This bill directs the Comptroller General (GAO) to study barriers to using digital documentation and digital verification in the aviation parts supply chain. The study must look at challenges faced by manufacturers, repair stations, air carriers, aircraft lessors, aircraft brokers, parts brokers, and other supply-chain participants in adopting digital authorized release certificates, including FAA Form 8130-3. It must also evaluate use of digital verification and authentication tools, the work needed to establish standardized documentation across the industry, and what is required to move the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) from paper records to digital documentation and from physical to digital signatures. The Comptroller General must deliver a report to the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure and the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation within one year of enactment. The report must include recommendations on encouraging all aviation organizations, regardless of size, to adopt digital forms and authentication tools and on accelerating FAA adoption. The Secretary of Transportation must respond to recommendations directed to the Department within 120 days after the report is submitted.
If you work in aviation manufacturing, repair, parts distribution, aircraft operations, leasing, or brokerage, this bill would lead to a federal study of the obstacles your organization may face when moving from paper to digital parts paperwork and verification. The study could result in recommendations to help encourage and speed adoption of digital records and verification tools. The bill itself does not change rules or require immediate action; it requires a report in one year and a Department of Transportation response within 120 days of that report.
No publicly available information on costs or budget estimates is included in the bill text.
According to the bill text, proponents want to identify impediments to digital documentation and verification to help find falsified paperwork and counterfeit parts. They seek recommendations to encourage aviation organizations of all sizes to adopt digital forms and authentication tools and to speed the FAA’s transition from paper records and physical signatures to digital systems.
No publicly available information on opposition or objections is included in the bill text.