HR 6493 EHRFSCommentsClose CommentsPermalink

To amend title 49, United States Code, to enhance aviation safety.CommentsClose CommentsPermalink

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, CommentsClose CommentsPermalink

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

This Act may be cited as the ‘Aviation Safety Enhancement Act of 2008’.CommentsClose CommentsPermalink

SEC. 2. AVIATION SAFETY WHISTLEBLOWER INVESTIGATION OFFICE.

Section 106 of title 49, United States Code, is amended by adding at the end the following:CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





‘(s) Aviation Safety Whistleblower Investigation Office-CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





‘(1) ESTABLISHMENT- There is established in the Federal Aviation Administration (in this section referred to as the ‘Agency’) an Aviation Safety Whistleblower Investigation Office (in this subsection referred to as the ‘Office’).CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





‘(2) DIRECTOR-CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





‘(A) APPOINTMENT- The head of the Office shall be the Director, who shall be appointed by the Secretary of Transportation.CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





‘(B) QUALIFICATIONS- The Director shall have a demonstrated ability in investigations and knowledge of or experience in aviation.CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





‘(C) TERM- The Director shall be appointed for a term of 5 years.CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





‘(D) VACANCY- Any individual appointed to fill a vacancy in the position of the Director occurring before the expiration of the term for which the individual’s predecessor was appointed shall be appointed for the remainder of that term.CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





‘(3) COMPLAINTS AND INVESTIGATIONS-CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





‘(A) AUTHORITY OF DIRECTOR- The Director shall--CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





‘(i) receive complaints and information submitted by employees of persons holding certificates issued under title 14, Code of Federal Regulations, and employees of the Agency concerning the possible existence of an activity relating to a violation of an order, regulation, or standard of the Agency or any other provision of Federal law relating to aviation safety;CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





‘(ii) assess complaints and information submitted under clause (i) and determine whether a substantial likelihood exists that a violation of an order, regulation, or standard of the Agency or any other provision of Federal law relating to aviation safety may have occurred; andCommentsClose CommentsPermalink





‘(iii) based on findings of the assessment conducted under clause (ii), make recommendations to the Administrator in writing for further investigation or corrective actions.CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





‘(B) DISCLOSURE OF IDENTITIES- The Director shall not disclose the identity of an individual who submits a complaint or information under subparagraph (A)(i) unless--CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





‘(i) the individual consents to the disclosure in writing; orCommentsClose CommentsPermalink





‘(ii) the Director determines, in the course of an investigation, that the disclosure is unavoidable.CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





‘(C) INDEPENDENCE OF DIRECTOR- The Secretary, the Administrator, or any officer or employee of the Agency may not prevent or prohibit the Director from initiating, carrying out, or completing any assessment of a complaint or information submitted subparagraph (A)(i) or from reporting to Congress on any such assessment.CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





‘(D) ACCESS TO INFORMATION- In conducting an assessment of a complaint or information submitted under subparagraph (A)(i), the Director shall have access to all records, reports, audits, reviews, documents, papers, recommendations, and other material necessary to determine whether a substantial likelihood exists that a violation of an order, regulation, or standard of the Agency or any other provision of Federal law relating to aviation safety may have occurred.CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





‘(4) RESPONSES TO RECOMMENDATIONS- The Administrator shall respond to a recommendation made by the Director under subparagraph (A)(iii) in writing and retain records related to any further investigations or corrective actions taken in response to the recommendation.CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





‘(5) INCIDENT REPORTS- If the Director determines there is a substantial likelihood that a violation of an order, regulation, or standard of the Agency or any other provision of Federal law relating to aviation safety may have occurred that requires immediate corrective action, the Director shall report the potential violation expeditiously to the Administrator and the Inspector General of the Department of Transportation.CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





‘(6) REPORTING OF CRIMINAL VIOLATIONS TO INSPECTOR GENERAL- If the Director has reasonable grounds to believe that there has been a violation of Federal criminal law, the Director shall report the violation expeditiously to the Inspector General.CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





‘(7) ANNUAL REPORTS TO CONGRESS- Not later than October 1 of each year, the Director shall submit to Congress a report containing--CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





‘(A) information on the number of submissions of complaints and information received by the Director under paragraph (3)(A)(i) in the preceding 12-month period;CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





‘(B) summaries of those submissions;CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





‘(C) summaries of further investigations and corrective actions recommended in response to the submissions; andCommentsClose CommentsPermalink





‘(D) summaries of the responses of the Administrator to such recommendations.’.CommentsClose CommentsPermalink

SEC. 3. MODIFICATION OF CUSTOMER SERVICE INITIATIVE.

(a) Findings- Congress finds the following:CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





(1) Subsections (a) and (d) of section 40101 of title 49, United States Code, directs the Federal Aviation Administration (in this section referred to as the ‘Agency)’) to make safety its highest priority.CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





(2) In 1996, to ensure that there would be no appearance of a conflict of interest for the Agency in carrying out its safety responsibilities, Congress amended section 40101(d) of such title to remove the responsibilities of the Agency to promote airlines.CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





(3) Despite these directives from Congress regarding the priority of safety, the Agency issued a vision statement in which it stated that it has a ‘vision’ of ‘being responsive to our customers and accountable to the public’ and, in 2003, issued a customer service initiative that required aviation inspectors to treat air carriers and other aviation certificate holders as ‘customers’ rather than regulated entities.CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





(4) The initiatives described in paragraph (3) appear to have given regulated entities and Agency inspectors the impression that the management of the Agency gives an unduly high priority to the satisfaction of regulated entities regarding its inspection and certification decisions and other lawful actions of its safety inspectors.CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





(5) As a result of the emphasis on customer satisfaction, some managers of the Agency have discouraged vigorous enforcement and replaced inspectors whose lawful actions adversely affected an air carrier.CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





(b) Modification of Initiative- Not later than 90 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the Administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration shall modify the customer service initiative, mission and vision statements, and other statements of policy of the Agency--CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





(1) to remove any reference to air carriers or other entities regulated by the Agency as ‘customers’;CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





(2) to clarify that in regulating safety the only customers of the Agency are individuals traveling on aircraft; andCommentsClose CommentsPermalink





(3) to clarify that air carriers and other entities regulated by the Agency do not have the right to select the employees of the Agency who will inspect their operations.CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





(c) Safety Priority- In carrying out the Administrator’s responsibilities, the Administrator shall ensure that safety is given a higher priority than preventing the dissatisfaction of an air carrier or other entity regulated by the Agency with an employee of the Agency.CommentsClose CommentsPermalink

SEC. 4. POST-EMPLOYMENT RESTRICTIONS FOR FLIGHT STANDARDS INSPECTORS.

(a) In General- Section 44711 of title 49, United States Code, is amended by adding at the end the following:CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





‘(d) Post-Employment Restrictions for Flight Standards Inspectors-CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





‘(1) PROHIBITION- A person holding an operating certificate issued under title 14, Code of Federal Regulations, may not knowingly employ, or make a contractual arrangement which permits, an individual to act as an agent or representative of the certificate holder in any matter before the Federal Aviation Administration (in this subsection referred to as the ‘Agency’) if the individual, in the preceding 2-year period--CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





‘(A) served as, or was responsible for oversight of, a flight standards inspector of the Agency; andCommentsClose CommentsPermalink





‘(B) had responsibility to inspect, or oversee inspection of, the operations of the certificate holder.CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





‘(2) WRITTEN AND ORAL COMMUNICATIONS- For purposes of paragraph (1), an individual shall be considered to be acting as an agent or representative of a certificate holder in a matter before the Agency if the individual makes any written or oral communication on behalf of the certificate holder to the Agency (or any of its officers or employees) in connection with a particular matter, whether or not involving a specific party and without regard to whether the individual has participated in, or had responsibility for, the particular matter while serving as a flight standards inspector of the Agency.’.CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





(b) Applicability- The amendment made by subsection (a) shall not apply to an individual employed by a certificate holder as of the date of enactment of this Act.CommentsClose CommentsPermalink

SEC. 5. ASSIGNMENT OF PRINCIPAL SUPERVISORY INSPECTORS.

(a) In General- An individual serving as a principal supervisory inspector of the Federal Aviation Administration (in this section referred to as the ‘Agency)’ may not be responsible for overseeing the operations of a single air carrier for a continuous period of more than 5 years.CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





(b) Transitional Provision- An individual serving as a principal supervisory inspector of the Agency with respect to an air carrier as of the date of enactment of this Act may be responsible for overseeing the operations of the carrier until the last day of the 5-year period specified in subsection (a) or last day of the 2-year period beginning on such date of enactment, whichever is later.CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





(c) Issuance of Order- Not later than 30 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the Administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration shall issue an order to carry out this section.CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





(d) Authorization of Appropriations- There are authorized to be appropriated to the Administrator such sums as may be necessary to carry out this section.CommentsClose CommentsPermalink

SEC. 6. HEADQUARTERS REVIEW OF AIR TRANSPORTATION OVERSIGHT SYSTEM DATABASE.

(a) Reviews- The Administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration shall establish a process by which the air transportation oversight system database of the Federal Aviation Administration (in this section referred to as the ‘Agency’) is reviewed by a team of employees of the Agency on a monthly basis to ensure that--CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





(1) any trends in regulatory compliance are identified; andCommentsClose CommentsPermalink





(2) appropriate corrective actions are taken in accordance with Agency regulations, advisory directives, policies, and procedures.CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





(b) Monthly Team Reports-CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





(1) IN GENERAL- The team of employees conducting a monthly review of the air transportation oversight system database under subsection (a) shall submit to the Administrator, the Associate Administrator for Aviation Safety, and the Director of Flight Standards a report on the results of the review.CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





(2) CONTENTS- A report submitted under paragraph (1) shall identify--CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





(A) any trends in regulatory compliance discovered by the team of employees in conducting the monthly review; andCommentsClose CommentsPermalink





(B) any corrective actions taken or proposed to be taken in response to the trends.CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





(c) Quarterly Reports to Congress- The Administrator, on a quarterly basis, shall submit to the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the Senate a report on the results of reviews of the air transportation oversight system database conducted under this section, including copies of reports received under subsection (b).CommentsClose CommentsPermalink

Passed the House of Representatives July 22, 2008.CommentsClose CommentsPermalink

Attest:CommentsClose CommentsPermalink

Clerk.