REDAC Aircraft Safety 

Subcommittee 

Federal Aviation 

Administration 

RE&D Budget Status 

Elizabeth Delarosby 

February 24, 2021 
R,E&D FY 2021 Budget 

• FY 21 R,E&D Request $170M 

– House Appropriation Committee 

• R,E&D funded at $192.6M 

– Senate Appropriation Committee 

• R,E&D funded at $190.1M 

– Funding Bill Enacted December 27, 2020 

• R,E&D funded at $198M 

2 Federal Aviation 

Administration 
 

 

 

 

 

 

FAA FY 2021 Budget 

Appropriation FY 2021 House Difference Senate Difference Conference 

Request Mark Mark 

Operations $ 11,001,500,000 $ 11,051,500,000 $ 50,000,000 $ 11,001,500,000 $ - $ 11,001,500,000 

Facili ties & Equipment $ 3,000,000,000 $ 3,045,000,000 $ 45,000,000 $ 3,011,980,000 $ 11,980,000 $ 3,015,000,000 

Research Engineering & 

Development $ 170,000,000 $ 192,665,000 $ 22,665,000 $ 190,097,000 $ 20,097,000 $ 198,000,000 

Grants-in-aid for Airports $ 3,350,000,000 $ 3,850,000,000 $ 500,000,000 $ 3,750,000,000 $ 400,000,000 $ 5,750,000,000 

Total $ 17,521,500,000 $ 18,139,165,000 $ 617,665,000 $ 17,953,577,000 $ 432,077,000 $ 19,964,500,000 

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FY 2021 R,E&D Enacted 

FY 2021 

FY 2021 

Request/FY FY 2021 

FY 2021 

Request/FY FY 2021 

FY 2021 

Conference 

Request FY 2021 House 2021 House Senate Mark 2021 Senate Conference Delta with 

Program ($000) Mark ($000) +/- ($000) +/- ($000) Request +/-

Research, Engineering & Development 

Fire Research and Safety 7,136 7,136 0 7,136 0 7,136 0 

Propulsion and Fuel Systems 4,215 4,215 0 4,215 0 4,215 0 

Advanced Materials/Structural Safety 1,003 1,191 188 14,720 13,717 14,720 13,717 

Aircraft Icing/Digital System Safety/Aircraft Cyber 6,426 7,500 1,074 6,426 0 6,426 0 

Continued Air Worthiness 9,642 11,269 1,627 9,642 0 11,269 1,627 

Aircraft Catastrophic Failure Prevention Research 0 3,000 3,000 0 0 1,565 1,565 

Flightdeck/Maintenance/System Integration Human Factors 7,469 7,469 0 7,469 0 7,469 0 

Safety System Management/Terminal Area Safety 5,485 5,485 0 5,485 0 5,485 0 

Air Traffic Control Technical Operations Human Factors 5,685 5,685 0 5,685 0 5,685 0 

Aeromedical Research 10,235 11,500 1,265 10,235 0 10,235 0 

Weather Program 6,236 7,750 1,514 6,236 0 6,236 0 

Unmanned Aircraft Systems Research 24,035 24,035 0 24,035 0 24,035 0 

Alternative Fuels for General Aviation 2,524 2,524 0 2,524 0 2,524 0 

Commercial Space Transportation Safety 5,840 5,840 0 5,840 0 5,840 0 

NextGen - Wake Turbulence 3,698 3,698 0 3,698 0 3,698 0 

NextGen - Air Ground Integration Human Factors 6,757 6,000 -757 6,757 0 6,000 -757 

NextGen - Weather Technology in the Cockpit 1,982 1,982 0 1,982 0 1,982 0 

Information/Cyber Security 4,769 4,769 0 4,769 0 4,769 0 

NextGen-Flight Deck Data Exchange Requirements 1,000 1,000 0 1,000 0 1,000 0 

Environment and Energy 17,911 21,000 3,089 18,013 102 20,303 2,392 

NextGen Environmental Research Aircraft Technologies and Fuels 27,009 35,174 8,165 29,174 2,165 31,465 4,456 

System Planning and Resource Management 8,022 11,522 3,500 12,135 4,113 13,022 5,000 

William J. Hughes Technical Center Laboratory Facilities 2,921 2,921 0 2,921 0 2,921 0 

Total 170,000 192,665 22,665 190,097 20,097 198,000 28,000 

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FY 2021 Conference Language 

• Advanced Materials/Structural Safety – $14,720,000 this includes (1) $6M to 

advance the use of these new additive materials (both metallic and non-metallic 

based additive processes) into the commercial aviation industry; (2) $4M to advance 

the use of fiber reinforced composite materials into the commercial aviation industry 

through the FAA Joint Advanced Materials and Structures Center of Excellence; and 

(3) $2M for the FAA to continue its work with existing public-private partnerships that 

provide leading-edge research, development, and testing of composite materials and 

structures. 

• Unmanned Aircraft System Research – $24,035,000 this includes (1) $12,035,000 

to support the expanded role of the UAS Center of Excellence (COE) in areas of UAS 

research, including cybersecurity, agricultural applications, beyond visual line of sight 

technology, studies of advanced composites and other non-metallic engineering 

materials not common to manned aircraft but utilized in UAS, the STEM program, and 

to continue efforts with the UAS safety research facility at the Center to study 

appropriate safety standards for UAS and to develop and validate certification 

standards for such systems; 

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Administration 
 

 

 

 

 

 

FY 2021 Conference Language 

• UAS Continued: (2) $2M for the Center’s role in transportation disaster 

preparedness and response, partnering with institutions that have demonstrated 

experience in damage assessment, collaboration with state transportation agencies, 

and applied UAS field testing; and (3) $10M to support UAS research activities at the 

FAA Technical Center and other FAA Facilities. 

• Community and Technical College Centers of Excellence (COE) in Small UAS 

Technology Training Program – The FAA should continue working with the UAS 

Collegiate Training Initiative (CTI) schools and the consortium for small unmanned 

aircraft system technology training to develop additional benefits and opportunities for 

engagement as both programs are developed. The FAA should use available funds 

to assist designated UAS CTIs and include any funding needs permissible under 

current law for this program in future budget justifications. 

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Administration 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

FY 2021 Conference Language 

• Environmental sustainability – The agreement provides $20,303,000 for 

Environment and Energy, of which up to $3M is additional funding for the FAA to 

analyze noise at a national level using existing public health surveillance datasets 

and to conduct field studies in the U.S. The agreement provides $31,465,000 for 

NextGen Environmental Research Aircraft Technologies and Fuels, of which up to 

$3M is additional funding to support the Continuous Lower Energy, Emissions and 

Noise (CLEEN) program and $15M is for the Center of Excellence. The agreement 

directs the FAA to continue to provide resources to certify fuels for safe use in 

commercial aviation and their inclusion for meeting compliance obligations under 

CORSIA, and encourages utilization of the Aviation Sustainability Center (ASCENT) 

researchers to address the entire sustainable aviation fuels supply chain to identify 

and enable industry to overcome key barriers to entry such as fuels costs. 

7 Federal Aviation 

Administration 
 

 

 

 

 

FY 2021 House Language 

• Aviation Professionals – The Committee supports increasing the strength and 

number of aviation professionals who are well – trained and can be relied upon to 

make air travel safe and efficient. To that end, the Committee provides $5,000,000 for 

the aviation maintenance technician development program and $5,000,000 for 

aviation workforce development program in accordance with section 625 of the FAA 

Reauthorization Act (P.L. 115-254). Additionally, the Committee directs the FAA to 

include the section 625 grant program as part of the workforce diversity briefing 

required under the “Operations” heading. 

8 Federal Aviation 

Administration 
FY 2022 Budget 

• OMB Passback –? 

• President’s Budget Submission – Date: TBD 

9 Federal Aviation 

Administration 
R,E&D FY 2023 Budget 

• FY 2023 target ? 

• Deliver to OST June 2021? 

• FY 2023 remaining schedule 

– Submit to OMB mid September 

– Submit President’s request to Congress Feb. 2022 

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Administration 
Out Year Targets 

• Targets established ? 

– FY 23 - ? 

– FY 24 - ? 

– FY 25 - ? 

– FY 26 - ? 

– FY 27 - ? 

• Expect targets to change 

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Administration 
 

FAA Reauthorization 

• Current authorization signed by President 

Oct 5, 2018 which extends authorization thru 

2023 

12 Federal Aviation 

Administration 
Budget Future - TBD 

13 Federal Aviation 

Administration