In the Senate of the United States, 

October 4, 2013. 

Resolved, That the bill from the House of Representatives (H.R. 1848) entitled ‘‘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.’’, do pass with the following 

AMENDMENT: 

Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert: 

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 makes the following findings: 

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 countries around the world. 
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1 (2) Small airplanes comprise nearly 90 percent 

2 of general aviation aircraft certified by the Federal 

3 Aviation Administration. 

4 (3) General aviation provides for the cultivation 

5 of a workforce of engineers, manufacturing and main6 tenance professionals, and pilots who secure the eco7 nomic success and defense of the United States. 

8 (4) General aviation contributes to well-paying 

9 jobs in the manufacturing and technology sectors in 

10 the United States and products produced by those sec11 tors are exported in great numbers. 

12 (5) Technology developed and proven in general 

13 aviation aids in the success and safety of all sectors 

14 of aviation and scientific competence. 

15 (6) The average small airplane in the United 

16 States is now 40 years old and the regulatory barriers 

17 to bringing new designs to the market are resulting 

18 in a lack of innovation and investment in small air19 plane design. 

20 (7) Since 2003, the United States lost 10,000 ac21 tive private pilots per year on average, partially due 

22 to a lack of cost-effective, new small airplanes. 

23 (8) General aviation safety can be improved by 

24 modernizing and revamping the regulations relating 

25 to small airplanes to clear the path for technology 
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1 adoption and cost-effective means to retrofit the exist2 ing fleet with new safety technologies. 

3 SEC. 3. SAFETY AND REGULATORY IMPROVEMENTS FOR 

4 GENERAL AVIATION. 

5 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than December 15, 2015, 

6 the Administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration 

7 shall issue a final rule— 

8 (1) to advance the safety and continued develop9 ment of small airplanes by reorganizing the certifi10 cation requirements for such airplanes under part 23 

11 to streamline the approval of safety advancements; 

12 and 

13 (2) that meets the objectives described in sub14 section (b). 

15 (b) OBJECTIVES DESCRIBED.—The objectives described 

16 in this subsection are based on the recommendations of the 

17 Part 23 Reorganization Aviation Rulemaking Committee: 

18 (1) The establishment of a regulatory regime for 

19 small airplanes that will improve safety and reduce 

20 the regulatory cost burden for the Federal Aviation 

21 Administration and the aviation industry. 

22 (2) The establishment of broad, outcome-driven 

23 safety objectives that will spur innovation and tech24 nology adoption. 
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1 (3) The replacement of current, prescriptive re2 quirements under part 23 with performance-based 

3 regulations. 

4 (4) The use of consensus standards accepted by 

5 the Federal Aviation Administration to clarify how 

6 the safety objectives of part 23 may be met using spe7 cific designs and technologies. 

8 (c) CONSENSUS-BASED STANDARDS.—In prescribing 

9 regulations under this section, the Administrator shall use 

10 consensus standards, as described in section 12(d) of the Na11 tional Technology Transfer and Advancement Act of 1996 

12 (15 U.S.C. 272 note), to the extent practicable while con13 tinuing traditional methods for meeting part 23. 

14 (d) SAFETY COOPERATION.—The Administrator shall 

15 lead the effort to improve general aviation safety by work16 ing with leading aviation regulators to assist them in 

17 adopting a complementary regulatory approach for small 

18 airplanes. 

19 (e) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

20 (1) CONSENSUS STANDARDS.— 

21 (A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘‘consensus 

22 standards’’ means standards developed by an or23 ganization described in subparagraph (B) that 

24 may include provisions requiring that owners of 

25 relevant intellectual property have agreed to 
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1 make that intellectual property available on a 

2 nondiscriminatory, royalty-free, or reasonable 

3 royalty basis to all interested persons. 

4 (B) ORGANIZATIONS DESCRIBED.—An orga5 nization described in this subparagraph is a do6 mestic or international organization that— 

7 (i) plans, develops, establishes, or co8 ordinates, through a process based on con9 sensus and using agreed-upon procedures, 

10 voluntary standards; and 

11 (ii) operates in a transparent manner, 

12 considers a balanced set of interests with re13 spect to such standards, and provides for 

14 due process and an appeals process with re15 spect to such standards. 

16 (2) PART 23.—The term ‘‘part 23’’ means part 

17 23 of title 14, Code of Federal Regulations. 

18 (3) PART 23 REORGANIZATION AVIATION RULE19 MAKING COMMITTEE.—The term ‘‘Part 23 Reorga20 nization Aviation Rulemaking Committee’’ means the 

21 aviation rulemaking committee established by the 

22 Federal Aviation Administration in August 2011 to 

23 consider the reorganization of the regulations under 

24 part 23. 
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1 (4) SMALL AIRPLANE.—The term ‘‘small air2 plane’’ means an airplane which is certified to part 

3 23 standards. 

Attest: 

Secretary. 

113TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H.R. 1848 

AMENDMENT