Several aviation groups, including NBAA and Airlines for America, applauded the Senate’s passage of legislation in the early hours on Saturday that prohibits operators of U.S. aircraft from participating in the European Union Emissions Trading Scheme (EU-ETS), which would require them to buy carbon credits to cover aviation carbon dioxide emissions. The Senate bill, S.1956, the “European Union Emissions Trading Scheme Prohibition Act,” directs the transportation secretary to prevent all U.S. aircraft operators, including business aircraft operators, from taking part in EU-ETS.

The House of Representatives passed similar legislation earlier this year, and the two bills must now be reconciled into a single measure for a final vote from both legislatures. “NBAA thanks Senators John Thune [R-S.D.], Claire McCaskill [D-Mo.] and others on both sides of the aisle who supported this legislation,” said NBAA president and CEO Ed Bolen said. “We appreciate the forceful message this bill sends to the EU against the imposition of a new carbon tax on aircraft.”

Bolen has repeatedly pointed out the industry’s concerns about Europe’s aviation emissions tax, and has supported both the House and Senate versions of the legislation opposing the plan. NBAA believes that international standards governing aircraft emissions should be enacted the International Civil Aviation Organization, not unilaterally by the EU.