Air Pollution: FAA's Reliance on Manufacturers for Jet Engine Emission
Testing (Letter Report, 07/13/94, GAO/RCED-94-99).

To ensure compliance with jet aircraft emission standards, the Federal
Aviation Administration (FAA) relies on manufacturers to conduct and
report on the results of jet engine emission tests. Also, FAA relies on
its designees--engineers who are employed by the jet engine
manufacturing companies--to ensure that the tests are properly conducted
and accurately reported. Although FAA reviews and approves test plans
and results, it seldom, if ever, observes the manufacturers conducting
such tests. Acknowledging a potential for conflict of interest in the
designee system, FAA and the manufacturers have taken several steps to
buffer designees from pressures that could compromise their oversight
role. For example, FAA appoints as designees manufacturer employees who
have enough authority within the company to resist pressures to bypass
FAA's requirements. Also, the manufacturers have aligned their
organizational structure so that designees report to managers who are
not directly responsible for designing and developing engines.

--------------------------- Indexing Terms -----------------------------

 REPORTNUM:  RCED-94-99
     TITLE:  Air Pollution: FAA's Reliance on Manufacturers for Jet 
             Engine Emission Testing
      DATE:  07/13/94
   SUBJECT:  Air transportation operations
             Airline industry
             Aircraft
             Human resources utilization
             Safety standards
             Air pollution control
             Aircraft engines
             Airline regulation
             Atmospheric research
             Testing

             
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