[Congressional Bills 112th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1335 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

112th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                S. 1335

 To amend title 49, United States Code, to provide rights for pilots, 
                        and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                              July 6, 2011

  Mr. Inhofe (for himself, Mr. Begich, Mr. Johanns, Mr. Boozman, Ms. 
  Snowe, Mr. Moran, Mr. Pryor, Ms. Collins, Mr. Crapo, Mr. Thune, Mr. 
Cornyn, Ms. Murkowski, Mr. Alexander, Mr. Enzi, Mr. Burr, Mr. Barrasso, 
   Mr. Chambliss, Mr. Coats, Mr. Hoeven, Mr. Isakson, Mr. Johnson of 
   Wisconsin, Mr. Roberts, Mr. Blunt, Mr. Coburn, Mr. Risch, and Mr. 
    Wicker) 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 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. FAA ENFORCEMENT PROCEEDINGS AND ELIMINATION OF DEFERENCE.

    (a) In General.--Notwithstanding any other provision of law, any 
proceeding conducted under subpart C or D and 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 in accordance with the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure 
and Federal Rules of Evidence, to the extent practicable.
    (b) Access to Information.--
            (1) In general.--The Administrator of the Federal Aviation 
        Administration shall advise (in a timely manner and in writing) 
        an individual who is the subject of an investigation relating 
        to approval, denial, suspension, modification, or revocation of 
        an airman certificate under chapter 447 of title 49, United 
        States Code, of the following:
                    (A) The nature of the investigation.
                    (B) An oral or written response to a Letter of 
                Investigation from the Administrator is not required.
                    (C) No action or adverse inference can be taken 
                against the individual for declining to respond to a 
                Letter of Investigation from the Administrator.
                    (D) 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) The releasable portions of the Administrator's 
                investigative report will be available to the 
                individual.
            (2) Access to air traffic data.--The Administrator of the 
        Federal Aviation Administration shall provide (in a timely 
        manner) an individual who is the subject of an investigation 
        relating to approval, denial, suspension, modification, or 
        revocation of an airman certificate under chapter 447 of title 
        49, United States Code, any air traffic data that would 
        facilitate the individual's ability to productively participate 
        in the investigation, including the following:
                    (A) Relevant air traffic communication tapes.
                    (B) Radar information.
                    (C) Air traffic controller statements.
                    (D) Flight data.
                    (E) Investigative reports.
                    (F) Any other air traffic or flight data that would 
                facilitate the individual's ability to productively 
                participate in the investigation.
            (3) Timing.--The Administrator shall not proceed against an 
        individual that is the subject of an investigation described in 
        paragraph (1) for at least 30 days after the air traffic data 
        required under paragraph (2) 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 the second sentence 
        and inserting the following: ``The Board is not bound by the 
        findings of fact of the Administrator of the Federal Aviation 
        Administration or the interpretation of laws or regulations the 
        Administrator carries out, but may consider the interpretation 
        and guidance of the Administrator in its review in accordance 
        with the general administrative law principles of deference.''.
            (2) Amendments, modifications, suspensions, and revocations 
        of certificates.--Section 44709(d)(3) of title 49, United 
        States Code, is amended by striking ``is not bound'' and all 
        that follows through the end period and inserting the 
        following: ``is not bound by the findings of fact of the 
        Administrator or the interpretation of laws or regulations the 
        Administrator carries out, but may consider the interpretation 
        and guidance of the Administrator in its review in accordance 
        with the general administrative law principles of deference.''.
            (3) Revocation of airman certificates for controlled 
        substance violations.--The third sentence of section 
        44710(d)(1) of title 49, United States Code, is amended in the 
        third sentence, by striking ``is not bound'' and all that 
        follows through the end period, and inserting the following: 
        ``is not bound by findings of fact of the Administrator or the 
        interpretation of laws or regulations the Administrator carries 
        out, but may consider the interpretation and guidance of the 
        Administrator in its review in accordance with the general 
        administrative law principles of deference.''.
    (d) Appeal From Certificate Actions.--Upon an order or final 
decision by the Administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration 
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 section 44709 (d) and (e) of title 49, United 
States Code, the individual adversely affected by the Administrator's 
action may, at the individual's election, file an appeal in the United 
States district court in which the individual resides, in which the 
action in question occurred, or in the district court for the District 
of Columbia. If the individual adversely affected by the 
Administrator's action elects not to file an appeal in a Federal 
district court, the individual may file an appeal with the National 
Transportation Safety Board.
    (e) Standard of Review.--In an appeal filed under subsection (d), 
the district court or the National Transportation Safety Board, as the 
case may be, 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 the order effective immediately.

SEC. 3. NOTAMS PROVIDED 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'') to--
                    (A) 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 
                notices to airmen, 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) 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 to--
            (1) 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) provide both a full set of NOTAM results in addition to 
        specific information requested by airmen;
            (4) provide a document that is easily searchable; and
            (5) 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, consisting of relevant nonprofit 
and not-for-profit general aviation pilot groups, to advise the 
Administrator in carrying out the goals of the 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. FLIGHT SERVICE STATION BRIEFINGS.

    The Flight Service Station briefings and other air traffic services 
performed by Lockheed Martin or any other government contractor shall 
be available to airmen under the section 522 of title 5, United States 
Code (commonly known as the ``Freedom of Information Act'').

SEC. 5. MEDICAL CERTIFICATION.

    (a) In General.--Not later than 180 days after the date of the 
enactment of this Act, the Administrator of the Federal Aviation 
Administration shall begin a review of the Administration's medical 
certification standards and forms in order to--
            (1) revise the medical application form to provide greater 
        clarity and guidance to applicants; and
            (2) align medical qualification policies with present-day 
        qualified medical judgment and practices as they may apply to 
        an individual's medically relevant circumstances; and
            (3) publish objective medical standards so that the public 
        is fairly advised of the criteria that determines an airman's 
        medical certificate eligibility.
    (b) Goals of Program.--The goals of the review are to--
            (1) 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) 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) give medical standards greater meaning by ensuring the 
        information requested aligns with present-day medical judgment 
        and practices; and
            (4) provide that the application of those standards ensures 
        an appropriate and fair evaluation of an individual's 
        qualifications, and that the individual understands the basis 
        for determining medical qualifications.
    (c) Advice From Private Sector Groups.--The Administrator shall 
establish a panel, consisting 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 review required by this section.
    (d) Phase-In and Completion.--The actions to revise the medical 
application form, to align the medical qualification policies, and to 
publish objective medical standards 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.
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