SEC. 23. CYBERSECURITY RESEARCH ACTION INITIATIVE. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall ensure that 
FAA’s research and development on cybersecurity and its 
application across FAA is dynamic and constantly updated 
to reflect the evolving nature of cyber risks and threats, 
and that cybersecurity research and development is ap-
proached in an integrated fashion consistent with the find-
ings and analyses of both the Government Accountability 
Office and the National Academies report, ‘‘A Review of 
the Next Generation Air Transportation System: Implica-
tions and Importance of a System Architecture’’, which 
states that ‘‘Cybersecurity requires a system-wide ap-
proach that is managed architecturally and cannot be ad-
dressed piecemeal by each contractor (or program) sepa-
rately. Nor can security be added to the system later. 
Safety properties themselves are dependent on a resilient, 
trustworthy, secure system, so careful integration of cy-
bersecurity models and processes into safety analyses will 
become increasingly important. Finally, cybersecurity 
itself is an ongoing challenge in many domains and the 
subject of ongoing research; it will be important to track 
and integrate relevant results as the field continues to 
evolve.’’. Development of an agencywide threat model will 
facilitate FAA in taking an integrated approach to cyber-
security. 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
05:13 Feb 06, 2016
Jkt 059200
PO 00000
Frm 00008
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H4464.IH
H4464
SSpencer on DSK4SPTVN1PROD with BILLS
(b) THREAT MODEL DEVELOPMENT.—The Secretary 
shall develop an agencywide threat model to strengthen 
cybersecurity defense across FAA. The threat model 
shall— 
(1) be continuously updated; 
(2) be capable of describing the landscape of se-
curity risks to FAA’s operational systems, including 
those potentially caused by manned and unmanned 
aircraft operation in the National Airspace System; 
and 
(3) enable FAA to— 
(A) identify known threats, including in-
sider threats; 
(B) align cybersecurity efforts and re-
sponses commensurate with the identified 
threats; and 
(C) implement any additional actions need-
ed to respond to threats and security weak-
nesses that have not been addressed. 
(c) TRANSMITTAL.—Not later than 6 months after 
the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall 
transmit a classified threat model and an unclassified ex-
ecutive summary to the Committee on Science, Space, and 
Technology of the House of Representatives and the Com-
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
05:13 Feb 06, 2016
Jkt 059200
PO 00000
Frm 00009
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H4464.IH
H4464
SSpencer on DSK4SPTVN1PROD with BILLS
mittee on Commerce, Science and Transportation of the 
Senate. 
TITLE III—MAINTAINING SAFETY 
AND 
ENVIRONMENTAL 
RE-
SPONSIBILITY IN A CHANG-
ING AVIATION ENVIRONMENT 
SEC. 31. REVIEW OF RESEARCH SYNERGY OF UNMANNED 
AIRCRAFT SYSTEMS TEST SITES AND CENTER 
OF EXCELLENCE. 
(a) REVIEW.—Not later than 3 months after the date 
of enactment of this Act, the Comptroller General shall 
initiate a review of the effectiveness of the 6 FAA un-
manned aircraft system test sites and the opportunities 
for coordinating and integrating the research conducted 
at the test sites with that conducted by the Center of Ex-
cellence on Unmanned Aircraft Systems. The review shall 
include input from stakeholders and users of the test sites 
and participants of the Center of Excellence. 
(b) ISSUES.—The review shall address— 
(1) FAA’s plans for the utilization of research 
carried out at the test sites and the Center of Excel-
lence on Unmanned Aircraft Systems and any rela-
tionship of such research to the plan required under 
section 22(a); 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
05:13 Feb 06, 2016
Jkt 059200
PO 00000
Frm 00010
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H4464.IH
H4464
SSpencer on DSK4SPTVN1PROD with BILLS
(2) the coordination of the research carried out 
at the test sites and the Center of Excellence; and 
(3) the mechanism by which FAA will exchange 
information and communications with both the test 
sites and the Center of Excellence on potential op-
portunities for them to address FAA’s research and 
development needs and on potential opportunities for 
FAA to facilitate potential partnerships within and 
among the test sites, the Center of Excellence, and 
other relevant entities to help address FAA’s re-
search and development needs. 
(c) TRANSMITTAL.—The Comptroller General shall 
transmit the review under this section to the Committee 
on Science, Space, and Technology of the House of Rep-
resentatives and the Committee on Commerce, Science, 
and Transportation of the Senate not later than 12 
months after the date of enactment of this Act. 
SEC. 32. RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT STRATEGY IN SUP-
PORT OF THE SAFE INTEGRATION OF UN-
MANNED AIRCRAFT SYSTEMS INTO THE NA-
TIONAL AIRSPACE SYSTEM. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall develop a re-
search and development strategy to provide the research 
basis for informing any potential regulatory action regard-
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
05:13 Feb 06, 2016
Jkt 059200
PO 00000
Frm 00011
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H4464.IH
H4464
SSpencer on DSK4SPTVN1PROD with BILLS
ing the safe integration of evolving unmanned aircraft sys-
tems into the National Airspace System. 
(b) STRATEGY.—Not later than 9 months after the 
date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall transmit 
a research and development strategy for the integration 
of unmanned aircraft systems into the National Airspace 
System. 
(c) ISSUES.—The strategy shall address the research 
needed to ensure— 
(1) the safe integration of unmanned aircraft 
systems of all sizes and categories, operating alti-
tudes, and degree of autonomy of operation; and 
(2) the utilization of other relevant Federal and 
federally sponsored research and development activi-
ties on the safe integration of unmanned aircraft 
systems into the National Airspace System. 
SEC. 33. GENERAL AVIATION SAFETY. 
(a) WORKSHOPS.—The Secretary shall hold at least 
one workshop to discuss the status of research and devel-
opment focused on enhancing general aviation safety. The 
workshop or workshops shall— 
(1) identify research and development that has 
had a measurable impact on enhancing general avia-
tion safety, and the extent to which those research 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
05:13 Feb 06, 2016
Jkt 059200
PO 00000
Frm 00012
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H4464.IH
H4464
SSpencer on DSK4SPTVN1PROD with BILLS