ADVOCATING FOR YOU By Cade Clark, John Shea, and Emma Taylor FCC Decisions Imperil Aviation Safety
HAI is working with industry partners to overturn, mitigate negative effects on GPS, radar altimeters.
C HAI Members
ONGRESS HAS BEEN FOCUSED on passing pandemic aid packages and debating an infra- structure bill. However, we’re less than
HAI is here for you! Contact
advocacy@rotor.org with your legislative challenges.
90 days out from a possible government shutdown. Congress doesn’t seem too concerned; lawmakers seem already resigned to passing a continuing resolution (CR) to keep the government funded past September. This is becoming a true talent. For over a decade, Congress has missed the Oct. 1 deadline and resorted to CRs to keep the government funded. Congress is par- ticularly slow this year, so expect the CR punt to continue into December. Is it too soon to think about funding solu- tions as an early Christmas present? While Congress tries to come to agreement on infrastructure, there are two important issues facing our indus- try: sustainability and spectrum. These issues can get highly technical, but bear with us. We hope by the end of
this article, you’ll have a better understanding of how these issues could directly affect you—and what you can do to influence the outcome.
Sustainability The environment and climate change are top priorities for the Biden administration, and the aviation industry has made significant investments in technology to enable the reduction of its greenhouse gas (GHG) emis- sions. This type of proactive action by our industry is important, as we can then target workable solutions instead of waiting for regulators to develop possibly overly burdensome regulations. Per the report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, it’s estimated that civil aviation contrib- utes 2% of global CO2
and 3% of GHG emissions. The
single largest potential reduction in aviation’s GHG emis- sions will come about through the broad adoption of sustainable aviation fuel (SAF). Produced from
10 ROTOR JUNE 2021
sustainable resources, SAF is a safe, approved substi- tute for Jet A or Jet A-1 and requires no changes to air- craft or fueling infrastructure. Compared with conventional jet fuel, SAF has the potential to reduce life-cycle GHG by up to 80%. To help operators better understand SAF and its potential to reduce GHG emissions within the aviation sector, HAI is planning two HAI@Work webinars. The first, on Sep. 23, will provide operators with an under- standing of the development, distribution, and usage of SAF. In the second webinar, scheduled for Sep. 30, rep- resentatives from the world’s leading helicopter and engine manufacturers will talk about efforts to promote the development and use of SAF. (Webinar times and registration links are in the box at the top right.) HAI is also a member of the Business Aviation
Coalition for Sustainable Aviation Fuel (www. future of sustainable
fuel.com) and collaborates with other stake- holders in promoting SAF. HAI members themselves, such as Airbus, Bell, Bristow Group, Safran, and Pratt & Whitney, have recently released press statements on the work their company is doing to further promote SAF. On Capitol Hill, a broad coalition of aviation interests
has worked with Congress to introduce the Sustainable Skies Act, which proposes a blender tax credit for SAF to incentivize the production and use of low-carbon SAF. The legislation would establish a tax credit of $1.50 to $2.00 per gallon for SAF that achieves at least a 50% reduction in life-cycle GHG emissions compared with conventional jet fuel, with the precise amount of the credit linked to the SAF’s GHG emissions performance.
Spectrum HAI is also working on several issues related to the US government’s management of the electromagnetic spectrum, or more specifically, interference with the L band, which is used by GPS units and satellite commu- nications, and the C band, which is used by radar altimeters.
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