II 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 3125 

To establish an alternative fuel and low-emission aviation technology program, 

and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

NOVEMBER 1, 2021 

Mr. WARNOCK (for himself, Ms. CANTWELL, Mr. PETERS, and Mr. PADILLA) 

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

Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation 

A BILL 

To establish an alternative fuel and low-emission aviation 

technology program, 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 ‘‘Aviation Emissions 

5 Reduction Opportunity Act’’ or the ‘‘AERO Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. ALTERNATIVE FUEL AND LOW-EMISSION AVIATION 

7 TECHNOLOGY PROGRAM. 

8 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Secretary shall establish 

9 a competitive grant program to provide grants to eligible 

10 entities to carry out projects located in the United States 


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1 that produce, transport, blend, or store sustainable avia2 tion fuel, or develop, demonstrate, or apply low-emission 

3 aviation technologies. 

4 (b) CONSIDERATIONS.—In carrying out subsection 

5 (a), the Secretary shall consider, with respect to a pro6 posed project— 

7 (1) the capacity for the eligible entity to in8 crease the domestic production and deployment of 

9 sustainable aviation fuel or the use of low-emission 

10 aviation technologies among the United States com11 mercial aviation and aerospace industry; 

12 (2) the projected greenhouse gas emissions 

13 from such project, including emissions resulting 

14 from the development of the project, and the poten15 tial the project has to reduce or displace, on a 

16 lifecycle basis, United States greenhouse gas emis17 sions associated with air travel; 

18 (3) the capacity to create new jobs and develop 

19 supply chain partnerships in the United States; 

20 (4) for projects related to the production of sus21 tainable aviation fuel, the projected lifecycle green22 house gas emissions benefits from the proposed 

23 project, which shall include feedstock and fuel pro24 duction and potential direct and indirect greenhouse 


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1 gas emissions (including resulting from changes in 

2 land use); and 

3 (5) the benefits of ensuring a diversity of feed4 stocks for sustainable aviation fuel, including the use 

5 of waste carbon oxides and direct air capture. 

6 (c) COST SHARE.—The Federal share of the cost of 

7 a project carried out using grant funds under subsection 

8 (a) shall be a maximum of 90 percent of the proposed total 

9 cost of the project, and the Secretary shall consider the 

10 extent to which a proposed project meets the consider11 ations described in subsection (b) in determining the Fed12 eral share under this subsection. 

13 (d) FUEL EMISSIONS REDUCTION TEST.—For pur14 poses of clause (ii) of subsection (f)(7)(E), the Secretary 

15 shall, not later than 2 years after the date of enactment 

16 of this section, adopt at least 1 methodology for testing 

17 lifecycle greenhouse gas emissions that meets the require18 ments of such clause. 

19 (e) FUNDING.— 

20 (1) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—Out 

21 of any money in the Treasury not otherwise appro22 priated, there are authorized to be appropriated for 

23 each of fiscal years 2022 through 2026, 

24 $200,000,000 to carry out the purposes of this Act, 

25 to remain available until expended. 


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1 (2) FUNDING DISTRIBUTION.—Subject to para2 graph (3), of any amount made available under 

3 paragraph (1)— 

4 (A) 30 percent of such amount shall be 

5 awarded for projects that develop, demonstrate, 

6 or apply low-emission aviation technologies; and 

7 (B) 70 percent of such amount shall be 

8 awarded for projects that produce, transport, 

9 blend, or store sustainable aviation fuel. 

10 (3) ADMINISTRATION.—The Secretary may re11 serve not more than 2 percent of the amount appro12 priated under paragraph (1) for expenses related to 

13 administering this section. 

14 (f) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

15 (1) ELIGIBLE ENTITY.—The term ‘‘eligible enti16 ty’’ means— 

17 (A) a State or local government, including 

18 the District of Columbia, other than an airport 

19 sponsor; 

20 (B) an air carrier; 

21 (C) an airport sponsor; 

22 (D) an accredited institution of higher edu23 cation; 

24 (E) a research institution; 


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1 (F) a person or entity engaged in the pro2 duction, transportation, blending, or storage of 

3 sustainable aviation fuel in the United States or 

4 feedstocks in the United States that could be 

5 used to produce sustainable aviation fuel; 

6 (G) a person or entity engaged in the de7 velopment, demonstration, or application of low8 emission aviation technologies; or 

9 (H) nonprofit entities or nonprofit con10 sortia with experience in sustainable aviation 

11 fuels, low-emission aviation technologies, or 

12 other clean transportation research programs. 

13 (2) FEEDSTOCK.—The term ‘‘feedstock’’ means 

14 sources of hydrogen and carbon not originating from 

15 unrefined or refined petrochemicals. 

16 (3) INDUCED LAND-USE CHANGE VALUES.— 

17 The term ‘‘induced land-use change values’’ means 

18 the greenhouse gas emissions resulting from the con19 version of land to the production of feedstocks and 

20 from the conversion of other land due to the dis21 placement of crops or animals for which the original 

22 land was previously used. 

23 (4) LIFECYCLE GREENHOUSE GAS EMIS24 SIONS.—The term ‘‘lifecycle greenhouse gas emis25 sions’’ means the combined greenhouse gas emisVerDate Sep 11 2014 04:26 Nov 02, 2021 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3125.IS S3125

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1 sions from feedstock production, collection of feed2 stock, transportation of feedstock to fuel production 

3 facilities, conversion of feedstock to fuel, transpor4 tation and distribution of fuel, and fuel combustion 

5 in an aircraft engine, as well as from induced land6 use change values. 

7 (5) LOW-EMISSION AVIATION TECHNOLOGIES.— 

8 The term ‘‘low-emission aviation technologies’’ 

9 means technologies, produced in the United States, 

10 that significantly— 

11 (A) improve aircraft fuel efficiency; 

12 (B) increase utilization of sustainable avia13 tion fuel; or 

14 (C) reduce greenhouse gas emissions pro15 duced during operation of civil aircraft. 

16 (6) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 

17 the Secretary of Transportation. 

18 (7) SUSTAINABLE AVIATION FUEL.—The term 

19 ‘‘sustainable aviation fuel’’ means liquid fuel, pro20 duced in the United States, that— 

21 (A) consists of synthesized hydrocarbons; 

22 (B) meets the requirements of— 

23 (i) ASTM International Standard 

24 D7566; or 


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1 (ii) the co-processing provisions of 

2 ASTM International Standard D1655, 

3 Annex A1 (or such successor standard); 

4 (C) is derived from biomass (in a similar 

5 manner as such term is defined in section 

6 45K(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code of 

7 1986), waste streams, renewable energy 

8 sources, or gaseous carbon oxides; 

9 (D) is not derived from palm fatty acid 

10 distillates; and 

11 (E) achieves at least a 50-percent lifecycle 

12 greenhouse gas emissions reduction in compari13 son with petroleum-based jet fuel, as deter14 mined by a test that shows— 

15 (i) the fuel production pathway 

16 achieves at least a 50-percent reduction of 

17 the aggregate attributional core lifecycle 

18 emissions and the induced land use change 

19 values under a lifecycle methodology for 

20 sustainable aviation fuels similar to that 

21 adopted by the International Civil Aviation 

22 Organization with the agreement of the 

23 United States; or 

24 (ii) the fuel production pathway 

25 achieves at least a 50-percent reduction of 


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1 the aggregate attributional core lifecycle 

2 greenhouse gas emissions values and the 

3 induced land-use change values under an4 other methodology that the Secretary de5 termines is— 

6 (I) reflective of the latest sci7 entific understanding of lifecycle 

8 greenhouse gas emissions; and 

9 (II) as stringent as the require10 ment under clause (i). 

Æ 


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