GAMA praised the U.S. House Appropriations Committee’s “continued strong support” for reform of the Part 23 aircraft certification process and the transition away from leaded avgas. “We are especially pleased by the committee’s emphasis on improving the certification process at the FAA,” said GAMA president and CEO Pete Bunce.

“The committee would require the FAA to report on its progress to Congress in implementing Section 312 (aircraft certification process review and reform) of the FAA Modernization and Reform Act of 2012 and also in bolstering the workforce and training programs for FAA certification inspectors, engineers and specialists. The committee also urges continued progress on the Small Airplane Revitalization Act rulemaking,” he added. “GAMA applauds these committee initiatives and believes they will play a key role in making the certification process more efficient and effective in bringing new technologies and products to market and improving aviation safety.”

Further, the committee voted to fund the transition from the current 100LL fuel to an unleaded avgas at $6 million, which is $300,000 more than President Obama’s request. This funding would allow the avgas transition to move from research effort to an evaluation of viable alternative fuels and eventual deployment of an unleaded avgas, GAMA said.