S. 4372Senate117th Congress (2021-2023)In Committee

Dynamic Airspace Pilot Program Act of 2022

AI-Generated Summary

Updated February 8, 2026 at 3:54 PM UTC

The bill directs the FAA, together with the Department of Defense, to start a pilot program that develops and tests dynamic scheduling of special activity airspace—areas used for military training and other restricted operations. The aim is to make that airspace more flexible, improve access for both military and civilian users, and keep the national airspace safe. The program must begin within 90 days, test at least three sites (including coastal and land areas), and report results to Congress after two years.

Key Provisions

FAA Administrator, in coordination with the Secretary of Defense, must establish the pilot program within 90 days of enactment.
The pilot must test dynamic management in at least three special activity airspace areas—minimum one over U.S. coastal waters and two over land—to increase access for defense test and training while ensuring safety.
The FAA Administrator must submit a report to the appropriate congressional committees after two years, analyzing effects on civilian access and overall airspace efficiency.
The Secretary of Defense must also submit a two‑year report analyzing how the pilot affected military test and training.
Defines “special activity airspace” to include restricted areas, military operations areas, ATC‑assigned airspace, and warning areas.

Legislative Activity

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1 earlier action

SenateIntro Referral Latest Action

Read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation. (text: CR S2896)

Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee

June 9, 2022

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SenateIntro Referral

Introduced in Senate

June 9, 2022

SenateIntro Referral

Read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation. (text: CR S2896)

Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee

June 9, 2022

Floor Debate

3 members

What members said about S. 4372 on the floor

2 Republicans1 Democrat

Sen. Alex PadillaD-CA · Jun 9, 2022

Mr. President, I rise to introduce the Cesar E. Chavez and the Farmworker Movement National Historical Park Act. This legislation would establish the Cesar E. Chavez and the Farmworker Movement…

Mr. President, I rise to introduce the Cesar E. Chavez and the Farmworker Movement National Historical Park Act.

This legislation would establish the Cesar E. Chavez and the Farmworker Movement National Historical Park in California and Arizona to preserve the nationally significant sites associated with Cesar Chavez and the farm worker movement.

In 2008, with strong bipartisan support, Congress enacted legislation directing the National Park Service to conduct a special resource study of sites that are significant to the life of Cesar Chavez and the farm labor movement in the Western United States. The National Park Service evaluated over 100 sites that were significant to Cesar Chavez and the farm labor movement in thy stern United States and found that five sites were ``nationally significant.'' Importantly, the Park Service wrote that these nationally significant sites depict a distinct and important aspect of American history associated with civil rights and labor movements that are not adequately represented or protected elsewhere. While the Park Service provided five management alternatives to protect these special places, they ultimately recommended that Congress establish a national historic park that would include several nationally significant sites.

In 2012, President Obama established the Cesar E. Chavez National Monument. The property is in Keene, CA and is known as Nuestra Senora Reina de la Paz. In his Presidential Proclamation, President Obama said: ``This site marks the extraordinary achievements and contributions to the history of the United States made by Cesar Chavez and the farm worker movement that he led with great vision and fortitude. La Paz reflects his conviction that ordinary people can do extraordinary things.''

While this was a critical step forward, the National Monument leaves out many nationally significant sites and leaves many important stories untold. The creation of a national historical park, as originally recommended by the Park Service, would allow the National Park Service to tell the full story of Cesar Chavez and the farm labor movement for the benefit of all Americans.

This legislation would establish the Forty Acres in Delano, CA; the Cesar E. Chavez National Monument, which includes La Nuestra Senora Reina de la Paz, in Keene, CA; and the Santa Rita Center in Phoenix, AZ, as part of a new Cesar E. Chavez and Farmworker Movement National Historical Park. These sites contain nationally significant resources associated with Cesar Chavez and the farmworker movement and would be preserved and protected as part of the National Park System.

This legislation would also establish a new National Historic Trail that would commemorate the 1966 Delano to Sacramento March, a major milestone event in the farm labor movement. According to the Special Resource Study, ``More than one hundred men and women set out from Delano on March 17, 1966, and thousands of farm workers and their families joined in for short stretches along the way. By the time the marchers entered Sacramento on Easter Sunday, April 10, 1966, the farm worker movement had secured a contract and attracted new waves of support from across the country.''

We must honor and celebrate the life and legacy of Cesar Chavez, the inspirational civil rights advocate and leader of the farm labor movement whose impact reverberated in California and across the world. His list of accomplishments is long, from creating the Nation's first permanent agricultural labor union to helping secure passage of the first American law that recognized farm workers' rights to organize.

While widely respected as the most important Latino leader in the United States in the 20th century, Cesar Chavez was not just a leader for the Latino community. Following the principles of Mahatma Gandhi and Martin Luther King, Jr., Cesar Chavez led a nonviolent movement of protests and boycotts to secure a union, better pay, and better working conditions for farmworkers. He also played a leading role in the broader labor movement, the Chicano movement, and the environmental movement. For Chavez, it did not matter where you came from or what your job was: he believed in the fundamental right to dignity and respect.

But this park will not just focus on Chavez's legacy; it will also preserve the thousands of stories of people who played a role in the broader farm labor movement. According to the Special Resource Study, ``During the 1960s, the farm labor movement attracted support from a wide array of individuals, including members of other unions, religious leaders, civil rights activists, high school students and college students (including young Chicanos and Filipinos), environmentalists, and justice-minded consumers across the country and abroad.''

As the son of immigrants from Mexico and the first Latino to represent California in the U.S. Senate, I believe the movement Cesar Chavez created is just as important today as it ever has been. The National Park System--which preserves our natural, historical, and cultural heritage while offering

vital spaces for teaching, learning, and outdoor recreation--must paint the full mosaic of America. Through the sites preserved by this bill, we can ensure that the National Park System preserves the diverse history of our Nation that is too often overlooked. As a farm worker himself, Cesar Chavez maintained a strong connection to the natural environment. This bill uplifts his story and those of others whose contributions helped build the farmworker and civil rights movements that are pillars of American history.

I thank the bill's cosponsors in the Senate and House of Representatives, and I especially want to thank Congressman Ruiz for spearheading this effort with me to ensure that our national monuments and historical parks better reflect the diversity of America's heritage.

Today and every day, let's recommit to the work Cesar Chavez began. As he would say: La Lucha Sigue. We must not waver as we keep up the fight for justice and equality for all.

I look forward to working with my colleagues to enact the Cesar E. Chavez National Historical Park Act as quickly as possible.

Sen. John CornynR-TX · Jun 9, 2022

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent to print my bill for introduction in the Congressional Record. The bill improves certain sexual assault and domestic violence prevention policies.

Sen. John ThuneR-SD · Jun 9, 2022

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the text of the bill be printed in the Record.

Sen. John ThuneR-SD · Jun 9, 2022

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the text of the bill be printed in the Record.

Bill Text

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Introduced in SenateIssued June 9, 2022

117th CONGRESS

2d Session

S. 4372

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

June 9, 2022

Mr. Thune (for himself and Ms. Sinema) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation

A BILL

To require the Administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration to carry out a pilot program on developing and testing dynamic management of special activity airspace, and for other purposes.

Short title

This Act may be cited as the Dynamic Airspace Pilot Program Act of 2022.

Development and testing of dynamic scheduling and management of special activity airspace

(a)

Sense of Congress on special activity airspace scheduling and management

It is the sense of Congress that—

(1)

where it does not conflict with safety, dynamic scheduling and management of special activity airspace (also referred to as dynamic airspace) is expected to optimize the use of the national airspace system for all stakeholders; and

(2)

the Administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration and the Secretary of Defense should take such actions as may be necessary to support ongoing efforts to develop dynamic scheduling and management of special activity airspace, including—

(A)

the continuation of formal partnerships between the Federal Aviation Administration and the Department of Defense that focus on special activity airspace, future airspace needs, and joint solutions; and

(B)

maturing research within their federally funded research and development centers, Federal partner agencies, and the aviation community.

(b)

Pilot program

(1)

Pilot program required

Not later than 90 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration, in coordination with the Secretary of Defense, shall establish a pilot program on developing and testing dynamic management of special activity airspace in order to accommodate emerging military training requirements through flexible scheduling, along with increasing access to special activity airspace used by the Department of Defense for test and training.

(2)

Testing of special activity airspace scheduling and management

Under the pilot program established under paragraph (1), the Administrator and the Secretary shall jointly test not fewer than three areas of episodic or permanent special activity airspace designated by the Federal Aviation Administration for use by the Department of Defense, of which—

(A)

at least one shall be over coastal waters of the United States;

(B)

at least two shall be over land of the United States;

(C)

access to airspace available for test and training is increased to accommodate dynamic scheduling of airspace to more efficiently and realistically provide test and training capabilities to Department of Defense aircrews; and

(D)

any increase in access to airspace made available for test and training shall not conflict with the safe management of the national airspace system or the safety of all stakeholders of the national airspace system.

(c)

Report by the Administrator

(1)

In general

Not less than two years after the date of the establishment of the pilot program under subsection (b)(1), the Administrator shall submit to the appropriate committees of Congress a report on the interim findings of the Administrator with respect to the pilot program.

(2)

Elements

The report submitted under paragraph (1) shall include the following:

(A)

An analysis of how the pilot program established under subsection (b)(1) affected access to special activity airspace by nonmilitary users of the national airspace system.

(B)

An analysis of whether the dynamic management of special activity airspace conducted for the pilot program established under subsection (b)(1) contributed to more efficient use of the national airspace system by all stakeholders.

(d)

Report by the secretary

Not less than two years after the date of the establishment of the pilot program under subsection (b)(1), the Secretary shall submit to the appropriate committees of Congress a report on the interim findings of the Secretary with respect to the pilot program. Such report shall include an analysis of how the pilot program affected military test and training.

(e)

Definitions

In this section:

(1)

The term appropriate committees of Congress means—

(A)

the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, the Committee on Armed Services, and the Committee on Appropriations of the Senate; and

(B)

the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology, the Committee on Armed Services, and the Committee on Appropriations of the House of Representatives.

(2)

The term special activity airspace means the following airspace with defined dimensions within the National Airspace System wherein limitations may be imposed upon aircraft operations:

(A)

Restricted areas.

(B)

Military operations areas.

(C)

Air Traffic Control assigned airspace.

(D)

Warning areas.