SEC. 252. BILATERAL EXCHANGES OF SAFETY OVERSIGHT 
RESPONSIBILITIES. 
Section 44701(e) of title 49, United States Code, is 
amended by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(5) FOREIGN AIRWORTHINESS DIRECTIVES.— 
‘‘(A) ACCEPTANCE.—The Administrator 
may accept an airworthiness directive issued by 
an aeronautical safety authority of a foreign 
country, and leverage that authority’s regu-
latory process, if— 
‘‘(i) the country is the state of design 
for the product that is the subject of the 
airworthiness directive; 
‘‘(ii) the United States has a bilateral 
safety agreement relating to aircraft cer-
tification with the country; 
‘‘(iii) as part of the bilateral safety 
agreement with the country, the Adminis-
trator has determined that such aero-
nautical safety authority has a certification 
system relating to safety that produces a 
level of safety equivalent to the level pro-
duced by the system of the Federal Avia-
tion Administration; 
‘‘(iv) the aeronautical safety authority 
of the country utilizes an open and trans-
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parent notice and comment process in the 
issuance of airworthiness directives; and 
‘‘(v) the airworthiness directive is nec-
essary to provide for the safe operation of 
the aircraft subject to the directive. 
‘‘(B) ALTERNATIVE APPROVAL PROCESS.— 
Notwithstanding subparagraph (A), the Admin-
istrator may issue a Federal Aviation Adminis-
tration airworthiness directive instead of accept-
ing an airworthiness directive otherwise eligible 
for acceptance under such subparagraph, if the 
Administrator determines that such issuance is 
necessary for safety or operational reasons due 
to the complexity or unique features of the Fed-
eral Aviation Administration airworthiness di-
rective or the United States aviation system. 
‘‘(C) ALTERNATIVE
MEANS
OF
COMPLI-
ANCE.—The Administrator may— 
‘‘(i) accept an alternative means of 
compliance, with respect to an airworthi-
ness directive accepted under subpara-
graph (A), that was approved by the aero-
nautical safety authority of the foreign 
country that issued the airworthiness di-
rective; or 
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‘‘(ii) notwithstanding subparagraph 
(A), and at the request of any person af-
fected by an airworthiness directive accept-
ed under such subparagraph, approve an 
alternative means of compliance with re-
spect to the airworthiness directive. 
‘‘(D) 
LIMITATION.—The 
Administrator 
may not accept an airworthiness directive 
issued by an aeronautical safety authority of a 
foreign country if the airworthiness directive 
addresses matters other than those involving 
the safe operation of an aircraft.’’. 
SEC. 253. FAA LEADERSHIP ABROAD. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—To promote United States aero-
space safety standards, reduce redundant regulatory activ-
ity, and facilitate acceptance of FAA design and produc-
tion approvals abroad, the Administrator of the FAA 
shall— 
(1) attain greater expertise in issues related to 
dispute resolution, intellectual property, and export 
control laws to better support FAA certification and 
other aerospace regulatory activities abroad; 
(2) work with United States companies to more 
accurately track the amount of time it takes foreign 
authorities, including bilateral partners, to validate 
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United States type certificated aeronautical prod-
ucts; 
(3) provide assistance to United States compa-
nies that have experienced significantly long foreign 
validation wait times; 
(4) work with foreign authorities, including bi-
lateral partners, to collect and analyze data to deter-
mine the timeliness of the acceptance and validation 
of FAA design and production approvals by foreign 
authorities and the acceptance and validation of for-
eign-certified products by the FAA; 
(5) establish appropriate benchmarks and 
metrics to measure the success of bilateral aviation 
safety agreements and to reduce the validation time 
for United States type certificated aeronautical 
products abroad; and 
(6) work with foreign authorities, including bi-
lateral partners, to improve the timeliness of the ac-
ceptance and validation of FAA design and produc-
tion approvals by foreign authorities and the accept-
ance and validation of foreign-certified products by 
the FAA. 
(b) REPORT.—Not later than 1 year after the date 
of enactment of this Act, the Administrator of the FAA 
shall submit to the Committee on Transportation and In-
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frastructure of the House of Representatives and the Com-
mittee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the 
Senate a report that— 
(1) describes the FAA’s strategic plan for inter-
national engagement; 
(2) describes the structure and responsibilities 
of all FAA offices that have international respon-
sibilities, including the Aircraft Certification Office, 
and all the activities conducted by those offices re-
lated to certification and production; 
(3) describes current and forecasted staffing 
and travel needs for the FAA’s international engage-
ment activities, including the needs of the Aircraft 
Certification Office in the current and forecasted 
budgetary environment; 
(4) provides recommendations, if appropriate, 
to improve the existing structure and personnel and 
travel policies supporting the FAA’s international 
engagement activities, including the activities of the 
Aviation Certification Office, to better support the 
growth of United States aerospace exports; and 
(5) identifies cost-effective policy initiatives, 
regulatory initiatives, or legislative initiatives needed 
to improve and enhance the timely acceptance of 
United States aerospace products abroad. 
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(c) INTERNATIONAL TRAVEL.—The Administrator of 
the FAA, or the Administrator’s designee, may authorize 
international travel for any FAA employee, without the 
approval of any other person or entity, if the Adminis-
trator determines that the travel is necessary— 
(1) to promote United States aerospace safety 
standards; or 
(2) to support expedited acceptance of FAA de-
sign and production approvals. 
SEC. 254. REGISTRATION, CERTIFICATION, AND RELATED 
FEES. 
Section 45305 of title 49, United States Code, is 
amended— 
(1) in subsection (a) by striking ‘‘Subject to 
subsection (b)’’ and inserting ‘‘Subject to subsection 
(c)’’; 
(2) by redesignating subsections (b) and (c) as 
subsections (c) and (d), respectively; and 
(3) by inserting after subsection (a) the fol-
lowing: 
‘‘(b) CERTIFICATION SERVICES.—Subject to sub-
section (c), and notwithstanding section 45301(a), the Ad-
ministrator may establish and collect a fee from a foreign 
government or entity for services related to certification, 
regardless of where the services are provided, if the fee— 
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‘‘(1) is established and collected in a manner 
consistent with aviation safety agreements; and 
‘‘(2) does not exceed the estimated costs of the 
services.’’. 
TITLE III—SAFETY 
Subtitle A—General Provisions 
SEC. 301. FAA TECHNICAL TRAINING. 
(a) E-LEARNING TRAINING PILOT PROGRAM.—Not 
later than 90 days after the date of enactment of this Act, 
the Administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration, 
in collaboration with the exclusive bargaining representa-
tives of covered FAA personnel, shall establish an e-learn-
ing training pilot program in accordance with the require-
ments of this section. 
(b) CURRICULUM.—The pilot program shall— 
(1) include a recurrent training curriculum for 
covered FAA personnel to ensure that the personnel 
receive instruction on the latest aviation tech-
nologies, processes, and procedures; 
(2) focus on providing specialized technical 
training for covered FAA personnel, as determined 
necessary by the Administrator; 
(3) include training courses on applicable regu-
lations of the Federal Aviation Administration; and 
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(4) consider the efficacy of instructor-led online 
training. 
(c) PILOT PROGRAM TERMINATION.—The pilot pro-
gram shall terminate 1 year after the date of establish-
ment of the pilot program. 
(d) E-LEARNING TRAINING PROGRAM.—Upon termi-
nation of the pilot program, the Administrator shall estab-
lish an e-learning training program that incorporates les-
sons learned for covered FAA personnel as a result of the 
pilot program. 
(e) DEFINITIONS.—In this section, the following defi-
nitions apply: 
(1) COVERED
FAA
PERSONNEL.—The term 
‘‘covered FAA personnel’’ means airway transpor-
tation systems specialists and aviation safety inspec-
tors of the Federal Aviation Administration. 
(2) E-LEARNING
TRAINING.—The term ‘‘e- 
learning training’’ means learning utilizing electronic 
technologies to access educational curriculum outside 
of a traditional classroom. 
SEC. 302. SAFETY CRITICAL STAFFING. 
(a) UPDATE OF FAA’S SAFETY CRITICAL STAFFING 
MODEL.—Not later than 270 days after the date of enact-
ment of this Act, the Administrator of the Federal Avia-
tion Administration shall update the safety critical staff-
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ing model of the Administration to determine the number 
of aviation safety inspectors that will be needed to fulfill 
the safety oversight mission of the Administration. 
(b) AUDIT BY DOT INSPECTOR GENERAL.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 90 days after 
the date on which the Administrator has updated 
the safety critical staffing model under subsection 
(a), the Inspector General of the Department of 
Transportation shall conduct an audit of the staffing 
model. 
(2) CONTENTS.—The audit shall include, at a 
minimum— 
(A) a review of the assumptions and meth-
odologies used in devising and implementing the 
staffing model to assess the adequacy of the 
staffing model in predicting the number of avia-
tion safety inspectors needed— 
(i) to properly fulfill the mission of 
the Administration; and 
(ii) to meet the future growth of the 
aviation industry; and 
(B) a determination on whether the staff-
ing model takes into account the Administra-
tion’s authority to fully utilize designees. 
(3) REPORT ON AUDIT.— 
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(A) REPORT
TO
SECRETARY.—Not later 
than 30 days after the date of completion of the 
audit, the Inspector General shall submit to the 
Secretary a report on the results of the audit. 
(B) REPORT
TO
CONGRESS.—Not later 
than 60 days after the date of receipt of the re-
port, the Secretary shall submit to the Com-
mittee on Transportation and Infrastructure of 
the House of Representatives and the Com-
mittee on Commerce, Science, and Transpor-
tation of the Senate a copy of the report, to-
gether with, if appropriate, a description of any 
actions taken or to be taken to address the re-
sults of the audit. 
SEC. 303. INTERNATIONAL EFFORTS REGARDING TRACK-
ING OF CIVIL AIRCRAFT. 
The Administrator of the Federal Aviation Adminis-
tration shall exercise leadership on creating a global ap-
proach to improving aircraft tracking by working with— 
(1) foreign counterparts of the Administrator in 
the International Civil Aviation Organization and its 
subsidiary organizations; 
(2) other international organizations and fora; 
and 
(3) the private sector. 
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SEC. 304. AIRCRAFT DATA ACCESS AND RETRIEVAL SYS-
TEMS. 
(a) ASSESSMENT.—Not later than 90 days after the 
date of enactment of this Act, the Administrator of the 
Federal Aviation Administration shall initiate an assess-
ment of aircraft data access and retrieval systems for part 
121 air carrier aircraft that are used in extended 
overwater operations to— 
(1) determine if the systems provide improved 
access and retrieval of aircraft data and cockpit 
voice recordings in the event of an aircraft accident; 
and 
(2) assess the cost effectiveness of each system 
assessed. 
(b) SYSTEMS TO BE EXAMINED.—The systems to be 
examined under this section shall include, at a minimum— 
(1) automatic deployable flight recorders; 
(2) emergency locator transmitters; and 
(3) satellite-based solutions. 
(c) REPORT.—Not later than 1 year after the date 
of initiation of the assessment, the Administrator shall 
submit to the Committee on Transportation and Infra-
structure of the House of Representatives and the Com-
mittee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the 
Senate a report on the results of the assessment. 
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