Remarks as prepared for delivery.

Thank you, Pete [Bunce]. Good afternoon, everyone. 

As Pete said, EAGLE is a joint government-industry initiative. The intention is to safely eliminate leaded aviation fuel by the end of 2030, without impacting the existing piston-engine fleet. 

This is not a new issue. People of a certain age may recall driving in a car that operated on leaded fuel. But lead was eliminated decades ago from automotive fuel due to health concerns.

But aviation fuel for piston-engine aircraft remains the last kind of lead-based fuel anywhere in the world. In fact, piston-engine aircraft account for the largest source of lead air emissions in the United States.

Removing lead from aviation fuel is something we’ve been working on for a long time. In 2011, the FAA established an Unleaded AvGas Transition Aviation Rulemaking Committee. And in 2014, the FAA and industry started the Piston Aviation Fuel Initiative, or PAFI, with the goal to authorize and adopt high octane unleaded fuels suitable for piston-engine aircraft.

Through the EAGLE initiative we’re announcing today, industry and the FAA will build off the current work. We will accelerate our actions, investments, and policies to accomplish the transition to a lead-free piston engine fleet. 

To many of you, I know all of this may sound like a Yogi Berra quote—“It’s like déjà vu all over again”—but we’re at a unique point in time where we have the resources, the energy and the will to get this done—and we will get it done.

Through this collaborative effort, we will remove more than 350 tons of lead from the atmosphere every year—that’s more than the weight of some large jets.

How do we do it? Specifically, our action plan includes four major pillars of work to be completed over the next eight years.  

Industry will lead the first two pillars:

• First, Developing the Business Infrastructure and Implementation for unleaded fuels. Industry will work to create an efficient supply chain to transport unleaded fuels from refineries to thousands of airports across the country. And industry will work to make sure pilots are using these fuels. During the transition and beyond, we will work to maintain aviation safety and airport access.
• Industry will also lead the second pillar -- supporting Research and Development of piston engine modifications and/or engine retrofits that may be needed for unleaded fuel operations. Under this pillar, industry will also work to develop electric or hybrid engine technologies, as another path in the transition to a lead-free piston engine fleet. 

The FAA will lead the 3rd and 4th pillars:

• Testing and Qualifying of Unleaded Fuels is the third pillar - Through the PAFI program, we will continue to evaluate and test high-octane unleaded fuels, and work to authorize lower octane fuels in the near term.
• And finally, the fourth pillar involves government activities – We’ll follow up EPA rules of lead emissions with needed program support for piston engine modifications, new piston engines that do not require leaded aviation fuel, and fuel components for aviation fuels.

On March 16, the EAGLE stakeholders will come together to get this program going.  

We will establish an Executive Director for this initiative, and government and industry leads for the respective pillars. 

The team’s actions and progress will be transparent to the aviation community—you keep flying as you are now. 

As our work progresses, we will make sure you and your pilot associations are informed about key issues like unleaded fuel development and testing, infrastructure development, supply chain efforts, decisions about engine modifications and retrofits, needed government activities, and assumptions about aviation community costs—I know that’s a big area of concern. 

We will work to get every member of the GA community involved so that the transition away from leaded fuel will keep you flying, and flying safely. 

We will also make sure that the communities that host the airports, including tribal communities, will be involved in these efforts. 

In closing, the FAA’s partnership in EAGLE is one of many efforts we’re making to ensure that aviation is environmental sustainable – a key White House priority. 

This is a safe and practical path to a lead-free aviation future. And we look forward to launching this new initiative with aviation stakeholders to achieve this important goal.

Now as all of you know, I won’t be here in Washington to see this effort to the finish line. I am proud to be launching this undertaking and I have great confidence in the team at the FAA to successfully find that route to a lead-free future, collaborating with stakeholders for the good of this sector, and making sure we do it safely—for aviation and for the public.  

Thank you.