I 

110TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2698 

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 

A BILL 

To authorize appropriations for the civil aviation research 

and development projects and activities of the Federal 

Aviation Administration, 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 2007’’. 

6 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

7 As used in this Act— 

8 (1) the term ‘‘Administrator’’ means the Ad9 ministrator of the Federal Aviation Administration; 

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

2 the Joint Planning and Development Office; 

3 (3) the term ‘‘FAA’’ means the Federal Avia4 tion Administration; 

5 (4) the term ‘‘NASA’’ means the National Aer6 onautics and Space Administration; 

7 (5) the term ‘‘National Research Council’’ 

8 means the National Research Council of the Na9 tional Academies of Science and Engineering; 

10 (6) the term ‘‘NOAA’’ means the National Oce11 anic and Atmospheric Administration; 

12 (7) the term ‘‘NSF’’ means the National 

13 Science Foundation; 

14 (8) the term ‘‘Office’’ means the Next Genera15 tion Air Transportation System Joint Planning and 

16 Development Office; and 

17 (9) the term ‘‘Secretary’’ means the Secretary 

18 of Transportation. 

19 SEC. 3. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

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

21 amended— 

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

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

24 and inserting a semicolon; and 

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1 (3) by adding at the end the following new 

2 paragraphs: 

3 ‘‘(13) for fiscal year 2008, $335,191,000, in4 cluding— 

5 ‘‘(A) $7,350,000 for fire research and safe6 ty; 

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

8 systems; 

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

10 and structural safety; 

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

12 and digital system safety; 

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

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

15 failure prevention research; 

16 ‘‘(G) $14,651,000 for flightdeck mainte17 nance, system integration, and human factors; 

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

19 analysis; 

20 ‘‘(I) $15,254,000 for air traffic control, 

21 technical operations, and human factors; 

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

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

24 ‘‘(L) $6,310,000 for unmanned aircraft 

25 systems 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) $13,755,000 for wake turbulence; 

5 ‘‘(O) $20,469,000 for environment and en6 ergy; 

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

8 resource management; 

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

10 Hughes Technical Center Laboratory Facility; 

11 ‘‘(R) $74,200,000 for the Center for Ad12 vanced Aviation System Development; 

13 ‘‘(S) $2,000,000 for the Airport Coopera14 tive Research Program—capacity; 

15 ‘‘(T) $3,000,000 for the Airport Coopera16 tive Research Program—environment; 

17 ‘‘(U) $5,000,000 for the Airport Coopera18 tive Research Program—safety; 

19 ‘‘(V) $3,600,000 for GPS civil require20 ments; 

21 ‘‘(W) $5,000,000 for runway incursion re22 duction; 

23 ‘‘(X) $6,500,000 for system capacity, plan24 ning, and improvement; 

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

2 validation; 

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

5 ‘‘(AA) $4,000,000 for the Airspace Man6 agement Lab; 

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

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

9 weather research, Juneau; 

10 ‘‘(DD) $1,000,000 for the Local Area 

11 Augmentation System (LAAS); 

12 ‘‘(EE) $15,000,000 for Safe Flight 21, 

13 Alaska Capstone; 

14 ‘‘(FF) $20,000,000 for NextGen dem15 onstration; 

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

17 research—capacity; 

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

19 research—safety; and 

20 ‘‘(14) for fiscal year 2009, $481,554,000, in21 cluding— 

22 ‘‘(A) $8,457,000 for fire research and safe23 ty; 

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

25 systems; 

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

2 and structural safety; 

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

4 and digital system safety; 

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

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

7 failure prevention research; 

8 ‘‘(G) $37,499,000 for flightdeck mainte9 nance, system integration, and human factors; 

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

11 analysis; 

12 ‘‘(I) $15,323,000 for air traffic control, 

13 technical operations, and human factors; 

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

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

16 ‘‘(L) $6,738,000 for unmanned aircraft 

17 systems research; 

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

19 Air Transportation System Joint Planning and 

20 Development Office; 

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

22 ‘‘(O) $35,039,000 for environment and en23 ergy; 

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

25 resource management; 

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

2 Hughes Technical Center Laboratory Facility; 

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

4 Aviation System Development; 

5 ‘‘(S) $5,000,000 for the Airport Coopera6 tive Research Program—capacity; 

7 ‘‘(T) $5,000,000 for the Airport Coopera8 tive Research Program—environment; 

9 ‘‘(U) $5,000,000 for the Airport Coopera10 tive Research Program—safety; 

11 ‘‘(V) $3,469,000 for GPS civil require12 ments; 

13 ‘‘(W) $5,000,000 for runway incursion re14 duction; 

15 ‘‘(X) $6,500,000 for system capacity, plan16 ning and improvement; 

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

18 Validation; 

19 ‘‘(Z) $1,000,000 for NAS weather require20 ments; 

21 ‘‘(AA) $4,000,000 for the Airspace Man22 agement Lab; 

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

24 ‘‘(CC) $20,000,000 for Safe Flight 21, 

25 Alaska Capstone; 

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1 ‘‘(DD) $12,000,000 for NextGen dem2 onstration; 

3 ‘‘(EE) $102,000,000 for NextGen system 

4 development; 

5 ‘‘(FF) $8,907,000 for airports technology 

6 research—capacity; 

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

8 research—safety; and 

9 ‘‘(15) for fiscal year 2010, $486,502,000, in10 cluding— 

11 ‘‘(A) $8,546,000 for fire research and safe12 ty; 

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

14 systems; 

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

16 and structural safety; 

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

18 and digital system safety; 

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

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

21 failure prevention research; 

22 ‘‘(G) $36,967,000 for flightdeck mainte23 nance, system integration, and human factors; 

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

25 analysis; 

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1 ‘‘(I) $15,471,000 for air traffic control, 

2 technical operations, and human factors; 

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

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

5 ‘‘(L) $6,236,000 for unmanned aircraft 

6 systems research; 

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

8 Air Transportation System Joint Planning and 

9 Development Office; 

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

11 ‘‘(O) $34,678,000 for environment and en12 ergy; 

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

14 resource management; 

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

16 Technical Center Laboratory Facility; 

17 ‘‘(R) $90,000,000 for the Center for Ad18 vanced Aviation System Development; 

19 ‘‘(S) $5,000,000 for the Airport Coopera20 tive Research Program—capacity; 

21 ‘‘(T) $5,000,000 for the Airport Coopera22 tive Research Program—environment; 

23 ‘‘(U) $5,000,000 for the Airport Coopera24 tive Research Program—safety; 

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1 ‘‘(V) $3,416,000 for GPS civil require2 ments; 

3 ‘‘(W) $5,000,000 for runway incursion re4 duction; 

5 ‘‘(X) $6,500,000 for system capacity, plan6 ning and improvement; 

7 ‘‘(Y) $3,000,000 for operations concept 

8 validation; 

9 ‘‘(Z) $1,000,000 for NAS weather require10 ments; 

11 ‘‘(AA) $4,000,000 for the Airspace Man12 agement Lab; 

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

14 ‘‘(CC) $20,000,000 for Safe Flight 21, 

15 Alaska Capstone; 

16 ‘‘(DD) $12,000,000 for NextGen dem17 onstration; 

18 ‘‘(EE) $102,000,000 for NextGen system 

19 development; 

20 ‘‘(FF) $8,907,000 for airports technology 

21 research—capacity; 

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

23 research—safety; and 

24 ‘‘(16) for fiscal year 2011, $514,832,000, in25 cluding— 

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1 ‘‘(A) $8,815,000 for fire research and safe2 ty; 

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

4 systems; 

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

6 and structural safety; 

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

8 and digital system safety; 

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

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

11 failure prevention research; 

12 ‘‘(G) $39,245,000 for flightdeck mainte13 nance, system integration and human factors; 

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

15 analysis; 

16 ‘‘(I) $15,715,000 for air traffic control, 

17 technical operations, and human factors; 

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

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

20 ‘‘(L) $6,295,000 for unmanned aircraft 

21 systems research; 

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

23 Air Transportation System Joint Planning and 

24 Development Office; 

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

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1 ‘‘(O) $34,811,000 for environment and en2 ergy; 

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

4 resource management; 

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

6 Technical Center Laboratory Facility; 

7 ‘‘(R) $114,000,000 for Center for Ad8 vanced Aviation System Development; 

9 ‘‘(S) $5,000,000 for the Airport Coopera10 tive Research Program—capacity; 

11 ‘‘(T) $5,000,000 for the Airport Coopera12 tive Research Program—environment; 

13 ‘‘(U) $5,000,000 for the Airport Coopera14 tive Research Program—safety; 

15 ‘‘(V) $3,432,000 for GPS civil require16 ments; 

17 ‘‘(W) $2,000,000 for runway incursion re18 duction; 

19 ‘‘(X) $6,500,000 for system capacity, plan20 ning and improvement; 

21 ‘‘(Y) $3,000,000 for operations concept 

22 validation; 

23 ‘‘(Z) $1,000,000 for NAS weather require24 ments; 

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1 ‘‘(AA) $4,000,000 for the Airspace Man2 agement Lab; 

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

4 ‘‘(CC) $20,000,000 for Safe Flight 21, 

5 Alaska Capstone; 

6 ‘‘(DD) $12,000,000 for NextGen dem7 onstration; 

8 ‘‘(EE) $105,000,000 for NextGen system 

9 development; 

10 ‘‘(FF) $8,907,000 for airports technology 

11 research—capacity; 

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

13 research—safety; and’’. 

14 SEC. 4. NEXT GENERATION AIR TRANSPORTATION SYSTEM 

15 JOINT PLANNING AND DEVELOPMENT OF16 FICE. 

17 (a) STATUS OF DIRECTOR AND RESPONSIBILITIES

18 OF OFFICE.—Section 709 of the Vision 100— Century of 

19 Aviation Reauthorization Act (49 U.S.C. 40101 note) is 

20 amended— 

21 (1) in subsection (a)— 

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

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

24 the Director. The Director shall report to the 

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1 tration and shall serve as Associate Adminis2 trator for the Next Generation Air Transpor3 tation System, and shall be a voting member 

4 and co-chair of the Joint Resources Council.’’; 

5 (B) by amending paragraph (2)(C) to 

6 read: 

7 ‘‘(C) creating a transition plan for the im8 plementation of that system that includes date9 specific milestones for the implementation of 

10 new capabilities into the national airspace sys11 tem;’’; 

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

13 and’’ and inserting a semicolon; 

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

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

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

17 the following: 

18 ‘‘(I) establishing specific quantitative goals 

19 for the safety, capacity, efficiency, performance, 

20 and environmental impacts of each phase of 

21 Next Generation Air Transportation System im22 plementation activities and measuring actual 

23 operational experience against those goals; 

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1 ‘‘(J) working to ensure global interoper2 ability of the Next Generation Air Transpor3 tation System; 

4 ‘‘(K) integrating aviation weather informa5 tion and space weather information into the 

6 Next Generation Air Transportation System as 

7 soon as possible; 

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

9 the selection of products or outcomes of re10 search and development activities that would be 

11 moved to the next stage of a demonstration 

12 project through the Joint Resources Council; 

13 ‘‘(M) maintaining a baseline modeling and 

14 simulation environment for testing and evalu15 ating alternative concepts to satisfy Next Gen16 eration Air Transportation enterprise architec17 ture requirements; and 

18 ‘‘(N) pursuing the integration of un19 manned aircraft systems into the national air20 space system through research and demonstra21 tion programs under the auspices of a public 

22 and private partnership.’’; and 

23 (2) in subsection (e), by striking ‘‘2010’’ and 

24 inserting ‘‘2011’’. 

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1 (b) ACCOUNTABILITY.—Such section is further 

2 amended— 

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

4 the paragraph designation; and 

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

6 following: 

7 ‘‘(B) The Administrator, the Secretary of De8 fense, the Administrator of NASA, the Secretary of 

9 Commerce, the Secretary of Homeland Security, and 

10 the head of any other Department or Federal agency 

11 from which the Secretary of Transportation requests 

12 assistance under paragraph (A) shall designate a 

13 senior official in the department or agency to be re14 sponsible for— 

15 ‘‘(i) implementing the department’s or 

16 agency’s Next Generation Air Transportation 

17 System activities with the Office, including the 

18 execution of all aspects of the department’s or 

19 agency’s work on developing and implementing 

20 the integrated plan described in section 

21 709(2)(A); and 

22 ‘‘(ii) ensuring that the department or 

23 agency meets its obligations as set forth in the 

24 memorandum of understanding executed by or 

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1 on behalf of the department or agency under 

2 subparagraph (D). 

3 ‘‘(C) The head of any such department or agen4 cy shall— 

5 ‘‘(i) establish an office within the depart6 ment or agency to carry out its responsibilities 

7 under the memorandum of understanding under 

8 the supervision of the designated official; and 

9 ‘‘(ii) ensure that the designated official has 

10 sufficient budgetary authority and staff re11 sources to carry out the department’s or agen12 cy’s Next Generation Air Transportation Sys13 tem responsibilities as set forth in the inte14 grated plan under section 709(b). 

15 ‘‘(D) Not later than 6 months after the date of 

16 enactment of the Federal Aviation Research and De17 velopment Reauthorization Act of 2007, the head of 

18 each department or agency that has responsibility 

19 for carrying out any activity under the integrated 

20 plan under section 709(b) shall execute a memo21 randum of understanding with the Office obligating 

22 that department or agency to carry out those activi23 ties.’’. 

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1 (c) INTEGRATED PLAN.—Section 709(b) of the Vi2 sion 100—Century of Aviation Reauthorization Act (49 

3 U.S.C. 40101 note) is amended— 

4 (1) by striking the first sentence and inserting 

5 ‘‘The integrated plan shall be designed to ensure 

6 that the Next Generation Air Transportation System 

7 meets anticipated future air transportation safety, 

8 security, mobility, efficiency, and capacity needs and 

9 accomplishes the goals under subsection (c).’’; 

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

11 and inserting a semicolon; 

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

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

14 complete implementation of planned Next Genera15 tion Air Transportation System capabilities, includ16 ing but not limited to Automated Dependent Surveil17 lance-Broadcast, Unmanned Aircraft Systems oper18 ations, Next Generation Enabled Weather system, 

19 Next Generation Data Communications, NAS Voice 

20 Switch, System Wide Information Management sys21 tem, and space weather information, and including 

22 any necessary certification activities, and including 

23 an evaluation of the costs and benefits of accel24 erating any of the implementation and certification 

25 timetables; 

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1 ‘‘(6) Identification of planned demonstration 

2 projects and date-specific timetables for the conduct 

3 of 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 

8 environmental requirements identified in subsection 

9 (I); 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 

24 required under subsection (b) and any changes to that 

25 plan. The annual report shall include— 

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1 ‘‘(1) the updated integrated plan developed 

2 under 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 

14 the previous fiscal year and the proposed programs 

15 and activities under the President’s budget request, 

16 of each participating Federal agency and depart17 ment; and 

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

19 Federal agency and department devoted to the pro20 grams and activities in paragraph (4) for the pre21 vious fiscal year and under the President’s budget 

22 request.’’. 

23 (e) SENIOR POLICY COMMITTEE.—Section 710 of the 

24 Vision 100—Century of Aviation Reauthorization Act (49 

25 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 Manage7 ment and Budget, submit a report to the Office of 

8 Management and Budget which— 

9 (A) identifies each element of its work pro10 gram which contributes directly to Next Gen11 eration Air Transportation System initiative; 

12 and 

13 (B) states the portion of its request for ap14 propriations that is allocated to each such ele15 ment. 

16 (2) The Office of Management and Budget 

17 shall review each such report in light of the goals, 

18 priorities, and agency and departmental responsibil19 ities set forth in the annual report submitted under 

20 the amendment made by subsection (d), and shall 

21 include, in the President’s annual budget estimate, 

22 a statement of the portion of each appropriate agen23 cy’s or department’s annual budget estimate relating 

24 to its activities undertaken pursuant to the Next 

25 Generation Air Transportation System initiative. 

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

2 as 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 Transpor5 tation System in the event of a natural disaster, major 

6 equipment failure, or act of terrorism. 

7 (h) ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH.—The Director 

8 shall establish environmental requirements for noise, emis9 sions, and energy consumption to be satisfied in the Next 

10 Generation Air Transportation System through a com11 bination of technologies and operational procedures. The 

12 Director shall assign primary responsibility for the re13 search, development, and demonstration of the applicable 

14 technologies in a relevant environment to NASA and pri15 mary responsibility for demonstration of optimized oper16 ational procedures to the 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 Genera24 tion Air Transportation System Joint Planning 

25 and Development Office in meeting the deadmstockstill on PROD1PC66 with BILLS

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1 lines and milestones of the integrated plan 

2 under that section; 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 

8 the date of enactment of this Act, and annually 

9 thereafter until the Next Generation Air Transpor10 tation System is fully operational, the Comptroller 

11 General shall transmit a report to the Committee on 

12 Science and Technology and the Committee on 

13 Transportation and Infrsatructure of the House of 

14 Representatives and the Committee on Commerce, 

15 Science, and Transportation of the Senate con16 taining the Comptroller General’s findings, conclu17 sions and recommendations related to the assess18 ment in paragraph (1). 

19 (j) UNMANNED AIRCRAFT SYSTEMS.— 

20 (1) RESEARCH INITIATIVE.— 

21 (A) IMPROVED MANNED AND UNMANNED

22 AIRCRAFT.—Section 44504 of title 49, United 

23 States Code, is amended— 

24 (i) in subsection (a), by inserting ‘‘un25 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 sub6 section (b) the following: 

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

8 as appropriate, to develop technologies and methods 

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

10 and malfunctions of products, parts, and processes, 

11 for use in all classes of unmanned aerial systems 

12 that could result in a catastrophic failure.’’. 

13 (B) SYSTEMS, PROCEDURES, FACILITIES, 

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

15 is amended— 

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

17 ‘‘and’’ after the semicolon; 

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

19 the period and inserting a semicolon; and 

20 (iii) by adding at the end of sub21 section (b) the following: 

22 ‘‘(6) to develop a better understanding of the 

23 relationship between human factors and unmanned 

24 aircraft systems safety; and 

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

2 integrating all classes of unmanned aircraft systems 

3 into the national airspace system.’’. 

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

5 the date of enactment of this Act, the Administrator 

6 shall develop and transmit an unmanned aircraft 

7 systems research, development, demonstration and 

8 implementation ‘‘roadmap’’ to the Committee on 

9 Science and Technology of the House of Representa10 tives and the Committee on Commerce, Science, and 

11 Transportation of the Senate. 

12 (3) INDEPENDENT ASSESSMENT.— 

13 (A) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 3 

14 months after the date of enactment of this Act, 

15 the Administrator shall enter into an arrange16 ment with the National Research Council for an 

17 assessment of the status of unmanned aircraft 

18 systems that shall include consideration of— 

19 (i) human factors regarding un20 manned aircraft systems operation; 

21 (ii) ‘‘detect, sense and avoid tech22 nologies’’ with respect to both cooperative 

23 and non-cooperative aircraft; 

24 (iii) spectrum issues and bandwidth 

25 requirements; 

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1 (iv) operation in suboptimal winds 

2 and adverse weather conditions; 

3 (v) mechanisms for communicating 

4 unmanned aircraft system location; 

5 (vi) airworthiness and system redun6 dancy; 

7 (vii) flight termination systems for 

8 safety and security; 

9 (viii) technologies for unmanned air10 craft systems flight control; 

11 (ix) technologies for unmanned air12 craft systems propulsion; 

13 (x) unmanned aircraft systems oper14 ator qualifications, medical standards, and 

15 training requirements; 

16 (xi) unmanned aircraft systems main17 tenance requirements and training require18 ments; 

19 (xii) any other unmanned aircraft sys20 tems-related issue the Administrator be21 lieves should be addressed; and 

22 (xiii) recommendations for integrating 

23 unmanned aircraft systems into the na24 tional airspace system in a timely manner. 

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

2 after initiating the study, the National Academy 

3 shall submit its report to the Administrator, the 

4 Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and 

5 Transportation, and the House of Representa6 tives Committee on Science and Technology 

7 containing its finding and recommendations. 

8 (4) PILOT PROJECTS FOR TRANSITIONING RE9 SEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT RESULTS.— 

10 (A) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator 

11 shall establish pilot projects in sparsely popu12 lated, low-density Class G air traffic airspace to 

13 conduct experiments and collect data in order 

14 to accelerate the safe integration of unmanned 

15 aircraft systems into the national airspace sys16 tem. 

17 (B) USE OF PUBLIC-PRIVATE PARTNER18 SHIP.—In conducting the pilot projects, the Ad19 ministrator shall encourage the formation of a 

20 public-private partnership. 

21 (C) REPORT.—Not later than 90 days 

22 after completing the pilot projects, the Adminis23 trator shall transmit a report to the Committee 

24 on Science and Technology of the House of 

25 Representatives and the Committee on Commstockstill on PROD1PC66 with BILLS

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1 merce, Science, and Transportation of the Sen2 ate, setting forth the Administrator’s findings 

3 and conclusions concerning the projects. 

4 (D) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIA5 TIONS.—In addition to amounts authorized to 

6 be appropriated by the amendments made by 

7 this Act, there is authorized to be appropriated 

8 to the Administrator for fiscal years 2008 and 

9 2009 such sums as may be necessary to carry 

10 out the pilot projects under this paragraph. 

11 SEC. 5. INTERAGENCY RESEARCH INITIATIVE ON THE IM12 PACT OF AVIATION ON THE CLIMATE. 

13 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator, in coordina14 tion with NASA and the United States Climate Change 

15 Science Program, shall establish a research initiative to 

16 assess the impact of aviation on the climate and to evalu17 ate approaches to mitigate that impact. 

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

19 the date of enactment of this Act, the participating Fed20 eral entities shall jointly develop a plan for the research 

21 program that contains the objectives, proposed tasks, mile22 stones, and 5-year budgetary profile. 

23 (c) REVIEW.—The Administrator shall have the Na24 tional Research Council conduct an independent review of 

25 the interagency research program plan and provide the remstockstill on PROD1PC66 with BILLS

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1 sults of that review to the Committee on Science and 

2 Technology of the House of Representatives and the Com3 mittee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the 

4 Senate not later than 18 months after the date of enact5 ment of this Act. 

6 (d) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—In addi7 tion to amounts authorized to be appropriated by the 

8 amendments made by this Act, there is authorized to be 

9 appropriated $2,000,000 for fiscal year 2008, and 

10 $5,000,000 in each of the fiscal years 2009 through 2011, 

11 for the interagency research program established under 

12 this section. 

13 SEC. 6. RESEARCH PROGRAM ON RUNWAYS. 

14 (a) ESTABLISHMENT OF RESEARCH PROGRAM.—The 

15 Administrator shall establish a program of research grants 

16 to universities and non-profit research foundations for re17 search and technology demonstrations related to— 

18 (1) improved runway surfaces; and 

19 (2) engineered material restraining systems for 

20 runways at both general aviation airports and air21 ports with commercial air carrier operations. 

22 (b) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—In addi23 tion to amounts authorized to be appropriated by the 

24 amendments made by this Act, there is authorized to be 

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1 appropriated $5,000,000 for each of the fiscal years 2008 

2 through 2011 to carry out this section. 

3 SEC. 7. RESEARCH ON DESIGN FOR CERTIFICATION. 

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

5 the date of enactment of this Act, the FAA and NASA 

6 shall establish a joint research program on methods to im7 prove both confidence in and the timeliness of certification 

8 of new technologies for their introduction into the national 

9 airspace system. 

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

11 the date of enactment of this Act, as part of the activity 

12 described in subsection (a), the FAA and NASA shall 

13 jointly develop a plan for the research program that con14 tains the objectives, proposed tasks, milestones, and five15 year budgetary profile. 

16 (c) REVIEW.—The Administrator shall have the Na17 tional Research Council conduct an independent review of 

18 the joint research program plan and provide the results 

19 of that review to the Committee on Science and Tech20 nology of the House of Representatives and the Committee 

21 on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the Senate 

22 not later than 18 months after the date of enactment of 

23 this Act. 

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1 SEC. 8. CENTERS OF EXCELLENCE. 

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

3 United States Code, is amended to read as follows: 

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

5 States Government’s share of establishing and operating 

6 the center and all related research activities that grant 

7 recipients carry out shall not exceed 75 percent of the 

8 costs. The United States Government’s share of an indi9 vidual grant under this section shall not exceed 90 percent 

10 of the costs.’’. 

11 (b) ANNUAL REPORT.—The Administrator shall 

12 transmit a report annually to the Committee on Science 

13 and Technology of the House of Representatives and the 

14 Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of 

15 the Senate at the time of the President’s budget request 

16 that lists— 

17 (1) the research projects that have been initi18 ated by each Center of Excellence in the preceding 

19 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 

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

26 project. 

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1 SEC. 9. AIRPORT COOPERATIVE RESEARCH PROGRAM. 

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

3 amended— 

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

5 year pilot’’ in paragraph (1) and inserting ‘‘maintain 

6 an’’; and 

7 (2) in paragraph (4)— 

8 (A) by striking ‘‘expiration of the pro9 gram’’ and inserting ‘‘expiration of the pilot 

10 program’’; and 

11 (B) by striking ‘‘program, including rec12 ommendations as to the need for establishing a 

13 permanent airport cooperative research pro14 gram’’ and inserting ‘‘program’’. 

15 SEC. 10. RESEARCH GRANTS PROGRAM INVOLVING UNDER16 GRADUATE STUDENTS. 

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

18 a program to utilize colleges and universities, including 

19 Historically Black Colleges and Universities, Hispanic 

20 Serving Institutions, tribally controlled colleges and uni21 versities, and Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian serving 

22 institutions in conducting research by undergraduate stu23 dents on subjects of relevance to the FAA. Grants may 

24 be awarded under this section for— 

25 (1) research projects to be carried out primarily 

26 by undergraduate students; 

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1 (2) research projects that combine under2 graduate research with other research supported by 

3 the FAA; 

4 (3) research on future training requirements re5 lated to projected changes in regulatory require6 ments for aircraft maintenance and power plant li7 censees; and 

8 (4) research on the impact of new technologies 

9 and procedures, particularly those related to aircraft 

10 flight deck and air traffic management functions, 

11 and on training requirements for pilots and air traf12 fic controllers. 

13 (b) 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 

16 appropriated $5,000,000 for each of the fiscal years 2008 

17 through 2011, for research grants under 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 

21 new subsection: 

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

23 of 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 clas2 sified by the Office of Management and Budget Circular 

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

4 applied research, and development shall be identified re5 gardless of the budget category in which it appears in the 

6 budget request. 

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 Com11 mittee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the 

12 Senate at the same time as the President’s Budget Re13 quest is submitted to the Congress.’’. 

14 SEC. 12. RESEARCH PROGRAM ON SPACE WEATHER AND 

15 AVIATION. 

16 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—From amounts made avail17 able under section 48102(a) of title 49, United States 

18 Code, the Administrator of the Federal Aviation Adminis19 tration shall, in coordination with the National Science 

20 Foundation, National Aeronautics and Space Administra21 tion, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, 

22 and other relevant agencies, initiate a research program 

23 to— 

24 (1) conduct or supervise research projects on 

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1 munication, navigation, avionic systems, and on air2 line passengers and personnel; and 

3 (2) facilitate the transfer of technology from 

4 space weather research programs to Federal agen5 cies with operational responsibilities and to the pri6 vate sector. 

7 (b) USE OF GRANTS OR COOPERATIVE AGREE8 MENTS.—The Administrator may use grants or coopera9 tive agreements in carrying out this section. 

10 (c) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—In addi11 tion to amounts authorized to be appropriated by the 

12 amendments made by this Act, there is authorized to be 

13 appropriated $1,000,000 for each of the fiscal years 2008 

14 through 2011 to carry out this section. 

15 SEC. 13. AVIATION GAS RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT 

16 PROGRAM. 

17 (a) CONTINUATION OF PROGRAM.—The Adminis18 trator, in coordination with the NASA Administrator, 

19 shall continue research and development activities into 

20 technologies for modification of existing general aviation 

21 piston engines to enable their safe operation using un22 leaded aviation fuel. 

23 (b) ROADMAP.—Not later than 120 days of the enact24 ment of this Act, the Administrator shall develop a re25 search and development roadmap for the program continmstockstill on PROD1PC66 with BILLS

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1 ued in subsection (a), containing the specific research and 

2 development objectives and anticipated timetable for 

3 achieving the objectives. 

4 (c) REPORT.—Not later than 130 days of the enact5 ment of this Act, the Administrator shall provide the road6 map specified in subsection (b) to the Committee on 

7 Science and Technology of the House of Representatives 

8 and the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transpor9 tation of the Senate. 

10 (d) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—In addi11 tion to amounts authorized to be appropriated by the 

12 amendments made by this Act, there is authorized to be 

13 appropriated $750,000 for each of the fiscal years 2008 

14 through 2010, to carry out this section. 

15 SEC. 14. RESEARCH REVIEWS AND ASSESSMENTS. 

16 (a) REVIEW OF FAA’S ENERGY- AND ENVIRONMENT17 RELATED RESEARCH PROGRAMS.— 

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

19 an arrangement with the National Research Council 

20 for a review of the FAA’s energy- and environment21 related research program. The review shall assess 

22 whether— 

23 (A) the programs have well-defined, 

24 prioritized, and appropriate research objectives; 

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1 (B) the program are properly coordinated 

2 with the energy- and environment-related re3 search programs of NASA, NOAA, and other 

4 relevant agencies; 

5 (C) the program have allocated appropriate 

6 resources to each of the research objectives; and 

7 (D) there exist suitable mechanisms for 

8 transitioning the research results into the 

9 FAA’s operational technologies and procedures 

10 and certification activities. 

11 (2) REPORT.—A report containing the results 

12 of the review shall be provided to the Committee on 

13 Science and Technology of the House of Representa14 tives and the Committee on Commerce, Science, and 

15 Transportation of the Senate within eighteen months 

16 of the enactment of this Act. 

17 (b) ASSESSMENT OF THE IMPACT OF SPACE WEATH18 ER ON AVIATION.— 

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

20 an arrangement with the National Research Council 

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

22 current and future United States aviation industry, 

23 and in particular, to examine the risks for Over-The24 Pole (OTP) and Ultra-Long-Range (ULR) oper25 ations. The study shall— 

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1 (A) examine space weather impacts on at 

2 least the following areas: communications, navi3 gation, avionics, and human health in flight; 

4 (B) assess the benefits of space weather in5 formation and services to reduce aviation costs 

6 and maintain safety; 

7 (C) provide recommendations on how 

8 NASA, NOAA, and the NSF can most effec9 tively carry out research and monitoring activi10 ties related to space weather and aviation; and 

11 (D) provide recommendations on how to 

12 integrate space weather information into the 

13 Next Generation Air Transportation System. 

14 (2) REPORT.—A report containing the results 

15 of the study shall be provided to the Committee on 

16 Science and Technology of the House of Representa17 tives and the Committee on Commerce, Science, and 

18 Transportation of the Senate not later than 1 year 

19 after the date of enactment of this Act. 

Æ 

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