Extensive Support by Both Sides of The Aisle Gets President To Sign Bill
Call it a victory... though it may wind up being a small one.
Legislation designed to reduce the cost and complexity of doing business in the general aviation world is now law... but it will take some time to determine if the mammoth American bureaucracies involved in this business manage to screw that up, too.
The legislation-which was introduced in May in the U.S. House of Representatives by Congressman Mike Pompeo (R-KS), Sam Graves (R-MO), Dan Lipinski (D-IL), Rick Nolan (D-MN), and Todd Rokita (R-IN), and in the U.S. Senate by Senators Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) and Lisa Murkowski (R-AK)-requires the FAA to implement the recommendations of the FAA's Part 23 Reorganization Aviation Rulemaking Committee (ARC) by December 31, 2015. Recommendations are focused on increasing safety and reducing government and industry certification costs for light general aviation (GA) airplanes. The legislation unanimously passed the Senate in October and the House in November.
"We applaud President Obama for making the Small Airplane Revitalization Act the law of the land today," GAMA President and CEO Pete Bunce said. "The tremendous support this law enjoyed in Congress, and the speed with which it moved through the legislative process, demonstrates a bipartisan commitment to safety, as well as a recognition that the FAA's overly bureaucratic, outdated, and prescriptive regulations must change. We appreciate the widespread support among members of Congress for this landmark legislation, and want to especially thank the bill's lead sponsors, Congressman Pompeo and Senator Klobuchar, for their leadership and commitment in ensuring this bill reached the President's desk. This law is a win for the government as well as general aviation airframers and suppliers, but more importantly, for the general aviation pilots and passengers who will be able to benefit more rapidly from new safety-enhancing technologies."
Congressman Pompeo, the author of the Small Airplane Revitalization Act, cheered the bill's final passage following President Obama's signature and noted that, "This is an enormous achievement for South-Central Kansas and for general aviation across the nation. By reforming and modernizing these regulations, this law unleashes small airplane manufacturers to do what they do best: Build planes and get them in the air. This law creates jobs and helps Kansas families, makes planes safer, and lowers costs, all without resorting to a bailout."
NBAA President and CEO Ed Bolen said that, "Streamlining the certification process for general aviation manufacturers, while preserving important safety requirements, will lead to swifter adoption of new aircraft designs and vital safety equipment, benefiting everyone from pilots and their passengers to manufacturers."
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