The FAA Friday announced it will form a rulemaking committee made up of industry and government members to guide the development and deployment of a new unleaded avgas. The Unleaded Avgas Transition Aviation Rulemaking Committee’s first target is to formalize membership and initiate work activities by March 31. The FAA said it intends to have the committee produce “an industry-government framework and implementation plan intended to guide the GA community toward deployment of unleaded aviation gasoline.” The goal, said FAA administrator Randy Babbitt, is to “bring together all the industry stakeholders” to achieve a drop-in replacement fuel “in a timely fashion.”
According to the FAA, the group’s first meeting should take place in late March or early April, after membership is finalized. Progress should result in a completed investigation “by mid-year.” According to GAMA president and CEO Pete Bunce, “The formation of the [group] shows that the FAA is stepping up in this role and should give owners and operators added confidence that the industry is on the right path to a solution.” GAMA sees the formation of the group as critically important in moving to identify and prioritize the steps necessary to resolve the transition to unleaded avgas.
