[Congressional Bills 111th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1193 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

111th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                S. 1193

To amend title 49, United States Code, to enhance aviation safety, and 
                          for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                              June 4, 2009

  Ms. Snowe (for herself and Ms. Klobuchar) introduced the following 
 bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, 
                      Science, and Transportation

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To amend title 49, United States Code, to enhance aviation safety, and 
                          for other purposes.

    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 
2009''.

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 
        Department of Transportation 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 
                        operating certificates issued under chapter 1 
                        of title 14, Code of Federal Regulations, and 
                        employees of the Administration with respect to 
                        activities that may violate an order, 
                        regulation, or standard of the Administration 
                        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 Administration or any other provision of 
                        Federal law relating to aviation safety has 
                        occurred; and
                            ``(iii) based on the assessment conducted 
                        under clause (ii), submit written 
                        recommendations to the Administrator for 
                        further investigation or corrective actions.
                    ``(B) Disclosure of identities.--The Director may 
                not disclose the identity of an individual who submits 
                a complaint or information under subparagraph (A)(i) 
                unless--
                            ``(i) the individual provides written 
                        consent to the disclosure; or
                            ``(ii) the Director determines, in the 
                        course of an investigation undertaken in 
                        response to the complaint or information 
                        submitted by the individual, that the 
                        disclosure is unavoidable.
                    ``(C) Independence of director.--The Secretary of 
                Transportation, the Administrator, or any officer or 
                employee of the Administration may not prevent or 
                prohibit the Director from--
                            ``(i) initiating, carrying out, or 
                        completing any assessment of a complaint or 
                        information submitted subparagraph (A)(i); or
                            ``(ii) reporting to Congress with respect 
                        to 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 Administration or any other provision 
                of Federal law relating to aviation safety has 
                occurred.
            ``(4) Responses to recommendations.--The Administrator 
        shall--
                    ``(A) submit a written response to a recommendation 
                submitted by the Director under subparagraph (A)(iii); 
                and
                    ``(B) retain records related to any investigations 
                or corrective actions taken in response to the 
                recommendation.
            ``(5) Incident reports.--If the Director determines there 
        is a substantial likelihood that a violation of an order, 
        regulation, or standard of the Administration or any other 
        provision of Federal law relating to aviation safety has 
        occurred and that the potential violation requires immediate 
        corrective action, the Director shall expeditiously report the 
        potential violation 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 expeditiously report the violation 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 
        that contains--
                    ``(A) information on the number of complaints and 
                the information submitted to the Director under 
                paragraph (3)(A)(i) during the preceding 12-month 
                period;
                    ``(B) summaries of the submissions described in 
                subparagraph (A);
                    ``(C) summaries of investigations and corrective 
                actions recommended in response to the submissions 
                described in subparagraph (A); and
                    ``(D) summaries of the responses of the 
                Administrator to the recommendations described in 
                subparagraph (C).''.

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 
        (referred to in this section as the ``Administration'') to make 
        safety its highest priority.
            (2) To ensure that there would be no appearance of a 
        conflict of interest for the Administration in carrying out its 
        safety responsibilities, Congress amended section 40101(d) of 
        such title in section 401 of the Federal Aviation 
        Reauthorization Act of 1996 (Public Law 104-264; 110 Stat. 
        3244) to remove the responsibilities of the Administration to 
        promote airlines.
            (3) Despite those directives from Congress regarding the 
        priority of safety, the Administration--
                    (A) issued a vision statement in which the 
                Administration stated that the vision of the 
                Administration includes ``being responsive to our 
                customers and accountable to the public''; and
                    (B) issued a customer service initiative in 2003, 
                which required aviation inspectors to treat air 
                carriers and other aviation certificate holders as 
                ``customers'' rather than as regulated entities.
            (4) The initiative described in paragraph (3) appears to 
        have given regulated entities and Administration inspectors the 
        impression that the management of the Administration 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 Administration 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 the enactment of this Act, the Administrator of the Federal 
Aviation Administration shall modify the customer service initiative, 
mission, vision statements, and other statements of policy of the 
Administration--
            (1) to remove any reference to air carriers and other 
        entities regulated by the Administration as ``customers'';
            (2) to clarify that in regulating safety, the only 
        customers of the Administration are individuals traveling on 
        aircraft; and
            (3) to clarify that air carriers and other entities 
        regulated by the Administration do not have the right to select 
        the employees of the Administration 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 Administration with an employee of the 
Administration.

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:
    ``(d) Post-Employment Restrictions for Flight Standards 
Inspectors.--A person holding an operating certificate issued under 
chapter 1 of title 14, Code of Federal Regulations, may not knowingly 
employ, or engage in employment negotiations or make a contractual 
arrangement of employment with, an employee of the Federal Aviation 
Administration if the employee, in the preceding 2-year period--
            ``(1) served as, or was responsible for oversight of, a 
        flight standards inspector of the Agency; and
            ``(2) had responsibility to inspect, or oversee inspection 
        of, the operations of the certificate holder.''.
    (b) Applicability.--The amendment made by subsection (a) shall 
apply with respect to individuals employed, on or after the date of the 
enactment of this Act, by the Federal Aviation Administration.

SEC. 5. ASSIGNMENT OF PRINCIPAL SUPERVISORY INSPECTORS.

    (a) In General.--An individual serving as a principal supervisory 
inspector of the Federal Aviation Administration may not be responsible 
for overseeing the operations of the same air carrier for a continuous 
period of more than 5 years.
    (b) Transitional Provision.--An individual serving as a principal 
supervisory inspector of the Administration with respect to an air 
carrier on the day before the date of the enactment of this Act may be 
responsible for overseeing the operations of that air carrier until the 
later of--
            (1) the last day of the 5-year period described in 
        subsection (a); or
            (2) the last day of the 2-year period beginning on such 
        date of enactment.
    (c) Issuance of Order.--Not later than 90 days after the date of 
the 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. IMPROVED VOLUNTARY DISCLOSURE REPORTING SYSTEM.

    (a) Voluntary Disclosure Reporting Program Defined.--In this 
section, the term ``Voluntary Disclosure Reporting Program'' means the 
program established by the Federal Aviation Administration through 
Advisory Circular 00-58A, dated September 8, 2006.
    (b) Verification and Evaluation.--The Administrator of the Federal 
Aviation Administration shall modify the Voluntary Disclosure Reporting 
Program to require inspectors to--
            (1) verify that air carriers implement comprehensive 
        solutions to correct the underlying causes of the violations 
        voluntarily disclosed by such air carriers pursuant to the 
        Program; and
            (2) evaluate, before accepting a new report with respect to 
        a previously disclosed violation, whether the air carrier 
        implemented a comprehensive solution with respect to the 
        violation as required by paragraph (1).
    (c) Supervisory Review of Voluntary Self-Disclosures.--The 
Administrator shall establish a process by which each voluntary 
disclosure received from an air carrier about the practices of that air 
carrier is reviewed and approved by a supervisor after the initial 
paper review by an inspector.

SEC. 7. NATIONAL REVIEW TEAM.

    (a) Establishment.--The Administrator of the Federal Aviation 
Administration shall establish a National Review Team, comprised of 
Federal Aviation Administration inspectors who are serving or have 
served as principal supervisory inspectors.
    (b) Audits.--The National Review Team shall conduct periodic, 
unannounced audits throughout the United States of the operations and 
maintenance practices and procedures of air carriers to evaluate the 
effectiveness of the oversight of air carriers carried out by the 
Federal Aviation Administration.
    (c) Supervision.--The National Review Team shall be directly 
supervised by the Associate Administrator for Aviation Safety.
    (d) Limitation.--The Associate Administrator for Aviation Safety 
shall prohibit a member of the National Review Team from participating 
in any audit of an air carrier under subsection (b) if the member has 
previously had responsibility for inspecting, or overseeing the 
inspection of, the operations of that air carrier.

SEC. 8. 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 is reviewed by a team of employees of the Administration 
on a monthly basis to ensure--
            (1) the identification of any trends with respect to 
        compliance or noncompliance with the regulations, advisory 
        directives, policies, and procedures of the Administration; and
            (2) that appropriate actions are taken to correct any 
        trends toward noncompliance identified under paragraph (1).
    (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 a report on the results of 
        the review to the Administrator, the Associate Administrator 
        for Aviation Safety, and the Director of the Flight Standards 
        Service.
            (2) Contents.--Each report submitted under paragraph (1) 
        shall identify--
                    (A) any trends in with respect to compliance or 
                noncompliance identified under subsection (a)(1) by the 
                team of employees conducting the review required under 
                subsection (a); and
                    (B) any corrective actions taken or proposed to be 
                taken under subsection (a)(2) in response to any trends 
                toward noncompliance.
    (c)  Quarterly Reports to Congress.--The Administrator shall submit 
a quarterly report to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and 
Transportation of the Senate and the Committee on Transportation and 
Infrastructure of the House of Representatives that--
            (1) describes the results of the reviews of the air 
        transportation oversight system database conducted under 
        subsection (a); and
            (2) includes copies of reports received under subsection 
        (b).

SEC. 9. RULEMAKING.

    Not later than 90 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, 
the Administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration shall 
prescribe such regulations as may be necessary to carry out this Act 
and the amendments made by this Act.
                                 <all>