AUVSI Advocacy Successes in FY 2023 Omnibus

As the industry’s leading advocacy organization, this year AUVSI has diligently advocated for appropriations priorities, across all three domains and in the commercial and defense sectors, to advance and scale the uncrewed systems and robotics industries. AUVSI both adopted our own appropriations priorities and advocated for our members’ own appropriations requests.?

Status of FY 2023 Government Funding?

This week, House and Senate Appropriations leadership released the text of the $1.66T omnibus government funding package, which funds the federal government through Fiscal Year 2023 (ending September 30, 2023). The text of the bill, as well as the explanatory statements and summaries of each section can be found here.?

The Senate will now have to adopt a time agreement that will allow the funding package to pass the chamber and move to the House before the end of the week before the current Continuing Resolution (CR) expires.

The bill appropriates $858B in defense funding and $772.5B for non-defense discretionary programs. Included is $45B in economic and military aid for Ukraine, as well as the bipartisan Electoral Count Reform and Presidential Transition Improvement Act (S.4573).

The bill provides the U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) $106.3B, an increase of $3.4B over FY 2022. This includes $19B for the FAA, $62.9B for the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), $16.9B for the Federal Transit Administration (FTA), and $896.1M for the Maritime Administration (MARAD).

AUVSI’s Government Funding Priorities?

• Full-Year Funding: This week, AUVSI’s Chief Advocacy Officer, Michael Robbins, urged Congressional leaders to finalize and pass a full government funding bill for FY 2023 before the 117th Congress adjourns. The letter notes the importance of a long-term funding bill rather than passing CR, which would create many issues for the uncrewed systems defense contracting industry and harm our national security.?
• Support for AUVSI Members: In one instance, we successfully supported an AUVSI member company’s advocacy efforts on several requests related to Commercial Autonomous Vehicle Validation and All-Domain Modeling and Simulation, which were ultimately included in the Omnibus.??

AUVSI Appropriations Successes?

During the appropriations process, AUVSI submitted several formal appropriations requests for both the defense and commercial sector and advocated for these requests to Congressional offices, Committees, and Leadership.?

We achieved success in several provisions in the Omnibus text, in addition to excerpts of language from the Commerce-Justice-Science (CJS), Transportation, Housing and Urban Development (THUD), Department of Defense (DoD), and Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Explanatory Statements.?

UAS: The Omnibus included several provisions related to UAS and small UAS, including language on Long-Endurance UAS, airspace sharing between FAA and DoD, and the use of uncrewed systems for LiDAR technology. Additionally, in the THUD Explanatory Statement, there is language on Small UAS Procurement related to foreign-made UAS, Beyond Visual Line of Sight (BVLOS), UAS Test Sites, UAS R&D, and more (see pages 16 and 29 of the omnibus text).?

The Omnibus includes $13M for NextGen UAS Research and $6M for providing matching funds to commercial entities that contract with an FAA-designated UAS test site. It also mandates the Secretary of Transportation to establish an Aerospace Supply Chain Resiliency Task Force, which must include a representative of UAS operators.?

On BVLOS, the following language was included, which has been applauded by both industry and the FAA. AUVSI pushed Appropriators to include robust language on BVLOS and the report’s recommendations, and this meets that goal:?

• "Instead of the requirement in House Report 117- 402 to provide a BVLOS rulemaking plan no later than October 1, 2022, the agreement directs the FAA to engage with UAS stakeholders to inform them of its proposed UAS BVLOS rulemaking schedule, the challenges associated with this rulemaking, and any differences between the proposed rulemaking and the BVLOS aviation rulemaking committee's [ARC's] recommendations. The agreement also directs the FAA to brief the House and Senate Committees on Appropriations within 60 days of enactment of this act on: (l) its plans to align policies that do not require rulemaking, including issuance of waivers, with the proposals recommended in the BVLOS ARC report; and (2) its plans to issue guidance providing accelerated pathways to enable low-altitude operations under existing rules, such as standard scenarios or pre-defined risk assessments."

AAM: The Omnibus included a version of the Advanced Aviation Infrastructure Modernization (AAIM) Act (H.R.6270), which will establish a pilot grant program to support AAM infrastructure – a key priority for our members. The Omnibus authorizes $12.5M over FY 2023 and FY 2024, with each grant capped at $1M.?

FAA Staffing: We secured the below language included in the THUD Explanatory Statement, which mirrors language we submitted to the appropriators. This is indicative of Congress’s understanding that FAA lacks appropriate staffing to keep up with the pace of industry and address some of the challenges posed by innovative entrants into the National Airspace System.?

• Final FY 2023 THUD Report Language: “The agreement provides the requested increase of $11,397,000 and 110 new positions to help the FAA keep pace with a growing number of safety issues, including oversight of air carrier aircraft maintenance, general aviation repair facilities, and contract towers, as well as the growing role of the FAA's medical officers.”??
• AUVSI’s Original Submitted Language: “Of the amounts provided for FY 2023, an additional $10M shall be provided to add additional staff to work though the certification and operational integration of UAS/Advance Air Mobility/new technologies.” ?

C-UAS: The Omnibus included several provisions related to C-UAS, including a clean extension of existing C-UAS authorities through the life of the bill. This allows Congress to continue negotiating a potential expansion in C-UAS authorities, likely to be addressed in the 2023 FAA Reauthorization Bill. The Omnibus also mandates that key Committees be briefed on estimated funding needs, including those not addressed within the FY 2023 budget request, for FY 2023-24 to research, test, acquire, and deploy C-UAS capabilities.?

2023 Priorities?

These successes provide AUVSI with significant momentum to advocate for the industry in 2023, when Congress will conduct another appropriations cycle for FY 2024. We are also looking ahead to significant authorization bills in 2023, including:?

• 2023 FAA Reauthorization?
• Reauthorizations of U.S. Coast Guard and MARAD programs and authorities?
• Potential legislation related to Autonomous Vehicles?
• The annual National Defense Authorization Act ?

We could not have secured such positive language for our industry without the support of AUVSI’s engaged Advocacy members. Thank you to all who worked hand in hand on our government advocacy efforts this year!?

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Max Rosen is Senior Manager, Government Affairs at AUVSI.?