In the Senate of the United States,
November 13, 1997.
Resolved, That the bill from the House of Representa-
tives (H.R. 1271) entitled ‘‘An Act to authorize the Federal
Aviation Administration’s research, engineering, and develop-
ment programs for fiscal years 1998 through 2000, and for
other purposes.’’, do pass with the following
AMENDMENTS:
Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert:
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘FAA Research, Engi-
neering, and Development Authorization Act of 1997’’.
SEC. 2. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.
Section 48102(a) of title 49, United States Code, is
amended—
(1) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of paragraph
(2)(J);
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(2) by striking the period at the end of para-
graph (3)(J) and inserting in lieu thereof a semi-
colon; and
(3) by adding at the end the following:
‘‘(4) for fiscal year 1998, $226,800,000, includ-
ing—
‘‘(A) $16,379,000 for system development
and infrastructure projects and activities;
‘‘(B) $27,089,000 for capacity and air traf-
fic management technology projects and activi-
ties;
‘‘(C) $23,362,000 for communications, navi-
gation, and surveillance projects and activities;
‘‘(D) $16,600,000 for weather projects and
activities;
‘‘(E) $7,854,000 for airport technology
projects and activities;
‘‘(F) $49,202,000 for aircraft safety tech-
nology projects and activities;
‘‘(G) $53,759,000 for system security tech-
nology projects and activities;
‘‘(H) $26,550,000 for human factors and
aviation medicine projects and activities;
‘‘(I) $2,891,000 for environment and energy
projects and activities; and
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‘‘(J) $3,114,000 for innovative/cooperative
research projects and activities; and
‘‘(5) for fiscal year 1999, $229,673,000.’’.
SEC. 3. RESEARCH GRANTS PROGRAM INVOLVING UNDER-
GRADUATE STUDENTS.
(a) PROGRAM.—Section 48102 of title 49, United
States Code, is amended by adding at the end the following
new subsection:
‘‘(h) RESEARCH GRANTS PROGRAM INVOLVING UN-
DERGRADUATE STUDENTS.—
‘‘(1) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Administrator of
the Federal Aviation Administration shall establish a
program to utilize undergraduate and technical col-
leges, including Historically Black Colleges and Uni-
versities and Hispanic Serving Institutions, in re-
search on subjects of relevance to the Federal Aviation
Administration. Grants may be awarded under this
subsection for—
‘‘(A) research projects to be carried out at
primarily undergraduate institutions and tech-
nical colleges;
‘‘(B) research projects that combine research
at primarily undergraduate institutions and
technical colleges with other research supported
by the Federal Aviation Administration; or
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‘‘(C) research on future training require-
ments on projected changes in regulatory re-
quirements for aircraft maintenance and power
plant licensees.
‘‘(2) NOTICE OF CRITERIA.—Within 6 months
after the date of the enactment of the FAA Research,
Engineering, and Development Authorization Act of
1997, the Administrator of the Federal Aviation Ad-
ministration shall establish and publish in the Fed-
eral Register criteria for the submittal of proposals
for a grant under this subsection, and for the award-
ing of such grants.
‘‘(3) PRINCIPAL CRITERIA.—The principal cri-
teria for the awarding of grants under this subsection
shall be—
‘‘(A) the relevance of the proposed research
to technical research needs identified by the Fed-
eral Aviation Administration;
‘‘(B) the scientific and technical merit of
the proposed research; and
‘‘(C) the potential for participation by un-
dergraduate students in the proposed research.
‘‘(4) 
COMPETITIVE, 
MERIT-BASED
EVALUA-
TION.—Grants shall be awarded under this subsection
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on the basis of evaluation of proposals through a com-
petitive, merit-based process.’’.
(b) AUTHORIZATION
OF APPROPRIATIONS.—Section
48102(a) of title 49, United States Code, as amended by
this Act, is further amended by inserting ‘‘, of which
$750,000 shall be for carrying out the grant program estab-
lished under subsection (h)’’ after ‘‘projects and activities’’
in paragraph (4)(J).
SEC. 4. NOTICES.
(a) REPROGRAMMING.—If any funds authorized by the
amendments made by this Act are subject to a reprogram-
ming action that requires notice to be provided to the Ap-
propriations Committees of the House of Representatives
and the Senate, notice of such action shall concurrently be
provided to the Committees on Science and Transportation
and Infrastructure of the House of Representatives and the
Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of
the Senate.
(b) NOTICE OF REORGANIZATION.—The Administrator
of the Federal Aviation Administration shall provide notice
to the Committees on Science, Transportation and Infra-
structure, and Appropriations of the House of Representa-
tives, and the Committees on Commerce, Science, and
Transportation and Appropriations of the Senate, not later
than 30 days before any major reorganization (as deter-
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mined by the Administrator) of any program of the Federal
Aviation Administration for which funds are authorized by
this Act.
SEC. 5. SENSE OF CONGRESS ON THE YEAR 2000 PROBLEM.
With the year 2000 fast approaching, it is the sense
of Congress that the Federal Aviation Administration
should—
(1) give high priority to correcting all 2-digit
date-related problems in its computer systems to en-
sure that those systems continue to operate effectively
in the year 2000 and beyond;
(2) assess immediately the extent of the risk to
the operations of the Federal Aviation Administration
posed by the problems referred to in paragraph (1),
and plan and budget for achieving Year 2000 compli-
ance for all of its mission-critical systems; and
(3) develop contingency plans for those systems
that the Federal Aviation Administration is unable to
correct in time.
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Amend the title so as to read: ‘‘An Act to authorize
the Federal Aviation Administration’s research, engineer-
ing, and development programs for fiscal years 1998 and
1999, and for other purposes.’’.
Attest:
Secretary.