IB 

Union Calendar No. 205 

110TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2698 

[Report No. 110–329] 

To authorize appropriations for the civil aviation research and development 

projects and activities of the Federal Aviation Administration, and for 

other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JUNE 13, 2007 

Mr. UDALL of Colorado (for himself and Mr. GORDON of Tennessee) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Science 

and Technology 

SEPTEMBER 17, 2007 

Additional sponsor: Mr. BARTLETT of Maryland 

SEPTEMBER 17, 2007 

Reported with an amendment, committed to the Committee of the Whole 

House on the State of the Union, and ordered to be printed 

[Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed in italic] 

[For text of introduced bill, see copy of bill as introduced on June 13, 2007] 

A BILL 

To authorize appropriations for the civil aviation research 

and development projects and activities of the Federal 

Aviation Administration, and for other purposes. 


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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 2007’’. 

6 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

7 As used in this Act— 

8 (1) the term ‘‘Administrator’’ means the Admin9 istrator of the Federal Aviation Administration; 

10 (2) the term ‘‘Director’’ means the Director of the 

11 Joint Planning and Development Office; 

12 (3) the term ‘‘FAA’’ means the Federal Aviation 

13 Administration; 

14 (4) the term ‘‘NASA’’ means the National Aero15 nautics and Space Administration; 

16 (5) the term ‘‘National Research Council’’ means 

17 the National Research Council of the National Acad18 emies of Science and Engineering; 

19 (6) the term ‘‘NOAA’’ means the National Oce20 anic and Atmospheric Administration; 

21 (7) the term ‘‘NSF’’ means the National Science 

22 Foundation; 

23 (8) the term ‘‘Office’’ means the Next Generation 

24 Air Transportation System Joint Planning and De25 velopment Office; and 


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1 (9) the term ‘‘Secretary’’ means the Secretary of 

2 Transportation. 

3 SEC. 3. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

4 Section 48102(a) of title 49, United States Code, is 

5 amended— 

6 (1) in paragraph (11)(L), by striking ‘‘and’’; 

7 (2) in paragraph (12)(L), by striking the period 

8 and inserting a semicolon; and 

9 (3) by adding at the end the following new para10 graphs: 

11 ‘‘(13) for fiscal year 2008, $335,191,000, includ12 ing— 

13 ‘‘(A) $7,350,000 for fire research and safety; 

14 ‘‘(B) $4,086,000 for propulsion and fuel 

15 systems; 

16 ‘‘(C) $2,713,000 for advanced materials and 

17 structural safety; 

18 ‘‘(D) $3,574,000 for atmospheric hazards 

19 and digital system safety; 

20 ‘‘(E) $14,931,000 for aging aircraft; 

21 ‘‘(F) $2,202,000 for aircraft catastrophic 

22 failure prevention research; 

23 ‘‘(G) $14,651,000 for flightdeck mainte24 nance, system integration, and human factors; 


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1 ‘‘(H) $9,517,000 for aviation safety risk 

2 analysis; 

3 ‘‘(I) $15,254,000 for air traffic control, tech4 nical operations, and human factors; 

5 ‘‘(J) $6,780,000 for aeromedical research; 

6 ‘‘(K) $19,888,000 for weather programs; 

7 ‘‘(L) $6,310,000 for unmanned aircraft sys8 tems research; 

9 ‘‘(M) $18,100,000 for the Next Generation 

10 Air Transportation System Joint Planning and 

11 Development Office; 

12 ‘‘(N) $13,755,000 for wake turbulence; 

13 ‘‘(O) $20,469,000 for environment and en14 ergy; 

15 ‘‘(P) $1,184,000 for system planning and 

16 resource management; 

17 ‘‘(Q) $3,415,000 for the William J. Hughes 

18 Technical Center Laboratory Facility; 

19 ‘‘(R) $74,200,000 for the Center for Ad20 vanced Aviation System Development; 

21 ‘‘(S) $2,000,000 for the Airport Cooperative 

22 Research Program—capacity; 

23 ‘‘(T) $3,000,000 for the Airport Cooperative 

24 Research Program—environment; 


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1 ‘‘(U) $5,000,000 for the Airport Cooperative 

2 Research Program—safety; 

3 ‘‘(V) $3,600,000 for GPS civil requirements; 

4 ‘‘(W) $5,000,000 for runway incursion re5 duction; 

6 ‘‘(X) $6,500,000 for system capacity, plan7 ning, and improvement; 

8 ‘‘(Y) $3,000,000 for operations concept vali9 dation; 

10 ‘‘(Z) $1,000,000 for NAS weather require11 ments; 

12 ‘‘(AA) $4,000,000 for the Airspace Manage13 ment Lab; 

14 ‘‘(BB) $5,000,000 for airspace redesign; 

15 ‘‘(CC) $4,000,000 for wind profiling and 

16 weather research, Juneau; 

17 ‘‘(DD) $1,000,000 for the Local Area Aug18 mentation System (LAAS); 

19 ‘‘(EE) $15,000,000 for Safe Flight 21, Alas20 ka Capstone; 

21 ‘‘(FF) $20,000,000 for NextGen demonstra22 tion; 

23 ‘‘(GG) $8,907,000 for airports technology 

24 research—capacity; 


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1 ‘‘(HH) $9,805,000 for airports technology 

2 research—safety; 

3 ‘‘(14) for fiscal year 2009, $481,554,000, includ4 ing— 

5 ‘‘(A) $8,457,000 for fire research and safety; 

6 ‘‘(B) $4,050,000 for propulsion and fuel 

7 systems; 

8 ‘‘(C) $2,686,000 for advanced materials and 

9 structural safety; 

10 ‘‘(D) $3,568,000 for atmospheric hazards 

11 and digital system safety; 

12 ‘‘(E) $14,683,000 for aging aircraft; 

13 ‘‘(F) $2,158,000 for aircraft catastrophic 

14 failure prevention research; 

15 ‘‘(G) $37,499,000 for flightdeck mainte16 nance, system integration, and human factors; 

17 ‘‘(H) $8,349,000 for aviation safety risk 

18 analysis; 

19 ‘‘(I) $15,323,000 for air traffic control, tech20 nical operations, and human factors; 

21 ‘‘(J) $6,932,000 for aeromedical research; 

22 ‘‘(K) $22,336,000 for weather program; 

23 ‘‘(L) $6,738,000 for unmanned aircraft sys24 tems research; 


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1 ‘‘(M) $18,100,000 for the Next Generation 

2 Air Transportation System Joint Planning and 

3 Development Office; 

4 ‘‘(N) $11,560,000 for wake turbulence; 

5 ‘‘(O) $35,039,000 for environment and en6 ergy; 

7 ‘‘(P) $1,847,000 for system planning and 

8 resource management; 

9 ‘‘(Q) $3,548,000 for the William J. Hughes 

10 Technical Center Laboratory Facility; 

11 ‘‘(R) $85,000,000 for Center for Advanced 

12 Aviation System Development; 

13 ‘‘(S) $5,000,000 for the Airport Cooperative 

14 Research Program—capacity; 

15 ‘‘(T) $5,000,000 for the Airport Cooperative 

16 Research Program—environment; 

17 ‘‘(U) $5,000,000 for the Airport Cooperative 

18 Research Program—safety; 

19 ‘‘(V) $3,469,000 for GPS civil requirements; 

20 ‘‘(W) $5,000,000 for runway incursion re21 duction; 

22 ‘‘(X) $6,500,000 for system capacity, plan23 ning and improvement; 

24 ‘‘(Y) $3,000,000 for Operations Concept 

25 Validation; 


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1 ‘‘(Z) $1,000,000 for NAS weather require2 ments; 

3 ‘‘(AA) $4,000,000 for the Airspace Manage4 ment Lab; 

5 ‘‘(BB) $3,000,000 for airspace redesign; 

6 ‘‘(CC) $20,000,000 for Safe Flight 21, Alas7 ka Capstone; 

8 ‘‘(DD) $12,000,000 for NextGen demonstra9 tion; 

10 ‘‘(EE) $102,000,000 for NextGen system de11 velopment; 

12 ‘‘(FF) $8,907,000 for airports technology re13 search—capacity; 

14 ‘‘(GG) $9,805,000 for airports technology 

15 research—safety; 

16 ‘‘(15) for fiscal year 2010, $486,502,000, includ17 ing— 

18 ‘‘(A) $8,546,000 for fire research and safety; 

19 ‘‘(B) $4,075,000 for propulsion and fuel 

20 systems; 

21 ‘‘(C) $2,700,000 for advanced materials and 

22 structural safety; 

23 ‘‘(D) $3,608,000 for atmospheric hazards 

24 and digital system safety; 

25 ‘‘(E) $14,688,000 for aging aircraft; 


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1 ‘‘(F) $2,153,000 for aircraft catastrophic 

2 failure prevention research; 

3 ‘‘(G) $36,967,000 for flightdeck mainte4 nance, system integration, and human factors; 

5 ‘‘(H) $8,334,000 for aviation safety risk 

6 analysis; 

7 ‘‘(I) $15,471,000 for air traffic control, tech8 nical operations, and human factors; 

9 ‘‘(J) $7,149,000 for aeromedical research; 

10 ‘‘(K) $23,286,000 for weather program; 

11 ‘‘(L) $6,236,000 for unmanned aircraft sys12 tems research; 

13 ‘‘(M) $18,100,000 for the Next Generation 

14 Air Transportation System Joint Planning and 

15 Development Office; 

16 ‘‘(N) $11,412,000 for wake turbulence; 

17 ‘‘(O) $34,678,000 for environment and en18 ergy; 

19 ‘‘(P) $1,827,000 for system planning and 

20 resource management; 

21 ‘‘(Q) $3,644,000 for William J. Hughes 

22 Technical Center Laboratory Facility; 

23 ‘‘(R) $90,000,000 for the Center for Ad24 vanced Aviation System Development; 


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1 ‘‘(S) $5,000,000 for the Airport Cooperative 

2 Research Program—capacity; 

3 ‘‘(T) $5,000,000 for the Airport Cooperative 

4 Research Program—environment; 

5 ‘‘(U) $5,000,000 for the Airport Cooperative 

6 Research Program—safety; 

7 ‘‘(V) $3,416,000 for GPS civil requirements; 

8 ‘‘(W) $5,000,000 for runway incursion re9 duction; 

10 ‘‘(X) $6,500,000 for system capacity, plan11 ning and improvement; 

12 ‘‘(Y) $3,000,000 for operations concept vali13 dation; 

14 ‘‘(Z) $1,000,000 for NAS weather require15 ments; 

16 ‘‘(AA) $4,000,000 for the Airspace Manage17 ment Lab; 

18 ‘‘(BB) $3,000,000 for airspace redesign; 

19 ‘‘(CC) $20,000,000 for Safe Flight 21, Alas20 ka Capstone; 

21 ‘‘(DD) $12,000,000 for NextGen demonstra22 tion; 

23 ‘‘(EE) $102,000,000 for NextGen system de24 velopment; 


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1 ‘‘(FF) $8,907,000 for airports technology re2 search—capacity; 

3 ‘‘(GG) $9,805,000 for airports technology 

4 research—safety; and 

5 ‘‘(16) for fiscal year 2011, $514,832,000, includ6 ing— 

7 ‘‘(A) $8,815,000 for fire research and safety; 

8 ‘‘(B) $4,150,000 for propulsion and fuel 

9 systems; 

10 ‘‘(C) $2,747,000 for advanced materials and 

11 structural safety; 

12 ‘‘(D) $3,687,000 for atmospheric hazards 

13 and digital system safety; 

14 ‘‘(E) $14,903,000 for aging aircraft; 

15 ‘‘(F) $2,181,000 for aircraft catastrophic 

16 failure prevention research; 

17 ‘‘(G) $39,245,000 for flightdeck mainte18 nance, system integration and human factors; 

19 ‘‘(H) $8,446,000 for aviation safety risk 

20 analysis; 

21 ‘‘(I) $15,715,000 for air traffic control, tech22 nical operations, and human factors; 

23 ‘‘(J) $7,390,000 for aeromedical research; 

24 ‘‘(K) $23,638,000 for weather program; 


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1 ‘‘(L) $6,295,000 for unmanned aircraft sys2 tems research; 

3 ‘‘(M) $18,100,000 for the Next Generation 

4 Air Transportation System Joint Planning and 

5 Development Office; 

6 ‘‘(N) $11,471,000 for wake turbulence; 

7 ‘‘(O) $34,811,000 for environment and en8 ergy; 

9 ‘‘(P) $1,836,000 for system planning and 

10 resource management; 

11 ‘‘(Q) $3,758,000 for William J. Hughes 

12 Technical Center Laboratory Facility; 

13 ‘‘(R) $114,000,000 for Center for Advanced 

14 Aviation System Development; 

15 ‘‘(S) $5,000,000 for the Airport Cooperative 

16 Research Program—capacity; 

17 ‘‘(T) $5,000,000 for the Airport Cooperative 

18 Research Program—environment; 

19 ‘‘(U) $5,000,000 for the Airport Cooperative 

20 Research Program—safety; 

21 ‘‘(V) $3,432,000 for GPS civil requirements; 

22 ‘‘(W) $2,000,000 for runway incursion re23 duction; 

24 ‘‘(X) $6,500,000 for system capacity, plan25 ning and improvement; 


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1 ‘‘(Y) $3,000,000 for operations concept vali2 dation; 

3 ‘‘(Z) $1,000,000 for NAS weather require4 ments; 

5 ‘‘(AA) $4,000,000 for the Airspace Manage6 ment Lab; 

7 ‘‘(BB) $3,000,000 for airspace redesign; 

8 ‘‘(CC) $20,000,000 for Safe Flight 21, Alas9 ka Capstone; 

10 ‘‘(DD) $12,000,000 for NextGen demonstra11 tion; 

12 ‘‘(EE) $105,000,000 for NextGen system de13 velopment; 

14 ‘‘(FF) $8,907,000 for airports technology re15 search—capacity; 

16 ‘‘(GG) $9,805,000 for airports technology 

17 research—safety.’’. 

18 SEC. 4. NEXT GENERATION AIR TRANSPORTATION SYSTEM 

19 JOINT PLANNING AND DEVELOPMENT OF20 FICE. 

21 (a) STATUS OF DIRECTOR AND RESPONSIBILITIES OF

22 OFFICE.—Section 709 of the Vision 100—Century of Avia23 tion Reauthorization Act (49 U.S.C. 40101 note) is amend24 ed— 

25 (1) in subsection (a)— 


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1 (A) in paragraph (1), by adding at the end 

2 the following: ‘‘The head of the Office shall be the 

3 Director. The Director shall report to the Admin4 istrator of the Federal Aviation Administration 

5 and shall serve as Associate Administrator for 

6 the Next Generation Air Transportation System, 

7 and shall be a voting member and co-chair of the 

8 Joint Resources Council.’’; 

9 (B) by amending paragraph (2)(C) to read 

10 as follows: 

11 ‘‘(C) creating a transition plan for the im12 plementation of that system that includes date13 specific milestones for the implementation of new 

14 capabilities into the national airspace system;’’; 

15 (C) in paragraph (2)(G), by striking ‘‘; 

16 and’’ and inserting a semicolon; 

17 (D) in paragraph (2)(H), by striking the 

18 period at the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; 

19 (E) by adding at the end of paragraph (2) 

20 the following: 

21 ‘‘(I) establishing specific quantitative goals 

22 for the safety, capacity, efficiency, performance, 

23 and environmental impacts of each phase of Next 

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1 ational experience against those goals, taking 

2 into account noise pollution reduction concerns 

3 of affected communities to the greatest extent 

4 practicable in establishing the environmental 

5 goals; 

6 ‘‘(J) working to ensure global interoper7 ability of the Next Generation Air Transpor8 tation System; 

9 ‘‘(K) integrating aviation weather informa10 tion and space weather information into the 

11 Next Generation Air Transportation System as 

12 soon as possible; 

13 ‘‘(L) overseeing, with the Administrator, the 

14 selection of products or outcomes of research and 

15 development activities that would be moved to 

16 the next stage of a demonstration project through 

17 the Joint Resources Council; 

18 ‘‘(M) maintaining a baseline modeling and 

19 simulation environment for testing and evalu20 ating alternative concepts to satisfy Next Gen21 eration Air Transportation enterprise architec22 ture requirements; and 

23 ‘‘(N) pursuing the integration of unmanned 

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1 grams under the auspices of a public and private 

2 partnership.’’; and 

3 (2) in subsection (e), by striking ‘‘2010’’ and in4 serting ‘‘2011’’. 

5 (b) ACCOUNTABILITY.—Section 709(a) is further 

6 amended— 

7 (1) in paragraph (3), by inserting ‘‘(A)’’ after 

8 the paragraph designation; and 

9 (2) by adding at the end of paragraph (3) the 

10 following: 

11 ‘‘(B) The Administrator, the Secretary of Defense, the 

12 Administrator of NASA, the Secretary of Commerce, the 

13 Secretary of Homeland Security, and the head of any other 

14 Department or Federal agency from which the Secretary 

15 of Transportation requests assistance under paragraph (A) 

16 shall designate a senior official in the department or agency 

17 to be responsible for— 

18 ‘‘(i) implementing the department’s or agency’s 

19 Next Generation Air Transportation System activities 

20 with the Office, including the execution of all aspects 

21 of the department’s or agency’s work on developing 

22 and implementing the integrated plan described in 

23 section 709(2)(A); and 

24 ‘‘(ii) ensuring that the department or agency 

25 meets its obligations as set forth in the memorandum 


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1 of understanding executed by or on behalf of the de2 partment or agency under subparagraph (D). 

3 ‘‘(C) The head of any such department or agency 

4 shall— 

5 ‘‘(i) establish an office within the department or 

6 agency to carry out its responsibilities under the 

7 memorandum of understanding under the supervision 

8 of the designated official; and 

9 ‘‘(ii) ensure that the designated official has suffi10 cient budgetary authority and staff resources to carry 

11 out the department’s or agency’s Next Generation Air 

12 Transportation System responsibilities as set forth in 

13 the integrated plan under section 709(b). 

14 ‘‘(D) Not later than 6 months after the date of enact15 ment of the Federal Aviation Research and Development 

16 Reauthorization Act of 2007, the head of each department 

17 or agency that has responsibility for carrying out any ac18 tivity under the integrated plan under section 709(b) shall 

19 execute a memorandum of understanding with the Office 

20 obligating that department or agency to carry out those ac21 tivities.’’. 

22 (c) INTEGRATED PLAN.—Section 709(b) of the Vision 

23 100—Century of Aviation Reauthorization Act (49 U.S.C. 

24 40101 note) is amended— 


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1 (1) by striking the first sentence and inserting 

2 ‘‘The integrated plan shall be designed to ensure that 

3 the Next Generation Air Transportation System meets 

4 anticipated future air transportation safety, security, 

5 mobility, efficiency, and capacity needs and accom6 plishes the goals under subsection (c).’’; 

7 (2) in paragraph (3)(C), by striking ‘‘; and’’ and 

8 inserting a semicolon; 

9 (3) in paragraph (4) by striking the period and 

10 inserting a semicolon; and 

11 (4) by adding at the end the following: 

12 ‘‘(5) Date-specific timetables for the partial and 

13 complete implementation of planned Next Generation 

14 Air Transportation System capabilities, including 

15 but not limited to Automated Dependent Surveil16 lance-Broadcast, Unmanned Aircraft Systems oper17 ations, Next Generation Enabled Weather system, 

18 Next Generation Data Communications, NAS Voice 

19 Switch, System Wide Information Management sys20 tem, and space weather information, and including 

21 any necessary certification activities, and including 

22 an evaluation of the costs and benefits of accelerating 

23 any of the implementation and certification time24 tables; 


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1 ‘‘(6) Identification of planned demonstration 

2 projects and date-specific timetables for the conduct of 

3 the demonstration projects and subsequent certifi4 cation activities and an evaluation of the costs and 

5 benefits of accelerating any of the demonstration 

6 projects and certification activities; 

7 ‘‘(7) Date-specific timetables for meeting the en8 vironmental requirements identified in subsection (I); 

9 and 

10 ‘‘(8) Identification, on an annual basis, of each 

11 entity that will be responsible for each component of 

12 any research, development, or implementation activ13 ity.’’. 

14 (d) ANNUAL REPORT.—Section 709(d) of the Vision 

15 100—Century of Aviation Reauthorization Act (49 U.S.C. 

16 40101 note) is amended to read as follows: 

17 ‘‘(d) ANNUAL REPORTS.—The Director of the Office 

18 shall transmit a report annually to the Committee on 

19 Science and Technology and the Committee on Transpor20 tation and Infrastructure of the House of Representatives 

21 and the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transpor22 tation of the Senate at the time of the President’s budget 

23 request describing the progress in carrying out the plan re24 quired under subsection (b) and any changes to that plan. 

25 The annual report shall include— 


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1 ‘‘(1) the updated integrated plan developed under 

2 subsection (b); 

3 ‘‘(2) a detailed description of the progress made 

4 in carrying out the integrated plan and any changes 

5 made to that plan since the previous annual report, 

6 and identifying any changes resulting from funding 

7 shortfalls or limitations set by the Office of Manage8 ment and Budget; 

9 ‘‘(3) any deviation from previously established 

10 development and implementation milestones, the rea11 sons for the deviation, and the impact of the devi12 ation; 

13 ‘‘(4) the relevant programs and activities for the 

14 previous fiscal year and the proposed programs and 

15 activities under the President’s budget request, of each 

16 participating Federal agency and department; and 

17 ‘‘(5) the levels of funding for each participating 

18 Federal agency and department devoted to the pro19 grams and activities in paragraph (4) for the pre20 vious fiscal year and under the President’s budget re21 quest.’’. 

22 (e) SENIOR POLICY COMMITTEE.—Section 710(a) of 

23 the Vision 100—Century of Aviation Reauthorization Act 

24 (49 U.S.C. 40101 note) is amended in the last sentence by 


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1 inserting ‘‘, and shall meet at least four times each year’’ 

2 before the period. 

3 (f) BUDGET PREPARATION.— 

4 (1) Each Federal agency and department par5 ticipating in the office shall, as part of its annual re6 quest for appropriations to the Office of Management 

7 and Budget, submit a report to the Office of Manage8 ment and Budget which— 

9 (A) identifies each element of its work pro10 gram which contributes directly to Next Genera11 tion Air Transportation System initiative; and 

12 (B) states the portion of its request for ap13 propriations that is allocated to each such ele14 ment. 

15 (2) The Office of Management and Budget shall 

16 review each such report in light of the goals, prior17 ities, and agency and departmental responsibilities 

18 set forth in the annual report submitted under the 

19 amendment made by subsection (d), and shall in20 clude, in the President’s annual budget estimate, a 

21 statement of the portion of each appropriate agency’s 

22 or department’s annual budget estimate relating to its 

23 activities undertaken pursuant to the Next Generation 

24 Air Transportation System initiative. 


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1 (g) CONTINGENCY PLANNING.—The Director shall, as 

2 part of the design of the Next Generation Air Transpor3 tation System, develop contingency plans for dealing with 

4 the degradation of the Next Generation Air Transportation 

5 System in the event of a natural disaster, major equipment 

6 failure, or act of terrorism. 

7 (h) ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH.—The Director shall 

8 establish environmental objectives for noise, emissions, and 

9 energy consumption to be satisfied in the Next Generation 

10 Air Transportation System through a combination of tech11 nologies and operational procedures. The Director shall as12 sign primary responsibility for the research, development, 

13 and demonstration of the applicable technologies in a rel14 evant environment to NASA and primary responsibility for 

15 demonstration of optimized operational procedures to the 

16 FAA. 

17 (i) GOVERNMENT ACCOUNTABILITY OFFICE ASSESS18 MENT AND REPORT.— 

19 (1) SCOPE.—The Comptroller General shall as20 sess compliance with the requirements of section 709 

21 of the Vision 100—Century of Aviation Reauthoriza22 tion Act (49 U.S.C. 40101 note) to determine— 

23 (A) the effectiveness of the Next Generation 

24 Air Transportation System Joint Planning and 

25 Development Office in meeting the deadlines and 


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1 milestones of the integrated plan under that sec2 tion; and 

3 (B) the adequacy and effectiveness of the 

4 memoranda of understanding executed by Fed5 eral departments and agencies under that sec6 tion. 

7 (2) REPORT.—Not later than 270 days after the 

8 date of enactment of this Act, and annually thereafter 

9 until the Next Generation Air Transportation System 

10 is fully operational, the Comptroller General shall 

11 transmit a report to the Committee on Science and 

12 Technology and the Committee on Transportation 

13 and Infrastructure of the House of Representatives 

14 and the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Trans15 portation of the Senate containing the Comptroller 

16 General’s findings, conclusions and recommendations 

17 related to the assessment in paragraph (1). 

18 (j) UNMANNED AIRCRAFT SYSTEMS.— 

19 (1) RESEARCH INITIATIVE.— 

20 (A) IMPROVED MANNED AND UNMANNED

21 AIRCRAFT.—Section 44504 of title 49, United 

22 States Code, is amended— 

23 (i) in subsection (a), by inserting ‘‘un24 manned and manned’’ after ‘‘improve’’; 


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1 (ii) in subsection (b)(6), by striking 

2 ‘‘and’’ after the semicolon; 

3 (iii) in subsection (b)(7) by striking 

4 the period and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

5 (iv) by adding at the end of subsection 

6 (b) the following: 

7 ‘‘(8) in conjunction with other Federal agencies 

8 as appropriate, to develop technologies and methods to 

9 assess the risk of and prevent defects, failures, and 

10 malfunctions of products, parts, and processes, for use 

11 in all classes of unmanned aircraft systems that could 

12 result in a catastrophic failure of the unmanned air13 craft that would endanger other aircraft in the na14 tional airspace system.’’. 

15 (B) SYSTEMS, PROCEDURES, FACILITIES, 

16 AND DEVICES.—Section 44505(b) of such title is 

17 amended— 

18 (i) in paragraph (4), by striking 

19 ‘‘and’’ after the semicolon; 

20 (ii) in paragraph (5)(C), by striking 

21 the period and inserting a semicolon; and 

22 (iii) by adding at the end of subsection 

23 (b) the following: 


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1 ‘‘(6) to develop a better understanding of the re2 lationship between human factors and unmanned air3 craft systems safety; and 

4 ‘‘(7) to develop dynamic simulation models for 

5 integrating all classes of unmanned aircraft systems 

6 into the national airspace system without any deg7 radation of existing levels of safety for all national 

8 airspace system users.’’. 

9 (2) ROADMAP.—Not later than 90 days after the 

10 date of enactment of this Act, the Administrator shall 

11 develop and transmit an unmanned aircraft systems 

12 research, development, demonstration and implemen13 tation ‘‘roadmap’’ to the Committee on Science and 

14 Technology of the House of Representatives and the 

15 Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transpor16 tation of the Senate. 

17 (3) INDEPENDENT ASSESSMENT.— 

18 (A) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 3 months 

19 after the date of enactment of this Act, the Ad20 ministrator shall enter into an arrangement 

21 with the National Research Council for an as22 sessment of the status of unmanned aircraft sys23 tems that shall include consideration of— 

24 (i) human factors regarding unmanned 

25 aircraft systems operation; 


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1 (ii) ‘‘detect, sense and avoid tech2 nologies’’ with respect to both cooperative 

3 and non-cooperative aircraft; 

4 (iii) spectrum issues and bandwidth 

5 requirements; 

6 (iv) operation in suboptimal winds 

7 and adverse weather conditions; 

8 (v) mechanisms for communicating un9 manned aircraft system location; 

10 (vi) airworthiness and system redun11 dancy; 

12 (vii) flight termination systems for 

13 safety and security; 

14 (viii) technologies for unmanned air15 craft systems flight control; 

16 (ix) technologies for unmanned aircraft 

17 systems propulsion; 

18 (x) unmanned aircraft systems oper19 ator qualifications, medical standards, and 

20 training requirements; 

21 (xi) unmanned aircraft systems main22 tenance requirements and training require23 ments; 


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1 (xii) any other unmanned aircraft sys2 tems-related issue the Administrator believes 

3 should be addressed; and 

4 (xiii) recommendations for integrating 

5 unmanned aircraft systems into the na6 tional airspace system in a timely manner 

7 without any degradation of existing levels of 

8 safety for all national airspace system 

9 users. 

10 (B) REPORT.—Not later than 12 months 

11 after initiating the study, the National Academy 

12 shall submit its report to the Administrator, the 

13 Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and 

14 Transportation, and the House of Representa15 tives Committee on Science and Technology con16 taining its finding and recommendations. 

17 (4) PILOT PROJECTS FOR TRANSITIONING RE18 SEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT RESULTS.— 

19 (A) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator shall 

20 establish pilot projects in sparsely populated, 

21 low-density Class G air traffic airspace to con22 duct experiments and collect data in order to ac23 celerate the safe integration of unmanned air24 craft systems into the national airspace system 


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1 without any degradation of existing levels of 

2 safety for all national airspace system users. 

3 (B) USE OF PUBLIC-PRIVATE PARTNER4 SHIP.—In conducting the pilot projects, the Ad5 ministrator shall encourage the formation of a 

6 public-private partnership. 

7 (C) REPORT.—Not later than 90 days after 

8 completing the pilot projects, the Administrator 

9 shall transmit a report to the Committee on 

10 Science and Technology of the House of Rep11 resentatives and the Committee on Commerce, 

12 Science, and Transportation of the Senate, set13 ting forth the Administrator’s findings and con14 clusions concerning the projects. 

15 (D) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIA16 TIONS.—There is authorized to be appropriated 

17 to the Administrator for fiscal years 2008 and 

18 2009 such sums as may be necessary to carry out 

19 the pilot projects under this paragraph. 

20 SEC. 5. INTERAGENCY RESEARCH INITIATIVE ON THE IM21 PACT OF AVIATION ON THE CLIMATE. 

22 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator, in coordination 

23 with NASA and the United States Climate Change Science 

24 Program, shall establish a research initiative to assess the 


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1 impact of aviation on the climate and, if warranted, to 

2 evaluate approaches to mitigate that impact. 

3 (b) RESEARCH PLAN.—Not later than 1 year after the 

4 date of enactment of this Act, the participating Federal en5 tities shall jointly develop a plan for the research program 

6 that contains the objectives, proposed tasks, milestones, and 

7 5-year budgetary profile. 

8 (c) REVIEW.—The Administrator shall have the Na9 tional Research Council conduct an independent review of 

10 the interagency research program plan and provide the re11 sults of that review to the Committee on Science and Tech12 nology of the House of Representatives and the Committee 

13 on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the Senate 

14 not later than 18 months after the date of enactment of this 

15 Act. 

16 (d) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 

17 authorized to be appropriated $2,000,000 for fiscal year 

18 2008, and $5,000,000 in each of the fiscal years 2009 

19 through 2011, for the interagency research program estab20 lished under this section. 

21 SEC. 6. RESEARCH PROGRAM ON RUNWAYS. 

22 (a) ESTABLISHMENT OF RESEARCH PROGRAM.—The 

23 Administrator shall establish a program of research grants 

24 to universities and non-profit research foundations for re25 search and technology demonstrations related to— 


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1 (1) improved runway surfaces; and 

2 (2) engineered material restraining systems for 

3 runways at both general aviation airports and air4 ports with commercial air carrier operations. 

5 (b) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 

6 authorized to be appropriated $5,000,000 for each of the 

7 fiscal years 2008 through 2011 to carry out this section. 

8 SEC. 7. RESEARCH ON DESIGN FOR CERTIFICATION. 

9 (a) JOINT PROGRAM.—Not later than 6 months after 

10 the date of enactment of this Act, the FAA and NASA shall 

11 establish a joint research program on methods to improve 

12 both confidence in and the timeliness of certification of new 

13 technologies for their introduction into the national air14 space system. 

15 (b) RESEARCH PLAN.—Not later than 1 year after the 

16 date of enactment of this Act, as part of the activity de17 scribed in subsection (a), the FAA and NASA shall jointly 

18 develop a plan for the research program that contains the 

19 objectives, proposed tasks, milestones, and five-year budg20 etary profile. 

21 (c) REVIEW.—The Administrator shall have the Na22 tional Research Council conduct an independent review of 

23 the joint research program plan and provide the results of 

24 that review to the Committee on Science and Technology 

25 of the House of Representatives and the Committee on ComVerDate Aug 31 2005 23:41 Sep 17, 2007 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00030 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H2698.RH H2698

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1 merce, Science, and Transportation of the Senate not later 

2 than 18 months after the date of enactment of this Act. 

3 SEC. 8. CENTERS OF EXCELLENCE. 

4 (a) AMENDMENT.—Section 44513(f) of title 49, United 

5 States Code, is amended to read as follows: 

6 ‘‘(f) GOVERNMENT’S SHARE OF COSTS.—The United 

7 States Government’s share of establishing and operating the 

8 center and all related research activities that grant recipi9 ents carry out shall not exceed 75 percent of the costs. The 

10 United States Government’s share of an individual grant 

11 under this section shall not exceed 90 percent of the costs.’’. 

12 (b) ANNUAL REPORT.—The Administrator shall trans13 mit a report annually to the Committee on Science and 

14 Technology of the House of Representatives and the Com15 mittee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the 

16 Senate at the time of the President’s budget request that 

17 lists— 

18 (1) the research projects that have been initiated 

19 by each Center of Excellence in the preceding year; 

20 (2) the amount of funding for each research 

21 project and the funding source; 

22 (3) the institutions participating in each project 

23 and their shares of the overall funding for each re24 search project; and 


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1 (4) the level of cost-sharing for each research 

2 project. 

3 SEC. 9. AIRPORT COOPERATIVE RESEARCH PROGRAM. 

4 Section 44511(f) of title 49, United States Code, is 

5 amended— 

6 (1) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘establish a 4- 

7 year pilot’’ and inserting ‘‘maintain an’’; and 

8 (2) in paragraph (4)— 

9 (A) by striking ‘‘expiration of the program’’ 

10 and inserting ‘‘expiration of the pilot program’’; 

11 and 

12 (B) by striking ‘‘program, including rec13 ommendations as to the need for establishing a 

14 permanent airport cooperative research pro15 gram’’ and inserting ‘‘program’’. 

16 SEC. 10. RESEARCH GRANTS PROGRAM INVOLVING UNDER17 GRADUATE STUDENTS. 

18 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator shall establish 

19 a program to utilize colleges and universities, including 

20 Historically Black Colleges and Universities, Hispanic 

21 Serving Institutions, tribally controlled colleges and univer22 sities, and Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian serving in23 stitutions in conducting research by undergraduate students 

24 on subjects of relevance to the FAA. Grants may be awarded 

25 under this section for— 


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1 (1) research projects to be carried out primarily 

2 by undergraduate students; 

3 (2) research projects that combine undergraduate 

4 research with other research supported by the FAA; 

5 (3) research on future training requirements re6 lated to projected changes in regulatory requirements 

7 for aircraft maintenance and power plant licensees; 

8 and 

9 (4) research on the impact of new technologies 

10 and procedures, particularly those related to aircraft 

11 flight deck and air traffic management functions, and 

12 on training requirements for pilots and air traffic 

13 controllers. 

14 (b) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 

15 authorized to be appropriated $5,000,000 for each of the 

16 fiscal years 2008 through 2011, for research grants under 

17 this section. 

18 SEC. 11. BUDGET FORMULATION. 

19 Section 48102 of title 49, United States Code, is 

20 amended by inserting after subsection (f) the following new 

21 subsection: 

22 ‘‘(g) BUDGET FORMULATION.—(1) The Department of 

23 Transportation’s annual budget request for the Federal 

24 Aviation Administration shall identify all of the activities 

25 carried out by the Administration within the categories of 


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1 basic research, applied research, and development, as classi2 fied by the Office of Management and Budget Circular A– 

3 11. Each activity in the categories of basic research, applied 

4 research, and development shall be identified regardless of 

5 the budget category in which it appears in the budget re6 quest. 

7 ‘‘(2) The budget request specified in paragraph (1) 

8 shall be submitted to the Committee on Science and Tech9 nology and the Committee on Transportation and Infra10 structure of the House of Representatives and the Committee 

11 on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the Senate 

12 at the same time as the President’s Budget Request is sub13 mitted to the Congress.’’. 

14 SEC. 12. RESEARCH PROGRAM ON SPACE WEATHER AND 

15 AVIATION. 

16 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Administrator of the Fed17 eral Aviation Administration shall, in coordination with 

18 the National Science Foundation, National Aeronautics 

19 and Space Administration, National Oceanic and Atmos20 pheric Administration, and other relevant agencies, initiate 

21 a research program to— 

22 (1) conduct or supervise research projects on im23 pacts of space weather to aviation, including commu24 nication, navigation, avionic systems, and on airline 

25 passengers and personnel; and 


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1 (2) facilitate the transfer of technology from 

2 space weather research programs to Federal agencies 

3 with operational responsibilities and to the private 

4 sector. 

5 (b) USE OF GRANTS OR COOPERATIVE AGREE6 MENTS.—The Administrator may use grants or cooperative 

7 agreements in carrying out this section. 

8 (c) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—In addi9 tion to amounts authorized to be appropriated by the 

10 amendments made by this Act, there is authorized to be ap11 propriated $1,000,000 for each of the fiscal years 2008 

12 through 2011 to carry out this section. 

13 SEC. 13. AVIATION GAS RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT 

14 PROGRAM. 

15 (a) CONTINUATION OF PROGRAM.—The Administrator, 

16 in coordination with the NASA Administrator, shall con17 tinue research and development activities into technologies 

18 for modification of existing general aviation piston engines 

19 to enable their safe operation using unleaded aviation fuel. 

20 (b) ROADMAP.—Not later than 120 days of the enact21 ment of this Act, the Administrator shall develop a research 

22 and development roadmap for the program continued in 

23 subsection (a), containing the specific research and develop24 ment objectives and anticipated timetable for achieving the 

25 objectives. 


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1 (c) REPORT.—Not later than 130 days of the enact2 ment of this Act, the Administrator shall provide the road3 map specified in subsection (b) to the Committee on Science 

4 and Technology of the House of Representatives and the 

5 Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of 

6 the Senate. 

7 (d) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 

8 authorized to be appropriated $750,000 for each of the fiscal 

9 years 2008 through 2010, to carry out this section. 

10 SEC. 14. RESEARCH REVIEWS AND ASSESSMENTS. 

11 (a) REVIEW OF FAA’S ENERGY- AND ENVIRONMENT12 RELATED RESEARCH PROGRAMS.— 

13 (1) STUDY.—The Administrator shall enter into 

14 an arrangement with the National Research Council 

15 for a review of the FAA’s energy- and environment16 related research program. The review shall assess 

17 whether— 

18 (A) the programs have well-defined, 

19 prioritized, and appropriate research objectives; 

20 (B) the program are properly coordinated 

21 with the energy- and environment-related re22 search programs of NASA, NOAA, and other rel23 evant agencies; 

24 (C) the program have allocated appropriate 

25 resources to each of the research objectives; and 


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1 (D) there exist suitable mechanisms for 

2 transitioning the research results into the FAA’s 

3 operational technologies and procedures and cer4 tification activities. 

5 (2) REPORT.—A report containing the results of 

6 the review shall be provided to the Committee on 

7 Science and Technology of the House of Representa8 tives and the Committee on Commerce, Science, and 

9 Transportation of the Senate within eighteen months 

10 of the enactment of this Act. 

11 (b) ASSESSMENT OF THE IMPACT OF SPACE WEATHER

12 ON AVIATION.— 

13 (1) STUDY.—The Administrator shall enter into 

14 an arrangement with the National Research Council 

15 for a study of the impacts of space weather on the 

16 current and future United States aviation industry, 

17 and in particular, to examine the risks for Over-The18 Pole (OTP) and Ultra-Long-Range (ULR) operations. 

19 The study shall— 

20 (A) examine space weather impacts on at 

21 least the following areas: communications, navi22 gation, avionics, and human health in flight; 

23 (B) assess the benefits of space weather in24 formation and services to reduce aviation costs 

25 and maintain safety; 


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1 (C) provide recommendations on how 

2 NASA, NOAA, and the NSF can most effectively 

3 carry out research and monitoring activities re4 lated to space weather and aviation; and 

5 (D) provide recommendations on how to in6 tegrate space weather information into the Next 

7 Generation Air Transportation System. 

8 (2) REPORT.—A report containing the results of 

9 the study shall be provided to the Committee on 

10 Science and Technology of the House of Representa11 tives and the Committee on Commerce, Science, and 

12 Transportation of the Senate not later than 1 year 

13 after the date of enactment of this Act. 

14 SEC. 15. REVIEW OF FAA’S AVIATION SAFETY-RELATED RE15 SEARCH PROGRAMS. 

16 (a) REVIEW.—The Administrator shall enter into an 

17 arrangement with the National Research Council for an 

18 independent review of the FAA’s aviation safety-related re19 search programs. The review shall assess whether— 

20 (1) the programs have well-defined, prioritized, 

21 and appropriate research objectives; 

22 (2) the programs are properly coordinated with 

23 the safety research programs of NASA and other rel24 evant Federal agencies; 


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1 (3) the programs have allocated appropriate re2 sources to each of the research objectives; and 

3 (4) there exist suitable mechanisms for 

4 transitioning the research results from the programs 

5 into the FAA’s operational technologies and proce6 dures and certification activities in a timely manner. 

7 (b) AVIATION SAFETY-RELATED RESEARCH PRO8 GRAMS TO BE ASSESSED.—The FAA aviation safety-re9 lated research programs to be assessed under the review 

10 shall include, at a minimum, the following: 

11 (1) Air traffic control/technical operations 

12 human factors. 

13 (2) Runway incursion reduction. 

14 (3) Flightdeck/maintenance system integration 

15 human factors. 

16 (4) Airports technology research—safety. 

17 (5) Airport cooperative research program—safe18 ty. 

19 (6) Weather program. 

20 (7) Atmospheric hazards/digital system safety. 

21 (8) Fire research and safety. 

22 (9) Propulsion and fuel systems. 

23 (10) Advanced materials/structural safety. 

24 (11) Aging aircraft. 


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1 (12) Aircraft catastrophic failure prevention re2 search. 

3 (13) Aeromedical research. 

4 (14) Aviation safety risk analysis. 

5 (15) Unmanned aircraft systems research. 

6 (16) Safe Flight 21—Alaska Capstone. 

7 (c) REPORT.—Not later than 14 months after the date 

8 of enactment of this Act, the Administrator shall submit 

9 to the Committee on Science and Technology of the House 

10 of Representatives and the Committee on Commerce, 

11 Science, and Transportation of the Senate a report on the 

12 results of the review. 

13 (d) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—In addi14 tion to amounts authorized to be appropriated by the 

15 amendments made by this Act, there is authorized to be ap16 propriated $700,000 for fiscal year 2008 to carry out this 

17 section. 


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Union Calendar No. 205 

110TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2698 

[Report No. 110

–329] 

A BILL 

To authorize appropriations for the civil aviation 

other purposes. of the Federal Aviation Administration, and for research and development projects and activities 

SEPTEMBER 17, 2007 

Reported with an amendment, committed to the Comand ordered to be printed mittee of the Whole House on the State of the Union, 


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