Washington — The Federal Aviation Administration should increase transparency of its annual reporting on congressional funding related to safety research and development, the Government Accountability Office says in a new report.
The FAA Reauthorization Act of 2018 directed FAA to allocate at least 70% of its research and development funding to safety projects, such as those involving unmanned aircraft systems (drones) or fire research and safety.
“Although FAA reports annually on its research and development programs,” GAO says, “it doesn’t report on whether it’s meeting this 70% funding requirement. Doing so would help Congress and others understand which programs are addressing safety priorities.”
GAO recommends that the transportation secretary direct FAA to “report on the percentage of its appropriated funds, including the programs and funding amounts” used for safety research and development projects as part of its annual reporting process.
According to GAO, the Department of Transportation agrees with the recommendation.
