49 U.S.C. § 44701 — General requirements

(a) Promoting Safety.— The Administrator must promote safe civil aircraft flight by setting: (1) minimum safety standards for appliances, and for the design, materials, construction, quality of work, cybersecurity, and performance of aircraft, aircraft engines, and propellers; (2) rules and minimum safety standards for (A) inspecting, servicing, and overhauling aircraft, engines, propellers, and appliances; (B) the equipment, facilities, timing, and manner of doing that work; and (C) letting a qualified private person — instead of an FAA officer or employee — examine and report on that work; (3) rules needed for safety covering backup supplies of aircraft, engines, propellers, appliances, fuel, and oil, including reserves carried in flight; (4) rules on the maximum hours airmen and other air carrier employees may work; and (5) cybersecurity rules and minimum standards, plus other practices the Administrator finds necessary for safety in air commerce and for national security.

(b) Prescribing Minimum Safety Standards.— The Administrator may set minimum safety standards for (1) an air carrier certified under section 44705, and (2) operating an airport that serves passenger flights on aircraft built for at least 31 seats.

(c) Reducing and Eliminating Accidents.— The Administrator must run this chapter in the way that best cuts down or stops accidents in air transportation from happening again. The Administrator does not have to favor air transportation over other kinds of air commerce, or the other way around.

(d) Considerations and Classification of Regulations and Standards.— When writing a rule or standard under subsection (a), (b), or sections 44702 through 44716, the Administrator must (1) consider (A) an air carrier's duty to give the highest possible level of safety in the public interest, and (B) the differences between air transportation and other air commerce; and (2) sort the rule or standard to fit those differences.

(e) Bilateral Exchanges of Safety Oversight Responsibilities.— (1) In general.— Under Article 83 bis of the Convention on International Civil Aviation, and through a bilateral agreement with another country's aviation authorities, the Administrator may swap all or part of the two countries' safety functions and duties for registered aircraft, under three Convention articles: Article 12 (Rules of the Air), Article 31 (Certificates of Airworthiness), and Article 32a (Licenses of Personnel). (2) Relinquishment and acceptance of responsibility.— The Administrator gives up responsibility, as the agreement specifies, for U.S.-registered aircraft described in paragraph (4)(A) that are leased or operated abroad, and takes on responsibility for foreign-registered aircraft described in paragraph (4)(B) that are leased or operated in the United States. (3) Conditions.— The Administrator may attach any conditions to the agreement that the Administrator thinks are necessary and wise, except the Administrator cannot hand off responsibility for U.S.-registered aircraft in paragraph (4)(A) to a country the Administrator has found is not meeting its international legal duties for aviation safety oversight. (4) "Registered aircraft" defined.— In this subsection, "registered aircraft" means (A) a U.S.-registered aircraft leased, chartered, or interchanged (or under a similar arrangement) by an operator whose main place of business — or, if it has none, whose permanent home — is in another country; and (B) a foreign-registered aircraft leased, chartered, or interchanged (or under a similar arrangement) by an operator whose main place of business — or permanent home — is in the United States. (5) Foreign airworthiness directives.— (A) Acceptance.— Subject to (D), the Administrator may accept an airworthiness directive (as defined in 14 C.F.R. § 39.3) issued by a foreign country's aviation safety authority, and rely on that authority's process, if: (i) that country designed the product the directive covers; (ii) the U.S. has a bilateral safety agreement with the country on aircraft certification; (iii) as part of that agreement, the Administrator has found the foreign authority's certification system produces a safety level equal to the FAA's; (iv) the foreign authority uses an open, transparent notice-and-comment process to issue directives; and (v) the directive is needed for the aircraft to operate safely. (B) Alternative approval process.— Even so, the Administrator may issue an FAA airworthiness directive instead of accepting the foreign one, if the Administrator decides that is necessary for safety or operational reasons, due to how complex or unusual the FAA directive or the U.S. aviation system is. (C) Alternative means of compliance.— The Administrator may (i) accept an alternative way of complying with an accepted foreign directive that the foreign authority itself approved, or (ii) at the request of anyone affected by an accepted foreign directive, approve an alternative way to comply. (D) Limitation.— The Administrator cannot accept a foreign airworthiness directive that covers anything other than the safe operation of an aircraft.

(f) Exemptions.— The Administrator may excuse someone from a requirement set under subsection (a) or (b), or under sections 44702 through 44716, if the Administrator finds the exemption serves the public interest.

(g) Exclusive Rulemaking Authority.— Despite any other law, and except as section 40131 allows, the Administrator — working with the heads of other agencies as needed — has the sole authority to write rules that keep civil aircraft, engines, propellers, and appliances cybersecure.

(h) Policies, Orders, and Guidance.— (1) Consistency of application.— The Administrator must keep FAA policies, orders, and guidance applied consistently by (A) auditing how different FAA staff and offices apply and interpret this material; (B) updating policies, orders, and guidance to fix inconsistencies and clear up demonstrated confusion, such as when the same rule keeps getting interpreted differently; and (C) making sure officials properly document their findings and decisions throughout a project, to cut down on duplicated work and inconsistent findings by later officials on the same project. (2) Alterations.— Before changing the content or application of a policy, order, or guidance, the Administrator must consult, as appropriate, with the regulated businesses and people the change would affect. (3) Authorities and regulations.— The Administrator must issue policies, orders, and guidance documents that are tied to a law or regulation, or that clarify what a specific law or regulation means or requires.