Volunteer Pilot Support Act

II 118TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 1996 To require the Administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration to allow a volunteer pilot organization to reimburse a volunteer pilot for certain aircraft operating expenses incurred by the pilot when making a flight in support of the volunteer pilot organization’s mission, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES JUNE 14, 2023 Mr. BUDD (for himself and Mr. MANCHIN) 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 allow a volunteer pilot organization to reim- burse a volunteer pilot for certain aircraft operating ex- penses incurred by the pilot when making a flight in support of the volunteer pilot organization’s mission, 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 ‘‘Volunteer Pilot Sup- 4 port Act’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:38 Jul 07, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1996.IS S1996 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •S 1996 IS SEC. 2. REIMBURSEMENT OF CERTAIN OPERATIONAL 1 COSTS FOR CHARITABLE FLIGHTS. 2 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days after the 3 date of enactment of this Act, the Administrator shall 4 issue or revise regulations as necessary to allow a volun- 5 teer pilot to accept reimbursement for a covered oper- 6 ational cost if— 7 (1) such pilot operates a covered flight; and 8 (2) such pilot or volunteer pilot organization 9 notifies each passenger that the flight is for chari- 10 table purposes and is not subject to the same safety 11 requirements as a flight operated by an air carrier 12 or a commercial operator certified by the Adminis- 13 trator. 14 (b) ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS.— 15 (1) VOLUNTEER PILOT ORGANIZATION.—A vol- 16 unteer pilot organization may impose eligibility re- 17 quirements that exceed the applicable eligibility re- 18 quirements described in under subsection (f)(6)(B) 19 and the general operating rules in part 91 of title 20 14, Code of Federal Regulations, without being con- 21 sidered an air carrier, a commercial operator, or 22 common carrier. 23 (2) REQUIREMENTS FOR REGULATIONS.—In 24 issuing or revising regulations under subsection (a), 25 the Administrator— 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:38 Jul 07, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1996.IS S1996 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •S 1996 IS (A) shall create an exception for a volun- 1 teer pilot organization that arranges a covered 2 flight and a volunteer pilot who receives a cov- 3 ered operational cost for a covered flight 4 from— 5 (i) the certificate requirements under 6 parts 119 and 125 of title 14, Code of 7 Federal Regulations; and 8 (ii) the operating requirements under 9 parts 121, 125, and 135 of title 14, Code 10 of Federal Regulations; and 11 (B) may not impose on a volunteer pilot or 12 volunteer pilot organization any operating re- 13 quirements, aircraft qualifications, or pilot 14 qualifications to conduct a covered flight that 15 are in addition to the requirements under this 16 section and the requirements under the general 17 operating rules in part 91 of title 14, Code of 18 Federal Regulations. 19 (c) EFFECT ON EXISTING REGULATIONS.—For the 20 purposes of this section: 21 (1) A volunteer pilot receiving a covered oper- 22 ational cost for a covered flight— 23 (A) does not constitute common carriage 24 (as such term is used in title 49, United States 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:38 Jul 07, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1996.IS S1996 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •S 1996 IS Code, and title 14, Code of Federal Regula- 1 tions); and 2 (B) does not constitute a flight operation 3 for compensation or hire (as such term is used 4 in title 49, United States Code, and title 14, 5 Code of Federal Regulations). 6 (2) A covered operational cost is not compensa- 7 tion (as such term is used in title 49, United States 8 Code, and title 14, Code of Federal Regulations). 9 (d) PROHIBITION ON FAA ENFORCEMENT AC- 10 TIONS.—Beginning on the date that is 1 year after the 11 date of enactment of this Act, the Administrator may not 12 take an enforcement action against a volunteer pilot or 13 a volunteer pilot organization if such pilot meets, through 14 a good faith effort, the applicable eligibility requirements 15 described in subsections (a)(2) and (f)(6)(B), unless the 16 Administrator has published final regulations in the Fed- 17 eral Register as required by subsection (a). 18 (e) EFFECT ON OTHER FAA AUTHORITY.— 19 (1) EFFECT ON EXISTING EXEMPTION AUTHOR- 20 ITY.—Except as provided in paragraph (2), nothing 21 in this section shall— 22 (A) affect the authority of the Adminis- 23 trator to exempt a pilot (exercising the privilege 24 of a private pilot certificate issued under part 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:38 Jul 07, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1996.IS S1996 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •S 1996 IS 61 of title 14, Code of Federal Regulations) 1 from a restriction on receiving reimbursement; 2 or 3 (B) affect any such exemptions existing be- 4 fore the date of enactment of this Act. 5 (2) NO CHANGES TO EXISTING FAA EXEMP- 6 TIONS; EXCEPTION.— 7 (A) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in 8 subparagraph (C), the Administrator may not 9 modify or revoke a covered exemption during 10 the period described in subparagraph (D) with- 11 out the consent of the person holding the cov- 12 ered exemption. 13 (B) EXPIRATION DATE.—The expiration 14 date of a covered exemption shall be extended 15 through the date that is 30 days after the end 16 of the period described in subparagraph (D). 17 (C) EXCEPTION.—The Administrator may 18 modify or revoke a covered exemption after the 19 Administrator brings an administrative or legal 20 enforcement action against a person operating a 21 flight under such exemption for— 22 (i) violating the terms of such exemp- 23 tion; or 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:38 Jul 07, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1996.IS S1996 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 6 •S 1996 IS (ii) in the course of a flight operating 1 under such exemption, violating any other 2 law or regulation. 3 (D) PERIOD DESCRIBED.—The period de- 4 scribed in this subparagraph is the period be- 5 ginning on the date of enactment of this Act 6 and ending on the date the Administrator pub- 7 lishes final regulations in the Federal Register 8 as required by subsection (a). 9 (E) COVERED EXEMPTION DEFINED.—In 10 this paragraph, the term ‘‘covered exemption’’ 11 means an exemption issued before the date of 12 enactment of this Act by the Administrator to 13 a volunteer pilot organization that provides an 14 exemption from the applicability of section 15 61.113(c) of title 14, Code of Federal Regula- 16 tions, and expressly includes an exemption de- 17 scribed on page 12233 of volume 78 of the Fed- 18 eral Register and published on February 22, 19 2013. 20 (3) EFFECT ON OTHER VOLUNTEER 21 FLIGHTS.—Nothing in this section shall impose or 22 authorize the imposition of any additional require- 23 ments on a flight that is arranged by a volunteer 24 pilot organization in which the pilot in command is 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:38 Jul 07, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1996.IS S1996 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 7 •S 1996 IS not reimbursed or the pilot in command pays a pro 1 rata share of expenses as described under section 2 61.113(c) of title 14, Code of Federal Regulations. 3 (f) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 4 (1) ADMINISTRATOR.—The term ‘‘Adminis- 5 trator’’ means the Administrator of the Federal 6 Aviation Administration. 7 (2) AIR CARRIER; AIRCRAFT; AIRPORT.—The 8 terms ‘‘air carrier’’, ‘‘aircraft’’, and ‘‘airport’’ have 9 the meanings given those terms in section 40102 of 10 title 49, United States Code. 11 (3) COMMERCIAL OPERATOR.—The term ‘‘com- 12 mercial operator’’ has the meaning given such term 13 in section 1.1 of title 14, Code of Federal Regula- 14 tions. 15 (4) COVERED FLIGHT.—The term ‘‘covered 16 flight’’— 17 (A) means a flight that is operated by a 18 volunteer pilot in any airworthy aircraft in sup- 19 port of the mission of a volunteer pilot organi- 20 zation; and 21 (B) includes any flight or flight segment 22 that is between the airport in which the aircraft 23 for the covered flight is based and the airport 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:38 Jul 07, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1996.IS S1996 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 8 •S 1996 IS the passengers of a flight described in subpara- 1 graph (A) board or disembark. 2 (5) COVERED OPERATIONAL COST.—The term 3 ‘‘covered operational cost’’ means the following: 4 (A) A cost that is actually incurred in con- 5 nection with a covered flight, including the fol- 6 lowing: 7 (i) In the case of a volunteer pilot who 8 rents the aircraft used for a covered flight, 9 the cost of rental fees and other operating 10 expenses not included in the rental fees 11 that are incurred by such pilot for a cov- 12 ered flight, except that such costs may not 13 unreasonably exceed the cost of owning 14 and operating the aircraft, which includes 15 maintenance costs, storage fees, airport ex- 16 penditures, and, for an owner that is in the 17 business of renting aircraft, the cost of 18 doing business and making a reasonable 19 profit. 20 (ii) In the case of a volunteer pilot 21 who does not rent the aircraft used for a 22 covered flight, the cost of fuel, oil, and air- 23 port expenditures incurred by such pilot 24 for a covered flight. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:38 Jul 07, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1996.IS S1996 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 9 •S 1996 IS (iii) Meals, lodging, and related ex- 1 penses. 2 (B) Any nonmonetary benefit that may be 3 considered compensation (as such term is used 4 in title 49, United States Code, and title 14, 5 Code of Federal Regulations), including logged 6 flight hours, goodwill, any applicable tax deduc- 7 tion permitted under the Internal Revenue Code 8 of 1986, and any other indirect economic ben- 9 efit. 10 (6) VOLUNTEER PILOT.— 11 (A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘‘volunteer 12 pilot’’ means a person who— 13 (i) acts as pilot in command of a cov- 14 ered flight; and 15 (ii) meets each applicable eligibility 16 requirement described in subparagraph 17 (B). 18 (B) ELIGIBILITY REQUIREMENTS DE- 19 SCRIBED.—The applicable eligibility require- 20 ments described in this subparagraph are the 21 following: 22 (i) The volunteer pilot holds at least a 23 private pilot certificate with appropriate 24 category, class, and type rating (if a type 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:38 Jul 07, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1996.IS S1996 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 10 •S 1996 IS rating is applicable) issued under part 61 1 of title 14, Code of Federal Regulations. 2 (ii) The volunteer pilot holds an in- 3 strument rating or airline transport pilot 4 certificate for the category of aircraft used 5 for a covered flight issued under such part 6 61. 7 (iii) The volunteer pilot logged at least 8 500 hours as pilot in command in the cat- 9 egory of aircraft used for a covered flight. 10 (iv) The volunteer pilot— 11 (I) holds a valid medical certifi- 12 cate issued under part 67 of title 14, 13 Code of Federal Regulations; or 14 (II) complies with the require- 15 ments of section 61.113(i) of title 14, 16 Code of Federal Regulations. 17 (7) VOLUNTEER PILOT ORGANIZATION.—The 18 term ‘‘volunteer pilot organization’’ means an orga- 19 nization that— 20 (A) is described in section 501(c)(3) of the 21 Internal Revenue Code of 1986 (26 U.S.C. 22 501(c)(3)) and is exempt from taxation under 23 section 501(a) of such Code; and 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:38 Jul 07, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1996.IS S1996 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 11 •S 1996 IS (B) arranges or coordinates flights by vol- 1 unteer pilots for purposes described in such sec- 2 tion 501(c)(3). 3 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:38 Jul 07, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S1996.IS S1996 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS