[Congressional Bills 112th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1335 Engrossed in Senate (ES)]
112th CONGRESS
2d Session
S. 1335
_______________________________________________________________________
AN ACT
To amend title 49, United States Code, to provide rights for pilots,
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 ``Pilot's Bill of Rights''.
SEC. 2. FEDERAL AVIATION ADMINISTRATION ENFORCEMENT PROCEEDINGS AND
ELIMINATION OF DEFERENCE.
(a) In General.--Any proceeding conducted under subpart C, D, or F
of part 821 of title 49, Code of Federal Regulations, relating to
denial, amendment, modification, suspension, or revocation of an airman
certificate, shall be conducted, to the extent practicable, in
accordance with the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure and the Federal
Rules of Evidence.
(b) Access to Information.--
(1) In general.--Except as provided under paragraph (3),
the Administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration
(referred to in this section as the ``Administrator'') shall
provide timely, written notification to an individual who is
the subject of an investigation relating to the approval,
denial, suspension, modification, or revocation of an airman
certificate under chapter 447 of title 49, United States Code.
(2) Information required.--The notification required under
paragraph (1) shall inform the individual--
(A) of the nature of the investigation;
(B) that an oral or written response to a Letter of
Investigation from the Administrator is not required;
(C) that no action or adverse inference can be
taken against the individual for declining to respond
to a Letter of Investigation from the Administrator;
(D) that any response to a Letter of Investigation
from the Administrator or to an inquiry made by a
representative of the Administrator by the individual
may be used as evidence against the individual;
(E) that the releasable portions of the
Administrator's investigative report will be available
to the individual; and
(F) that the individual is entitled to access or
otherwise obtain air traffic data described in
paragraph (4).
(3) Exception.--The Administrator may delay timely
notification under paragraph (1) if the Administrator
determines that such notification may threaten the integrity of
the investigation.
(4) Access to air traffic data.--
(A) FAA air traffic data.--The Administrator shall
provide an individual described in paragraph (1) with
timely access to any air traffic data in the possession
of the Federal Aviation Administration that would
facilitate the individual's ability to productively
participate in a proceeding relating to an
investigation described in such paragraph.
(B) Air traffic data defined.--As used in
subparagraph (A), the term ``air traffic data''
includes--
(i) relevant air traffic communication
tapes;
(ii) radar information;
(iii) air traffic controller statements;
(iv) flight data;
(v) investigative reports; and
(vi) any other air traffic or flight data
in the Federal Aviation Administration's
possession that would facilitate the
individual's ability to productively
participate in the proceeding.
(C) Government contractor air traffic data.--
(i) In general.--Any individual described
in paragraph (1) is entitled to obtain any air
traffic data that would facilitate the
individual's ability to productively
participate in a proceeding relating to an
investigation described in such paragraph from
a government contractor that provides
operational services to the Federal Aviation
Administration, including control towers and
flight service stations.
(ii) Required information from
individual.--The individual may obtain the
information described in clause (i) by
submitting a request to the Administrator
that--
(I) describes the facility at which
such information is located; and
(II) identifies the date on which
such information was generated.
(iii) Provision of information to
individual.--If the Administrator receives a
request under this subparagraph, the
Administrator shall--
(I) request the contractor to
provide the requested information; and
(II) upon receiving such
information, transmitting the
information to the requesting
individual in a timely manner.
(5) Timing.--Except when the Administrator determines that
an emergency exists under section 44709(c)(2) or 46105(c), the
Administrator may not proceed against an individual that is the
subject of an investigation described in paragraph (1) during
the 30-day period beginning on the date on which the air
traffic data required under paragraph (4) is made available to
the individual.
(c) Amendments to Title 49.--
(1) Airman certificates.--Section 44703(d)(2) of title 49,
United States Code, is amended by striking ``but is bound by
all validly adopted interpretations of laws and regulations the
Administrator carries out unless the Board finds an
interpretation is arbitrary, capricious, or otherwise not
according to law''.
(2) Amendments, modifications, suspensions, and revocations
of certificates.--Section 44709(d)(3) of such title is amended
by striking ``but is bound by all validly adopted
interpretations of laws and regulations the Administrator
carries out and of written agency policy guidance available to
the public related to sanctions to be imposed under this
section unless the Board finds an interpretation is arbitrary,
capricious, or otherwise not according to law''.
(3) Revocation of airman certificates for controlled
substance violations.--Section 44710(d)(1) of such title is
amended by striking ``but shall be bound by all validly adopted
interpretations of laws and regulations the Administrator
carries out and of written agency policy guidance available to
the public related to sanctions to be imposed under this
section unless the Board finds an interpretation is arbitrary,
capricious, or otherwise not according to law''.
(d) Appeal From Certificate Actions.--
(1) In general.--Upon a decision by the National
Transportation Safety Board upholding an order or a final
decision by the Administrator denying an airman certificate
under section 44703(d) of title 49, United States Code, or
imposing a punitive civil action or an emergency order of
revocation under subsections (d) and (e) of section 44709 of
such title, an individual substantially affected by an order of
the Board may, at the individual's election, file an appeal in
the United States district court in which the individual
resides or in which the action in question occurred, or in the
United States District Court for the District of Columbia. If
the individual substantially affected by an order of the Board
elects not to file an appeal in a United States district court,
the individual may file an appeal in an appropriate United
States court of appeals.
(2) Emergency order pending judicial review.--Subsequent to
a decision by the Board to uphold an Administrator's emergency
order under section 44709(e)(2) of title 49, United States
Code, and absent a stay of the enforcement of that order by the
Board, the emergency order of amendment, modification,
suspension, or revocation of a certificate shall remain in
effect, pending the exhaustion of an appeal to a Federal
district court as provided in this Act.
(e) Standard of Review.--
(1) In general.--In an appeal filed under subsection (d) in
a United States district court, the district court shall give
full independent review of a denial, suspension, or revocation
ordered by the Administrator, including substantive independent
and expedited review of any decision by the Administrator to
make such order effective immediately.
(2) Evidence.--A United States district court's review
under paragraph (1) shall include in evidence any record of the
proceeding before the Administrator and any record of the
proceeding before the National Transportation Safety Board,
including hearing testimony, transcripts, exhibits, decisions,
and briefs submitted by the parties.
SEC. 3. NOTICES TO AIRMEN.
(a) In General.--
(1) Definition.--In this section, the term ``NOTAM'' means
Notices to Airmen.
(2) Improvements.--Not later than 180 days after the date
of the enactment of this Act, the Administrator of the Federal
Aviation Administration shall begin a Notice to Airmen
Improvement Program (in this section referred to as the ``NOTAM
Improvement Program'')--
(A) to improve the system of providing airmen with
pertinent and timely information regarding the national
airspace system;
(B) to archive, in a public central location, all
NOTAMs, including the original content and form of the
notices, the original date of publication, and any
amendments to such notices with the date of each
amendment; and
(C) to apply filters so that pilots can prioritize
critical flight safety information from other airspace
system information.
(b) Goals of Program.--The goals of the NOTAM Improvement Program
are--
(1) to decrease the overwhelming volume of NOTAMs an airman
receives when retrieving airman information prior to a flight
in the national airspace system;
(2) make the NOTAMs more specific and relevant to the
airman's route and in a format that is more useable to the
airman;
(3) to provide a full set of NOTAM results in addition to
specific information requested by airmen;
(4) to provide a document that is easily searchable; and
(5) to provide a filtering mechanism similar to that
provided by the Department of Defense Notices to Airmen.
(c) Advice From Private Sector Groups.--The Administrator shall
establish a NOTAM Improvement Panel, which shall be comprised of
representatives of relevant nonprofit and not-for-profit general
aviation pilot groups, to advise the Administrator in carrying out the
goals of the NOTAM Improvement Program under this section.
(d) Phase-in and Completion.--The improvements required by this
section shall be phased in as quickly as practicable and shall be
completed not later than the date that is 1 year after the date of the
enactment of this Act.
SEC. 4. MEDICAL CERTIFICATION.
(a) Assessment.--
(1) In general.--Not later than 180 days after the date of
the enactment of this Act, the Comptroller General of the
United States shall initiate an assessment of the Federal
Aviation Administration's medical certification process and the
associated medical standards and forms.
(2) Report.--The Comptroller General shall submit a report
to Congress based on the assessment required under paragraph
(1) that examines--
(A) revisions to the medical application form that
would provide greater clarity and guidance to
applicants;
(B) the alignment of medical qualification policies
with present-day qualified medical judgment and
practices, as applied to an individual's medically
relevant circumstances; and
(C) steps that could be taken to promote the
public's understanding of the medical requirements that
determine an airman's medical certificate eligibility.
(b) Goals of the Federal Aviation Administration's Medical
Certification Process.--The goals of the Federal Aviation
Administration's medical certification process are--
(1) to provide questions in the medical application form
that--
(A) are appropriate without being overly broad;
(B) are subject to a minimum amount of
misinterpretation and mistaken responses;
(C) allow for consistent treatment and responses
during the medical application process; and
(D) avoid unnecessary allegations that an
individual has intentionally falsified answers on the
form;
(2) to provide questions that elicit information that is
relevant to making a determination of an individual's medical
qualifications within the standards identified in the
Administrator's regulations;
(3) to give medical standards greater meaning by ensuring
the information requested aligns with present-day medical
judgment and practices; and
(4) to ensure that--
(A) the application of such medical standards
provides an appropriate and fair evaluation of an
individual's qualifications; and
(B) the individual understands the basis for
determining medical qualifications.
(c) Advice From Private Sector Groups.--The Administrator shall
establish a panel, which shall be comprised of representatives of
relevant nonprofit and not-for-profit general aviation pilot groups,
aviation medical examiners, and other qualified medical experts, to
advise the Administrator in carrying out the goals of the assessment
required under this section.
(d) Federal Aviation Administration Response.--Not later than 1
year after the issuance of the report by the Comptroller General
pursuant to subsection (a)(2), the Administrator shall take appropriate
actions to respond to such report.
Passed the Senate June 29, 2012.
Attest:
Secretary.
112th CONGRESS
2d Session
S. 1335
_______________________________________________________________________
AN ACT
To amend title 49, United States Code, to provide rights for pilots,
and for other purposes.