II 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 902 

To require the Administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration to designate an overland supersonic and hypersonic testing corridor in the 

United States to test military passenger and non-passenger aircraft, 

and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MARCH 21, 2023 

Mr. LEE introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to 

the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation 

A BILL 

To require the Administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration to designate an overland supersonic and 

hypersonic testing corridor in the United States to test 

military passenger and non-passenger aircraft, 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 ‘‘Supersonic and 

5 Hypersonic Aircraft Testing Corridor Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. DESIGNATION OF OVERLAND SUPERSONIC AND 

2 HYPERSONIC TESTING CORRIDOR. 

3 (a) DESIGNATION.— 

4 (1) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding section 

5 91.817 of title 14, Code of Federal Regulations, not 

6 later than 180 days after the date of enactment of 

7 this section, the Administrator of the Federal Avia8 tion Administration (in this section referred to as 

9 the ‘‘Administrator’’), in consultation with the Sec10 retary of Defense, shall designate an overland super11 sonic and hypersonic testing corridor in the United 

12 States that runs from Edwards Air Force Base, 

13 California to the Utah Test and Training Range and 

14 Dugway Proving Ground in Utah for the purposes 

15 described in subsection (b). 

16 (2) REQUIREMENTS.— 

17 (A) MILITARY OPERATION AREAS.—In des18 ignating the corridor under paragraph (1), the 

19 Administrator shall— 

20 (i) to the extent practicable, designate 

21 the corridor within existing military oper22 ation areas (in this section referred to as 

23 ‘‘MOA’’) in the area described in such 

24 paragraph; or 

25 (ii) if necessary, designate new MOA 

26 airspace to complete the corridor and enVerDate Sep 11 2014 01:00 Mar 31, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S902.IS S902

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1 sure that the corridor is suitable for test2 ing. 

3 (B) INCREASED ALTITUDE.—The Adminis4 trator shall— 

5 (i) set the vertical limits in the cor6 ridor designated under paragraph (1) at 

7 FL 1000; and 

8 (ii) increase, as necessary, the vertical 

9 limit of any existing MOA in the corridor 

10 to FL 1000. 

11 (b) PURPOSES OF DESIGNATED CORRIDOR.—The 

12 corridor designated under subsection (a)(1) shall be used 

13 for the following purposes: 

14 (1) To test supersonic and hypersonic military 

15 passenger aircraft and military non-passenger air16 craft. 

17 (2) To test supersonic and hypersonic civil air18 craft subject to subsection (e). 

19 (c) TESTING REQUIREMENTS.—Any supersonic or 

20 hypersonic aircraft testing in the corridor designated 

21 under subsection (a)(1) shall meet the following require22 ments: 

23 (1) The testing shall only occur from sunrise to 

24 sunset. 


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1 (2) The testing shall not include any commer2 cial passengers or commercial cargo. 

3 (d) SPECIAL FLIGHT AUTHORIZATION REQUIRE4 MENTS.—With respect to special flight authorizations 

5 under section 91.818(c) of title 14, Code of Federal Regu6 lations, for civil aircraft testing as described in subsection 

7 (b)(2), the Administrator shall do the following: 

8 (1) PERMIT SONIC BOOM OVERPRESSURE.—In 

9 considering the environmental findings to grant a 

10 special flight authorization, the Administrator shall 

11 permit a measurable amount of sonic boom over12 pressure outside of the corridor designated under 

13 subsection (a)(1), as long as the available data is 

14 sufficient for the Administrator to determine that 

15 the sonic boom overpressure does not significantly 

16 affect the quality of the human environment. 

17 (2) NOISE IMPACT DATA.— 

18 (A) IN GENERAL.—Subject to subpara19 graph (B), in considering the environmental 

20 findings to grant a special flight authorization, 

21 the Administrator shall not require any addi22 tional environmental impact analysis regarding 

23 noise impact if— 

24 (i) an applicant presents data gen25 erated from FAA-approved software; and 


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1 (ii) such data reasonably dem2 onstrates that there is no additional noise 

3 impact due to the applicant’s testing of su4 personic or hypersonic civil aircraft. 

5 (B) EXCEPTION.—The Administrator may 

6 require an additional environmental impact 

7 analysis regarding noise impact if the Adminis8 trator certifies that extraordinary circumstances 

9 exist to justify such additional analysis. 

10 (3) REUSE OF RESEARCH AND FINDINGS.—The 

11 Administrator shall reuse any applicable research 

12 and findings from a prior supersonic or hypersonic 

13 civil aircraft test and incorporate such research and 

14 findings into any applicable analysis necessary to 

15 grant a special flight authorization if the prior su16 personic or hypersonic civil aircraft test— 

17 (A) was under similar conditions to the 

18 testing proposed by the applicant for the special 

19 flight authorization; and 

20 (B) considered similar issues or decisions 

21 as the testing proposed by the applicant for the 

22 special flight authorization. 

23 (e) CIVIL TESTING.—The Secretary of Defense shall 

24 allow civil aircraft testing as described in subsection 

25 (b)(2), unless— 


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1 (1) such testing would interfere with any mili2 tary operations or testing in the corridor; or 

3 (2) the Administrator has not granted a special 

4 flight authorization under section 91.818(c) of title 

5 14, Code of Federal Regulations, for such testing. 

Æ 


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