Advanced Aviation Act This bill directs the Department of Transportation (DOT) to redesignate the Office of NextGen as the Office of Advanced Aviation within the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). The new office duties include the coordination of rulemaking and approval processes on matters relating to advanced aviation systems (e.g., drones, supersonic aircraft technologies, counter-unmanned aircraft systems). The bill also establishes an Office of Advanced Integration within the Office of Advanced Aviation. Additionally, DOT must establish an Advanced Aviation Coordination Unit within the FAA whose responsibilities shall include the promotion of the safe and responsible integration of advanced aviation systems into the national airspace system. Further, DOT must redesignate the William J. Hughes Technical Center as the William J. Hughes Technical Center for Advanced Aviation. The center must establish and manage a program to evaluate new aviation-related technologies proposed to be used in the national airspace system and facilitate the integration of such technologies into the national airspace system.
Promoting Local Management of the Lesser Prairie Chicken Act This bill prohibits any population of the lesser prairie-chicken (Tympanuchus pallidicinctus) in Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas, Colorado, or New Mexico from being listed as endangered or threatened under the Endangered Species Act of 1973 (ESA). The lesser prairie-chicken is a type of grouse. Currently, two distinct population segments (DPS) of the lesser prairie-chicken are listed under the ESA. The Southern DPS of the lesser prairie-chicken is listed as endangered and the Northern DPS is listed as threatened. The bill removes both populations from the list. In addition, the bill bans Interior from listing any population of the lesser prairie-chicken as endangered or threatened in the future.