CHIPS for America includes Don Beyer’s Cleaner, Quieter Airplanes Act

The Creating Helpful Incentives to Produce Semiconductors for America Act signed into law by President Joe Biden last week contains the first NASA authorization passed by Congress in five years.

Title VII of the science division of the CHIPS for America Act includes text of U.S. Rep. Don Beyer’s Cleaner, Quieter Airplanes Act. Chair of the House Science Committee’s Subcommittee on Space and Aeronautics, according to a press release, Beyer introduced the Cleaner, Quieter Airplanes Act “to bolster NASA’s efforts to create the next generation of climate-friendly aviation while also reducing the impact of airplane noise in airport-adjacent communities.”

“Climate change and aircraft noise have always been two of the most consistent constituent concerns in my district,” Beyer said in the press release. “As the climate crisis continues to harm American communities, ensuring we are also tackling aviation emissions is vital. This piece of legislation does just that by making the necessary investments to develop the technology to make cleaner flight a reality in addition to driving innovation that would reduce aircraft noise pollution.”

The legislation creates a goal for cleaner, quieter airplanes, and accelerates NASA’s aeronautics work on reducing greenhouse gas and noise emissions. The bill will establish the ambitious goal of commercial airplanes emitting 50 percent less greenhouse gas compared to the highest performing aircraft in 2021 as well as being net-zero by 2050, and challenge NASA to work with industry partners to carry out flight tests by 2025 that will enable industry to bring a new generation of more sustainable airplanes into service between 2030 and 2040.

Cleaner, Quieter Airplanes Act will authorize NASA to accelerate its work on electrified propulsion systems and the integration of multiple technologies and airframe concepts to achieve noise and emissions reductions. The legislation will also require NASA to provide data and insight on new technologies to help the Federal Aviation Administration’s work to ensure the safe and effective deployment of these technologies.

Beyer is co-Chair of the Congressional Safe Climate Caucus and an active member of the Quiet Skies Caucus working to reduce aircraft noise in Northern Virginia.