Cleaner, Quieter Airplanes Act

I 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 5450 To amend title 51, United States Code, to require a National Aeronautics and Space Administration initiative on reduction of greenhouse gas emis- sions and noise emissions from aircraft, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES DECEMBER 17, 2019 Mr. BEYER (for himself, Mr. TONKO, Ms. BONAMICI, Ms. NORTON, Mr. ROUDA, Mr. KHANNA, Mr. THOMPSON of Mississippi, Mr. HUFFMAN, Ms. ESHOO, Mr. QUIGLEY, Mr. NEGUSE, Mr. GRIJALVA, Mr. LOWENTHAL, Mr. SHERMAN, Mr. SUOZZI, Ms. SCHAKOWSKY, and Mr. BLUMENAUER) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology A BILL To amend title 51, United States Code, to require a National Aeronautics and Space Administration initiative on re- duction of greenhouse gas emissions and noise emissions from aircraft, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Cleaner, Quieter Air- 4 planes Act’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:49 Dec 28, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5450.IH H5450 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 5450 IH SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 1 Congress makes the following findings: 2 (1) Air travel currently contributes approxi- 3 mately 3 percent to global carbon emissions, but 4 emissions from this sector are expected to triple by 5 2050. 6 (2) A healthy, thriving aviation sector contrib- 7 utes to the quality of life and economic well-being of 8 the United States. In 2014, the Federal Aviation 9 Administration found that civil aviation accounted 10 for 5.1 percent of the United States gross domestic 11 product, generated $1.6 trillion, and supported 12 10,600,000 jobs. 13 (3) Existing aircraft technologies contribute to 14 noise pollution that has adverse impacts on the qual- 15 ity of life in affected communities. As air traffic vol- 16 umes increase and the adoption of performance- 17 based navigation technology proceeds, the problem of 18 noise pollution is becoming more severe in some 19 areas. 20 (4) The United States has adopted a goal of 21 carbon-neutral growth in aviation from 2020. 22 (5) Research on technologies to lessen the envi- 23 ronmental and noise impacts of aviation is ongoing, 24 but should accelerate, and should include work on 25 the further maturation and integration of multiple 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:49 Dec 28, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5450.IH H5450 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 5450 IH enabling technologies on production aircraft, includ- 1 ing novel integrated systems at the aircraft level. 2 SEC. 3. NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRA- 3 TION INITIATIVE ON REDUCTION OF GREEN- 4 HOUSE GAS EMISSIONS AND NOISE EMIS- 5 SIONS FROM AIRCRAFT. 6 (a) INITIATIVE REQUIRED.—Section 40112 of title 7 51, United States Code, is amended— 8 (1) by redesignating subsections (b) through (e) 9 as subsections (c) through (f), respectively; and 10 (2) by inserting after subsection (a) the fol- 11 lowing new subsection (b): 12 ‘‘(b) TECHNOLOGIES FOR GREENHOUSE GAS EMIS- 13 SIONS AND NOISE EMISSIONS REDUCTION.— 14 ‘‘(1) INITIATIVE REQUIRED.—The Adminis- 15 trator shall establish an initiative to build upon and 16 accelerate previous or ongoing work to develop and 17 demonstrate new technologies, including systems ar- 18 chitecture, components, or integration of systems 19 and airframe structures, in aircraft concepts that 20 are capable of reducing both greenhouse gas emis- 21 sions and noise emissions from aircraft by at least 22 50 percent compared to the highest-performing air- 23 craft technologies in service as of December 31, 24 2019, with the goal of deploying new technologies 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:49 Dec 28, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5450.IH H5450 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 5450 IH developed pursuant to the initiative on regional 1 transport aircraft intended to enter into service by 2 2030 and on single-aisle aircraft designed to accom- 3 modate more than 125 passengers intended to enter 4 into service by 2040. 5 ‘‘(2) APPROACH.—In carrying out the initiative, 6 the Administrator shall do the following: 7 ‘‘(A) Continue and expand work of the Ad- 8 ministration on research, development, and 9 demonstration of aircraft concepts described in 10 paragraph (1), and the integration of related 11 advanced technologies and concepts, with the 12 goal of carrying out test flights by 2025. 13 ‘‘(B) To the extent practicable, work with 14 multiple partner organizations, including cur- 15 rent commercial production aircraft providers 16 and small businesses and new entrants, on re- 17 search and development activities related to 18 both regional transport aircraft and aircraft de- 19 signed to accommodate more than 125 pas- 20 sengers in order to achieve an industry-wide 21 shift towards aircraft concepts for the reduction 22 of greenhouse gas emissions and noise emis- 23 sions. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:49 Dec 28, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5450.IH H5450 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 5450 IH ‘‘(C) Provide guidance to the Federal Avia- 1 tion Administration (FAA) on technologies de- 2 veloped and tested pursuant to the initiative in 3 order to assist the work of the Federal Aviation 4 Administration to identify new requirements for 5 policy, infrastructure, and administrative capac- 6 ity necessary to enable the safe deployment of 7 such technologies on transport category air- 8 craft.’’. 9 (b) REPORTS.—Not later than 180 days after the 10 date of the enactment of this Act and annually thereafter, 11 the Administrator of the National Aeronautics and Space 12 Administration shall submit to Congress a report on the 13 progress of the work under the initiative required by sub- 14 section (b) of section 40112 of title 51, United States 15 Code (as amended by subsection (a) of this section), in- 16 cluding a description of any perceived obstacles to achiev- 17 ing the goal of a 50-percent reduction in both greenhouse 18 gas emissions and noise emissions from aircraft as con- 19 templated for the initiative. 20 (c) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 21 authorized to be appropriated for the National Aero- 22 nautics and Space Administration for the initiative re- 23 quired by subsection (b) of section 40112 of title 51, 24 United States Code (as so amended), amounts as follows: 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:49 Dec 28, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5450.IH H5450 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 5450 IH (1) For fiscal year 2021, $125,000,000. 1 (2) For fiscal year 2022, $225,000,000. 2 (3) For each of fiscal years 2023 and 2024, 3 $275,000,000. 4 (4) For fiscal year 2025, $225,000,000. 5 (5) For fiscal year 2026, $75,000,000. 6 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:49 Dec 28, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H5450.IH H5450 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS