II 

117TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 4558 

To amend title 51, United States Code, to direct the Administrator of the 

National Aeronautics and Space Administration to establish an initiative 

to conduct research, development, and demonstration on technologies 

capable of reducing greenhouse gas emissions and noise emissions from 

aircraft, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JULY 19, 2022 

Mr. CARDIN (for himself, Mrs. FEINSTEIN, Mr. VAN HOLLEN, Ms. WARREN, 

and Mr. KING) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 

referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation 

A BILL 

To amend title 51, United States Code, to direct the Administrator of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration to establish an initiative to conduct research, 

development, and demonstration on technologies capable 

of reducing greenhouse gas emissions and noise emissions 

from aircraft, 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 ‘‘Cleaner, Quieter Air5 planes Act’’. 


pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB
2 

•S 4558 IS

1 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

2 Congress makes the following findings: 

3 (1) Air travel currently contributes approxi4 mately 3 percent to global carbon emissions, but 

5 emissions from this sector are expected to triple by 

6 2050. 

7 (2) A healthy, thriving aviation sector contrib8 utes to the quality of life and economic well-being of 

9 the United States. In 2016, the Federal Aviation 

10 Administration found that civil aviation accounted 

11 for 5.2 percent of the United States gross domestic 

12 product, generated $1,800,000,000,000, and sup13 ported 10,900,000 jobs. 

14 (3) Existing aircraft technologies contribute to 

15 noise pollution that has adverse impacts on the qual16 ity of life in affected communities. As air traffic vol17 umes increase and the adoption of performance18 based navigation technology proceeds, the problem of 

19 noise pollution is becoming more severe in some 

20 areas. 

21 (4) The United States has adopted a goal of 

22 net-zero greenhouse gas emissions from the United 

23 States aviation sector by 2050. 

24 (5) Research on technologies to lessen the envi25 ronmental and noise impacts of aviation is ongoing, 

26 but should accelerate, and should include work on 


pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB
3 

•S 4558 IS

1 the further maturation and integration of multiple 

2 enabling technologies on production aircraft, includ3 ing novel integrated systems at the aircraft level. 

4 SEC. 3. NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRA5 TION INITIATIVE ON REDUCTION OF GREEN6 HOUSE GAS AND NOISE EMISSIONS FROM 

7 AIRCRAFT. 

8 (a) INITIATIVE REQUIRED.—Section 40112 of title 

9 51, United States Code, is amended— 

10 (1) by redesignating subsections (b) through (f) 

11 as subsections (c) through (g), respectively; and 

12 (2) by inserting after subsection (a) the fol13 lowing: 

14 ‘‘(b) RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT INITIATIVE ON

15 REDUCTION OF GREENHOUSE GAS AND NOISE EMIS16 SIONS FROM AIRCRAFT.— 

17 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator shall es18 tablish an initiative to research, develop, and dem19 onstrate new technologies and concepts— 

20 ‘‘(A) to reduce greenhouse gas emissions 

21 from aviation, including carbon dioxide, nitro22 gen oxides, other greenhouse gases, water 

23 vapor, particulates, black carbon and sulfate 

24 aerosols, and increased cloudiness due to con25 trail formation; 


pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB
4 

•S 4558 IS

1 ‘‘(B) to reduce noise emissions from air2 craft; and 

3 ‘‘(C) to enable associated aircraft perform4 ance characteristics. 

5 ‘‘(2) GOALS.—The goals of the initiative shall 

6 be— 

7 ‘‘(A) to ensure United States leadership in 

8 research and technology innovation leading to 

9 substantial reductions in aviation noise and 

10 greenhouse gas emissions; 

11 ‘‘(B) to enhance and expand basic re12 search, and the translation of basic research 

13 into applications, that may lead to trans14 formational advances in reducing aviation noise 

15 and greenhouse gas emissions; 

16 ‘‘(C) to accelerate research and develop17 ment that contributes to maturing new tech18 nologies for reducing aircraft noise and green19 house gas emissions; and 

20 ‘‘(D) to obtain and disseminate associated 

21 testing and performance data that facilitates 

22 the incorporation of new technologies into com23 mercial aircraft development as soon as prac24 ticable. 


pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB
5 

•S 4558 IS

1 ‘‘(3) OBJECTIVES.—The objectives of the initia2 tive and goals in paragraph (1) shall include— 

3 ‘‘(A) a reduction of greenhouse gas emis4 sions from new and replacement aircraft to the 

5 extent necessary to achieve net-zero greenhouse 

6 gas emissions from United States aviation by 

7 2050; 

8 ‘‘(B) noise levels from aircraft throughout 

9 all phases of flight that do not exceed ambient 

10 noise levels in the absence of flight operations 

11 in the vicinity of the flight route; and 

12 ‘‘(C) demonstration of new technologies 

13 and integrated technology suites developed pur14 suant to such initiative on new and replacement 

15 aircraft.’’. 

16 (b) TECHNOLOGY FOCUS AREAS.—In carrying out 

17 the research and development initiative established under 

18 section 40112(b) of title 51, United States Code, the Ad19 ministrator of the National Aeronautics and Space Admin20 istration (referred to in this Act as the ‘‘Administrator’’) 

21 shall advance research, development, and demonstration 

22 projects on promising technologies such as— 

23 (1) advanced subsonic propulsion technology, 

24 design, and integration; 


pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB
6 

•S 4558 IS

1 (2) electric and hybrid-electric propulsion, in2 cluding battery electric and hydrogen fuel cell elec3 tric systems; 

4 (3) direct burn of liquid hydrogen through ad5 vanced turbofan optimization for burning liquid hy6 drogen and minimizing associated water vapor emis7 sions; 

8 (4) airframe concepts and configurations that 

9 simultaneously reduce noise and greenhouse gas 

10 emissions; 

11 (5) analysis of technology options, including 

12 cost-benefit analysis of greenhouse gas and noise 

13 emissions reduction technologies; 

14 (6) analytical tools for system-level and system15 of-systems-level modeling and integration; 

16 (7) airspace operations improvements; 

17 (8) noise emissions reduction; and 

18 (9) any other effort, as determined by the Ad19 ministrator, that contributes to a sustainable future 

20 for aviation. 

21 (c) IMPLEMENTATION.—In implementing the initia22 tive established under section 40112(b) of title 51, United 

23 States Code, the Administrator shall, to the extent prac24 ticable— 


pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB
7 

•S 4558 IS

1 (1) ensure that testing and performance data 

2 integrates the results of community acceptance sur3 veys conducted by the Federal Aviation Administra4 tion and other relevant studies, including studies on 

5 the impacts of new noise effects from novel propul6 sion systems and from airspace operations changes; 

7 (2) provide testing and performance data on the 

8 technologies described in subsection (b) of this sec9 tion to the Administrator of the Federal Aviation 

10 Administration to facilitate the work of the Federal 

11 Aviation Administration in identifying new require12 ments for policy, infrastructure, and administrative 

13 capacity necessary to enable the safe integration of 

14 such technologies on aircraft; 

15 (3) pursue partnerships with organizations, cur16 rent commercial production aircraft providers, aca17 demic institutions, small businesses, and new en18 trants, including partnerships to advance research 

19 and development activities related to both regional 

20 aircraft and aircraft designed to accommodate more 

21 than 125 passengers; 

22 (4) include universities, academic institutions, 

23 and other research organizations in the partnerships 

24 under paragraph (3); 

25 (5) expand basic research; 


pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB
8 

•S 4558 IS

1 (6) ensure equity in research sponsorship and 

2 partnership opportunities with underrepresented stu3 dents, faculty, and minority-serving institutions; 

4 (7) continue to coordinate with the Department 

5 of Energy on battery technology research; 

6 (8) make available the research and develop7 ment carried out under the initiative established 

8 under subsection (b) of section 40112 of title 51, 

9 United States Code, to help enable an industry-wide 

10 shift toward aircraft concepts that reduce green11 house gas emissions and aircraft noise to achieve the 

12 goals and objectives under paragraphs (2) and (3) of 

13 such subsection; and 

14 (9) continue to support research, development, 

15 and demonstration of aircraft concepts, including 

16 systems architecture, materials and components, in17 tegration of systems and airframe structures, human 

18 factors, airspace planning and operations, and the 

19 integration of related advanced technologies and con20 cepts, with the goal of carrying out test flights with 

21 integrated subsystems by 2025. 

22 (d) ANNUAL REPORT.—Not later than 1 year after 

23 the date of the enactment of this Act, and annually there24 after, the Administrator shall submit a report to the Com25 mittee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the 


pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB
9 

•S 4558 IS

1 Senate and the Committee on Science, Space, and Tech2 nology of the House of Representatives on the progress 

3 of the efforts carried out under the initiative established 

4 under subsection (b) of section 40112 of title 51, United 

5 States Code, including— 

6 (1) measured progress toward net-zero green7 house gas emissions and reduced noise emissions 

8 from United States aviation; 

9 (2) an updated, anticipated timeframe for read10 iness of technologies and aircraft to be adopted by 

11 industry with the emissions reduction levels directed 

12 under such subsection; and 

13 (3) an identification of fundamental aeronautics 

14 research activities contributing to achieving the goals 

15 and objectives of such initiative, as described in 

16 paragraphs (2) and (3) of that subsection, and a de17 scription of any obstacles to achieving such goals 

18 and objectives. 

Æ 


pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB