BILL ANALYSIS

C.S.H.B. 3134

By: Cook

Transportation

Committee Report (Substituted)

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE

The bill author has informed the committee that, with the state's rapid population growth, Texas is facing ever-increasing challenges to meeting its citizens' transportation needs. The bill author has also informed the committee that advanced air mobility (AAM) technology may be one method to streamline and modernize the future of mobility for passengers and cargo by relying on under-utilized aerial transit routes. During the 87th Legislative Session, the legislature enacted S.B. 763 to establish the Urban Air Mobility Advisory Committee, which assessed necessary changes to state law to facilitate the development of urban air mobility. C.S.H.B. 3134 seeks to address the expansion of AAM technology statewide by enacting many of the committee's recommendations. To facilitate this technology's growth, the bill establishes an AAM Office within the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) and requires TxDOT to develop a statewide strategic AAM plan in collaboration with industry and governmental partners.

CRIMINAL JUSTICE IMPACT

It is the committee's opinion that this bill does not expressly create a criminal offense, increase the punishment for an existing criminal offense or category of offenses, or change the eligibility of a person for community supervision, parole, or mandatory supervision.

RULEMAKING AUTHORITY

It is the committee's opinion that rulemaking authority is expressly granted to the Texas Transportation Commission in SECTION 1 of this bill.

ANALYSIS

C.S.H.B. 3134 amends the Transportation Code to require the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT), to ensure the implementation of the highest level of public safety protocols and to ensure airspace efficiency, to do the following with respect to advanced air mobility, defined by the bill as an air transportation system primarily using electric or hybrid aircraft, including electric vertical takeoff and landing aircraft and electric conventional takeoff and landing aircraft, with a gross takeoff weight of 300 pounds or more to transport passengers or cargo or provide services in an urban or regional setting:

· establish an office within the aviation division of TxDOT to provide technical support for advanced air mobility infrastructure at airports in Texas, with a particular focus on electric aircraft and autonomous aircraft;

· develop a statewide strategic plan for advanced air mobility in collaboration with the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT), the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), commercial air carriers, political subdivisions of the state that own or control an airport, and any other relevant stakeholders;

· in collaboration with those entities, identify methods to encourage the use of uniform vertiport standards and support uniform planning and zoning enabling provisions relating to powered lift aircraft, autonomous aircraft, electric aviation, and other advances in aviation technology across Texas;

· in conjunction with the Public Utility Commission of Texas and ERCOT, estimate the required electric generation and transmission capacity for the different implementation phases of advanced air mobility in Texas and evaluate the use of other fuel sources with respect to that mobility;

· in collaboration with DOT and the FAA, develop and provide to political subdivisions, regional councils of governments, and other appropriate governmental entities a guidebook and technical resources to support uniform planning and zoning provisions across Texas relating to powered lift aircraft, electric aircraft and aviation, vertiports, and other advances in advanced air mobility technology to ensure public safety and airspace efficiency;

· in collaboration with the office of the governor, the Texas Education Agency (TEA), and the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board (THECB), develop and lead a statewide education campaign for local and regional public officials on the benefits of advanced air mobility aircraft and advancements in aviation technology;

· develop and publish materials on the TxDOT website to inform public officials, members of the public, the aviation community, and recreational users of unmanned aircraft of advanced air mobility and developments in that technology; and

· establish and administer a program under which TxDOT provides matching funds on behalf of public institutions of higher education in Texas to receive federal grants relating to research and development of advanced air mobility in Texas.

The bill defines the following terms for purposes of its provisions:

· "powered lift aircraft" as an aircraft capable of vertical takeoff, vertical landing, and low‑speed flight that depends principally on:

o engine-driven lift devices or engine thrust for lift during vertical takeoff or vertical landing; and

o nonrotating airfoil for lift during horizontal flight; and

· "vertiport" as an area of land, an area of water, or a structure, including associated buildings and facilities, that is used or intended to be used for landing or takeoff of advanced air mobility aircraft.

C.S.H.B. 3134 makes its provisions relating to powered lift aircraft or electric aircraft, including electric vertical takeoff and landing aircraft and electric conventional takeoff and landing aircraft, applicable only to an aircraft that has a gross takeoff weight of 300 pounds or more and is capable of transporting passengers or cargo.

C.S.H.B. 3134 requires TxDOT, the office of the governor, TEA, and the THECB to jointly collaborate with public school districts, institutions of higher education, and interested public and private stakeholders on educational opportunities relating to advanced air mobility technology. The bill requires the statewide strategic plan developed under the bill's provisions to do the following:

· ensure public safety and airspace efficiency;

· prioritize public safety and ensure airspace efficiency by determining short-term, medium-term, and long-term goals for advanced air mobility in Texas and the associated economic impact of achieving those goals; and

· comprehensively address all aspects of advanced air mobility in Texas, including:

o advanced air mobility use cases;

o existing infrastructure and necessary infrastructure upgrades, including upgrades enabling autonomous operations;

o regulatory best practices; and

o updates to the Texas Airport System Plan to include vertiports, electric aircraft charging, and the infrastructure needs of other advances in aviation technology as appropriate.

The bill requires TxDOT, in carrying out the requirements of TxDOT under the bill's provisions relating to airspace efficiency and the requirement of the statewide strategic plan to comprehensively address all aspects of airspace efficiency in Texas, to consult with DOT, the FAA, commercial air carriers, political subdivisions of the state that own or control an airport, and any other relevant stakeholders. The bill requires the office established within the aviation division of TxDOT, in exercising its duties, to establish working relationships with those entities.

C.S.H.B. 3134 requires the Texas Transportation Commission to adopt rules to implement the program established under the bill's provisions and requires those rules to specify a minimum percentage of additional matching funds that must be provided by the advanced air mobility industry or other persons as a condition of receiving matching funds from TxDOT under the program. The bill prohibits a political subdivision of the state from enacting, adopting, or enforcing a rule, ordinance, order, resolution, or other regulation relating to advanced air mobility, the ownership of an advanced air mobility aircraft, or the aerial operation of an advanced air mobility aircraft unless the political subdivision is an airport operator.

C.S.H.B. 3134 repeals Section 21.072, Transportation Code, which requires TxDOT to take certain actions relating to aviation transportation systems that use highly automated aircraft, which may be manned or unmanned, to operate and transport passengers or cargo at lower altitudes for commercial, public service, private, or recreational purposes.

EFFECTIVE DATE

September 1, 2025.

COMPARISON OF INTRODUCED AND SUBSTITUTE

While C.S.H.B. 3134 may differ from the introduced in minor or nonsubstantive ways, the following summarizes the substantial differences between the introduced and committee substitute versions of the bill.

The substitute and the introduced differ as follows with respect to the definitions under the bill's provisions:

· with respect to the definition of "advanced air mobility," the substitute expands the term to include an air transportation system primarily using electric or hybrid aircraft that meet certain criteria, whereas the introduced only included an air transportation system primarily using electric aircraft that met those criteria; and

· whereas the introduced defined "vertiport" as an area of land, an area of water, or a structure, including associated buildings and facilities, that is used or intended to be used for landing or takeoff of powered lift aircraft, the substitute defines that term as such an area or structure that is used or intended to be used for landing or takeoff of advanced air mobility aircraft.

While both versions set out requirements for TxDOT to take relating to advanced air mobility, the two versions differ as follows:

· the substitute specifies that the requirements are taken to ensure the implementation of the highest level of public safety protocols and to ensure airspace efficiency, whereas the introduced did not;

· with respect to the requirements for TxDOT to develop a statewide strategic plan for advanced air mobility and to identify methods to encourage the use of uniform vertiport standards and support uniform planning and zoning enabling provisions relating to powered lift aircraft, autonomous aircraft, electric aviation, and other advances in aviation technology across Texas, the substitute requires TxDOT to do so in collaboration with DOT, the FAA, commercial air carriers, political subdivisions of the state that own or control an airport, and any other relevant stakeholders, whereas the introduced did not;

· with respect to the requirement for TxDOT to develop and provide to local governments, regional councils of government, and other appropriate governmental entities a guidebook and technical resources to support uniform planning and zoning provisions across Texas relating to powered lift aircraft, electric aircraft and aviation, and other advances in aviation technology:

o the substitute requires TxDOT to do so in collaboration with DOT and the FAA, whereas the introduced did not;

o the substitute changes local governments, as in the introduced, to political subdivisions;

o the substitute includes vertiports among the technology that the guidebook and technical resources must include, whereas the introduced did not; and

o whereas the introduced included advances in aviation technology as an element of the guidebook and resources, the substitute includes advances in advanced air mobility technology to ensure public safety and airspace efficiency as an element; and

· with respect to the requirement for TxDOT, in collaboration with the office of the governor, TEA, and the THECB, to develop and lead a statewide education campaign for local and regional public officials on the benefits of certain technologies, the substitute replaces the introduced version's reference to "electric powered lift aircraft" as such a technology with a reference to "advanced air mobility aircraft."

Under the requirement for the statewide strategic plan developed under the bill's provisions to take certain actions, the substitute includes a provision absent from the introduced requiring the plan to ensure public safety and airspace efficiency. Additionally, whereas the introduced required that plan to include short-term, medium-term, and long-term goals for advanced air mobility in Texas and the associated economic impact of achieving those goals, the substitute requires the plan to prioritize public safety and ensure airspace efficiency by determining those goals and the associated economic impacts.

The substitute includes the following provisions absent from the introduced:

· a requirement for TxDOT, in carrying out the requirements of TxDOT and the requirements of the statewide strategic plan, to consult with DOT, the FAA, commercial air carriers, political subdivisions of the state that own or control an airport, and any other relevant stakeholders; and

· a requirement for the office within TxDOT established by the bill's provisions, in exercising its duties, to establish working relationships with those entities.

While both the substitute and the introduced establish criteria in which a political subdivision may enact, adopt, or enforce a rule, ordinance, order, resolution, or other regulation relating to advanced air mobility, the ownership of an advanced air mobility aircraft, or the aerial operation of an advanced air mobility aircraft, the substitute omits from among those criteria that the regulation must govern the following:

· the operation of an advanced air mobility aircraft within the geographic boundaries of the airport for which the political subdivision is the airport operator; or

· the takeoff or landing of an advanced air mobility aircraft at such an airport.