IB 

Union Calendar No. 231

108TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2734

[Report No. 108–405, Part I] 

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 

JULY 15, 2003

Mr. FORBES (for himself, Mr. ROHRABACHER, Mr. LARSON of Connecticut, 

and Mr. GORDON) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

Committee on Science 

DECEMBER 8, 2003

Additional sponsor: Mr. BOEHLERT

DECEMBER 8, 2003

Reported with an amendment and referred to the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure for a period ending not later than December 

8, 2003, for consideration of such provisions of the bill and amendment 

as fall within the jurisdiction of that committee pursuant to clause 1(q), 

rule X 

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

DECEMBER 8, 2003

The Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure discharged; committed 

to the Committee of the Whole House on the State of the Union and ordered to be printed 
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[For text of introduced bill, see copy of bill as introduced on July 15, 2003] 

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 Ad5 ministration Research and Development Reauthorization 

6 Act’’. 

7 SEC. 2. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

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

9 amended—

10 (1) by striking ‘‘to carry out sections 44504’’ 

11 and inserting ‘‘for conducting civil aviation research 

12 and development under sections 44504’’; 

13 (2) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of paragraph 

14 (7); 

15 (3) by striking the period at the end of para16 graph (8) and inserting a semicolon; and 

17 (4) by adding at the end the following new para18 graphs: 
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1 ‘‘(9) for fiscal year 2004, $371,317,000, includ2 ing—

3 ‘‘(A) $190,000,000 for Research, Engineer4 ing, and Development, of which—

5 ‘‘(i) $65,000,000 shall be for Improving 

6 Aviation Safety; 

7 ‘‘(ii) $24,000,000 shall be for Weather 

8 Safety Research; 

9 ‘‘(iii) $15,000,000 shall be made avail10 able to the Next Generation Air Traffic 

11 Management Research and Development 

12 Joint Program Office established under sec13 tion 3 of the Federal Aviation Administra14 tion Research and Development Reauthor15 ization Act for the Next Generation Air 

16 Traffic Management Research and Develop17 ment program under such section 3; 

18 ‘‘(iv) $27,500,000 shall be for Human 

19 Factors and Aeromedical Research; 

20 ‘‘(v) $30,000,000 shall be for Environ21 mental Research and Development, of which 

22 $20,000,000 shall be for research activities 

23 related to reducing community exposure to 

24 civilian aircraft noise or emissions; 
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1 ‘‘(vi) $7,000,000 shall be for Research 

2 Mission Support; 

3 ‘‘(vii) $20,000,000 shall be for the Air4 port Cooperative Research Program; and 

5 ‘‘(viii) $1,500,000 shall be for carrying 

6 out subsection (h) of this section; 

7 ‘‘(B) $163,900,000 for Facilities and Equip8 ment, of which—

9 ‘‘(i) $42,800,000 shall be for Advanced 

10 Technology Development and Prototyping; 

11 ‘‘(ii) $30,300,000 shall be for Safe 

12 Flight 21; and 

13 ‘‘(iii) $90,800,000 shall be for the Cen14 ter for Advanced Aviation System Develop15 ment; and 

16 ‘‘(C) $17,417,000 for Airport Improvement 

17 Program Research and Development, of which—

18 ‘‘(i) $9,667,000 shall be for Airports 

19 Technology-Safety; and 

20 ‘‘(ii) $7,750,000 shall be for Airports 

21 Technology-Efficiency; 

22 ‘‘(10) for fiscal year 2005, $396,192,000, includ23 ing—

24 ‘‘(A) $206,600,000 for Research, Engineer25 ing, and Development, of which—
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1 ‘‘(i) $65,705,000 shall be for Improving 

2 Aviation Safety; 

3 ‘‘(ii) $24,260,000 shall be for Weather 

4 Safety Research; 

5 ‘‘(iii) $30,000,000 shall be made avail6 able to the Next Generation Air Traffic 

7 Management Research and Development 

8 Joint Program Office established under sec9 tion 3 of the Federal Aviation Administra10 tion Research and Development Reauthor11 ization Act for the Next Generation Air 

12 Traffic Management Research and Develop13 ment program under such section 3; 

14 ‘‘(iv) $27,800,000 shall be for Human 

15 Factors and Aeromedical Research; 

16 ‘‘(v) $30,109,000 shall be for Environ17 mental Research and Development, of which 

18 $20,000,000 shall be for research activities 

19 related to reducing community exposure to 

20 civilian aircraft noise or emissions; 

21 ‘‘(vi) $7,076,000 shall be for Research 

22 Mission Support; 

23 ‘‘(vii) $20,000,000 shall be for the Air24 port Cooperative Research Program; and 
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1 ‘‘(viii) $1,650,000 shall be for carrying 

2 out subsection (h) of this section; 

3 ‘‘(B) $172,000,000 for Facilities and Equip4 ment, of which—

5 ‘‘(i) $43,300,000 shall be for Advanced 

6 Technology Development and Prototyping;

7 ‘‘(ii) $31,100,000 shall be for Safe 

8 Flight 21; 

9 ‘‘(iii) $95,400,000 shall be for the Cen10 ter for Advanced Aviation System Develop11 ment; and

12 ‘‘(iv) $2,200,000 shall be for Free 

13 Flight Phase 2; and 

14 ‘‘(C) $17,592,000 for Airport Improvement 

15 Program Research and Development, of which—

16 ‘‘(i) $9,764,000 shall be for Airports 

17 Technology-Safety; and 

18 ‘‘(ii) $7,828,000 shall be for Airports 

19 Technology-Efficiency; and 

20 ‘‘(11) for fiscal year 2006, $412,157,000, includ21 ing—

22 ‘‘(A) $228,289,000 for Research, Engineer23 ing, and Development, of which—

24 ‘‘(i) $66,447,000 shall be for Improving 

25 Aviation Safety; 
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1 ‘‘(ii) $24,534,000 shall be for Weather 

2 Safety Research; 

3 ‘‘(iii) $50,000,000 shall be made avail4 able to the Next Generation Air Traffic 

5 Management Research and Development 

6 Joint Program Office established under sec7 tion 3 of the Federal Aviation Administra8 tion Research and Development Reauthor9 ization Act for the Next Generation Air 

10 Traffic Management Research and Develop11 ment program under such section 3; 

12 ‘‘(iv) $28,114,000 shall be for Human 

13 Factors and Aeromedical Research; 

14 ‘‘(v) $30,223,000 shall be for Environ15 mental Research and Development, of which 

16 $20,000,000 shall be for research activities 

17 related to reducing community exposure to 

18 civilian aircraft noise or emissions; 

19 ‘‘(vi) $7,156,000 shall be for Research 

20 Mission Support; 

21 ‘‘(vii) $20,000,000 shall be for the Air22 port Cooperation Research Program; and 

23 ‘‘(viii) $1,815,000 shall be for carrying 

24 out subsection (h) of this section; 
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1 ‘‘(B) $166,100,000 for Facilities and Equip2 ment, of which—

3 ‘‘(i) $42,200,000 shall be for Advanced 

4 Technology Development and Prototyping; 

5 ‘‘(ii) $23,900,000 shall be for Safe 

6 Flight 21; and 

7 ‘‘(iii) $100,000,000 shall be for the 

8 Center for Advanced Aviation System De9 velopment; and 

10 ‘‘(C) $17,768,000 for Airport Improvement 

11 Program Research and Development, of which—

12 ‘‘(i) $9,862,000 shall be for Airports 

13 Technology-Safety; and 

14 ‘‘(ii) $7,906,000 shall be for Airports 

15 Technology-Efficiency.’’. 

16 SEC. 3. NEXT GENERATION AIR TRAFFIC MANAGEMENT RE17 SEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT JOINT PRO18 GRAM OFFICE. 

19 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established a Next 

20 Generation Air Traffic Management Research and Develop21 ment Joint Program Office (referred to in this section as 

22 the ‘‘Office’’). The Office shall be jointly managed by the 

23 Federal Aviation Administration and the National Aero24 nautics and Space Administration. The objective of the Of25 fice shall be to carry out research and development of an 
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1 air traffic management system designed to meet national 

2 long-term aviation security, safety, and capacity needs. 

3 (b) DIRECTOR AND DEPUTY DIRECTOR.—The Office 

4 shall be headed by a Director who shall be a senior executive 

5 of the Federal Aviation Administration. The Deputy Direc6 tor shall be a senior executive of the National Aeronautics 

7 and Space Administration. Not later than 120 days after 

8 the date of enactment of this Act, the Administrators of the 

9 Federal Aviation Administration and the National Aero10 nautics and Space Administration shall jointly appoint the 

11 Director and Deputy Director of the Office. 

12 (c) FUNCTIONS OF THE OFFICE.—The Office shall 

13 manage air traffic management research and development 

14 programs and initiatives within the Federal Aviation Ad15 ministration and the National Aeronautics and Space Ad16 ministration. The responsibilities of the Office shall in17 clude—

18 (1) establishing and managing a research and 

19 development program for a next generation air traffic 

20 management system capable of tripling capacity by 

21 the year 2025; 

22 (2) entering into grants, cooperative agreements 

23 or contracts, or otherwise awarding or using funds 

24 appropriated for air traffic management research and 

25 development to carry out paragraph (1); 
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1 (3) utilizing the facilities, capabilities, expertise, 

2 and experience of Federal agencies, national labora3 tories, universities, nonprofit organizations, indus4 trial entities, and other non-Federal entities to carry 

5 out paragraph (1); 

6 (4) coordinating with the Department of Defense, 

7 the Department of Commerce, the Under Secretary for 

8 Science and Technology at the Department of Home9 land Security, the National Security Council, the De10 partment of Transportation, and other Federal agen11 cies; and 

12 (5) consulting with the private sector (including 

13 representatives of general aviation, commercial avia14 tion, and the space industry), members of the public, 

15 and other interested parties on the program. 

16 (d) NEXT GENERATION AIR TRAFFIC MANAGEMENT

17 RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT PLAN.—

18 (1) REQUIREMENT.—The Office shall develop a 

19 research and development plan to carry out this sec20 tion. 

21 (2) GOAL.—The goal of the plan shall be to en22 able the creation of a National Airspace System ar23 chitecture that would—
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1 (A) be based on emerging ground-based and 

2 space-based communications, navigation, and 

3 surveillance technologies; 

4 (B) increase the level of safety, security, and 

5 efficiency of the National Airspace System; 

6 (C) integrate data and information flow ef7 fectively with other Federal agencies responsible 

8 for providing for our Nation’s defense and secu9 rity; 

10 (D) be scalable to accommodate and encour11 age substantial growth in domestic and inter12 national transportation;

13 (E) anticipate and accommodate continuing 

14 technology upgrades; 

15 (F) accommodate a wide range of aircraft 

16 operations, including airlines, air taxis, heli17 copters, general aviation, and unmanned aerial 

18 vehicles; and 

19 (G) incorporate noise pollution reduction 

20 concerns. 

21 (3) CONTENTS.—The plan shall describe, at a 

22 minimum—

23 (A) the most significant technical hurdles 

24 that stand in the way of achieving the goal de25 scribed in paragraph (2); 
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1 (B) the research and development projects 

2 that will be carried out to overcome the technical 

3 hurdles described in subparagraph (A), includ4 ing, for each project, whether it would be funded 

5 by the Federal Aviation Administration, the Na6 tional Aeronautics and Space Administration, or 

7 both, and whether the work would be carried by 

8 the Federal Government, corporations, or univer9 sities, or a combination thereof; 

10 (C) the annual anticipated cost of carrying 

11 out the plan; 

12 (D) the technical milestones that will be 

13 used to evaluate progress in carrying out the 

14 plan; and 

15 (E) how the research and development ac16 tivities will be coordinated with other appro17 priate Federal agencies. 

18 (e) REPORTS.—The Director of the Office shall trans19 mit to the Committee on Science of the House of Representa20 tives and to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and 

21 Transportation of the Senate—

22 (1) not later than 120 days after the date of en23 actment of this Act, the plan required under sub24 section (d); and 
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1 (2) annually at the time of the President’s budg2 et request, a report describing the progress in car3 rying out the plan required under subsection (d) and 

4 any changes to that plan. 

5 SEC. 4. BUDGET DESIGNATION FOR RESEARCH AND DEVEL6 OPMENT ACTIVITIES. 

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

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

9 subsection: 

10 ‘‘(g) DESIGNATION OF ACTIVITIES.—(1) The amounts 

11 appropriated under subsection (a) are for the support of 

12 all research and development activities carried out by the 

13 Federal Aviation Administration that fall within the cat14 egories of basic research, applied research, and development, 

15 including the design and development of prototypes, in ac16 cordance with the classifications of the Office of Manage17 ment and Budget Circular A–11 (Budget Formulation/Sub18 mission Process). 

19 ‘‘(2) The Department of Transportation’s annual 

20 budget request for the Federal Aviation Administration 

21 shall identify all of the activities carried out by the Admin22 istration within the categories of basic research, applied re23 search, and development, as classified by the Office of Man24 agement and Budget Circular A–11. Each activity in the 

25 categories of basic research, applied research, and develop-
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1 ment shall be identified regardless of the budget category 

2 in which it appears in the budget request.’’. 

3 SEC. 5. AIRPORT COOPERATIVE RESEARCH PROGRAM. 

4 Section 44511 of title 49, United States Code, is 

5 amended by adding at the end the following new subsection: 

6 ‘‘(f) AIRPORT COOPERATIVE RESEARCH PROGRAM.—

7 ‘‘(1) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Secretary of Trans8 portation shall establish an airport cooperative re9 search program to—

10 ‘‘(A) identify problems that are shared by 

11 airport operating agencies and can be solved 

12 through applied research but that are not being 

13 adequately addressed by existing Federal re14 search programs; and 

15 ‘‘(B) fund research to address those prob16 lems. 

17 ‘‘(2) GOVERNANCE.—The Secretary of Transpor18 tation shall appoint an independent governing board 

19 for the research program established under this sub20 section. The governing board shall be appointed from 

21 candidates nominated by national associations rep22 resenting public airport operating agencies, airport 

23 executives, State aviation officials, and the scheduled 

24 airlines, and shall include representatives of appro25 priate Federal agencies. Section 14 of the Federal Ad-
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1 visory Committee Act shall not apply to the governing 

2 board. 

3 ‘‘(3) IMPLEMENTATION.—The Secretary of 

4 Transportation shall enter into an arrangement with 

5 the National Academy of Sciences to provide staff 

6 support to the governing board established under 

7 paragraph (2) and to carry out projects proposed by 

8 the governing board that the Secretary considers ap9 propriate.’’.

10 SEC. 6. DEVELOPMENT OF ANALYTICAL TOOLS AND CER11 TIFICATION METHODS. 

12 The Federal Aviation Administration shall conduct re13 search to promote the development of analytical tools to im14 prove existing certification methods and to reduce the over15 all costs for the certification of new products.

16 SEC. 7. RESEARCH ON AVIATION TRAINING. 

17 Section 48102(h)(1) of title 49, United States Code, is 

18 amended—

19 (1) by striking ‘‘or’’ at the end of subparagraph 

20 (B); 

21 (2) by striking the period at the end of subpara22 graph (C) and inserting ‘‘; or’’; and 

23 (3) by adding at the end the following new sub24 paragraph: 
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1 ‘‘(D) research on the impact of new tech2 nologies and procedures, particularly those re3 lated to aircraft flight deck and air traffic man4 agement functions, on training requirements for 

5 pilots and air traffic controllers.’’. 

6 SEC. 8. ROTORCRAFT RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT INI7 TIATIVE. 

8 (a) OBJECTIVE.—The Administrator of the Federal 

9 Aviation Administration shall establish a rotorcraft initia10 tive with the objective of developing, and demonstrating in 

11 a relevant environment, within 10 years after the date of 

12 the enactment of this Act, technologies to enable rotorcraft 

13 with the following improvements relative to rotorcraft exist14 ing as of the date of the enactment of this Act: 

15 (1) 80 percent reduction in noise levels on takeoff 

16 and on approach and landing as perceived by a 

17 human observer. 

18 (2) Factor of 10 reduction in vibration. 

19 (3) 30 percent reduction in empty weight. 

20 (4) Predicted accident rate equivalent to that of 

21 fixed-wing aircraft in commercial service within 10 

22 years after the date of the enactment of this Act. 

23 (5) Capability for zero-ceiling, zero-visibility op24 erations. 
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1 (b) IMPLEMENTATION.—Within 180 days after the date 

2 of the enactment of this Act, the Administrator of the Fed3 eral Aviation Administration, in cooperation with the Ad4 ministrator of the National Aeronautics and Space Admin5 istration, shall provide a plan to the Committee on Science 

6 of the House of Representatives and to the Committee on 

7 Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the Senate for 

8 the implementation of the initiative described in subsection 

9 (a). The implementation plan shall include—

10 (1) technological roadmaps for achieving each of 

11 the improvements specified in subsection (a); 

12 (2) an estimate of the 10-year funding profile re13 quired to achieve the objective specified in subsection 

14 (a); 

15 (3) a plan for carrying out a formal quantifica16 tion of the estimated costs and benefits of each techno17 logical option selected for development beyond the ini18 tial concept definition phase; 

19 (4) a plan for transferring the technologies to in20 dustry, including the identification of requirements 

21 for prototype demonstrations, as appropriate; 

22 (5) a plan to perform rotorcraft system architec23 ture studies to identify revolutionary technologies for 

24 future investments in research and development; and 
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1 (6) a plan to increase the use of vertical-take-off2 and-landing vehicles to improve transportation serv3 ice in urban areas. 

4 (c) FUNDING AGREEMENTS.—The Administrator of the 

5 Federal Aviation Administration shall enter into appro6 priate funding agreements with other Federal agencies and 

7 departments linked to national rotorcraft industry and aca8 demic research and development. 

9 (d) CENTER FOR ROTORCRAFT TECHNOLOGY.—The 

10 Federal Aviation Administration is authorized to con11 tribute up to $5,000,000 for the operation of a center for 

12 rotorcraft technology to house a research, testing, and train13 ing facility and administrative center in the vicinity of ex14 isting helicopter manufacturing and research for the pur15 pose of improving upon and developing new rotorcraft tech16 nologies, new design capabilities, and manufacturing tech17 niques, including the objectives described in subsection (a), 

18 led by helicopter manufacturers, the maintenance industry, 

19 retrofitters, universities, and industry suppliers. 

20 (e) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—In addi21 tion to amounts authorized to be appropriated by the 

22 amendments made by this Act, there are authorized to be 

23 appropriated to the Administrator of the Federal Aviation 

24 Administration to carry out this section—

25 (1) $40,000,000 for fiscal year 2004; 
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1 (2) $40,000,000 for fiscal year 2005; 

2 (3) $40,000,000 for fiscal year 2006; 

3 (4) $50,000,000 for fiscal year 2007; and 

4 (5) $70,000,000 for fiscal year 2008. 

5 SEC. 9. PILOT RETIREMENT AGE STUDY. 

6 The Administrator of the Federal Aviation Adminis7 tration shall conduct a research study of whether commer8 cial airline pilots between the ages of 60 and 64 who are 

9 employed by foreign air carriers pose a significant safety 

10 risk to United States passengers and airspace. The Admin11 istrator shall transmit the results of the study to the Con12 gress not later than 6 months after the date of the enactment 

13 of this Act. 
Union Calendar No. 231

108TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2734

[Report No. 108–405, Part I] 

A BILL

To authorize appropriations for the civil aviation 

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

DECEMBER 8, 2003

Reported with an amendment and referred to the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure for a period ending not later than December 8, 2003, for consideration of such provisions of the bill and amendment 

as fall within the jurisdiction of that committee pursuant to clause 1(q), rule X 

DECEMBER 8, 2003

The Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure 

discharged; committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the State of the Union and ordered to be printed