IIB 

113TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1848 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JULY 17, 2013 

Received; read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, 

and Transportation 

AN ACT 

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. 

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

mstockstill on DSK4VPTVN1PROD with BILLS

2 

HR 1848 RFS

1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Small Airplane Revital3 ization Act of 2013’’. 

4 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

5 Congress finds the following: 

6 (1) A healthy small aircraft industry is integral 

7 to economic growth and to maintaining an effective 

8 transportation infrastructure for communities and 

9 nations around the world. 

10 (2) Small aircraft comprise nearly 90 percent of 

11 FAA type certified general aviation aircraft. 

12 (3) General aviation provides for the cultivation 

13 of a workforce of engineers, manufacturing and 

14 maintenance professionals, and pilots, who secure 

15 the Nation’s economic success and defense. 

16 (4) General aviation contributes to well-paying 

17 manufacturing and technology jobs in the United 

18 States, and these products are exported in great 

19 numbers, providing a positive trade balance. 

20 (5) Technology developed and proven in general 

21 aviation aids in the success and safety of all sectors 

22 of aviation and scientific competence. 

23 (6) The average small airplane in the United 

24 States is now 40 years old and the regulatory bar25 riers to bringing new designs to market are resulting 

mstockstill on DSK4VPTVN1PROD with BILLS

3 

HR 1848 RFS

1 in a lack of innovation and investment in small air2 plane design. 

3 (7) Over the past decade, the United States has 

4 typically lost 10,000 active private pilots per year, 

5 partially due to a lack of cost-effective, new small 

6 airplanes. 

7 (8) General aviation safety can be improved by 

8 modernizing and revamping the regulations for this 

9 sector to clear the path for technology adoption and 

10 cost-effective means to retrofit the existing fleet with 

11 new safety technologies. 

12 SEC. 3. FAA SAFETY AND REGULATORY IMPROVEMENTS 

13 FOR GENERAL AVIATION. 

14 (a) ESTABLISHMENT OF FAA SAFETY AND REGU15 LATORY IMPROVEMENTS FOR GENERAL AVIATION.—The 

16 Administrator shall advance the safety and continued de17 velopment of small airplanes by reorganizing the certifi18 cation requirements applicable to small airplanes to 

19 streamline the approval of safety advancements. 

20 (b) REGULATIONS.—The Administrator shall issue a 

21 final rule based on the FAA’s Part 23 Reorganization 

22 Aviation Rulemaking Committee (established in August 

23 2011) by December 31, 2015. The final rule shall meet 

24 the following objectives of the Part 23 Committee: 

mstockstill on DSK4VPTVN1PROD with BILLS

4 

HR 1848 RFS

1 (1) Create a regulatory regime for small air2 planes that will improve safety and decrease certifi3 cation costs. 

4 (2) Set broad, outcome-driven safety objectives 

5 that will spur innovation and technology adoption. 

6 (3) Replace current, prescriptive requirements 

7 contained in FAA rules with performance-based reg8 ulations. 

9 (4) Use FAA-accepted consensus standards to 

10 clarify how the part 23 safety objectives may be met 

11 by specific designs and technologies. 

12 (c) CONSENSUS-BASED STANDARDS.—The Adminis13 trator shall use acceptable consensus-based standards 

14 whenever possible in the spirit of the National Technology 

15 Transfer and Advancement Act of 1996 (15 U.S.C. 3701 

16 note), while continuing traditional methods for meeting 

17 part 23. 

18 (d) SAFETY COOPERATION.—The Administrator shall 

19 lead the effort to improve general aviation safety by work20 ing with leading aviation regulators to assist them in 

21 adopting a complementary regulatory approach for small 

22 airplanes. 

23 SEC. 4. DEFINITIONS. 

24 In this Act, the following definitions apply: 

mstockstill on DSK4VPTVN1PROD with BILLS

5 

HR 1848 RFS

1 (1) ADMINISTRATOR.—The term ‘‘Adminis2 trator’’ means the Administrator of the Federal 

3 Aviation Administration. 

4 (2) CONSENSUS STANDARDS.—The term ‘‘con5 sensus standards’’ means standards developed by 

6 voluntary organizations which plan, develop, estab7 lish, or coordinate voluntary standards using agreed8 upon procedures, both domestic and international. 

9 These standards include provisions requiring that 

10 owners of relevant intellectual property agree to 

11 make that intellectual property available on a non12 discriminatory, royalty-free or reasonable-royalty 

13 basis to all interested parties. These bodies have the 

14 attributes of openness, balance of interest, due proc15 ess, an appeals process, and consensus. 

16 (3) FAA.—The term ‘‘FAA’’ means the Fed17 eral Aviation Administration. 

18 (4) GENERAL AVIATION.—The term ‘‘general 

19 aviation’’ means all aviation activities other than 

20 scheduled commercial airline operations and military 

21 aviation. 

22 (5) PART 23.—The term ‘‘part 23’’ means part 

23 23 of title 14, Code of Federal Regulations. 

24 (6) SMALL AIRPLANE.—The term ‘‘small air25 plane’’ means FAA type certificated airplanes that 

mstockstill on DSK4VPTVN1PROD with BILLS

6 

HR 1848 RFS

1 meet the parameters of part 23 of title 14, Code of 

2 Federal Regulations. 

Passed the House of Representatives July 16, 2013. 

Attest: KAREN L. HAAS, 

Clerk. 

mstockstill on DSK4VPTVN1PROD with BILLS