ROTOR Act

This section would say that the Act may be called the Rotorcraft Operations Transparency and Oversight Reform Act, or the ROTOR Act.

This section would require the Administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration to issue or revise regulations, not later than 1 year after enactment, to clarify that the term 'sensitive government mission' in the exception at 14 CFR 91.225(f)(1) would not include a proficiency evaluation or training mission flown within the lateral boundaries of the surface area of Class B or Class C airspace, unless that operation is for a national security event. If the Administrator does not issue or revise those regulations, the Administrator would have to submit, within 30 days, a report to the Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee and the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee on the status of the regulations and the reasons they were not issued or revised. Separately, not later than 180 days after enactment, the Administrator would have to issue guidance clarifying that, to the extent practicable, aircraft operating for national defense, homeland security intelligence, or law enforcement purposes should use Traffic Information Services-Broadcast (TIS-B) and the Traffic Alert and Collision Avoidance System (TCAS). This section would also require each agency that must operate ADS-B Out in transmit mode under 14 CFR 91.225 to submit a report to the Administrator every quarter, not later than 90 days after enactment and continuing until the 10-year sunset described below, that includes an attestation that its operations are regularly transmitting ADS-B Out with proper consideration to aviation safety, and a summary of any operations where the ADS-B Out equipment was not in transmit mode, including the date, time, duration, and mission type. Not later than 180 days after enactment, and biannually after that until the same sunset date, the Administrator would have to report to the same two congressional committees on the frequency and nature of ADS-B Out exceptions granted to Federal, State, local, and tribal agencies under 91.225(f)(1), including aggregated data on when ADS-B Out equipment was not in transmit mode by each reporting agency and a determination of whether those operations jeopardize aviation safety. If the Administrator determines, at the Administrator's discretion, that an agency is using the 91.225(f)(1) exception too frequently, the Administrator would have to notify both committees of that determination within 14 days. The quarterly agency reports to the Administrator and the Administrator's reports and notifications to Congress described in this paragraph would end 10 years after enactment; the separate report on the status of regulations, required earlier in this section if the Administrator fails to issue or revise the regulations, is not subject to that 10-year end date.

This section would require the Administrator, not later than 2 years after enactment and subject to the exception in subsection (c), to issue a final rule, taking effect not later than 3 years after the rule is issued, requiring that newly manufactured manned aircraft (aircraft other than unmanned aircraft as defined in 49 U.S.C. 44801) registered in the United States be equipped with Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast In (ADS-B In). It would also require the Administrator, on the same timeline and subject to the same exception, to issue a final rule requiring that any aircraft other than unmanned aircraft that was manufactured as of enactment, and that is already required to have ADS-B Out when operating in the airspace described in 14 CFR 91.225(d), must also install and operate ADS-B In. In writing that second rule, the Administrator may allow affected aircraft up to an additional 2 years beyond the rule's effective date to comply; if the Administrator decides additional time is needed, the Administrator must notify Congress within 14 days of that decision, including the justification and the expected date of full compliance. For purposes of meeting that second requirement, the designated-airspace ADS-B In rule, the Administrator must also determine whether a non-Technical Standard Order receiver may be used for aircraft with a maximum certificated takeoff weight under 12,500 pounds. Both requirements (for newly manufactured aircraft and for aircraft in designated airspace) would not apply to any aircraft described in 14 CFR 91.225(e), including balloons and gliders that are not certified with an electrical system.

This section would require the Administrator, not later than 120 days after enactment, to start a study on the feasibility, costs, and benefits of creating a dynamic restricted area for rotorcraft and powered-lift aircraft (as defined in 14 CFR 1.1 as in effect on enactment) over the Potomac River to the north, south, and east of Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport (DCA). The final report on the study must be completed not later than 2 years after enactment and submitted to the Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee and the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee. In conducting the study, the Administrator must review, without being limited to: technology and equipment improvements needed to operate a dynamic restricted area inside the Flight Restricted Zone (FRZ) and near DCA; training needed for an automated visual warning system that functions like a traffic signal, similar to the system already used in the FRZ, to warn aircraft that the restricted airspace is active or inactive; ways to show the restricted area on paper and electronic aeronautical charts and other navigation materials; the feasibility of automated audio warnings, including a continuous tone on certain aviation VHF and UHF radio frequencies and VOR and TACAN frequencies, modulated in tone frequency and length similar to Instrument Landing System marker sounds, receivable by existing aviation radios and the FRZ's automated visual warning system; ways to reduce the risk of distracting pilots and air traffic controllers; procedures letting air traffic controllers override any automatic function of the system for manual control; creating a signal in the DCA control tower and the Potomac TRACON showing whether the restricted area is active or inactive; methods to anticipate fixed-wing aircraft taking off from DCA so rotorcraft and powered-lift aircraft get sufficient warning before the restricted area activates; and any other matters the Administrator considers appropriate. Not later than 30 days after the study is completed, the Administrator must brief the same two committees on its results. The section defines DCA as Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport; defines a dynamic restricted area as a restricted airspace, contemplated to cover the area over the Potomac River within 4 miles north, south, and east of DCA, meant to keep rotorcraft and powered-lift aircraft out, that turns on and off automatically by computer, based on the position, altitude, and speed of fixed-wing aircraft, without needing an air traffic controller to activate it; defines the FRZ as the Washington, DC Metropolitan Area Flight Restricted Zone under 14 CFR 93.335 as in effect on enactment; and defines TACAN, UHF, VHF, and VOR by reference to the Aeronautical Information Manual.

This section would require the Inspector General of the Army, not later than 60 days after enactment, to start an audit evaluating the Army's coordination with the Federal Aviation Administration, its pilot training and qualification standards, and its use of ADS-B Out, including whether that use follows Army policy, regulation, and law. The audit must assess: whether Army policy and federal law were followed, and how the Army coordinated with the FAA, during pilot training and qualification activities in the National Capital Region (NCR); the Army's policy on ADS-B Out equipage, use, and activation; maintenance protocols for UH-60 Black Hawk helicopters operated by the 12th Army Aviation Brigade, including but not limited to calibration of systems that transmit altitude and position information outside the aircraft and systems that send that information to pilots inside the aircraft; compliance with the September 29, 2021 Letter of Agreement between the Pentagon Heliport Air Traffic Control Tower and the Reagan Washington National Airport Air Traffic Control Tower on flight operations in the NCR; and the Army's review of loss-of-separation incidents involving its rotorcraft in the NCR, along with possible steps to prevent future incidents. Not later than 14 days after the audit is finished, the Secretary of the Army must send an unredacted report on the results to the Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee, the Senate Armed Services Committee, the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, and the House Armed Services Committee, and must also publicly release the report without redactions, except where redactions are needed for national security reasons.

This section would require the Administrator, not later than 30 days after enactment, to start a review of all currently charted helicopter routes where the flight paths of fixed-wing aircraft and rotorcraft (as defined in 14 CFR 1.1) may not have enough separation, as determined by the Administrator. Based on that review, the Administrator must evaluate and modify flight routes as needed to improve separation between fixed-wing aircraft and rotorcraft. Not later than 180 days after enactment, the Administrator must brief the Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee and the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee on the results of the review and on any route modifications made.