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[Congressional Bills 113th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1072 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

113th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                S. 1072

To ensure that the Federal Aviation Administration advances the safety 
    of small airplanes and the continued development of the general 
               aviation industry, and for other purposes.

_______________________________________________________________________

                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                              May 23, 2013

Ms. Klobuchar (for herself, Ms. Murkowski, Mr. Moran, Mr. Roberts, Mr. 
   Johanns, Mr. Begich, Mr. Risch, Mr. Udall of New Mexico, and Mr. 
    Tester) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 
   referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL

 
To ensure that the Federal Aviation Administration advances the safety 
    of small airplanes and the continued development of the general 
               aviation industry, and for other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Small Airplane Revitalization Act of 
2013''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress makes the following findings:
            (1) A healthy small aircraft industry is integral to 
        economic growth and to maintaining an effective transportation 
        infrastructure for communities and countries around the world.
            (2) Small airplanes comprise nearly 90 percent of general 
        aviation aircraft certified by the Federal Aviation 
        Administration.
            (3) General aviation provides for the cultivation of a 
        workforce of engineers, manufacturing and maintenance 
        professionals, and pilots who secure the economic success and 
        defense of the United States.
            (4) General aviation contributes to well-paying jobs in the 
        manufacturing and technology sectors in the United States and 
        products produced by those sectors are exported in great 
        numbers.
            (5) Technology developed and proven in general aviation 
        aids in the success and safety of all sectors of aviation and 
        scientific competence.
            (6) The average small airplane in the United States is now 
        40 years old and the regulatory barriers to bringing new 
        designs to the market are resulting in a lack of innovation and 
        investment in small airplane design.
            (7) Since 2003, the United States lost 10,000 active 
        private pilots per year on average, partially due to a lack of 
        cost-effective, new small airplanes.
            (8) General aviation safety can be improved by modernizing 
        and revamping the regulations relating to small airplanes to 
        clear the path for technology adoption and cost-effective means 
        to retrofit the existing fleet with new safety technologies.

SEC. 3. SAFETY AND REGULATORY IMPROVEMENTS FOR GENERAL AVIATION.

    (a) In General.--Not later than December 15, 2015, the 
Administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration shall issue a 
final rule--
            (1) to advance the safety and continued development of 
        small airplanes by reorganizing the certification requirements 
        for such airplanes under part 23 to streamline the approval of 
        safety advancements; and
            (2) that meets the objectives described in subsection (b).
    (b) Objectives Described.--The objectives described in this 
subsection are the following objectives of the Part 23 Reorganization 
Aviation Rulemaking Committee:
            (1) The establishment of a regulatory regime for small 
        airplanes that will improve safety and decrease certification 
        costs.
            (2) The establishment of broad, outcome-driven safety 
        objectives that will spur innovation and technology adoption.
            (3) The replacement of current, prescriptive requirements 
        under part 23 with performance-based regulations.
            (4) The use of consensus standards accepted by the Federal 
        Aviation Administration to clarify how the safety objectives of 
        part 23 may be met using specific designs and technologies.
    (c) Consensus-Based Standards.--In prescribing regulations under 
this section, the Administrator shall use consensus standards, as 
described in section 12(d) of the National Technology Transfer and 
Advancement Act of 1996 (15 U.S.C. 272 note), to the extent practicable 
while continuing to evaluate traditional methods for meeting the 
objectives of part 23.
    (d) Safety Cooperation.--The Administrator shall lead the effort to 
improve general aviation safety by working with leading aviation 
regulators to assist them in adopting a complementary regulatory 
approach for small airplanes.
    (e) Definitions.--In this section:
            (1) Consensus standards.--
                    (A) In general.--The term ``consensus standards'' 
                means standards developed by an organization described 
                in subparagraph (B) that may include provisions 
                requiring that owners of relevant intellectual property 
                have agreed to make that intellectual property 
                available on a nondiscriminatory, royalty-free, or 
                reasonable royalty basis to all interested persons.
                    (B) Organizations described.--An organization 
                described in this subparagraph is a domestic or 
                international organization that--
                            (i) plans, develops, establishes, or 
                        coordinates, through a process based on 
                        consensus and using agreed-upon procedures, 
                        voluntary standards; and
                            (ii) operates in a transparent manner, 
                        considers a balanced set of interests with 
                        respect to such standards, and provides for due 
                        process and an appeals process with respect to 
                        such standards.
            (2) General aviation.--The term ``general aviation'' means 
        all aviation activities other than scheduled commercial air 
        carrier operations and military aviation.
            (3) Part 23.--The term ``part 23'' means part 23 of title 
        14, Code of Federal Regulations.
            (4) Part 23 reorganization aviation rulemaking committee.--
        The term ``Part 23 Reorganization Aviation Rulemaking 
        Committee'' means the aviation rulemaking committee established 
        by the Federal Aviation Administration in August 2011 to 
        consider the reorganization of the regulations under part 23.
            (5) Small airplane.--The term ``small airplane'' means an 
        airplane to which part 23 applies.
                                 <all>
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