
From the U.S. Code Online via GPO Access
[wais.access.gpo.gov]
[Laws in effect as of January 23, 2000]
[Document affected by Public Law 106-181 Section 902(a)]
[Document affected by Public Law 106-181 Section 713(c)]
[CITE: 49USC44501]

 
                        TITLE 49--TRANSPORTATION
 
                     SUBTITLE VII--AVIATION PROGRAMS
 
                     PART A--AIR COMMERCE AND SAFETY
 
                           subpart iii--safety
 
            CHAPTER 445--FACILITIES, PERSONNEL, AND RESEARCH
 
Sec. 44501. Plans and policy

    (a) Long Range Plans and Policy Requirements.--The Administrator of 
the Federal Aviation Administration shall make long range plans and 
policy for the orderly development and use of the navigable airspace, 
and the orderly development and location of air navigation facilities, 
that will best meet the needs of, and serve the interests of, civil 
aeronautics and the national defense, except for needs of the armed 
forces that are peculiar to air warfare and primarily of military 
concern.
    (b) Airway Capital Investment Plan.--The Administrator of the 
Federal Aviation Administration shall review, revise, and publish a 
national airways system plan, known as the Airway Capital Investment 
Plan, before the beginning of each fiscal year. The plan shall set 
forth--
        (1) for a 10-year period, the research, engineering, and 
    development programs and the facilities and equipment that the 
    Administrator considers necessary for a system of airways, air 
    traffic services, and navigation aids that will--
            (A) meet the forecasted needs of civil aeronautics;
            (B) meet the requirements that the Secretary of Defense 
        establishes for the support of the national defense; and
            (C) provide the highest degree of safety in air commerce;

        (2) for the first and 2d years of the plan, detailed annual 
    estimates of--
            (A) the number, type, location, and cost of acquiring, 
        operating, and maintaining required facilities and services;
            (B) the cost of research, engineering, and development 
        required to improve safety, system capacity, and efficiency; and
            (C) personnel levels required for the activities described 
        in subclauses (A) and (B) of this clause;

        (3) for the 3d, 4th, and 5th years of the plan, estimates of the 
    total cost of each major program for the 3-year period, and 
    additional major research programs, acquisition of systems and 
    facilities, and changes in personnel levels that may be required to 
    meet long range objectives and that may have significant impact on 
    future funding requirements; and
        (4) a 10-year investment plan that considers long range 
    objectives that the Administrator considers necessary to--
            (A) ensure that safety is given the highest priority in 
        providing for a safe and efficient airway system; and
            (B) meet the current and projected growth of aviation and 
        the requirements of interstate commerce, the United States 
        Postal Service, and the national defense.

    (c) National Aviation Research Plan.--(1) The Administrator of the 
Federal Aviation Administration shall prepare and publish annually a 
national aviation research plan and submit the plan to the Committee on 
Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the Senate and the Committee on 
Science of the House of Representatives. The plan shall be submitted not 
later than the date of submission of the President's budget to Congress.
    (2)(A) The plan shall describe, for a 5-year period, the research, 
engineering, and development that the Administrator of the Federal 
Aviation Administration considers necessary--
        (i) to ensure the continued capacity, safety, and efficiency of 
    aviation in the United States, considering emerging technologies and 
    forecasted needs of civil aeronautics; and
        (ii) to provide the highest degree of safety in air travel.

    (B) The plan shall--
        (i) provide estimates by year of the schedule, cost, and work 
    force levels for each active and planned major research and 
    development project under sections 40119, 44504, 44505, 44507, 
    44509, 44511-44513, and 44912 of this title, including activities 
    carried out under cooperative agreements with other Federal 
    departments and agencies;
        (ii) specify the goals and the priorities for allocation of 
    resources among the major categories of research and development 
    activities, including the rationale for the priorities identified;
        (iii) identify the allocation of resources among long-term 
    research, near-term research, and development activities; and
        (iv) highlight the research and development activities that 
    address specific recommendations of the research advisory committee 
    established under section 44508 of this title, and document the 
    recommendations of the committee that are not accepted, specifying 
    the reasons for nonacceptance.

    (3) Subject to section 40119(b) of this title and regulations 
prescribed under section 40119(b), the Administrator of the Federal 
Aviation Administration shall submit to the committees named in 
paragraph (1) of this subsection an annual report on the accomplishments 
of the research completed during the prior fiscal year, including a 
description of the dissemination to the private sector of research 
results and a description of any new technologies developed. The report 
shall be submitted with the plan required under paragraph (1) and be 
organized to allow comparison with the plan in effect for the prior 
fiscal year.

(Pub. L. 103-272, Sec. 1(e), July 5, 1994, 108 Stat. 1173; Pub. L. 104-
264, title XI, Sec. 1105, Oct. 9, 1996, 110 Stat. 3279; Pub. L. 104-287, 
Sec. 5(74), Oct. 11, 1996, 110 Stat. 3396.)

                                          Historical and Revision Notes
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
---------------------------------
           Revised  Section                    Source (U.S. Code)              
 Source (Statutes at Large)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
---------------------------------
44501(a)..............................  49 App.:1353(a).                 Aug. 2
3, 1958, Pub. L. 85-726, Sec.
                                                                          312(a
), 72 Stat. 752.
                                        49 App.:1655(c)(1).              Oct. 1
5, 1966, Pub. L. 89-670, Sec.
                                                                          6(c)(
1), 80 Stat. 938; Jan. 12, 1983,
                                                                          Pub. 
L. 97-449, Sec.  7(b), 96 Stat.
                                                                          2444.
44501(b)..............................  49 App.:2203(b).                 Sept. 
3, 1982, Pub. L. 97-248, Sec.
                                                                          504(b
), 96 Stat. 675; Nov. 5, 1990,
                                                                          Pub. 
L. 101-508, Sec.  9105(a), 104
                                                                          Stat.
 1388-355; Oct. 31, 1992, Pub. L.
                                                                          102-5
81, Sec.  114, 106 Stat. 4881.
44501(c)..............................  49 App.:1353(d).                 Aug. 2
3, 1958, Pub. L. 85-726, 72 Stat.
                                                                          731, 
Sec.  312(d); added Nov. 3, 1988,
                                                                          Pub. 
L. 100-591, Sec.  4(a), 102 Stat.
                                                                          3011.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
---------------------------------

    In subsection (a), the word ``Administrator'' in section 312(a) of 
the Federal Aviation Act of 1958 (Public Law 85-726, 72 Stat. 752) is 
retained on authority of 49:106(g). The words ``air navigation 
facilities'' are substituted for ``landing areas, Federal airways, radar 
installations and all other aids and facilities for air navigation'' 
because of the definition of ``air navigation facility'' in section 
40102(a) of the revised title. The words ``the armed forces'' are 
substituted for ``military agencies'' because of 10:101.
    In subsection (b), before clause (1), the words ``the requirements 
of'' are omitted as surplus. The text of 49 App.:2203(b) (1st sentence) 
is omitted as executed. The words ``thereafter'' and ``For fiscal year 
1991 and thereafter'' are omitted as obsolete. In clauses (2)(C) and 
(3), the word ``personnel'' is substituted for ``manpower'' for 
consistency in the revised title. In clause (2)(C), the word ``all'' is 
omitted as surplus.
    In subsection (c), before clause (1), the word ``completed'' is 
omitted as surplus.
    In subsection (d)(1), the words ``review, revise'' are omitted as 
surplus. The word ``annually'' is substituted for ``for fiscal year 
1990, and for each fiscal year thereafter'' to eliminate obsolete 
language.
    In subsection (d)(2)(B), before clause (i), the words ``an 
appropriation'' are substituted for ``funding'', and in clause (ii), the 
word ``appropriations'' is substituted for ``funding'', for clarity and 
consistency in the revised title and with other titles of the United 
States Code.
    In subsection (d)(3), the words ``beginning with the date of 
transmission of the first aviation research plan as required by 
paragraph (1)'' are omitted as obsolete.


                               Amendments

    1996--Subsec. (c)(1). Pub. L. 104-287 substituted ``Committee on 
Science'' for ``Committee on Science, Space, and Technology''.
    Subsec. (c)(2)(A). Pub. L. 104-264, Sec. 1105(1), substituted ``5-
year period'' for ``15-year period''.
    Subsec. (c)(2)(B). Pub. L. 104-264, Sec. 1105(2), amended subpar. 
(B) generally. Prior to amendment, subpar. (B) set out the requirements 
for research plans including specific requirements for the first two 
years of the plan, for the 3rd, 4th, and 5th years, and for the 6th and 
subsequent years.
    Subsec. (c)(3). Pub. L. 104-264, Sec. 1105(3), inserted ``, 
including a description of the dissemination to the private sector of 
research results and a description of any new technologies developed'' 
after ``during the prior fiscal year''.


                    Effective Date of 1996 Amendment

    Except as otherwise specifically provided, amendment by Pub. L. 104-
264 applicable only to fiscal years beginning after Sept. 30, 1996, and 
not to be construed as affecting funds made available for a fiscal year 
ending before Oct. 1, 1996, see section 3 of Pub. L. 104-264, set out as 
a note under section 106 of this title.

                  Section Referred to in Other Sections

    This section is referred to in sections 106, 40119, 44938, 48101 of 
this title.
