49 U.S.C. § 40104 — Promotion of civil aeronautics and safety of air commerce

(a) Developing Civil Aeronautics and Safety of Air Commerce. The FAA Administrator must encourage the growth of civil aviation and the safety of air commerce, both inside and outside the U.S. (b) Airport Capacity Enhancement Projects at Congested Airports. To carry out (a), the Administrator must act to encourage building airport capacity projects at "congested airports" (as defined in section 47175). (c) Educational and Professional Development. (1) In general: To carry out (a), the Administrator must support education and professional growth for current and future aerospace workers. (2) Educational materials: Based on available resources, the Administrator must (A) create and distribute civil aviation information and educational materials, and (B) share expertise with state and local school officials, college and university officials, and other interested organizations. (3) Content: These materials, including presentations, must cover broadly relevant topics, including (A) ethical decision-making and aerospace professionals' responsibilities; (B) managing a workforce, encouraging employees to report safety concerns, and teaching them about safety management systems; and (C) responsibilities of people who act as a designee or representative of the Administrator. (d) International Role and Assistance of the FAA. (1) In general: To carry out (a), the Administrator must work to improve global aviation safety, efficiency, and environmental impact by leading alongside foreign counterparts, through the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) and other international bodies, and with the private sector. (2) International presence: The Administrator must keep an international presence to: (A) help foreign aviation authorities by (i) building strong oversight practices and policies, (ii) aligning international standards for air traffic management and for certifying operators, aircraft, airports, and individuals, (iii) accepting and validating foreign aircraft design and production approvals, (iv) preparing for new aviation technology, including powered-lift aircraft, and (v) properly adopting continuing-airworthiness information like airworthiness directives; (B) encourage other countries to adopt U.S. standards, rules, and policies; (C) create, maintain, and update bilateral or multilateral aviation safety agreements and the safety information in them; (D) take part in the bilateral and multilateral talks required under paragraph (5) and give technical help as described in paragraph (6); (E) validate foreign aviation products and make sure U.S.-designed or -made products get validated abroad in return; (F) support accident and incident investigations, especially those involving U.S. people or certified products, and those the National Transportation Safety Board is helping with under ICAO's rules; (G) support the U.S. aviation sector's international safety work; (H) maintain good relationships with everyone who has a stake in aviation — foreign aviation authorities, other government bodies, nongovernmental groups, and foreign manufacturers; and (I) do anything else the Administrator decides is necessary. (3) International offices: The Administrator must (A) keep FAA offices abroad; (B) review those offices every 5 years to check (i) how well they're doing their job, and (ii) whether they have enough staff and resources; and (C) open new offices to fill any gaps the review finds, focusing on places where international aviation authorities or regional organizations are located, countries struggling to maintain a "category 1" safety rating under the International Aviation Safety Assessment program, and regions with fast-growing aviation activity. (4) Bilateral and multilateral engagement; technical assistance: The Administrator must (A) — working with the Secretary of State — regularly engage with other countries and with ICAO to strengthen international cooperation, data sharing, and matching safety requirements, including by (i) sharing ongoing operational safety information, (ii) prioritizing fixes for pilot training gaps, including hands-on flying skills, to avoid over-reliance on automation, (iii) encouraging countries to consider adopting helpful U.S.-style flight-crew training rules, and (iv) prioritizing any other flight-crew training topic that would improve international safety; and (B) try to expand FAA technical assistance abroad, including by (i) promoting stronger safety oversight systems using data analysis, (ii) encouraging other countries' aviation authorities to follow international safety standards, (iii) reducing cybersecurity risks across aviation, (iv) helping share safety information, best practices, and risk assessments through established international safety groups, and (v) giving technical help on any other aviation safety topic that would help. (5) Bilateral aviation safety agreements: (A) In general — the Administrator must negotiate, sign, promote, enforce, evaluate, and update bilateral or multilateral aviation safety agreements with foreign aviation authorities. (B) Purpose — these agreements must, at minimum, (i) improve global aviation safety, (ii) reduce duplicate rules and approvals to help U.S. aviation, (iii) protect U.S. operators', service providers', and manufacturers' access to foreign markets, and (iv) set up a process for what happens when a partner doesn't meet its obligations. (C) Scope — these agreements should cover existing aviation activities and include a way to update them over time for new technology. (D) Contents — as appropriate, these agreements should cover topics like airworthiness and certification, maintenance, operations and pilot training, airspace access and navigation services, transport aircraft, other aircraft types (including drones), flight simulators, and new or emerging technology. (E) Rule of construction — none of this reduces or changes any other legal authority the Administrator already has. (7) Strategic plan (the source numbering skips directly from paragraph (5) to paragraph (7)): The Administrator must keep a strategic plan for FAA's international work that includes: (A) everything required by a specific 2018 aviation report requirement; (B) steps to achieve the mission in paragraph (2); (C) plans to build employee expertise in dispute resolution, intellectual property, and export control law; (D) policy on the FAA's future direction with ICAO; (E) procedures for accepting mandatory airworthiness information and other safety documents, including under section 44701(e)(5); (F) everything — including funding — needed to keep U.S. leadership in global aviation safety and air transportation; (G) metrics, tracked and updated regularly, to measure how well bilateral safety agreements work and whether foreign authorities are complying; and (H) a strategy to help the U.S. aerospace industry efficiently sell new aerospace technology abroad in key markets. (e) Promotion of United States Aerospace Standards, Products, and Services Abroad. The Secretary must (1) promote U.S. aerospace safety standards abroad; (2) actively help get U.S. aerospace products and services approved abroad; (3) use bilateral safety agreements and other tools with partner countries to improve validation of U.S.-certified aeronautical products and reduce unnecessary costs and duplication; and (4) streamline how foreign aviation safety authorities validate and coordinate approvals. (f) Travel. When carrying out (a), the Administrator and Secretary of Transportation must let appropriate FAA office supervisors — for staff outside the FAA's senior executive system — approve domestic and international travel without extra sign-off, for purposes like: (1) promoting U.S. aviation safety and standards for aircraft, air traffic, airports, drones, and fuel; (2) getting other countries to adopt U.S.-backed standards at ICAO; (3) supporting acceptance of FAA design and production approvals abroad; (4) training FAA staff and others; (5) engaging with regulated companies, including site visits; (6) activities tied to subsections (c) through (e); and (7) other activities the Administrator decides on.