H. R. 1271
One Hundred Fifth Congress
of the
United States of America
AT THE SECOND SESSION
Begun and held at the City of Washington on Tuesday,
the twenty-seventh day of January, one thousand nine hundred and ninety-eight
An Act
To authorize the Federal Aviation Administration’s research, engineering, and
development programs for fiscal years 1998 and 1999, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of
the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘FAA Research, Engineering,
and Development Authorization Act of 1998’’.
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);
(2) by striking the period at the end of paragraph (3)(J)
and inserting in lieu thereof a semicolon; and
(3) by adding at the end the following:
‘‘(4) for fiscal year 1998, $226,800,000, including—
‘‘(A) $16,379,000 for system development and infra-
structure projects and activities;
‘‘(B) $27,089,000 for capacity and air traffic manage-
ment technology projects and activities;
‘‘(C) $23,362,000 for communications, navigation, 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 technology projects
and activities;
‘‘(G) $53,759,000 for system security technology
projects and activities;
‘‘(H) $26,550,000 for human factors and aviation medi-
cine projects and activities;
‘‘(I) $2,891,000 for environment and energy projects
and activities; and
‘‘(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 UNDERGRADUATE
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 UNDERGRADUATE
STUDENTS.—
H. R. 1271—2
‘‘(1) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Administrator of the Federal
Aviation Administration shall establish a program to utilize
undergraduate and technical colleges, including Historically
Black Colleges and Universities and Hispanic Serving Institu-
tions, in research on subjects of relevance to the Federal Avia-
tion Administration. Grants may be awarded under this sub-
section for—
‘‘(A) research projects to be carried out at primarily
undergraduate institutions and technical colleges;
‘‘(B) research projects that combine research at pri-
marily undergraduate institutions and technical colleges
with other research supported by the Federal Aviation
Administration; or
‘‘(C) research on future training requirements on pro-
jected changes in regulatory requirements 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 1998, the Administrator of
the Federal Aviation Administration shall establish and publish
in the Federal Register criteria for the submittal of proposals
for a grant under this subsection, and for the awarding of
such grants.
‘‘(3) PRINCIPAL
CRITERIA.—The principal criteria for the
awarding of grants under this subsection shall be—
‘‘(A) the relevance of the proposed research to technical
research needs identified by the Federal Aviation Adminis-
tration;
‘‘(B) the scientific and technical merit of the proposed
research; and
‘‘(C) the potential for participation by undergraduate
students in the proposed research.
‘‘(4) COMPETITIVE, MERIT-BASED EVALUATION.—Grants shall
be awarded under this subsection on the basis of evaluation
of proposals through a competitive, 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 established under subsection (h)’’ after
‘‘projects and activities’’ in paragraph (4)(J).
SEC. 4. NOTICES.
(a) REPROGRAMMING.—If any funds authorized by the amend-
ments made by this Act are subject to a reprogramming action
that requires notice to be provided to the Appropriations Commit-
tees 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 Fed-
eral Aviation Administration shall provide notice to the Committees
on Science, Transportation and Infrastructure, and Appropriations
of the House of Representatives, and the Committees on Commerce,
Science, and Transportation and Appropriations of the Senate, not
later than 30 days before any major reorganization (as determined
H. R. 1271—3
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 ensure that those systems
continue to operate effectively in the year 2000 and beyond;
(2) assess immediately the extent of the risk to the oper-
ations of the Federal Aviation Administration posed by the
problems referred to in paragraph (1), and plan and budget
for achieving Year 2000 compliance 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.
Speaker of the House of Representatives.
Vice President of the United States and
President of the Senate.