Sec. 1633. Aviation industry assistance for cleaner and quieter skies voucher program
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The Secretary shall establish and carry out a program, to be known as the Aviation Industry Assistance for Cleaner and Quieter Skies Voucher Program , under which the Secretary shall issue electronic vouchers to air carriers, subject to the specifications set forth in subsection (d), to offset the purchase or cost of a lease of eligible new aircraft in exchange for commitments from such air carriers to decommission certain currently used aircraft and sell such aircraft for recycling of parts or disposal.
To be eligible for the program established under subsection (a), an air carrier shall submit to the Secretary an application at such time, in such manner, and containing such information as the Secretary may require, including a description of a currently used aircraft of the air carrier. In carrying out the program established under subsection (a), the Secretary, in consultation with the Administrator, shall prepare, maintain, publicize, and make available through a publicly available website, lists of— applicable currently used aircraft; eligible aircraft for purchase or lease; and registered aircraft recycling firms eligible to purchase currently used aircraft under this section.
In carrying out the program established under subsection (a), the Secretary shall issue such regulations as are necessary to establish requirements for an air carrier to purchase or lease an eligible aircraft described in subsection (a), including a timing requirement for the purchase of such, and decommissioning and selling of applicable currently used aircraft of the air carrier for recycling of parts or disposal, except as provided in subsection (f)(2). The Secretary may determine the value of each voucher, not to exceed $10,000,000, based on the difference in emissions between the currently used aircraft being decommissioned and sold and the eligible aircraft being purchased or leased.
In determining the value of each voucher, the Secretary shall also consider if such eligible aircraft also include noise reduction, including whether such aircraft meet Stage 5 standards. In addition, the Secretary shall consider seat capacity and typical stage length of both the currently used aircraft being decommissioned and sold and the eligible aircraft being purchased or leased in determining the value of the voucher. Not later than 180 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall issue such regulations as are necessary to carry out this section, including a requirement that a voucher may be used only to pay a new aircraft order, not an order placed (even if not not filled) before the date of enactment of this Act.
The Secretary shall register aircraft recycling firms eligible to purchase currently used aircraft under this section and establish requirements and procedures for the recycling of parts or disposal of such aircraft to ensure that such aircraft are taken out of service and not used to develop other aircraft with higher greenhouse gas emissions. Notwithstanding paragraph (1), in the case of an emergency declared by the Secretary or a national emergency declared by the President, the Secretary may temporarily waive the provisions of such paragraph that prevent the use of aircraft taken out of service pursuant to this section for the purposes of responding to such emergency or national emergency.
There is authorized to carry out the program established under this section $1,000,000,000 and such sums shall remain available until expended. In this section the following definitions apply: The term Administrator means the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency. The term air carrier has the meaning given such term in section 40102 of title 49, United States Code. The term currently used aircraft means— aircraft in the bottom 25 percent of the air carrier’s aircraft fleet in terms of fuel efficiency per seat; and aircraft that have been in service for at least 1,500 hours in the previous calendar year.
The term eligible aircraft means aircraft that must be new and considered by the Secretary highly fuel-efficient with some consideration given to their noise impact. The term Secretary means the Secretary of Transportation.