Joint Center of Excellence for Advanced Materials and Safety Act

II 118TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 1796 To amend title 49, United States Code, to direct the Administrator of the Federal Aviation Authority to continue operation of the Advanced Mate- rials Center of Excellence, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES JUNE 1, 2023 Mr. MORAN (for himself and Ms. CANTWELL) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation A BILL To amend title 49, United States Code, to direct the Admin- istrator of the Federal Aviation Authority to continue operation of the Advanced Materials Center of Excel- lence, 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 ‘‘Joint Center of Excel- 4 lence for Advanced Materials and Safety Act’’. 5 SEC. 2. ADVANCED MATERIALS CENTER OF EXCELLENCE. 6 Section 44518 of title 49, United States Code, is 7 amended— 8 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:00 Jun 17, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1796.IS S1796 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •S 1796 IS (1) in subsection (a), by striking ‘‘March 1, 1 2016’’ and all that follows through the period and 2 inserting ‘‘on March 1, 2023, which shall focus on 3 applied research and training on the safe use of 4 composites and advanced materials in airframe 5 structures. The Center shall also conduct research 6 and development into aircraft structure crash wor- 7 thiness and passenger safety, as well as address safe 8 and accessible air travel of individuals with a dis- 9 ability (as defined in section 382.3 of title 14, Code 10 of Federal Regulations (or any successor regula- 11 tion)), including materials required to facilitate safe 12 wheelchair restraint systems on commercial aircraft. 13 The Administrator shall award grants to the Center 14 within 90 days from the date the Grants Officer rec- 15 ommends a proposal for award to the Adminis- 16 trator.’’; 17 (2) by striking subsection (b) and inserting the 18 following: 19 ‘‘(b) RESPONSIBILITIES.—The Center shall— 20 ‘‘(1) promote and facilitate collaboration among 21 member universities, academia, the Federal Aviation 22 Administration, the commercial aircraft industry, in- 23 cluding manufacturers, commercial air carriers, and 24 suppliers, and other appropriate stakeholders; 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:00 Jun 17, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1796.IS S1796 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •S 1796 IS ‘‘(2) establish goals set to advance technology, 1 improve engineering practices, and facilitate con- 2 tinuing education in relevant areas of study, which 3 should include all structural materials, such as car- 4 bon fiber polymers and thermoplastic composites, 5 and structural technologies, such as additive manu- 6 facturing, to be used in applications within the com- 7 mercial aircraft industry, including traditional fixed- 8 wing aircraft, rotorcraft, and emerging aircraft types 9 such as advanced air mobility aircraft; and 10 ‘‘(3) establish criteria for the safe movement of 11 all passengers, including individuals with a disability 12 (as defined in section 382.3 of title 14, Code of Fed- 13 eral Regulations (or any successor regulation)), and 14 individuals using their personal wheelchairs in flight, 15 that takes into account the modeling, engineering, 16 testing, operating, and training issues significant to 17 all passengers and relevant stakeholders.’’; and 18 (3) in subsection (c), by inserting ‘‘, and not 19 more than $20,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2024 20 through 2028,’’ after ‘‘2023’’. 21 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:00 Jun 17, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S1796.IS S1796 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS