[Congressional Bills 110th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 6493 Introduced in House (IH)]







110th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 6493

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


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             July 15, 2008

   Mr. Oberstar (for himself, Mr. Mica, Mr. Costello, and Mr. Petri) 
 introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on 
                   Transportation and Infrastructure

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


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

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

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Aviation Safety Enhancement Act of 
2008''.

SEC. 2. AVIATION SAFETY WHISTLEBLOWER INVESTIGATION OFFICE.

    Section 106 of title 49, United States Code, is amended by adding 
at the end the following:
    ``(s) Aviation Safety Whistleblower Investigation Office.--
            ``(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').
            ``(2) Director.--
                    ``(A) Appointment.--The head of the Office shall be 
                the Director, who shall be appointed by the Secretary 
                of Transportation.
                    ``(B) Qualifications.--The Director shall have a 
                demonstrated ability in investigations and knowledge of 
                or experience in aviation.
                    ``(C) Term.--The Director shall be appointed for a 
                term of 5 years.
                    ``(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.
            ``(3) Complaints and investigations.--
                    ``(A) Authority of director.--The Director shall--
                            ``(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;
                            ``(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 has occurred; 
                        and
                            ``(iii) based on findings of the assessment 
                        conducted under clause (ii), make 
                        recommendations to the Administrator in writing 
                        for further investigation or corrective 
                        actions.
                    ``(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--
                            ``(i) the individual consents to the 
                        disclosure in writing; or
                            ``(ii) the Director determines, in the 
                        course of an investigation, that the disclosure 
                        is unavoidable.
                    ``(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.
                    ``(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 has occurred.
            ``(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.
            ``(5) Incident reports.--If the Director determines that a 
        violation of an order, regulation, or standard of the Agency or 
        any other provision of Federal law relating to aviation safety 
        has occurred that requires immediate corrective action, the 
        Director shall report the violation expeditiously to the 
        Administrator and the Inspector General of the Department of 
        Transportation.
            ``(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.
            ``(7) Annual reports to congress.--Not later than October 1 
        of each year, the Director shall submit to Congress a report 
        containing--
                    ``(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;
                    ``(B) summaries of those submissions;
                    ``(C) summaries of further investigations and 
                corrective actions recommended in response to the 
                submissions; and
                    ``(D) summaries of the responses of the 
                Administrator to such recommendations.''.

SEC. 3. MODIFICATION OF CUSTOMER SERVICE INITIATIVE.

    (a) Findings.--Congress finds the following:
            (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.
            (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.
            (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.
            (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.
            (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.
    (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--
            (1) to remove any reference to air carriers or other 
        entities regulated by the Agency as ``customers'';
            (2) to clarify that in regulating safety the only customers 
        of the Agency are individuals traveling on aircraft; and
            (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.
    (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.

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

    (a) In General.--Section 44711 of title 49, United States Code, is 
amended by adding at the end the following:
    ``(d) Post-Employment Restrictions for Flight Standards 
Inspectors.--
            ``(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 
        with, 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--
                    ``(A) served as, or was responsible for oversight 
                of, a flight standards inspector of the Agency; and
                    ``(B) had responsibility to inspect, or oversee 
                inspection of, the operations of the certificate 
                holder.
            ``(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.''.
    (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.

SEC. 5. ASSIGNMENT OF FAA PRINCIPAL MAINTENANCE INSPECTORS.

    (a) In General.--An individual serving as a principal maintenance 
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.
    (b) Transitional Provision.--An individual serving as a principal 
maintenance 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.
    (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.
    (d) Authorization of Appropriations.--There are authorized to be 
appropriated to the Administrator such sums as may be necessary to 
carry out this section.

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--
            (1) any trends in regulatory compliance are identified; and
            (2) appropriate corrective actions are taken in accordance 
        with Agency regulations, advisory directives, policies, and 
        procedures.
    (b) Monthly Team Reports.--
            (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.
            (2) Contents.--A report submitted under paragraph (1) shall 
        identify--
                    (A) any trends in regulatory compliance discovered 
                by the team of employees in conducting the monthly 
                review; and
                    (B) any corrective actions taken or proposed to be 
                taken in response to the trends.
    (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).
                                 <all>