S.Amdt. 2780

SA 2780. Ms. CANTWELL submitted an amendment intended to be proposed
to amendment SA 2360 proposed by Mr. Thune (for Mr. Graham) to the bill
H.R. 1, to provide for reconciliation pursuant to title II of H. Con.
Res. 14; which was ordered to lie on the table; as follows:

Strike section 40004 and insert the following:

SEC. 40004. SPACE LAUNCH AND REENTRY USER FEES.

(a) In General.--Chapter 509 of title 51, United States
Code, is amended by adding at the end the following new
section:

``Sec. 50924. Space launch and reentry user fees

``(a) Fees.--
``(1) Proposal.--
``(A) In general.--On or before June 1, 2026, the Secretary
of Transportation shall submit to the appropriate committees
of Congress a proposal for imposing fees, which shall be
deposited in the account established by subsection (e), on
each launch or reentry carried out under a license or
experimental permit issued under section 50904 during 2027 or
a subsequent year.
``(B) Development and review.--The proposal required by
subparagraph (A)--
``(i) shall be developed by the Office of Commercial Space
Transportation of the Federal Aviation Administration, in
consultation with the Commercial Space Transportation
Advisory Committee and, as necessary and appropriate, a
dedicated aerospace rulemaking committee; and

[[Page S4124]]

``(ii) before submission to Congress under that
subparagraph, reviewed and approved by the Secretary of
Transportation.
``(C) Elements.--The proposal developed and submitted under
this paragraph shall include the following:
``(i) Fee categories.--Separate proposed fees for each of
the following categories of licenses and permits:

``(I) Experimental permits.
``(II) Suborbital launch licenses.
``(III) Orbital launch licenses.
``(IV) Reentry licenses.

``(ii) Fee amounts.--Fee amounts that generate the
recommended revenue set forth in subsection (d).
``(iii) Avoidance of duplication.--A provision that
requires that, in a case in which the same operator is
conducting both a launch and a reentry during a single
mission, the operator shall only be charged for the greater
of--

``(I) the launch fee; or
``(II) the reentry fee.

``(iv) Fee refund.--A provision that sets forth that
licensees shall be eligible for a fee refund if the Secretary
of Transportation issues the relevant license or permit on a
date that is, as applicable--

``(I) more than 180 calendar days after the date on which
the application for such license is submitted; or
``(II) more than 120 calendar days after the date on which
an application for a license modification is submitted.

``(v) Fee waiver.--A provision that authorizes Federal
agencies that contract for commercially provided launches and
reentries to request a fee waiver on a case-by-case basis for
such launches and reentries.
``(2) Review.--Not later than October 1, 2026, the
appropriate committees of Congress shall--
``(A) complete a review of the proposal submitted under
paragraph (1); and
``(B) submit to the Secretary of Transportation a response
with respect to such proposal that indicates whether the
appropriate committees of Congress approve or reject the fee
structure contained in the proposal.
``(3) Implementation.--If the appropriate committees of
Congress approve the proposal submitted under this
subsection, the Secretary of Transportation may commence
implementation of the fees set forth in such proposal.
``(b) Annual Report.--Beginning on January 1, 2028, and
annually thereafter, as long as fees under this section
remain in effect, the Secretary of Transportation shall
submit to the appropriate committees of Congress a report
that includes, with respect to the preceding calendar year,
the amount of such fees assessed and a description of the
activities funded by such fees.
``(c) GAO Review.--
``(1) In general.--Not later than January 1, 2030, the
Comptroller General of the United States shall commence a
review of the fees implemented under this section to
determine whether such fees--
``(A) meet congressional intent, including with respect to
the generation of the required annual revenue set forth in
subsection (d);
``(B) are being implemented by the Secretary of
Transportation in a manner consistent with the purposes of
commercial space launch and reentry activities described in
section 50901(b); and
``(C) affect any sector of the United States commercial
space industry in a manner that is detrimental to safety,
innovation, growth, or economic competitiveness.
``(2) Report.--Not later than 270 days after the date on
which the review under this subsection is commenced, the
Comptroller General shall submit to the appropriate
committees of Congress a report on the results of the review.
``(d) Required Revenue.--The fees proposed by the Secretary
of Transportation and approved by the appropriate committees
of Congress should be structured so as to generate the
following sum total annual revenue, to be collected and
deposited in the account established by subsection (e):
``(1) For 2027, $2,000,000.
``(2) For 2028, $4,000,000.
``(3) For 2029, $5,000,000.
``(4) For 2030, $7,000,000.
``(5) For 2031, $10,000,000.
``(6) For 2032, $14,000,000.
``(7) For 2033, $18,000,000.
``(8) For fiscal year 2034 and each subsequent fiscal year,
the amount specified in this paragraph for the previous year
increased by the percentage increase in the consumer price
index for all urban consumers (all items; United States city
average) over the previous year.
``(e) Office of Commercial Space Transportation Launch and
Reentry Licensing and Permitting Fund.--There is established
in the Treasury of the United States a separate account,
which shall be known as the `Office of Commercial Space
Transportation Launch and Reentry Licensing and Permitting
Fund', for the purposes of expenses of the Office of
Commercial Space Transportation of the Federal Aviation
Administration and to carry out section 630(b) of the FAA
Reauthorization Act of 2024 (Public Law 118-63; 138 Stat.
1047). The amounts deposited into the fund shall be available
for such purposes without further appropriation and without
fiscal year limitation.
``(f) Appropriate Committees of Congress Defined.--In this
section, the term `appropriate committees of Congress'
means--
``(1) the Committee on Commerce, Science, and
Transportation of the Senate;
``(2) the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure of
the House of Representatives; and
``(3) the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology of
the House of Representatives.''.
(b) Clerical Amendment.--The table of sections for chapter
509 of title 51, United States Code, is amended by inserting
after the item relating to section 50923 the following:

``50924. Space launch and reentry user fees.''.
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