Foreign Civil Aviation Authority Assistance Act of 2020

II 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION S. 3959 To amend title 49, United States Code, to provide assistance for foreign civil aviation authorities, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES JUNE 15, 2020 Ms. CANTWELL (for herself, Mr. MORAN, Ms. KLOBUCHAR, and Mrs. CAPITO) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations A BILL To amend title 49, United States Code, to provide assistance for foreign civil aviation authorities, 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 ‘‘Foreign Civil Aviation 4 Authority Assistance Act of 2020’’. 5 SEC. 2. INTERNATIONAL AVIATION SAFETY. 6 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 40104(b) of title 49, 7 United States Code, is amended— 8 (1) by striking ‘‘The Administrator shall’’ and 9 inserting the following: 10 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:13 Jun 27, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3959.IS S3959 ctelli on DSK30NT082PROD with BILLS 2 •S 3959 IS ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator shall’’; 1 and 2 (2) by adding at the end the following: 3 ‘‘(2) BILATERAL AND MULTILATERAL ENGAGE- 4 MENT; TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE.—The Administrator 5 shall— 6 ‘‘(A) engage bilaterally and multilaterally, 7 including with the International Civil Aviation 8 Organization, on an ongoing basis to bolster 9 international collaboration, data sharing, and 10 harmonization of international aviation safety 11 requirements including through— 12 ‘‘(i) sharing of continued operational 13 safety information; 14 ‘‘(ii) prioritization of pilot training de- 15 ficiencies, including manual flying skills 16 and flight crew training, to discourage over 17 reliance on automation, further bolstering 18 the components of airmanship; and 19 ‘‘(iii) prioritizing any other flight crew 20 training areas that the Administrator be- 21 lieves will enhance all international avia- 22 tion safety; and 23 ‘‘(B) seek to expand technical assistance 24 provided by the Federal Aviation Administra- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:13 Jun 27, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3959.IS S3959 ctelli on DSK30NT082PROD with BILLS 3 •S 3959 IS tion in support of enhancing international avia- 1 tion safety, including by— 2 ‘‘(i) promoting and enhancing effec- 3 tive oversight systems, including oper- 4 ational safety enhancements identified 5 through data collection and analysis; 6 ‘‘(ii) attaining, maintaining, and en- 7 hancing adherence to international safety 8 standards by counterpart civil aviation au- 9 thorities; 10 ‘‘(iii) minimizing cybersecurity threats 11 and vulnerabilities across the aviation eco- 12 system; 13 ‘‘(iv) supporting the sharing of safety 14 information, best practices, risk assess- 15 ments, and mitigations through established 16 international aviation safety groups; and 17 ‘‘(v) providing technical assistance on 18 any other aspect of aviation safety that the 19 Administrator determines is likely to en- 20 hance international aviation safety.’’. 21 (b) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—there 22 are authorized to be appropriated such sums as may be 23 necessary to carry out the amendments made by this sec- 24 tion. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:13 Jun 27, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3959.IS S3959 ctelli on DSK30NT082PROD with BILLS 4 •S 3959 IS SEC. 3. ASSISTANCE TO FOREIGN AVIATION AUTHORITIES. 1 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 40113(e)(1) of title 49, 2 United States Code, is amended by inserting ‘‘The Admin- 3 istrator also may provide technical assistance related to 4 all aviation safety-related training and operational services 5 in connection with bilateral and multilateral agreements, 6 including further bolstering the components of airman- 7 ship.’’ after the first sentence. 8 (b) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—Section 9 40113(e) of title 49, United States Code, is amended by 10 adding at the end the following: 11 ‘‘(5) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 12 There are authorized to be appropriated to the Ad- 13 ministrator, $10,000,000 for each of fiscal years 14 2021 through 2026 to carry out this subsection. 15 Amounts appropriated under the preceding sentence 16 for any fiscal year shall remain available until ex- 17 pended.’’. 18 SEC. 4. SUPPORT FOR IMPLEMENTATION OF IMPROVE- 19 MENTS TO INTERNATIONAL PILOT TRAINING 20 TO ADDRESS FLIGHT DECK AUTOMATION 21 AND HUMAN FACTORS. 22 (a) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 23 are authorized to be appropriated to the International Or- 24 ganizations and Programs (IO&P) account of the Depart- 25 ment of State, $2,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2021 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:13 Jun 27, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3959.IS S3959 ctelli on DSK30NT082PROD with BILLS 5 •S 3959 IS through 2026, to remain available until expended. 1 Amounts appropriated under the authority of the pre- 2 ceding sentence should be used for expenditures attrib- 3 utable to supporting implementation of recommendations 4 included in the working paper titled, ‘‘Pilot Training Im- 5 provements to Address Automation Dependency’’ offered 6 by the United States at the 40th Assembly of the Inter- 7 national Civil Aviation Organization and related to 8 human-machine interface. 9 (b) SENSE OF CONGRESS REGARDING INTER- 10 NATIONAL PILOT TRAINING STANDARDS.— 11 (1) FINDINGS.—Congress makes the following 12 findings: 13 (A) Increased reliance on automation in 14 commercial aviation risks a degradation of pilot 15 skills in flight path management using manual 16 flight control. 17 (B) Manual flight skills are essential for 18 pilot confidence and competence. 19 (C) During the 40th Assembly of the 20 International Civil Aviation Organization, the 21 United States, Canada, Peru, and Trinidad and 22 Tobago presented a working paper titled, ‘‘Pilot 23 Training Improvements to Address Automation 24 Dependency’’. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:13 Jun 27, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3959.IS S3959 ctelli on DSK30NT082PROD with BILLS 6 •S 3959 IS (D) The working paper outlines rec- 1 ommendations for the Assembly to mitigate the 2 consequences of automation dependency, includ- 3 ing identifying competency requirements for 4 flight path management using manual flight 5 control and assessing the need for new or 6 amended international standards or guidance. 7 (2) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of 8 Congress that, as soon as practicable— 9 (A) the recommendations included in the 10 working paper titled, ‘‘Pilot Training Improve- 11 ments to Address Automation Dependency’’ of- 12 fered by the United States at the 40th Assem- 13 bly of the International Civil Aviation Organiza- 14 tion should be carried out by the Assembly; and 15 (B) the United States should work with 16 the International Civil Aviation Organization 17 and other international aviation safety groups, 18 further bolstering the components of airman- 19 ship. 20 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:13 Jun 27, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S3959.IS S3959 ctelli on DSK30NT082PROD with BILLS