Sec. 515. Improvement of certification processes
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The Administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration shall continually look for opportunities and methods to improve the processing of applications, consideration of applications, communication with applicants, and quality of feedback provided to applicants, for aircraft certification projects. Not later than 270 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the Administrator shall enter into an appropriate arrangement with a qualified third-party organization or consortium to identify and assess digital tools and software systems to allow for efficient and virtual evaluation of an applicant design, associated documentation, and software or systems engineering product, including in digital 3 dimensional formats or using model-based systems engineering design techniques for aircraft certification projects.
In identifying digital tools and software systems as described in subsection (b), the Administrator shall ensure that the qualified third-party organization or consortium entering into an arrangement under this section shall, throughout the review, consult with— the aircraft certification and flight standards offices or services of the Administration; and at least 3 industry members representing aircraft and aircraft part manufacturing interests. In identifying digital tools and software systems under subsection (b), the qualified third-party organization or consortium shall— consider the interoperability of such systems to the extent practicable; consider the scalability and usability of such systems for differing use-cases by aircraft manufacturers, aircraft operators, and the Administration, including cross-office use-cases within the Administration; consider such systems currently in use by United States manufacturers or other civil aviation authorities for certification and engineering purposes; consider the— available technology support for such systems; and ability for such systems to be updated and adapted over time to improve user interfaces, including providing additional functionalities and addressing gaps; consider the ability of digital tools and software systems to aid in the electronic review of software components of aircraft and aircraft systems; consider the ability of the Administration and aircraft designers to use digital tools and software systems for corrective actions and modifications in a more rapid fashion; determine if each system provides adequate protections for the exchange of information between governmental and nongovernmental entities, including— intellectual property protections; cyber and network security protections; and the ability for governmental and nongovernmental entities to control what is acceptable and what is restricted for other parties; evaluate the estimated ease of adoption and any impediments to adoption for personnel of the Federal Aviation Administration; and evaluate the ability for nongovernmental organizations of various sizes to adopt and utilize the digital and software systems identified under subsection
(b)to improve the aircraft certification application and coordination processes with the Administration. After reviewing digital and software systems under subsection (b), the qualified third-party organization or consortium shall provide an assessment to the Administrator as to— whether or not digital and software systems and tools would improve the coordination of the Administration with industry; whether or not such systems and tools would improve the ability of the Administration to validate and verify aircraft and software designs in non-paper formats; and the potential safety benefits or safety risks of using such systems and tools. In the event the qualified third-party organization or consortium finds that digital and software systems and tools would assist the work of the Administration and improve certification projects processing, the assessment described under subsection
(e)shall also include— a prioritization, expected costs, and timeline of acquisitions and training based on immediate and future needs and benefits; and suggest actions the Administration could take in order to institutionalize the use of such technologies at the headquarters and field offices of the Administration, and to protect information shared through such technologies, including recommended updates to orders issued by the Administration. Based on the assessment required in subsections
(e)and (f), if the qualified third-party organization finds that the use of digital software systems and tools would assist the work of the agency, the Administrator shall— provide the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the Senate with a briefing on the intended actions of the Administrator; not later than 60 days after receiving such assessment develop a plan to— work towards the acquisition of the systems and tools recommended, subject to the availability of appropriations; update any applicable orders and guidance to allow for the use of these new systems and tools by personnel of the Administration and nongovernmental entities applying to or coordinating with the Administration on certification related activities, at the discretion of the applicant or nongovernmental entity; on an ongoing basis review and modify orders and guidance to improve the use of these systems and tools as well as addressing any intellectual property vulnerabilities; and Not later than 30 months after receiving such assessment, the Administrator shall provide the committees described in paragraph
(1)with a briefing on the use, benefits, and any drawbacks of the systems and tools, including comparisons between certification programs using and not using digital and software systems and tools.