Aviation WORKS Act

I 118TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 3772 To amend the FAA Reauthorization Act of 2018 to extend the aviation workforce development program and provide grants to develop aviation manufacturing and supplier workforce, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES MAY 31, 2023 Mr. LARSEN of Washington (for himself, Mrs. PELTOLA, and Mr. COHEN) in- troduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure A BILL To amend the FAA Reauthorization Act of 2018 to extend the aviation workforce development program 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 02:05 Jun 21, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3772.IH H3772 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 3772 IH 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 to develop and support the education of the 13 aviation manufacturing and supplier workforce; and 14 ‘‘(4) a program to provide grants for eligible 15 projects to plan, establish, and expand workforce de- 16 velopment partnership programs in the aviation and 17 aerospace industry sector.’’; 18 (2) in subsection (b) by amending paragraph 19 (1) to read as follows: 20 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Out of amounts made 21 available under section 48105 of title 49, United 22 States Code, for each of fiscal years 2024 through 23 2028— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:05 Jun 21, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3772.IH H3772 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 3772 IH ‘‘(A) not more than $20,000,000 is author- 1 ized to be expended to provide grants under the 2 program established under subsection (a)(1); 3 ‘‘(B) $20,000,000 is authorized to provide 4 grants under the program established under 5 subsection (a)(2); 6 ‘‘(C) $20,000,000 to provide grants under 7 the program established under subsection 8 (a)(3); and 9 ‘‘(D) $20,000,000 to provide grants under 10 the program established under subsection 11 (a)(4).’’; 12 (3) in subsection (c), by adding at the end the 13 following new paragraphs: 14 ‘‘(3) An application for a grant under the pro- 15 gram established under subsection (a)(3) shall be 16 submitted, in such form as the Secretary may speci- 17 fy, by— 18 ‘‘(A) an entity that— 19 ‘‘(i) actively designs or manufactures 20 any aircraft, aircraft engine, propeller, or 21 appliance, or a component, part, or system 22 thereof, covered under section 44704 of 23 title 49, United States Code; and 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:18 Jun 21, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3772.IH H3772 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 3772 IH ‘‘(ii) has significant operations in the 1 United States, and a majority of its em- 2 ployees engaged in aviation manufacturing 3 or development activities and services are 4 based in the United States; or 5 ‘‘(B) an accredited institution of higher 6 education (as defined in section 101 of the 7 Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 8 10001)), or a high school or a secondary school 9 (as such terms are defined in section 8101 of 10 the Elementary and Secondary Education Act 11 of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7801)) that has or is work- 12 ing to establish an aviation manufacturing pro- 13 gram. 14 ‘‘(4) An application for a grant under the pro- 15 gram established under subsection (a)(4) shall— 16 ‘‘(A) be submitted, in such form as the 17 Secretary may specify, by a partnership that— 18 ‘‘(i) is an industry or sector partner- 19 ship (as such term is defined in section 3 20 of the Workforce Innovation and Oppor- 21 tunity Act (29 U.S.C. 3102)), or is in the 22 process of establishing an industry or sec- 23 tor partnership; 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:05 Jun 21, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3772.IH H3772 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 3772 IH ‘‘(ii) includes an air carrier (as de- 1 fined in section 40102 of title 49, United 2 States Code), a flight school described in 3 paragraph (1)(C), a holder of a certificate 4 described in paragraph (2)(A), or an avia- 5 tion company described in paragraph 6 (3)(A); 7 ‘‘(iii) is comprised of multiple employ- 8 ers from the aviation and aerospace indus- 9 try; 10 ‘‘(iv) may include not more than 1 en- 11 tity that is a previous recipient of grant 12 funding from any program established 13 under paragraphs (1) through (3) of sub- 14 section (a), but such entity may not serve 15 as a fiscal agent (as described in subpara- 16 graph (B)); and 17 ‘‘(v) does not include an entity that is 18 a current recipient of grant funding from 19 any program established under paragraphs 20 (1) through (3) of subsection (a), unless 21 the application demonstrates that any 22 grant funding currently received by the en- 23 tity would expire or otherwise cease prior 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:05 Jun 21, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3772.IH H3772 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 3772 IH to the receipt of the grant funding under 1 paragraph (4) of subsection (a); 2 ‘‘(B) designate a partner from within the 3 partnership, or an intermediary which may be 4 a State or local workforce board or an accred- 5 ited institution of higher education (as such 6 term is defined in paragraph (1)(B)), to serve 7 as the fiscal agent for the grant; and 8 ‘‘(C) instruct the fiscal agent designated 9 under subparagraph (B) to, as appropriate— 10 ‘‘(i) receive funds; 11 ‘‘(ii) ensure sustained fiscal integrity 12 and accountability for expenditures of 13 funds in accordance with Federal Aviation 14 Administration regulations; 15 ‘‘(iii) respond to audit financial find- 16 ings; 17 ‘‘(iv) maintain proper accounting 18 records and documentation; and 19 ‘‘(v) prepare financial reports.’’; and 20 (4) in subsection (d)— 21 (A) in paragraph (2), in the matter pre- 22 ceding subparagraph (A), by striking ‘‘pilot’’; 23 and 24 (B) by adding at the end the following: 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:05 Jun 21, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3772.IH H3772 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 3772 IH ‘‘(3) For purposes of the program established 1 under subsection (a)(3), an eligible project is a 2 project— 3 ‘‘(A) to establish or support educational 4 programs that teach technical skills used in 5 aviation manufacturing, including the produc- 6 tion of components, parts, or systems thereof 7 for inclusion in an aircraft, aircraft engine, pro- 8 peller, or appliance; 9 ‘‘(B) to establish scholarships, internships, 10 or apprenticeships for individuals pursuing em- 11 ployment in the aviation manufacturing indus- 12 try; 13 ‘‘(C) to support outreach about careers in 14 the aviation manufacturing industry to— 15 ‘‘(i) primary, secondary, and post-sec- 16 ondary school students; 17 ‘‘(ii) to communities underrepresented 18 in the industry; or 19 ‘‘(iii) to students in economically dis- 20 advantaged geographic areas; 21 ‘‘(D) to support transition to careers in 22 aviation manufacturing, including for members 23 of the Armed Forces; or 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:05 Jun 21, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3772.IH H3772 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 8 •HR 3772 IH ‘‘(E) to otherwise enhance aviation manu- 1 facturing technical education or the aviation 2 manufacturing industry workforce. 3 ‘‘(4) For purposes of the program established 4 under subsection (a)(4), an eligible project is a 5 project— 6 ‘‘(A) to carry out planning and partner de- 7 velopment activities, which may include— 8 ‘‘(i) convening key stakeholders as 9 identified in the application process to es- 10 tablish or expand educational programs 11 that teach technical skills used in pilot 12 training, aviation maintenance, or aviation 13 manufacturing; 14 ‘‘(ii) conducting outreach to local 15 businesses and business associations, in- 16 cluding activities to increase marketing 17 and activity visibility within the commu- 18 nity; 19 ‘‘(iii) conducting an evaluation of 20 workforce needs in the local area; 21 ‘‘(iv) conducting survey and planning 22 activities for partnership-related infra- 23 structure needs; or 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:05 Jun 21, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3772.IH H3772 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 9 •HR 3772 IH ‘‘(v) recruiting veterans of military 1 service and individuals with barriers to em- 2 ployment; 3 ‘‘(B) to provide career services as de- 4 scribed in section 134(c)(2)(A) of the Work- 5 force Innovation and Opportunity Act (29 6 U.S.C. 3174(c)(2)(A)); 7 ‘‘(C) to provide training services as de- 8 scribed in section 134(c)(3)(D) of the Work- 9 force Innovation and Opportunity Act (29 10 U.S.C. 3174(c)(3)(D)); or 11 ‘‘(D) to provide services to support the 12 success and retention of individuals who are 13 participating in any training program estab- 14 lished under subsection (a)(4).’’. 15 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:05 Jun 21, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H3772.IH H3772 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS