II 

Calendar No. 187 

113TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1072 

[Report No. 113–108] 

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, Mr. 

TESTER, Mr. INHOFE, Ms. HEITKAMP, Ms. AYOTTE, Mr. BOOZMAN, Mr. 

FRANKEN, Mr. PRYOR, and Mr. NELSON) introduced the following bill; 

which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, 

Science, and Transportation 

SEPTEMBER 17, 2013 

Reported by Mr. ROCKEFELLER, with an amendment 

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

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. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 


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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Small Airplane Revital3 ization Act of 2013’’. 

4 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

5 Congress makes the following findings: 

6 (1) A healthy small aircraft industry is integral 

7 to economic growth and to maintaining an effective 

8 transportation infrastructure for communities and 

9 countries around the world. 

10 (2) Small airplanes comprise nearly 90 percent 

11 of general aviation aircraft certified by the Federal 

12 Aviation Administration. 

13 (3) General aviation provides for the cultivation 

14 of a workforce of engineers, manufacturing and 

15 maintenance professionals, and pilots who secure the 

16 economic success and defense of the United States. 

17 (4) General aviation contributes to well-paying 

18 jobs in the manufacturing and technology sectors in 

19 the United States and products produced by those 

20 sectors are exported in great numbers. 

21 (5) Technology developed and proven in general 

22 aviation aids in the success and safety of all sectors 

23 of aviation and scientific competence. 

24 (6) The average small airplane in the United 

25 States is now 40 years old and the regulatory bar26 riers to bringing new designs to the market are reVerDate Mar 15 2010 23:37 Sep 17, 2013 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6401 E:\BILLS\S1072.RS S1072

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1 sulting in a lack of innovation and investment in 

2 small airplane design. 

3 (7) Since 2003, the United States lost 10,000 

4 active private pilots per year on average, partially 

5 due to a lack of cost-effective, new small airplanes. 

6 (8) General aviation safety can be improved by 

7 modernizing and revamping the regulations relating 

8 to small airplanes to clear the path for technology 

9 adoption and cost-effective means to retrofit the ex10 isting fleet with new safety technologies. 

11 SEC. 3. SAFETY AND REGULATORY IMPROVEMENTS FOR 

12 GENERAL AVIATION. 

13 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than December 15, 

14 2015, the Administrator of the Federal Aviation Adminis15 tration shall issue a final rule— 

16 (1) to advance the safety and continued devel17 opment of small airplanes by reorganizing the cer18 tification requirements for such airplanes under part 

19 23 to streamline the approval of safety advance20 ments; and 

21 (2) that meets the objectives described in sub22 section (b). 

23 (b) OBJECTIVES DESCRIBED.—The objectives de24 scribed in this subsection are the following objectives of 


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1 the Part 23 Reorganization Aviation Rulemaking Com2 mittee: 

3 (1) The establishment of a regulatory regime 

4 for small airplanes that will improve safety and de5 crease certification costs. 

6 (2) The establishment of broad, outcome-driven 

7 safety objectives that will spur innovation and tech8 nology adoption. 

9 (3) The replacement of current, prescriptive re10 quirements under part 23 with performance-based 

11 regulations. 

12 (4) The use of consensus standards accepted by 

13 the Federal Aviation Administration to clarify how 

14 the safety objectives of part 23 may be met using 

15 specific designs and technologies. 

16 (c) CONSENSUS-BASED STANDARDS.—In prescribing 

17 regulations under this section, the Administrator shall use 

18 consensus standards, as described in section 12(d) of the 

19 National Technology Transfer and Advancement Act of 

20 1996 (15 U.S.C. 272 note), to the extent practicable while 

21 continuing to evaluate traditional methods for meeting the 

22 objectives of part 23. 

23 (d) SAFETY COOPERATION.—The Administrator shall 

24 lead the effort to improve general aviation safety by work25 ing with leading aviation regulators to assist them in 


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1 adopting a complementary regulatory approach for small 

2 airplanes. 

3 (e) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

4 (1) CONSENSUS STANDARDS.— 

5 (A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘‘consensus 

6 standards’’ means standards developed by an 

7 organization described in subparagraph (B) 

8 that may include provisions requiring that own9 ers of relevant intellectual property have agreed 

10 to make that intellectual property available on 

11 a nondiscriminatory, royalty-free, or reasonable 

12 royalty basis to all interested persons. 

13 (B) ORGANIZATIONS DESCRIBED.—An or14 ganization described in this subparagraph is a 

15 domestic or international organization that— 

16 (i) plans, develops, establishes, or co17 ordinates, through a process based on con18 sensus and using agreed-upon procedures, 

19 voluntary standards; and 

20 (ii) operates in a transparent manner, 

21 considers a balanced set of interests with 

22 respect to such standards, and provides for 

23 due process and an appeals process with 

24 respect to such standards. 


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1 (2) GENERAL AVIATION.—The term ‘‘general 

2 aviation’’ means all aviation activities other than 

3 scheduled commercial air carrier operations and 

4 military aviation. 

5 (3) PART 23.—The term ‘‘part 23’’ means part 

6 23 of title 14, Code of Federal Regulations. 

7 (4) PART 23 REORGANIZATION AVIATION RULE8 MAKING COMMITTEE.—The term ‘‘Part 23 Reorga9 nization Aviation Rulemaking Committee’’ means 

10 the aviation rulemaking committee established by 

11 the Federal Aviation Administration in August 2011 

12 to consider the reorganization of the regulations 

13 under part 23. 

14 (5) SMALL AIRPLANE.—The term ‘‘small air15 plane’’ means an airplane to which part 23 applies. 

16 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

17 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Small Airplane Revital18 ization Act of 2013’’. 

19 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

20 Congress makes the following findings: 

21 (1) A healthy small aircraft industry is integral 

22 to economic growth and to maintaining an effective 

23 transportation infrastructure for communities and 

24 countries around the world. 


smartinez on DSK6TPTVN1PROD with BILLS
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•S 1072 RS

1 (2) Small airplanes comprise nearly 90 percent 

2 of general aviation aircraft certified by the Federal 

3 Aviation Administration. 

4 (3) General aviation provides for the cultivation 

5 of a workforce of engineers, manufacturing and main6 tenance professionals, and pilots who secure the eco7 nomic success and defense of the United States. 

8 (4) General aviation contributes to well-paying 

9 jobs in the manufacturing and technology sectors in 

10 the United States and products produced by those sec11 tors are exported in great numbers. 

12 (5) Technology developed and proven in general 

13 aviation aids in the success and safety of all sectors 

14 of aviation and scientific competence. 

15 (6) The average small airplane in the United 

16 States is now 40 years old and the regulatory barriers 

17 to bringing new designs to the market are resulting 

18 in a lack of innovation and investment in small air19 plane design. 

20 (7) Since 2003, the United States lost 10,000 ac21 tive private pilots per year on average, partially due 

22 to a lack of cost-effective, new small airplanes. 

23 (8) General aviation safety can be improved by 

24 modernizing and revamping the regulations relating 

25 to small airplanes to clear the path for technology 


smartinez on DSK6TPTVN1PROD with BILLS
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•S 1072 RS

1 adoption and cost-effective means to retrofit the exist2 ing fleet with new safety technologies. 

3 SEC. 3. SAFETY AND REGULATORY IMPROVEMENTS FOR 

4 GENERAL AVIATION. 

5 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than December 15, 2015, 

6 the Administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration 

7 shall issue a final rule— 

8 (1) to advance the safety and continued develop9 ment of small airplanes by reorganizing the certifi10 cation requirements for such airplanes under part 23 

11 to streamline the approval of safety advancements; 

12 and 

13 (2) that meets the objectives described in sub14 section (b). 

15 (b) OBJECTIVES DESCRIBED.—The objectives described 

16 in this subsection are based on the recommendations of the 

17 Part 23 Reorganization Aviation Rulemaking Committee: 

18 (1) The establishment of a regulatory regime for 

19 small airplanes that will improve safety and reduce 

20 the regulatory cost burden for the Federal Aviation 

21 Administration and the aviation industry. 

22 (2) The establishment of broad, outcome-driven 

23 safety objectives that will spur innovation and tech24 nology adoption. 


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•S 1072 RS

1 (3) The replacement of current, prescriptive re2 quirements under part 23 with performance-based 

3 regulations. 

4 (4) The use of consensus standards accepted by 

5 the Federal Aviation Administration to clarify how 

6 the safety objectives of part 23 may be met using spe7 cific designs and technologies. 

8 (c) CONSENSUS-BASED STANDARDS.—In prescribing 

9 regulations under this section, the Administrator shall use 

10 consensus standards, as described in section 12(d) of the Na11 tional Technology Transfer and Advancement Act of 1996 

12 (15 U.S.C. 272 note), to the extent practicable while con13 tinuing traditional methods for meeting part 23. 

14 (d) SAFETY COOPERATION.—The Administrator shall 

15 lead the effort to improve general aviation safety by work16 ing with leading aviation regulators to assist them in 

17 adopting a complementary regulatory approach for small 

18 airplanes. 

19 (e) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

20 (1) CONSENSUS STANDARDS.— 

21 (A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘‘consensus 

22 standards’’ means standards developed by an or23 ganization described in subparagraph (B) that 

24 may include provisions requiring that owners of 

25 relevant intellectual property have agreed to 


smartinez on DSK6TPTVN1PROD with BILLS
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•S 1072 RS

1 make that intellectual property available on a 

2 nondiscriminatory, royalty-free, or reasonable 

3 royalty basis to all interested persons. 

4 (B) ORGANIZATIONS DESCRIBED.—An orga5 nization described in this subparagraph is a do6 mestic or international organization that— 

7 (i) plans, develops, establishes, or co8 ordinates, through a process based on con9 sensus and using agreed-upon procedures, 

10 voluntary standards; and 

11 (ii) operates in a transparent manner, 

12 considers a balanced set of interests with re13 spect to such standards, and provides for 

14 due process and an appeals process with re15 spect to such standards. 

16 (2) PART 23.—The term ‘‘part 23’’ means part 

17 23 of title 14, Code of Federal Regulations. 

18 (3) PART 23 REORGANIZATION AVIATION RULE19 MAKING COMMITTEE.—The term ‘‘Part 23 Reorga20 nization Aviation Rulemaking Committee’’ means the 

21 aviation rulemaking committee established by the 

22 Federal Aviation Administration in August 2011 to 

23 consider the reorganization of the regulations under 

24 part 23. 


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1 (4) SMALL AIRPLANE.—The term ‘‘small air2 plane’’ means an airplane which is certified to part 

3 23 standards. 


smartinez on DSK6TPTVN1PROD with BILLS
Calendar No. 187 

113TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1072 

[Report No. 113–108] 

A BILL 

To ensure that the Federal Aviation Administration 

dustry, and for other purposes. continued development of the general aviation inadvances the safety of small airplanes and the 

SEPTEMBER 17, 2013 

Reported with an amendment 


smartinez on DSK6TPTVN1PROD with BILLS