I 
116TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 8589 
To direct the Secretary of Transportation to provide vouchers to air carriers 
to purchase more fuel-efficient and quieter aircraft, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
OCTOBER 13, 2020 
Mr. ROUDA (for himself, Ms. NORTON, Mrs. NAPOLITANO, Mr. CISNEROS, Ms. 
JUDY CHU of California, and Mr. RASKIN) introduced the following bill; 
which was referred to the Committee on Transportation and Infrastruc-
ture 
A BILL 
To direct the Secretary of Transportation to provide vouchers 
to air carriers to purchase more fuel-efficient and quieter 
aircraft, and for other purposes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Aviation Industry As-
sistance for Cleaner and Quieter Skies Act’’. 
SEC. 2. AVIATION INDUSTRY ASSISTANCE FOR CLEANER 
AND QUIETER SKIES VOUCHER PROGRAM. 
(a) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Secretary shall establish 
and carry out a program, to be known as the ‘‘Aviation 
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Industry Assistance for Cleaner and Quieter Skies Vouch-
er Program’’, under which the Secretary shall issue elec-
tronic vouchers to air carriers, subject to the specifications 
set forth in subsection (d), to offset the purchase or cost 
of a lease of eligible new aircraft in exchange for commit-
ments from such air carriers to decommission certain cur-
rently used aircraft and sell such aircraft for recycling of 
parts or disposal. 
(b) APPLICATION.—To be eligible for the program es-
tablished under subsection (a), an air carrier shall submit 
to the Secretary an application at such time, in such man-
ner, and containing such information as the Secretary may 
require, including a description of a currently used aircraft 
of the air carrier. 
(c) PROGRAM REQUIREMENTS.— 
(1) LIST OF ELIGIBLE AIRCRAFT.—In carrying 
out the program established under subsection (a), 
the Secretary, in consultation with the Adminis-
trator, shall prepare, maintain, publicize, and make 
available through a publicly available website, lists 
of— 
(A) applicable currently used aircraft; 
(B) eligible aircraft for purchase or lease; 
and 
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(C) registered aircraft recycling firms eligi-
ble to purchase currently used aircraft under 
this section. 
(2) COMMITMENT REQUIREMENT.—In carrying 
out the program established under subsection (a), 
the Secretary shall issue such regulations as are nec-
essary to establish requirements for an air carrier to 
purchase or lease an eligible aircraft described in 
subsection (a), including a timing requirement for 
the purchase of such, and decommissioning and sell-
ing of applicable currently used aircraft of the air 
carrier for recycling of parts or disposal, except as 
provided in subsection (f)(2). 
(d) VALUE OF VOUCHERS.—The Secretary may de-
termine the value of each voucher, not to exceed 
$10,000,000, based on the difference in emissions between 
the currently used aircraft being decommissioned and sold 
and the eligible aircraft being purchased or leased. In de-
termining the value of each voucher, the Secretary shall 
also consider if such eligible aircraft also include noise re-
duction, including whether such aircraft meet Stage 5 
standards. In addition, the Secretary shall consider seat 
capacity and typical stage length of both the currently 
used aircraft being decommissioned and sold and the eligi-
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ble aircraft being purchased or leased in determining the 
value of the voucher. 
(e) REGULATIONS.—Not later than 180 days after 
the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall issue 
such regulations as are necessary to carry out this section, 
including a requirement that a voucher may be used only 
to pay a new aircraft order, not an order placed (even if 
not filled) before the date of enactment of this Act. 
(f) REGISTRATION.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall register 
aircraft recycling firms eligible to purchase currently 
used aircraft under this section and establish re-
quirements and procedures for the recycling of parts 
or disposal of such aircraft to ensure that such air-
craft are taken out of service and not used to de-
velop other aircraft with higher greenhouse gas 
emissions. 
(2) EXCEPTION.—Notwithstanding paragraph 
(1), in the case of an emergency declared by the Sec-
retary or a national emergency declared by the 
President, the Secretary may temporarily waive the 
provisions of such paragraph that prevent the use of 
aircraft taken out of service pursuant to this section 
for the purposes of responding to such emergency or 
national emergency. 
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(g) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 
authorized to carry out the program established under this 
section $1,000,000,000 and such sums shall remain avail-
able until expended. 
(h) DEFINITIONS.—In this section the following defi-
nitions apply: 
(1) ADMINISTRATOR.—The term ‘‘Adminis-
trator’’ means the Administrator of the Environ-
mental Protection Agency. 
(2) AIR CARRIER.—The term ‘‘air carrier’’ has 
the meaning given such term in section 40102 of 
title 49, United States Code. 
(3) CURRENTLY
USED
AIRCRAFT.—The term 
‘‘currently used aircraft’’ means— 
(A) aircraft in the bottom 25 percent of 
the air carrier’s aircraft fleet in terms of fuel 
efficiency per seat; and 
(B) aircraft that have been in service for 
at least 1,500 hours in the previous calendar 
year. 
(4) ELIGIBLE
AIRCRAFT.—The term ‘‘eligible 
aircraft’’ means aircraft that must be new and con-
sidered by the Secretary highly fuel-efficient with 
some consideration given to their noise impact. 
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(5) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 
the Secretary of Transportation. 
Æ 
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