Aviation WORKS Act

II 118TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 368 To amend the FAA Reauthorization Act of 2018 to extend the existing aviation workforce development programs and provide grants to develop aviation manufacturing and supplier workforce, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES FEBRUARY 9, 2023 Mr. KELLY (for himself and Mrs. FISCHER) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation A BILL To amend the FAA Reauthorization Act of 2018 to extend the existing aviation workforce development programs and provide grants to develop aviation manufacturing and supplier workforce, 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 ‘‘Aviation Workforce, 4 Opportunity, Recruiting, Knowledge, and Supply Act’’ or 5 the ‘‘Aviation WORKS Act’’. 6 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:09 Feb 28, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S368.IS S368 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •S 368 IS SEC. 2. EXTENSION AND EXPANSION OF AVIATION WORK- 1 FORCE DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMS. 2 Section 625 of the FAA Reauthorization Act of 2018 3 (49 U.S.C. 40101 note) is amended— 4 (1) in subsection (a)— 5 (A) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘and’’ at 6 the end; 7 (B) in paragraph (2), by striking the pe- 8 riod at the end and inserting a semicolon; and 9 (C) by adding at the end the following new 10 paragraphs: 11 ‘‘(3) a program to provide grants for eligible 12 projects— 13 ‘‘(A) to develop the aviation manufacturing 14 and supplier workforce; or 15 ‘‘(B) to develop and support the education 16 of workers who design or produce any aircraft, 17 aircraft engine, propeller, or appliance, or a 18 component, part, or system thereof, that— 19 ‘‘(i) is produced under a production 20 approval issued by the Federal Aviation 21 Administration; 22 ‘‘(ii) has been issued a design ap- 23 proval by the Federal Aviation Administra- 24 tion; or 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:09 Feb 28, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S368.IS S368 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •S 368 IS ‘‘(iii) has an active application for a 1 design approval; and 2 ‘‘(4) a program to provide grants for eligible 3 projects to plan, establish, and expand workforce de- 4 velopment partnership programs in the aviation and 5 aerospace industry sector.’’; 6 (2) in subsection (b)— 7 (A) by redesignating paragraph (2) as 8 paragraph (3); and 9 (B) by inserting after paragraph (1) the 10 following new paragraph: 11 ‘‘(2) SUBSEQUENT FUNDING.—There is author- 12 ized to be appropriated— 13 ‘‘(A) $20,000,000 for each of fiscal years 14 2024 through 2028 to provide grants under the 15 program established under subsection (a)(1); 16 ‘‘(B) $20,000,000 for each of fiscal years 17 2024 through 2028 to provide grants under the 18 program established under subsection (a)(2); 19 ‘‘(C) $20,000,000 for each of fiscal years 20 2024 through 2028 to provide grants under the 21 program established under subsection (a)(3); 22 and 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:09 Feb 28, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S368.IS S368 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •S 368 IS ‘‘(D) $20,000,000 for each of fiscal years 1 2024 through 2028 to provide grants under the 2 program established under subsection (a)(4).’’; 3 (3) in subsection (c), by adding at the end the 4 following new paragraphs: 5 ‘‘(3) An application for a grant under the pro- 6 gram established under subsection (a)(3) shall be 7 submitted, in such form as the Secretary may speci- 8 fy, by— 9 ‘‘(A) an aviation company that actively de- 10 signs or produces any aircraft, aircraft engine, 11 propeller, or appliance, or a component, part, or 12 system thereof, covered under Federal Aviation 13 Administration design approval or application 14 for design approval— 15 ‘‘(i) that— 16 ‘‘(I) operates a SAE AS9100-cer- 17 tified process related to the design, 18 development, or provision of an avia- 19 tion product or service, including a 20 part, component or assembly; 21 ‘‘(II) holds or operates under a 22 type or production certificate under 23 section 44704 of title 49, United 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:09 Feb 28, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S368.IS S368 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •S 368 IS States Code, or similar authorization; 1 or 2 ‘‘(III) has an active type certifi- 3 cate application accepted by the Fed- 4 eral Aviation Administration; or 5 ‘‘(ii) which— 6 ‘‘(I) is established, created, or or- 7 ganized in the United States or under 8 the laws of the United States; and 9 ‘‘(II) has significant operations 10 in the United States, and a majority 11 of its employees engaged in aviation 12 manufacturing or development activi- 13 ties and services, or aviation mainte- 14 nance, repair, or overhaul activities 15 and services based in the United 16 States; or 17 ‘‘(B) an accredited institution of higher 18 education (as such term is defined in paragraph 19 (1)(B)) or a high school or a secondary school 20 (as such terms are defined in such paragraph) 21 that has or is working to establish an aviation 22 manufacturing program. 23 ‘‘(4) An application for a grant under the pro- 24 gram established under subsection (a)(4) shall— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:09 Feb 28, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S368.IS S368 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 6 •S 368 IS ‘‘(A) be submitted, in such form as the 1 Secretary may specify, by a partnership that— 2 ‘‘(i) is an industry or sector partner- 3 ship (as such term is defined in section 3 4 of the Workforce Innovation and Oppor- 5 tunity Act (29 U.S.C. 3102)), or is in the 6 process of establishing an industry or sec- 7 tor partnership; 8 ‘‘(ii) includes an air carrier (as such 9 term is defined in paragraph (1)(A)), a 10 flight school described in paragraph 11 (1)(C), a holder of a certificate described 12 in paragraph (2)(A), or an aviation com- 13 pany described in paragraph (3)(A); 14 ‘‘(iii) is comprised of multiple employ- 15 ers from the aviation and aerospace indus- 16 try; 17 ‘‘(iv) may include not more than 1 en- 18 tity that is a previous recipient of grant 19 funding from any program established 20 under paragraphs (1) through (3) of sub- 21 section (a), but such entity may not serve 22 as a fiscal agent (as described in subpara- 23 graph (B)); and 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:09 Feb 28, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S368.IS S368 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 7 •S 368 IS ‘‘(v) does not include an entity that is 1 a current recipient of grant funding from 2 any program established under paragraphs 3 (1) through (3) of subsection (a), unless 4 the application demonstrates that any 5 grant funding currently received by the en- 6 tity would expire or otherwise cease prior 7 to the receipt of the grant funding under 8 paragraph (4) of subsection (a); 9 ‘‘(B) designate a partner from within the 10 partnership, or an intermediary which may be 11 a State or local workforce board or an accred- 12 ited institution of higher education (as such 13 term is defined in paragraph (1)(B)), to serve 14 as the fiscal agent for the grant; and 15 ‘‘(C) instruct the fiscal agent designated 16 under subparagraph (B) to, as appropriate— 17 ‘‘(i) receive funds; 18 ‘‘(ii) ensure sustained fiscal integrity 19 and accountability for expenditures of 20 funds in accordance with Federal Aviation 21 Administration regulations; 22 ‘‘(iii) respond to audit financial find- 23 ings; 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:09 Feb 28, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S368.IS S368 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 8 •S 368 IS ‘‘(iv) maintain proper accounting 1 records and documentation; and 2 ‘‘(v) prepare financial reports.’’; 3 (4) in subsection (d)— 4 (A) in paragraph (2), in the matter pre- 5 ceding subparagraph (A), by striking ‘‘pilot’’; 6 and 7 (B) by adding at the end the following new 8 paragraphs: 9 ‘‘(3) For purposes of the program established 10 under subsection (a)(3), an eligible project is a 11 project— 12 ‘‘(A) to establish or support educational 13 programs that teach technical skills used in 14 aviation manufacturing, including the produc- 15 tion of components, parts, or systems thereof 16 for inclusion in an aircraft, aircraft engine, pro- 17 peller, or appliance; 18 ‘‘(B) to establish scholarships, internships, 19 or apprenticeships for individuals pursuing em- 20 ployment in the aviation manufacturing indus- 21 try; 22 ‘‘(C) to support outreach about careers in 23 the aviation manufacturing industry to— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:09 Feb 28, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S368.IS S368 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 9 •S 368 IS ‘‘(i) primary, secondary, and post-sec- 1 ondary school students; or 2 ‘‘(ii) to communities underrepresented 3 in the industry; 4 ‘‘(D) to support educational opportunities 5 related to aviation manufacturing in economi- 6 cally disadvantaged geographic areas; 7 ‘‘(E) to support transition to careers in 8 aviation manufacturing, including for members 9 of the Armed Forces; or 10 ‘‘(F) to otherwise enhance aviation manu- 11 facturing technical education or the aviation 12 manufacturing industry workforce. 13 ‘‘(4) For purposes of the program established 14 under subsection (a)(4), an eligible project is a 15 project— 16 ‘‘(A) to carry out planning and partner de- 17 velopment activities, which may include— 18 ‘‘(i) convening key stakeholders as 19 identified in the application process to es- 20 tablish or expand educational programs 21 that teach technical skills used in pilot 22 training, aviation maintenance, or aviation 23 manufacturing; 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:09 Feb 28, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S368.IS S368 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 10 •S 368 IS ‘‘(ii) conducting outreach to local 1 businesses and business associations, in- 2 cluding activities to increase marketing 3 and activity visibility within the commu- 4 nity; 5 ‘‘(iii) conducting an evaluation of 6 workforce needs in the local area; 7 ‘‘(iv) conducting survey and planning 8 activities for partnership-related infra- 9 structure needs; or 10 ‘‘(v) recruiting veterans of military 11 service and individuals with barriers to em- 12 ployment; 13 ‘‘(B) to provide career services as de- 14 scribed in section 134(c)(2)(A) of the Work- 15 force Innovation and Opportunity Act (29 16 U.S.C. 3174(c)(2)(A)); 17 ‘‘(C) to provide training services as de- 18 scribed in section 134(c)(3)(D) of the Work- 19 force Innovation and Opportunity Act (29 20 U.S.C. 3174(c)(3)(D)); or 21 ‘‘(D) to provide services to support the 22 success and retention of individuals who are 23 participating in any training program estab- 24 lished under subsection (a)(4).’’; and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:09 Feb 28, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S368.IS S368 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 11 •S 368 IS (5) in subsection (e)— 1 (A) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘and’’ at 2 the end; 3 (B) in paragraph (2)— 4 (i) by striking ‘‘subsection (a)(1)’’ and 5 inserting ‘‘paragraph (1) or (2) of sub- 6 section (a)’’; and 7 (ii) by striking the period at the end 8 and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 9 (C) by adding at the end the following new 10 paragraph: 11 ‘‘(3) ensure that the applications selected for 12 projects established under subsection (a)(4) will 13 allow participation from major and regional air car- 14 riers and a diverse collection of industry partners.’’. 15 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:09 Feb 28, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S368.IS S368 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS