[Congressional Bills 117th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 3125 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
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117th CONGRESS
1st Session
S. 3125
To establish an alternative fuel and low-emission aviation technology
program, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
November 1, 2021
Mr. Warnock (for himself, Ms. Cantwell, Mr. Peters, and Mr. Padilla)
introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the
Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To establish an alternative fuel and low-emission aviation technology
program, 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 ``Aviation Emissions Reduction
Opportunity Act'' or the ``AERO Act''.
SEC. 2. ALTERNATIVE FUEL AND LOW-EMISSION AVIATION TECHNOLOGY PROGRAM.
(a) Establishment.--The Secretary shall establish a competitive
grant program to provide grants to eligible entities to carry out
projects located in the United States that produce, transport, blend,
or store sustainable aviation fuel, or develop, demonstrate, or apply
low-emission aviation technologies.
(b) Considerations.--In carrying out subsection (a), the Secretary
shall consider, with respect to a proposed project--
(1) the capacity for the eligible entity to increase the
domestic production and deployment of sustainable aviation fuel
or the use of low-emission aviation technologies among the
United States commercial aviation and aerospace industry;
(2) the projected greenhouse gas emissions from such
project, including emissions resulting from the development of
the project, and the potential the project has to reduce or
displace, on a lifecycle basis, United States greenhouse gas
emissions associated with air travel;
(3) the capacity to create new jobs and develop supply
chain partnerships in the United States;
(4) for projects related to the production of sustainable
aviation fuel, the projected lifecycle greenhouse gas emissions
benefits from the proposed project, which shall include
feedstock and fuel production and potential direct and indirect
greenhouse gas emissions (including resulting from changes in
land use); and
(5) the benefits of ensuring a diversity of feedstocks for
sustainable aviation fuel, including the use of waste carbon
oxides and direct air capture.
(c) Cost Share.--The Federal share of the cost of a project carried
out using grant funds under subsection (a) shall be a maximum of 90
percent of the proposed total cost of the project, and the Secretary
shall consider the extent to which a proposed project meets the
considerations described in subsection (b) in determining the Federal
share under this subsection.
(d) Fuel Emissions Reduction Test.--For purposes of clause (ii) of
subsection (f)(7)(E), the Secretary shall, not later than 2 years after
the date of enactment of this section, adopt at least 1 methodology for
testing lifecycle greenhouse gas emissions that meets the requirements
of such clause.
(e) Funding.--
(1) Authorization of appropriations.--Out of any money in
the Treasury not otherwise appropriated, there are authorized
to be appropriated for each of fiscal years 2022 through 2026,
$200,000,000 to carry out the purposes of this Act, to remain
available until expended.
(2) Funding distribution.--Subject to paragraph (3), of any
amount made available under paragraph (1)--
(A) 30 percent of such amount shall be awarded for
projects that develop, demonstrate, or apply low-
emission aviation technologies; and
(B) 70 percent of such amount shall be awarded for
projects that produce, transport, blend, or store
sustainable aviation fuel.
(3) Administration.--The Secretary may reserve not more
than 2 percent of the amount appropriated under paragraph (1)
for expenses related to administering this section.
(f) Definitions.--In this section:
(1) Eligible entity.--The term ``eligible entity'' means--
(A) a State or local government, including the
District of Columbia, other than an airport sponsor;
(B) an air carrier;
(C) an airport sponsor;
(D) an accredited institution of higher education;
(E) a research institution;
(F) a person or entity engaged in the production,
transportation, blending, or storage of sustainable
aviation fuel in the United States or feedstocks in the
United States that could be used to produce sustainable
aviation fuel;
(G) a person or entity engaged in the development,
demonstration, or application of low-emission aviation
technologies; or
(H) nonprofit entities or nonprofit consortia with
experience in sustainable aviation fuels, low-emission
aviation technologies, or other clean transportation
research programs.
(2) Feedstock.--The term ``feedstock'' means sources of
hydrogen and carbon not originating from unrefined or refined
petrochemicals.
(3) Induced land-use change values.--The term ``induced
land-use change values'' means the greenhouse gas emissions
resulting from the conversion of land to the production of
feedstocks and from the conversion of other land due to the
displacement of crops or animals for which the original land
was previously used.
(4) Lifecycle greenhouse gas emissions.--The term
``lifecycle greenhouse gas emissions'' means the combined
greenhouse gas emissions from feedstock production, collection
of feedstock, transportation of feedstock to fuel production
facilities, conversion of feedstock to fuel, transportation and
distribution of fuel, and fuel combustion in an aircraft
engine, as well as from induced land-use change values.
(5) Low-emission aviation technologies.--The term ``low-
emission aviation technologies'' means technologies, produced
in the United States, that significantly--
(A) improve aircraft fuel efficiency;
(B) increase utilization of sustainable aviation
fuel; or
(C) reduce greenhouse gas emissions produced during
operation of civil aircraft.
(6) Secretary.--The term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary
of Transportation.
(7) Sustainable aviation fuel.--The term ``sustainable
aviation fuel'' means liquid fuel, produced in the United
States, that--
(A) consists of synthesized hydrocarbons;
(B) meets the requirements of--
(i) ASTM International Standard D7566; or
(ii) the co-processing provisions of ASTM
International Standard D1655, Annex A1 (or such
successor standard);
(C) is derived from biomass (in a similar manner as
such term is defined in section 45K(c)(3) of the
Internal Revenue Code of 1986), waste streams,
renewable energy sources, or gaseous carbon oxides;
(D) is not derived from palm fatty acid
distillates; and
(E) achieves at least a 50-percent lifecycle
greenhouse gas emissions reduction in comparison with
petroleum-based jet fuel, as determined by a test that
shows--
(i) the fuel production pathway achieves at
least a 50-percent reduction of the aggregate
attributional core lifecycle emissions and the
induced land use change values under a
lifecycle methodology for sustainable aviation
fuels similar to that adopted by the
International Civil Aviation Organization with
the agreement of the United States; or
(ii) the fuel production pathway achieves
at least a 50-percent reduction of the
aggregate attributional core lifecycle
greenhouse gas emissions values and the induced
land-use change values under another
methodology that the Secretary determines is--
(I) reflective of the latest
scientific understanding of lifecycle
greenhouse gas emissions; and
(II) as stringent as the
requirement under clause (i).
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