I 

114TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 4464 

To ensure that Federal research and development in support of civil aviation 

remains at the forefront of addressing challenges confronting the Nation’s 

air transportation system, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

FEBRUARY 4, 2016 

Ms. EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON of Texas (for herself, Mr. LIPINSKI, Ms. 

EDWARDS, Mr. GRAYSON, and Ms. ESTY) introduced the following bill; 

which was referred to the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology 

A BILL 

To ensure that Federal research and development in support 

of civil aviation remains at the forefront of addressing 

challenges confronting the Nation’s air transportation 

system, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Federal Aviation Re5 search and Development Reauthorization Act of 2016’’. 

6 SEC. 2. AMENDMENTS TO TITLE 49, UNITED STATES CODE. 

7 Except as otherwise expressly provided, whenever in 

8 this Act an amendment or repeal is expressed in terms 


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1 of an amendment to, or a repeal of, a section or other 

2 provision, the reference shall be considered to be made to 

3 a section or other provision of title 49, United States 

4 Code. 

5 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 

6 In this Act: 

7 (1) ADMINISTRATOR.—The term ‘‘Adminis8 trator’’ means the Administrator of the Federal 

9 Aviation Administration. 

10 (2) FAA.—The term ‘‘FAA’’ means the Fed11 eral Aviation Administration. 

12 (3) NASA.—The term ‘‘NASA’’ means the Na13 tional Aeronautics and Space Administration. 

14 (4) NEXTGEN.—The term ‘‘NextGen’’ means 

15 the Next Generation Air Transportation System. 

16 (5) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 

17 the Secretary of Transportation. 

18 TITLE I—AUTHORIZATION OF 

19 APPROPRIATIONS 

20 SEC. 11. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

21 Section 48102(a) is amended— 

22 (1) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of paragraph 

23 (8); 

24 (2) by striking paragraph (9); and 

25 (3) by adding at the end the following: 


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1 ‘‘(9) $428,050,000 for fiscal year 2016, of 

2 which— 

3 ‘‘(A) $166,000,000 shall be for Research, 

4 Engineering, and Development; 

5 ‘‘(B) $216,050,000 shall be for Facilities 

6 and Equipment; and 

7 ‘‘(C) $46,000,000 shall be for Grants-in8 Aid for Airports; 

9 ‘‘(10) $490,200,000 for fiscal year 2017, of 

10 which— 

11 ‘‘(A) $169,000,000 shall be for Research, 

12 Engineering, and Development; 

13 ‘‘(B) $275,200,000 shall be for Facilities 

14 and Equipment; and 

15 ‘‘(C) $46,000,000 shall be for Grants-in16 Aid for Airports; and 

17 ‘‘(11) $536,270,400 for fiscal year 2018, of 

18 which— 

19 ‘‘(A) $173,346,000 shall be for Research, 

20 Engineering, and Development; 

21 ‘‘(B) $316,832,400 shall be for Facilities 

22 and Equipment; and 

23 ‘‘(C) $46,092,000 shall be for Grants-in24 Aid for Airports.’’. 


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1 TITLE II—STRATEGIC 

2 DIRECTION FOR FAA RESEARCH 

3 SEC. 21. DECADAL SURVEY ON FAA’S CIVIL AVIATION RE4 SEARCH. 

5 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall enter into an 

6 arrangement with the National Academies for a com7 prehensive research survey and strategy for FAA’s civil 

8 aviation activities, including NextGen, over the next dec9 ade. The survey shall encompass research activities in 

10 FAA’s Research, Engineering, and Development, Facili11 ties and Equipment, and Grants-in-Aid for Airports ac12 counts, as well as any other research or emerging research 

13 areas that will enhance FAA’s civil aviation activities. The 

14 survey shall— 

15 (1) prioritize FAA civil aviation research needs 

16 and align such research needs with the mission of 

17 FAA; 

18 (2) examine the status of research methods and 

19 tools, including modeling and simulation, data anal20 ysis, and technology demonstration capabilities, that 

21 can contribute to FAA civil aviation research; 

22 (3) examine the status of FAA-owned research 

23 facilities and equipment, the extent to which their 

24 availability and accessibility is coordinated across 

25 FAA’s research programs, and their ability to supVerDate Sep 11 2014 05:13 Feb 06, 2016 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4464.IH H4464

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1 port FAA civil aviation research over the next dec2 ade; 

3 (4) identify workforce skills, workforce develop4 ment, and training needed to support research prior5 ities over the next decade; 

6 (5) examine the process and issues related to 

7 translating research advances into operational use, 

8 including the process required for the certification, 

9 operational approval, and implementation of new 

10 technologies and resulting operations into the Na11 tional Airspace System, and identify the best prac12 tices used by other United States or non-United 

13 States organizations in transitioning such research 

14 into operations; 

15 (6) examine issues related to the dissemination 

16 of relevant research to the broader aviation commu17 nity; 

18 (7) consider the research contributions of FAA 

19 Centers of Excellence, NASA, and other United 

20 States Government or nongovernment entities to 

21 civil aviation; and 

22 (8) make prioritized recommendations on the 

23 areas described in paragraphs (1) through (7). 

24 (b) TRANSMITTAL.—Not later than 2 years after the 

25 date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall transmit 


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1 the results of the National Academies decadal survey to 

2 the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology of the 

3 House of Representatives and the Committee on Com4 merce, Science, and Transportation of the Senate. 

5 SEC. 22. 5-YEAR STRATEGIC AND INTEGRATED RESEARCH 

6 PLAN. 

7 (a) PLAN.—Not later than 9 months after the date 

8 of transmittal of the decadal survey under section 21(b), 

9 the Secretary shall transmit to the Committee on Science, 

10 Space, and Technology of the House of Representatives 

11 and the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transpor12 tation of the Senate a Strategic and Integrated Research 

13 Plan that establishes a program of research and develop14 ment activities that reflects the results of such decadal 

15 survey. The plan shall— 

16 (1) describe how FAA’s research and develop17 ment activities and associated projects, including 

18 those related to— 

19 (A) NextGen-associated research; 

20 (B) research, engineering, and development 

21 and facilities and equipment; 

22 (C) grants-in-aid for airports research; and 

23 (D) other research areas recommended in 

24 the decadal survey, 


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1 will be interlinked to address common themes and 

2 contribute to making progress on the priorities iden3 tified in the decadal survey transmitted under sec4 tion 21(b); 

5 (2) provide integrated research objectives, mile6 stones, and timelines for achieving those priorities 

7 over the next 5 years; and 

8 (3) describe research activities that will lead to 

9 procedures for the certification and operational ap10 proval of new technologies for their timely and cost11 effective introduction into the National Airspace 

12 System. 

13 (b) REVIEW.—Not later than 3 years after the trans14 mittal of the Strategic and Integrated Research Plan 

15 under subsection (a), the Secretary shall enter into an ar16 rangement with the National Academies to review FAA’s 

17 progress on implementing the Strategic and Integrated 

18 Research Plan. 

19 (c) TRANSMITTAL OF REVIEW.—Not later than 12 

20 months after the Secretary enters into the arrangement 

21 required under subsection (b), the Secretary shall transmit 

22 the results of the National Academies’ review to the Com23 mittee on Science, Space, and Technology of the House 

24 of Representatives and the Committee on Commerce, 

25 Science, and Transportation of the Senate. 


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1 SEC. 23. CYBERSECURITY RESEARCH ACTION INITIATIVE. 

2 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall ensure that 

3 FAA’s research and development on cybersecurity and its 

4 application across FAA is dynamic and constantly updated 

5 to reflect the evolving nature of cyber risks and threats, 

6 and that cybersecurity research and development is ap7 proached in an integrated fashion consistent with the find8 ings and analyses of both the Government Accountability 

9 Office and the National Academies report, ‘‘A Review of 

10 the Next Generation Air Transportation System: Implica11 tions and Importance of a System Architecture’’, which 

12 states that ‘‘Cybersecurity requires a system-wide ap13 proach that is managed architecturally and cannot be ad14 dressed piecemeal by each contractor (or program) sepa15 rately. Nor can security be added to the system later. 

16 Safety properties themselves are dependent on a resilient, 

17 trustworthy, secure system, so careful integration of cy18 bersecurity models and processes into safety analyses will 

19 become increasingly important. Finally, cybersecurity 

20 itself is an ongoing challenge in many domains and the 

21 subject of ongoing research; it will be important to track 

22 and integrate relevant results as the field continues to 

23 evolve.’’. Development of an agencywide threat model will 

24 facilitate FAA in taking an integrated approach to cyber25 security. 


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1 (b) THREAT MODEL DEVELOPMENT.—The Secretary 

2 shall develop an agencywide threat model to strengthen 

3 cybersecurity defense across FAA. The threat model 

4 shall— 

5 (1) be continuously updated; 

6 (2) be capable of describing the landscape of se7 curity risks to FAA’s operational systems, including 

8 those potentially caused by manned and unmanned 

9 aircraft operation in the National Airspace System; 

10 and 

11 (3) enable FAA to— 

12 (A) identify known threats, including in13 sider threats; 

14 (B) align cybersecurity efforts and re15 sponses commensurate with the identified 

16 threats; and 

17 (C) implement any additional actions need18 ed to respond to threats and security weak19 nesses that have not been addressed. 

20 (c) TRANSMITTAL.—Not later than 6 months after 

21 the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall 

22 transmit a classified threat model and an unclassified ex23 ecutive summary to the Committee on Science, Space, and 

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1 mittee on Commerce, Science and Transportation of the 

2 Senate. 

3 TITLE III—MAINTAINING SAFETY 

4 AND ENVIRONMENTAL RE5 SPONSIBILITY IN A CHANG6 ING AVIATION ENVIRONMENT 

7 SEC. 31. REVIEW OF RESEARCH SYNERGY OF UNMANNED 

8 AIRCRAFT SYSTEMS TEST SITES AND CENTER 

9 OF EXCELLENCE. 

10 (a) REVIEW.—Not later than 3 months after the date 

11 of enactment of this Act, the Comptroller General shall 

12 initiate a review of the effectiveness of the 6 FAA un13 manned aircraft system test sites and the opportunities 

14 for coordinating and integrating the research conducted 

15 at the test sites with that conducted by the Center of Ex16 cellence on Unmanned Aircraft Systems. The review shall 

17 include input from stakeholders and users of the test sites 

18 and participants of the Center of Excellence. 

19 (b) ISSUES.—The review shall address— 

20 (1) FAA’s plans for the utilization of research 

21 carried out at the test sites and the Center of Excel22 lence on Unmanned Aircraft Systems and any rela23 tionship of such research to the plan required under 

24 section 22(a); 


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1 (2) the coordination of the research carried out 

2 at the test sites and the Center of Excellence; and 

3 (3) the mechanism by which FAA will exchange 

4 information and communications with both the test 

5 sites and the Center of Excellence on potential op6 portunities for them to address FAA’s research and 

7 development needs and on potential opportunities for 

8 FAA to facilitate potential partnerships within and 

9 among the test sites, the Center of Excellence, and 

10 other relevant entities to help address FAA’s re11 search and development needs. 

12 (c) TRANSMITTAL.—The Comptroller General shall 

13 transmit the review under this section to the Committee 

14 on Science, Space, and Technology of the House of Rep15 resentatives and the Committee on Commerce, Science, 

16 and Transportation of the Senate not later than 12 

17 months after the date of enactment of this Act. 

18 SEC. 32. RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT STRATEGY IN SUP19 PORT OF THE SAFE INTEGRATION OF UN20 MANNED AIRCRAFT SYSTEMS INTO THE NA21 TIONAL AIRSPACE SYSTEM. 

22 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall develop a re23 search and development strategy to provide the research 

24 basis for informing any potential regulatory action regardVerDate Sep 11 2014 05:13 Feb 06, 2016 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4464.IH H4464

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1 ing the safe integration of evolving unmanned aircraft sys2 tems into the National Airspace System. 

3 (b) STRATEGY.—Not later than 9 months after the 

4 date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall transmit 

5 a research and development strategy for the integration 

6 of unmanned aircraft systems into the National Airspace 

7 System. 

8 (c) ISSUES.—The strategy shall address the research 

9 needed to ensure— 

10 (1) the safe integration of unmanned aircraft 

11 systems of all sizes and categories, operating alti12 tudes, and degree of autonomy of operation; and 

13 (2) the utilization of other relevant Federal and 

14 federally sponsored research and development activi15 ties on the safe integration of unmanned aircraft 

16 systems into the National Airspace System. 

17 SEC. 33. GENERAL AVIATION SAFETY. 

18 (a) WORKSHOPS.—The Secretary shall hold at least 

19 one workshop to discuss the status of research and devel20 opment focused on enhancing general aviation safety. The 

21 workshop or workshops shall— 

22 (1) identify research and development that has 

23 had a measurable impact on enhancing general avia24 tion safety, and the extent to which those research 


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1 results are disseminated to the general aviation com2 munity; 

3 (2) identify what further research is needed to 

4 address factors affecting general aviation safety; and 

5 (3) include a broad range of experts from the 

6 Federal Government, the National Transportation 

7 Safety Board, not-for-profit organizations, industry, 

8 academia, and the general aviation user community. 

9 (b) PLAN.—Using the results of the workshop or 

10 workshops held under subsection (a), the Secretary shall 

11 develop a plan that includes future research goals and ob12 jectives and a roadmap for achieving them. 

13 (c) TRANSMITTAL.—Not later than 18 months after 

14 the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall 

15 transmit the plan required under subsection (b) to the 

16 Committee on Science, Space, and Technology of the 

17 House of Representatives and the Committee on Com18 merce, Science, and Transportation of the Senate. 

19 SEC. 34. REVIEW OF AIRCRAFT NOISE RESEARCH AND ITS 

20 USE IN SUPPORTING STANDARDS. 

21 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Comptroller General shall 

22 carry out a review of Federal Government research pro23 grams on aircraft noise levels and the use of such research 

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1 opment of noise abatement procedures. The review shall 

2 include the research and development activities of other 

3 Federal agencies and international bodies and shall iden4 tify any barriers to the application of the research to up5 dating noise evaluation processes and metrics. 

6 (b) TRANSMITTAL.—Not later than 1 year after the 

7 date of enactment of this Act, the Comptroller General 

8 shall transmit the review required under subsection (a) to 

9 the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology of the 

10 House of Representatives and the Committee on Com11 merce, Science, and Transportation of the Senate. 

12 SEC. 35. RESEARCH TO ENHANCE AIRPORT SAFETY-RE13 LATED DESIGN STANDARDS. 

14 (a) PLAN AND PROCESS.—The Secretary shall de15 velop a plan for research on safety risk assessment meth16 ods related to the development of airport design stand17 ards. The plan shall also establish a process for applying 

18 risk assessment methods to the development of standards. 

19 (b) REVIEW.—The Secretary shall enter into an ar20 rangement with the Transportation Research Board of the 

21 National Academies to carry out a review of the plan. 

22 (c) TRANSMITTAL.—Not later than 18 months after 

23 the date of enactment of the Act, the Secretary shall 

24 transmit the results of the National Academies’ review to 

25 the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology of the 


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1 House of Representatives and the Committee on Com2 merce, Science, and Transportation of the Senate. 

3 SEC. 36. RESEARCH COORDINATION TO INFORM POTEN4 TIAL AVIATION REGULATIONS ON GREEN5 HOUSE GAS EMISSIONS. 

6 (a) RESEARCH COORDINATION.—The Director of the 

7 Office of Science and Technology Policy, in cooperation 

8 with the Secretary and other relevant Federal agencies, 

9 shall coordinate research that can inform the development 

10 of potential regulations on limiting greenhouse gas emis11 sions from aircraft. 

12 (b) RESEARCH TO INFORM POTENTIAL REGULA13 TIONS.—The Director shall ensure that the research co14 ordinated under subsection (a) is provided to the relevant 

15 Federal agencies and international bodies to help inform 

16 the development of international standards and potential 

17 United States regulations that would seek to reduce green18 house gas emissions from aircraft. 

19 SEC. 37. RESEARCH TO INFORM THE ESTABLISHMENT OF 

20 CONTAMINANT STANDARDS FOR AIRCRAFT 

21 CABIN AIR CONTAMINANTS. 

22 (a) IN GENERAL.—Taking into consideration the rec23 ommendations from the report to Congress submitted 

24 under section 917 of the FAA Modernization and Reform 


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1 Act of 2012 (42 U.S.C. 44504 note), the Secretary shall, 

2 in collaboration with relevant stakeholders— 

3 (1) develop a plan, and timeline for any nec4 essary research and development leading to the im5 plementation of contaminant standards for aircraft 

6 cabin air contaminants; and 

7 (2) facilitate commercial development and im8 plementation of advanced contaminant detection and 

9 cleaning technologies. 

10 (b) PLAN.—Not later than 6 months after the date 

11 of enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall transmit a 

12 copy of the plan and timeline developed under subsection 

13 (a)(1) to the Committee on Science, Space, and Tech14 nology of the House of Representatives and the Committee 

15 on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the Senate. 

16 SEC. 38. REVIEW OF THE RESEARCH, ENGINEERING, AND 

17 DEVELOPMENT ADVISORY COMMITTEE. 

18 (a) REVIEW.—The Comptroller General shall carry 

19 out a review of— 

20 (1) the role of FAA’s Research, Engineering, 

21 and Development Advisory Committee in advising 

22 FAA on the effectiveness of the organization, man23 agement, and budgetary structure of research and 

24 development programs across FAA and on both 

25 near-term budget planning and long-term strategic 


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1 planning for the comprehensive FAA research and 

2 development portfolio, including research included in 

3 the Research, Engineering, and Development; Facili4 ties and Equipment; and Grants-in-Aid for Airports 

5 budget accounts; and 

6 (2) FAA’s implementation of the advice and 

7 recommendations provided by the Research, Engi8 neering, and Development Advisory Committee. 

9 (b) BEST PRACTICES.—The review shall consider 

10 best practices of Federal agency research and development 

11 advisory committees and make any recommendations that 

12 would strengthen the Research, Engineering, and Develop13 ment Advisory Committee in its advisory role to FAA. 

14 (c) TRANSMITTAL.—Not later than 1 year after the 

15 date of enactment of this Act, the Comptroller General 

16 shall transmit the review, including recommendations, to 

17 the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology of the 

18 House of Representatives and the Committee on Com19 merce, Science, and Transportation of the Senate. 

20 SEC. 39. RESEARCH ON NONGOVERNMENT AIR TRAFFIC 

21 CONTROL OPERATIONS. 

22 (a) INDEPENDENT STUDY.—The Secretary shall 

23 enter into an arrangement for an independent external 

24 study to identify the implications that a potential non25 government United States air traffic control system could 


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1 have on FAA’s research and development activities as well 

2 as what organizational changes would be required under 

3 a nongovernmental air traffic control system for over4 seeing such research and development activities. 

5 (b) REPORT.—Not later than 12 months after the 

6 date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall transmit 

7 the results of the study to the Committee on Science, 

8 Space, and Technology of the House of Representatives 

9 and the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transpor10 tation of the Senate. 

Æ 


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