Supersonic and Hypersonic Aircraft Testing Corridor Act

II 118TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 902 To require the Administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration to des- ignate an overland supersonic and hypersonic testing corridor in the United States to test military passenger and non-passenger aircraft, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES MARCH 21, 2023 Mr. LEE introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation A BILL To require the Administrator of the Federal Aviation Admin- istration to designate an overland supersonic and hypersonic testing corridor in the United States to test military passenger and non-passenger 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 ‘‘Supersonic and 4 Hypersonic Aircraft Testing Corridor Act’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:00 Mar 31, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S902.IS S902 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •S 902 IS SEC. 2. DESIGNATION OF OVERLAND SUPERSONIC AND 1 HYPERSONIC TESTING CORRIDOR. 2 (a) DESIGNATION.— 3 (1) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding section 4 91.817 of title 14, Code of Federal Regulations, not 5 later than 180 days after the date of enactment of 6 this section, the Administrator of the Federal Avia- 7 tion Administration (in this section referred to as 8 the ‘‘Administrator’’), in consultation with the Sec- 9 retary of Defense, shall designate an overland super- 10 sonic and hypersonic testing corridor in the United 11 States that runs from Edwards Air Force Base, 12 California to the Utah Test and Training Range and 13 Dugway Proving Ground in Utah for the purposes 14 described in subsection (b). 15 (2) REQUIREMENTS.— 16 (A) MILITARY OPERATION AREAS.—In des- 17 ignating the corridor under paragraph (1), the 18 Administrator shall— 19 (i) to the extent practicable, designate 20 the corridor within existing military oper- 21 ation areas (in this section referred to as 22 ‘‘MOA’’) in the area described in such 23 paragraph; or 24 (ii) if necessary, designate new MOA 25 airspace to complete the corridor and en- 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:00 Mar 31, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S902.IS S902 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •S 902 IS sure that the corridor is suitable for test- 1 ing. 2 (B) INCREASED ALTITUDE.—The Adminis- 3 trator shall— 4 (i) set the vertical limits in the cor- 5 ridor designated under paragraph (1) at 6 FL 1000; and 7 (ii) increase, as necessary, the vertical 8 limit of any existing MOA in the corridor 9 to FL 1000. 10 (b) PURPOSES OF DESIGNATED CORRIDOR.—The 11 corridor designated under subsection (a)(1) shall be used 12 for the following purposes: 13 (1) To test supersonic and hypersonic military 14 passenger aircraft and military non-passenger air- 15 craft. 16 (2) To test supersonic and hypersonic civil air- 17 craft subject to subsection (e). 18 (c) TESTING REQUIREMENTS.—Any supersonic or 19 hypersonic aircraft testing in the corridor designated 20 under subsection (a)(1) shall meet the following require- 21 ments: 22 (1) The testing shall only occur from sunrise to 23 sunset. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:00 Mar 31, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S902.IS S902 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •S 902 IS (2) The testing shall not include any commer- 1 cial passengers or commercial cargo. 2 (d) SPECIAL FLIGHT AUTHORIZATION REQUIRE- 3 MENTS.—With respect to special flight authorizations 4 under section 91.818(c) of title 14, Code of Federal Regu- 5 lations, for civil aircraft testing as described in subsection 6 (b)(2), the Administrator shall do the following: 7 (1) PERMIT SONIC BOOM OVERPRESSURE.—In 8 considering the environmental findings to grant a 9 special flight authorization, the Administrator shall 10 permit a measurable amount of sonic boom over- 11 pressure outside of the corridor designated under 12 subsection (a)(1), as long as the available data is 13 sufficient for the Administrator to determine that 14 the sonic boom overpressure does not significantly 15 affect the quality of the human environment. 16 (2) NOISE IMPACT DATA.— 17 (A) IN GENERAL.—Subject to subpara- 18 graph (B), in considering the environmental 19 findings to grant a special flight authorization, 20 the Administrator shall not require any addi- 21 tional environmental impact analysis regarding 22 noise impact if— 23 (i) an applicant presents data gen- 24 erated from FAA-approved software; and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:00 Mar 31, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S902.IS S902 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •S 902 IS (ii) such data reasonably dem- 1 onstrates that there is no additional noise 2 impact due to the applicant’s testing of su- 3 personic or hypersonic civil aircraft. 4 (B) EXCEPTION.—The Administrator may 5 require an additional environmental impact 6 analysis regarding noise impact if the Adminis- 7 trator certifies that extraordinary circumstances 8 exist to justify such additional analysis. 9 (3) REUSE OF RESEARCH AND FINDINGS.—The 10 Administrator shall reuse any applicable research 11 and findings from a prior supersonic or hypersonic 12 civil aircraft test and incorporate such research and 13 findings into any applicable analysis necessary to 14 grant a special flight authorization if the prior su- 15 personic or hypersonic civil aircraft test— 16 (A) was under similar conditions to the 17 testing proposed by the applicant for the special 18 flight authorization; and 19 (B) considered similar issues or decisions 20 as the testing proposed by the applicant for the 21 special flight authorization. 22 (e) CIVIL TESTING.—The Secretary of Defense shall 23 allow civil aircraft testing as described in subsection 24 (b)(2), unless— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:00 Mar 31, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S902.IS S902 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 6 •S 902 IS (1) such testing would interfere with any mili- 1 tary operations or testing in the corridor; or 2 (2) the Administrator has not granted a special 3 flight authorization under section 91.818(c) of title 4 14, Code of Federal Regulations, for such testing. 5 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:00 Mar 31, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S902.IS S902 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS