I 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 878 

To direct the Administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration to appoint 

an Associate Administrator for Aviation Safety Technology, and for other 

purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

FEBRUARY 8, 2023 

Mr. NEHLS introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee 

on Transportation and Infrastructure 

A BILL 

To direct the Administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration to appoint an Associate Administrator for Aviation Safety Technology, 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. UNITED STATES LEADERSHIP IN AVIATION 

4 SAFETY TECHNOLOGY. 

5 (a) ASSOCIATE ADMINISTRATOR FOR AVIATION

6 SAFETY TECHNOLOGY.—Section 106 of title 49, United 

7 States Code, is amended by adding at the end the fol8 lowing: 


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1 ‘‘(u) ASSOCIATE ADMINISTRATOR FOR AVIATION

2 SAFETY TECHNOLOGY.— 

3 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.— 

4 ‘‘(A) APPOINTMENT.—The Administrator 

5 shall appoint an Associate Administrator for 

6 Aviation Safety Technology, who shall report 

7 directly to the Administrator. 

8 ‘‘(B) MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS.—The As9 sociate Administrator for Aviation Safety Tech10 nology shall have— 

11 ‘‘(i) at least 10 years of experience in 

12 aerospace engineering management or 

13 safety-critical aviation software or systems 

14 development, with a focus on the certifi15 cation and operational approval of such 

16 systems; or 

17 ‘‘(ii) at least 10 years of management18 level experience and knowledge of the avia19 tion industry. 

20 ‘‘(C) LIMITATION.—The Associate Admin21 istrator for Aviation Safety Technology shall 

22 not be a political appointee. 

23 ‘‘(D) REMOVAL.—The Associate Adminis24 trator for Aviation Safety Technology shall 

25 serve at the pleasure of the Administrator. 


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1 ‘‘(2) RESPONSIBILITIES.—The Associate Ad2 ministrator for Aviation Safety Technology shall 

3 have the following responsibilities: 

4 ‘‘(A) Ensuring that Federal Aviation Ad5 ministration organizations involved in the re6 view and certification of aviation safety tech7 nologies, and the operation thereof, are engag8 ing in workforce planning efforts to recruit and 

9 hire the required number of engineers, inspec10 tors, and subject matter experts to process ap11 plications in a timely manner and oversee oper12 ations utilizing aviation safety technologies. 

13 ‘‘(B) Collaborating with the Associate Ad14 ministrator for Aviation Safety to coordinate 

15 the evaluation, certification, and operation of 

16 aviation safety technologies in the national air17 space system. 

18 ‘‘(C) Coordinating with the Chief Oper19 ating Officer of the Air Traffic Control System 

20 on the integration of aviation safety tech21 nologies into the national airspace system. 

22 ‘‘(D) Identifying the core competencies 

23 that the Federal Aviation Administration engi24 neer and inspector workforce need to oversee 


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1 the safety, certification and operational ap2 proval of safety technologies. 

3 ‘‘(E) Developing specific recommendations 

4 to the Office of the Secretary and the Adminis5 trator regarding gaps in the existing engineer 

6 and inspector workforce involved in the certifi7 cation and operational approval of safety tech8 nology and the budgetary resources needed to 

9 fill the identified gaps. 

10 ‘‘(F) Establishing a detailed process for 

11 Federal Aviation Administration coordination of 

12 major certification milestones related to safety 

13 technologies that defines a lead organization for 

14 review, identifies other organizations to be in15 volved in review, and details how various Fed16 eral Aviation Administration organizations or 

17 lines of business shall engage in the review 

18 process. 

19 ‘‘(G) Developing a process that, within 30 

20 days of the submission of documents related to 

21 a major certification milestone for an aviation 

22 safety technology, notifies the applicant of the 

23 lead reviewing Federal Aviation Administration 

24 organization and all other organizations or ofVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:23 Mar 02, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H878.IH H878

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1 fices that will review, and a date-specific 

2 timeline for completion of review activities. 

3 ‘‘(H) Not later than 12 months after en4 actment of this subsection, implementation of a 

5 secure password-protected online portal for ap6 plicants with new or pending aviation safety 

7 technology projects to review the status of their 

8 specific application, deadlines, and the Federal 

9 Aviation Administration organizations or offices 

10 scheduled to review the application. 

11 ‘‘(I) Not later than 12 months after the 

12 enactment of this subsection, provide a report 

13 on the implementation of section 377 of the 

14 FAA Reauthorization Act of 2018 (Public Law 

15 115–254) on the development of a transparent 

16 process through which the FAA can approve 

17 non-governmental entities to independently pro18 vide safety-critical services to aircraft operators 

19 and airport operators. 

20 ‘‘(J) Development of a process for appli21 cants to escalate to the appropriate manage22 ment personnel of the Federal Aviation Admin23 istration any major certification or operational 

24 approval process milestone under this section 


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1 that is not completed or resolved within the spe2 cific time period described in this subsection. 

3 ‘‘(K) Resolving certification milestones as 

4 described in this section within a time agreed to 

5 by the Associate Administrator for Aviation 

6 Safety Technology and the applicant. 

7 ‘‘(L) Identifying and directing the nec8 essary Federal Aviation Administration per9 sonnel and budgetary resources necessary to 

10 complete major certification milestones related 

11 to aviation safety technologies within the 

12 timelines defined in this section. 

13 ‘‘(M) Not later than 12 months after the 

14 enactment of this subsection, the Associate Ad15 ministrator for Aviation Safety Technology 

16 shall establish an interagency working group to 

17 promote collaboration and engagement between 

18 the Department of Transportation, Department 

19 of Defense, Federal Communications Commis20 sion, National Aeronautics and Space Adminis21 tration, and other relevant agencies to propose 

22 new regulations enabling digital flight which 

23 will allow safe operation of uncrewed aircraft 

24 systems and crewed aircraft through tech25 nologies such as advanced airspace and safetyVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:23 Mar 02, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H878.IH H878

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1 enhancing aircraft automation, enhanced sur2 veillance, and secure, digital pilot/air traffic 

3 control communications. 

4 ‘‘(3) COMPENSATION.— 

5 ‘‘(A) ANNUAL RATE OF BASIC PAY.—The 

6 Associate Administrator for Aviation Safety 

7 Technology shall be paid at an annual rate of 

8 basic pay to be determined by the Adminis9 trator. 

10 ‘‘(B) LIMITATION.—The annual rate may 

11 not exceed the annual compensation paid under 

12 section 102 of title 3. 

13 ‘‘(C) POST-EMPLOYMENT PROVISIONS.— 

14 The Associate Administrator for Aviation Safe15 ty Technology shall be the subject to the post16 employment provisions of section 207 of title 

17 18, as if the position of the Associate Adminis18 trator for Aviation Safety Technology were de19 scribed in section 207(c)(2)(A)(i) of such title. 

20 ‘‘(D) BONUS.—In addition to the annual 

21 rate of basic pay authorized under paragraph 

22 (1), the Associate Administrator for Aviation 

23 Safety Technology may receive a bonus for any 

24 calendar year not to exceed 30 percent of the 

25 annual rate of basic pay, based upon the AdVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:23 Mar 02, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H878.IH H878

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1 ministrator’s evaluation of the performance of 

2 the Associate Administrator for Aviation Safety 

3 Technology in relation to the responsibilities es4 tablished under paragraph (2). 

5 ‘‘(4) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

6 ‘‘(A) MAJOR CERTIFICATION PROCESS

7 MILESTONE.—The term ‘major certification 

8 process milestone’ has the meaning given the 

9 term in section 44704. 

10 ‘‘(B) AVIATION SAFETY TECHNOLOGY.— 

11 The term ‘Aviation Safety Technology’ means 

12 airborne or ground-based equipment that are 

13 meant to reduce the occurrence of aviation acci14 dents such as Loss Of Control In-Flight (LOC15 I), Controlled Flight Into Terrain (CFIT), Sin16 gle Component Failure (SCF), mid-air colli17 sions, and/or fuel mismanagement. Specific 

18 technologies shall include but not be limited to: 

19 navigation technology, auto-land technology, 

20 auto take-off technology, auto-taxi technology, 

21 detect-and-avoid technology, aircraft commu22 nications technology and remote piloting tech23 nology.’’. 

24 (b) REGULATIONS.—The Assistant Administrator for 

25 Aviation Safety Technology may issue such regulations as 


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1 are necessary to expand the definition of ‘‘Aviation Safety 

2 Technology’’ for purposes of section 106(u)(3) of title 49, 

3 United States Code. 

4 (c) AVIATION RULEMAKING COMMITTEE.— 

5 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days 

6 after the date of enactment of this Act, the Assist7 ant Administrator for Aviation Safety Technology 

8 shall establish an aviation rulemaking committee to 

9 make recommendations for the development of a de10 tailed roadmap for the certification and operational 

11 approval of aviation safety technologies by the Fed12 eral Aviation Administration, with a focus on tech13 nologies, software, and automation that will enhance 

14 operational safety and require approval from mul15 tiple organizations with the agency. 

16 (2) DUTIES.—The Assistant Administrator 

17 shall— 

18 (A) not later than 1 year after the date of 

19 enactment of this Act, submit to the appro20 priate committees of Congress a report based 

21 on the findings of aviation rulemaking com22 mittee established under paragraph (1); and 

23 (B) not later than 1 year after the date of 

24 submission of the report under subparagraph 

25 (A) issue a notice of proposed rulemaking based 


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1 on any consensus recommendations reached by 

2 the aviation rulemaking committee established 

3 under paragraph (1). 

4 (3) NON-APPLICABILITY OF FACA.—The Fed5 eral Advisory Committee Act (5 U.S.C. App.) shall 

6 not apply to an aviation rulemaking committee es7 tablished under this subsection. 

8 (d) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 

9 authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section and 

10 section 106(u) of title 49, United States Code, 

11 $10,000,000 for each fiscal year. 

Æ 


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