H.R. 7553 — Aviation Innovation and Global Competitiveness Act

This section establishes the short title of the Act as the “Aviation Innovation and Global Competitiveness Act” and sets forth the table of contents.

This section directs the FAA Administrator, not later than 180 days after enactment, to publish a publicly available plan on the FAA website to improve the type certification process under 49 U.S.C. 44704 (i.e., FAA approval of aircraft, aircraft engine, propeller, and appliance designs that meet safety regulations). The plan must address (1) improvements to the issue paper process for type and supplemental type certificates; (2) maximum feasible use of industry consensus standards as means of compliance, consistent with aviation safety; (3) stable policy, to the extent practicable, on common subjects in issue papers, special conditions, special airworthiness criteria, or equivalent safety findings; and (4) consideration of performance-based standards in new requirements. Not later than 270 days after enactment, and subject to an exclusion for complex issues deemed by the Administrator to present unsafe conditions, the section further directs the Administrator to amend FAA Order 8110.112A (or successor) and related documents to establish standard expected timelines for (1) major certification milestones (e.g., issue papers, certification basis, means of compliance, equivalent safety levels) and FAA response times; (2) publication of rulemaking notices after issue paper closure on special conditions; (3) FAA responses to applicant exemption petitions and performance-based compliance proposals; and (4) applicant substantive responses to FAA information requests. In developing the plan and timelines, the Administrator must consult trade associations, advanced air mobility stakeholders, airport and vertiport providers, certified bargaining representatives of FAA safety personnel, and other relevant parties. Not later than 180 days after establishing the timelines, and annually thereafter, the section requires the Administrator to report to the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation and the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure on implementation, including performance metrics, internal review processes, timeline exceedances with improvement recommendations, and progress on stable policy.

This section directs the FAA Administrator, not later than 180 days after the date of enactment, to amend FAA Order 8110.112A (or successor document) and other applicable FAA documents to (1) establish specific criteria for determining when an issue warrants an issue paper during aircraft type certification and identify responsible FAA roles for evaluating those criteria; (2) address performance-based rulemaking projects requiring issue papers on means and methods of compliance; and (3) enhance efficiency by converting stable means-of-compliance issue papers into published policy or advisory circulars and incorporating stable issue papers for special conditions, exemptions, equivalent levels of safety, and similar requirements via annual updates to airworthiness standards under 14 CFR. Subsection (b) requires the same matters to be included in any subsequent order superseding or canceling Order 8110.112A. (Issue papers address significant safety or compliance issues in the FAA aircraft type certification process, which approves new aircraft designs for commercial operation.)

This section directs the FAA Administrator to publish, not later than 90 days after enactment, updated delegation guidance for type certification of aircraft and aircraft engines on the FAA website. The guidance must include (1) criteria for applicant eligibility for delegation; (2) criteria for classifying compliance findings as routine or safety-critical; (3) processes for documentation and management review when the FAA elects not to use authorized representatives of the Administrator or the applicant for routine and type certification activities; (4) the extent to which FAA delegation authority implementation ensures safety and fosters predictable type certification processes for new and novel technologies; and (5) the extent to which such implementation considers impacts on U.S. global leadership in developing and producing those technologies.

This section expresses the sense of Congress that the United States should continue supporting advanced air mobility, U.S. innovation, and global leadership in the development and safe deployment of new and novel aviation technologies, in accordance with the Federal Aviation Administration Act of 2024 (P.L. 118-63).

This section provides a rule of construction clarifying that the Administrator's establishment of expected timelines or ranges of time for actions under section 2(b) creates no new legal rights and that adherence or failure to adhere to such timelines is not subject to judicial review.

This section establishes definitions for purposes of the Act, including (1) "Administrator" as the Administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration; (2) "advanced air mobility" as that term is defined in section 951 of the FAA Reauthorization Act of 2024 (49 U.S.C. 40101 note); and (3) "FAA" as the Federal Aviation Administration.