires each committee report to include the 
total number of votes cast for and against on each record vote 
on a motion to report and on any amendment offered to the 
measure or matter, and the names of those members voting for 
and against. There were no record votes taken in connection 
with consideration of H.R. 1848 or ordering the measure 
reported. A motion to order H.R. 1848 reported favorably to the 
House was agreed to by voice vote with a quorum present.

                      COMMITTEE OVERSIGHT FINDINGS

    With respect to the requirements of clause 3(c)(1) of rule 
XIII of the Rules of the House of Representatives, the 
Committee's oversight findings and recommendations are 
reflected in this report.

               NEW BUDGET AUTHORITY AND TAX EXPENDITURES

    Clause 3(c)(2) of rule XIII of the Rules of the House of 
Representatives does not apply where a cost estimate and 
comparison prepared by the Director of the Congressional Budget 
Office under section 402 of the Congressional Budget Act of 
1974 has been timely submitted prior to the filing of the 
report and is included in the report. Such a cost estimate is 
included in this report.

               CONGRESSIONAL BUDGET OFFICE COST ESTIMATE

    With respect to the requirement of clause 3(c)(3) of rule 
XIII of the Rules of the House of Representatives and section 
402 of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974, the Committee has 
received the enclosed cost estimate for H.R. 1848 from the 
Director of the Congressional Budget Office:

                                     U.S. Congress,
                               Congressional Budget Office,
                                     Washington, DC, July 15, 2013.
Hon. Bill Shuster,
Chairman, Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure,
House of Representatives, Washington, DC.
    Dear Mr. Chairman: The Congressional Budget Office has 
prepared the enclosed cost estimate for H.R. 1848, the Small 
Airplane Revitalization Act of 2013.
    If you wish further details on this estimate, we will be 
pleased to provide them. The CBO staff contact is Megan 
Carroll.
            Sincerely,
                                              Douglas W. Elmendorf.
    Enclosure.

H.R. 1848--Small Airplane Revitalization Act of 2013

    The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is responsible 
for regulating and overseeing civil air transportation. H.R. 
1848 would require the agency to issue a final rule related to 
certification and safety requirements of small airplanes by 
December 31, 2015. According to the agency, the rule required 
under the bill would build on efforts already underway to 
develop a regulatory regime for small airplanes, and CBO does 
not expect that meeting the deadline specified under H.R. 1848 
would significantly affect the agency's costs to complete those 
proceedings. As a result, CBO estimates that implementing H.R. 
1848 would have no significant impact on the federal budget. 
The legislation would not affect direct spending or revenues; 
therefore, pay-as-you-go procedures do not apply.
    H.R. 1848 contains no intergovernmental or private-sector 
mandates as defined in the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act.
    The CBO staff contact for this estimate is Megan Carroll. 
This estimate was approved by Theresa Gullo, Deputy Assistant 
Director for Budget Analysis.

                    PERFORMANCE GOALS AND OBJECTIVES

    With respect to the requirement of clause 3(c)(4) of rule 
XIII of the Rules of the House of Representatives, the 
performance goal and objective of this legislation is to 
advance the safety and continued development of small airplanes 
by reorganizing certification requirements to streamline the 
approval of safety advancements.

                          ADVISORY OF EARMARKS

    Pursuant to clause 9 of rule XXI of the Rules of the House 
of Representatives, the Committee is required to include a list 
of congressional earmarks, limited tax benefits, or limited 
tariff benefits as defined in clause 9(e), 9(f), and 9(g) of 
rule XXI of the Rules of the House of Representatives. No 
provision in the bill includes an earmark, limited tax benefit, 
or limited tariff benefit under clause 9(e), 9(f), or 9(g) of 
rule XXI.

                    DUPLICATION OF FEDERAL PROGRAMS

    Pursuant to section 3(j) of H. Res. 5, 113th Cong. (2013), 
the Committee finds that no provision of H.R. 1848 establishes 
or reauthorizes a program of the federal government known to be 
duplicative of another federal program, a program that was 
included in any report from the Government Accountability 
Office to Congress pursuant to section 21 of Public Law 111-
139, or a program related to a program identified in the most 
recent Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance.

                  DISCLOSURE OF DIRECTED RULE MAKINGS

    Pursuant to section 3(k) of H. Res. 5, 113th Cong. (2013), 
the Committee estimates that enacting H.R. 1848 directs the 
Administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration to 
complete one specific rule making within the meaning of section 
551 of title 5, United States Code.

                       FEDERAL MANDATE STATEMENT

    The Committee adopts as its own the estimate of federal 
mandates prepared by the Director of the Congressional Budget 
Office pursuant to section 423 of the Unfunded Mandates Reform 
Act (Public Law 104-4).

                        PREEMPTION CLARIFICATION

    Section 423 of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 
requires the report of any Committee on a bill or joint 
resolution to include a statement on the extent to which the 
bill or joint resolution is intended to preempt state, local, 
or tribal law. The Committee states that H.R. 1848 does not 
preempt any state, local, or tribal law.

                      ADVISORY COMMITTEE STATEMENT

    No advisory committees within the meaning of section 5(b) 
of the Federal Advisory Committee Act are created by this 
legislation.

                  APPLICABILITY OF LEGISLATIVE BRANCH

    The Committee finds that the legislation does not relate to 
the terms and conditions of employment or access to public 
services or accommodations within the meaning of section 
102(b)(3) of the Congressional Accountability Act (Public Law 
104-1).

               SECTION-BY-SECTION ANALYSIS OF LEGISLATION

Section 1. Short title; Small Airplane Revitalization Act of 2013

    This section provides that the short title of the bill is 
the ``Small Airplane Revitalization Act of 2013.''

Section 2. Findings

    In this section, Congress finds that:
          (1) A healthy small aircraft industry is integral to 
        economic growth and to maintaining an effective 
        transportation infrastructure for communities and 
        nations around the world;
          (2) Small aircraft comprise nearly 90 percent of 
        Federal Aviation Administration (FAA)-type certified 
        general aviation aircraft;
          (3) General aviation provides for the cultivation of 
        a workforce of engineers, manufacturing and maintenance 
        professionals, and pilots, who secure the Nation's 
        economic success and defense;
          (4) General aviation contributes to well-paying 
        manufacturing and technology jobs in the United States, 
        and these products are exported in great numbers, 
        providing a positive trade balance;
          (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 market are resulting in a lack 
        of innovation and investment in small airplane design;
          (7) Over the past decade, the United States has 
        typically lost 10,000 active private pilots per year, 
        partially due to a lack of cost-effective, new small 
        airplanes; and,
          (8) General aviation safety can be improved by 
        modernizing and revamping the regulations for this 
        sector to clear the path for technology adoption and 
        cost-effective means to retrofit the existing fleet 
        with new safety technologies.

Section 3. FAA safety and regulatory improvements for general aviation

    Subsection (a) directs the Administrator to advance the 
safety and continued development of small airplanes by 
reorganizing certification requirements applicable to small 
airplanes to streamline the approval of safety advancements.
    Subsection (b) requires the Administrator of the FAA to 
issue a final rule based on the FAA's Part 23 Reorganization 
Aviation Rulemaking Committee (established in August 2011) by 
December 31, 2015. The final rule is required to meet the 
following objectives of the Part 23 Committee:
          (1) Create a regulatory regime for small airplanes 
        that will improve safety and decrease certification 
        costs;
          (2) Set broad, outcome-driven safety objectives that 
        will spur innovation and technology adoption;
          (3) Replace current, prescriptive requirements 
        contained in FAA rules with performance-based 
        regulations; and
          (4) Use FAA-accepted consensus standards to clarify 
        how the Part 23 safety objectives may be met by 
        specific designs and technologies.
    Subsection (c) requires the Administrator of the FAA to use 
acceptable consensus based standards (in the spirit of the 
National Technology Transfer and Advancement Act of 1996) 
whenever possible in meeting the objectives of Part 23, while 
continuing traditional methods for meeting Part 23.
    Subsection (d) directs the Administrator to 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.

Section 4. Definitions

    This section defines the terms ``administrator'', 
``consensus standards'', ``FAA'', ``general aviation'', ``Part 
23'', and ``small airplane''.

         CHANGES IN EXISTING LAW MADE BY THE BILL, AS REPORTED

    H.R. 1848 makes no changes in existing law.

                                  
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