49 U.S.C. § 44512 — Catastrophic failure prevention research grants

(a) General Authority.— The FAA Administrator may give grants to colleges, universities, and nonprofit research organizations: (1) to research technology and methods for spotting the risk of, and preventing, defects, failures, and malfunctions in products, parts, processes, and articles made for use in aircraft, aircraft engines, propellers, and appliances — the kind of problems that could cause a catastrophic aircraft failure; and (2) to set up centers of excellence that keep doing this research.

(b) Solicitation, Application, Review, and Evaluation Process.— The Administrator must set up a process for asking for, applying for, reviewing, and judging these grants. The process must make sure grants go to proposals with real merit that fit the research described in subsection (a).