US Codex
Bill
Notes

H.R. 1848 — what changed

Small Airplane Revitalization Act of 2013

From Introduced in House to Reported in House. 3 sections amended between Introduced in House and Reported in House.

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)
changed Small aircraft comprise nearly 90 percent of FAA-type FAA type certified general aviation aircraft.
(3)
changed General aviation provides for the cultivation of a workforce of engineers, manufacturing and maintenance professionals, and pilots 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)
changed Over the past decade, the United States has typically lost 10,000 active private pilots per year year, partially due to a lack of cost-effective, new small airplanes.
(8)
changed 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 cost-effective means to retrofit the existing fleet with new safety technologies.

Sec. 3 FAA safety and regulatory improvements for general aviation

(a)
changed Establishment of FAA safety and regulatory improvements for general aviation— The Administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration 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)
changed Set broad, outcome driven outcome-driven safety objectives that will spur innovation and technology adoption.
(3)
changed Replace current, prescriptive requirements contained in FAA rules with performance based performance-based regulations.
(4)
changed Use FAA-accepted consensus standards to clarify how the Part part 23 safety objectives may be met by specific designs and technologies.
(c)
changed 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) note), while continuing to evaluate traditional methods for meeting the objectives of Part 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

changed For purposes of In this Act, the following definitions apply:

(1)
Administrator— The term “Administrator” means the Administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration.
(2)
changed 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 have agreed agree to make that intellectual property available on a nondiscriminatory, royalty-free, royalty-free or reasonable royalty reasonable-royalty basis to all interested parties. These bodies have the attributes of openness, balance of interest, due process, an appeals process 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)
changed Small airplane—Part 23— The term “small airplane” “part 23” means FAA-type certificated airplanes that meet the parameters of part 23 of title 14 of the 14, Code of Federal Regulations.
(6)
added 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.