[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1506 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
<DOC>
118th CONGRESS
1st Session
S. 1506
To improve the processes for type certification, and for other
purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
May 9, 2023
Mr. Warnock (for himself and Mr. Moran) introduced the following bill;
which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce,
Science, and Transportation
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To improve the processes for type certification, 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 Advancements Act''.
SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS.
In this Act:
(1) Administrator.--The term ``Administrator'' means the
Administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration.
(2) Appropriate committees of congress.--The term
``appropriate committees of Congress'' means the Committee on
Transportation and Infrastructure of the House of
Representatives and the Committee on Commerce, Science, and
Transportation of the Senate.
(3) FAA.--The term ``FAA'' means the Federal Aviation
Administration.
(4) International validation branch.--The term
``International Validation Branch'' means the International
Validation Branch of the Compliance and Airworthiness Division
of the Aircraft Certification Service of the FAA.
(5) Regulatory materials.--The term ``regulatory
materials'' means rules, orders, advisory circulars, statements
of policy, guidance, and other materials related to aviation
safety regulations, as well as other materials pertaining to
training and operation of aeronautical products.
(6) Secretary.--The term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary
of Transportation.
SEC. 3. INDEPENDENT STUDY ON A FUTURE STATE ON TYPE CERTIFICATION
PROCESSES.
(a) Review and Study.--Not later than 60 days after the date of
enactment of this section, subject to the availability of
appropriations, the Administrator shall enter into an agreement with an
appropriate federally funded research and development center, or other
independent nonprofit organization that recommends solutions to
aviation policy challenges through objective analysis, to conduct a
review and study in accordance with the requirements and elements set
forth in this section.
(b) Elements.--The review and study under subsection (a) shall
provide analyses, assessments, and recommendations that address the
following:
(1) A vision for a future state of type certification that
reflects the highly complex, highly integrated nature of
today's aircraft.
(2) A review of the current tools and techniques used for
type certification and an evaluation of whether use of advanced
digital tools and techniques, including model-based system
engineering, would improve the type certification process and
enhance aviation safety.
(3) How the FAA could develop a risk-based model for type
certification and implement procedures where the FAA could rely
solely on an applicant's showing of compliance in those areas
of low-risk, subject to tests, means of compliance, and
substantiating data the Administrator considers necessary in
the interest of safety.
(4) What changes are needed to ensure that corrective
actions for continued operational safety issues can be approved
and implemented quickly, particularly with respect to software
modifications.
(5) What efficiencies are needed in the FAA's type
certification system that will facilitate the assessment and
integration of innovating technologies that advance aviation
safety.
(6) Best practices and tools used by other certification
authorities that could be adopted by the FAA and the United
States, as well as the best practices and tools used by the
United States which can be shared with other certification
authorities.
(c) Report.--Not later than 15 months after the date of enactment
of this section, the organization conducting the review and study shall
submit to the Administrator and the appropriate committees of Congress
a report on the results of the review and study that includes the
findings and recommendations of the organization.
(d) Congressional Briefing.--Not later than 270 days after the
report required under subsection (c) is submitted to the Administrator,
the Administrator shall brief the appropriate committees of Congress
regarding the FAA's response to the findings and recommendations of
such report, what actions the FAA will take as a result of such
findings and recommendations, and the FAA rationale for not taking
action on any specific recommendation.
SEC. 4. REPORT ON VALIDATION PROGRAM PERFORMANCE.
(a) In General.--Not later than 120 days after the date of
enactment of this section, the Secretary shall evaluate the performance
of the FAA's type certificate validation program under bilateral
agreements, with reference to agreed implementation procedures.
(b) Contents.--The evaluation under subsection (a) shall consider,
at minimum, the following:
(1) Progress under section 243(a) of the FAA
Reauthorization Act of 2018 (49 U.S.C. 44701 note) with respect
to improving the FAA's leadership abroad.
(2) Performance with reference to metrics such as the
number and types of projects, timeline milestones, the
validating authority level of involvement and certifying
authority delegation, and trends relating to the repeated use
of non-basic criteria to review systems or methods of
compliance that have been validated previously in similar
context.
(3) Training on the minimum standards for validation work
plan content, such as the validating authority level of
involvement, and what constitutes justification for level of
involvement and compliance document requests.
(4) The perspectives of FAA employees responsible for type
validation projects, bilateral civil aviation regulator
partners, and industry applicants on the FAA's performance in
carrying out validation projects.
(5) The levels of funding and staffing for the
International Validation Branch compared to the Branch's
workload and goals.
(6) The effectiveness of FAA training for employees and
outreach conducted to improve and enforce validation processes.
(7) Efforts undertaken to strengthen relationships with
international certification authorities to maximize safety
cooperation and the use of approvals issued by other certifying
authorities in compliance with applicable bilateral agreements
and implementation procedures.
(c) Report.--The Administrator shall issue a report regarding the
evaluation required under subsection (a) to the appropriate committees
of Congress not later than 1 year after enactment of this section.
SEC. 5. INTERNAL REGULATORY PROCESS REVIEW.
(a) In General.--The Secretary shall establish an internal
regulatory process review team (in this section referred to as the
``review team'') comprising of FAA employees and individuals described
in subsection (b) to develop recommendations to improve the timeliness
of, and performance accountability in, the development and promulgation
of regulatory materials (as defined in section 2). The review team
shall deliver a report with recommendations to the Secretary in
accordance with the deadlines specified in subsection (e).
(b) Other Members; Consultation.--
(1) In general.--The review team shall include outside
experts and academics with relevant experience or expertise in
aviation and commercial space transportation safety and in
improving the performance, accountability, and transparency of
the Federal regulatory process, particularly as it relates to
aviation and commercial space transportation safety. The review
team shall include at least 1 outside expert or academic with
relevant experience or expertise in aviation and commercial
space transportation safety and at least 1 outside expert or
academic with relevant experience or expertise in improving the
performance, accountability, and transparency of the Federal
regulatory process, particularly as it relates to aviation and
commercial space transportation safety.
(2) Consultation.--The review team may, as appropriate,
consult with industry stakeholders.
(c) Contents of Review.--In conducting the review required under
subsection (a), the review team shall do the following:
(1) Develop a proposal for rationalizing processes and
eliminating redundant administrative review of regulatory
materials within the FAA, particularly when FAA-sponsored
rulemaking committees and stakeholders have collaborated on the
proposed regulations to address airworthiness standards
deficiencies.
(2) With respect to each office within the FAA that reviews
regulatory materials, assess--
(A) the timeline assigned to each such office to
complete the review of regulatory materials;
(B) the actual time spent for such review;
(C) opportunities to reduce the actual time for
such review; and
(D) whether clear roles, responsibilities,
requirements, and expectations are clearly defined for
each office required to review the regulatory
materials.
(3) Define and document the roles and responsibilities of
each office within the FAA that develops, drafts or reviews
each kind of regulatory material in order to ensure that hiring
reflects who, where, and how these employees function in the
rulemaking framework.
(4) Describe any organizational changes or the need to hire
additional FAA employees, if necessary and taking into
consideration whether current positions are staffed, to reduce
delays in publication of proposed and final regulatory
materials.
(5) In order to provide the public with detailed
information on the progress of the development of regulatory
materials, identify reporting mechanisms and develop a template
and appropriate system metrics for making publicly available on
a website a real-time progress tracker that updates itself to
show the major stages (as determined by the Secretary) of the
development of regulatory materials as they are initiated, in
progress, and completed, from inception of a proposed
development of regulatory materials to publication of the final
version of such materials.
(6) Consider changes to the FAA's best practices under
rules governing ex parte communications with other validating
authorities, including international validating authorities,
and with consideration of the public interest in transparency,
to provide flexibility for FAA employees to discuss regulatory
materials, particularly for those related to enhancing aviation
safety and commercial space transportation safety, and the
United States aviation and commercial space transportation
international leadership.
(7) Recommend methods by which the FAA can incorporate
research funded by the Department of Transportation, in
addition to consensus standards and conformance assessment
processes set by private sector standards-developing
organizations into regulatory materials, to keep pace with
rapid changes in aviation and commercial space transportation
technologies and processes.
(8) Recommend mechanisms to optimize the roles of the
Office of the Secretary of Transportation and the Office of
Management and Budget, with the objective of improving the
efficiency of regulatory activity.
(d) Action Plan.--The Administrator shall develop an action plan to
implement the recommendations developed by the review team. The
Administrator shall publish the action plan on the internet website of
the FAA and shall transmit the plan to the appropriate committees of
Congress.
(e) Deadlines.--The requirements of this section shall be subject
to the following deadlines:
(1) The review team shall complete the evaluation required
under subsection (a) and submit the review team's report on
such evaluation to the Secretary not later than 120 days after
the date of enactment of this section.
(2) The Administrator shall develop and publish the action
plan under subsection (d) not later than 30 days after the date
on which the review team submits the report required by
subsection (a) to the Administrator.
(f) Administrative Procedure Requirements Inapplicable.--The
provisions of subchapter II of chapter 5, and chapter 7, of title 5,
United States Code (commonly known as the ``Administrative Procedure
Act'') shall not apply to any activities of the review team in carrying
out the requirements of this section.
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