[Congressional Bills 114th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 3421 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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114th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                S. 3421

To require air carriers to provide all flight attendants with scheduled 
rest periods of at least 10 consecutive hours between duty periods and 
to comply with fatigue management plans for flight attendants that have 
         been approved by the Federal Aviation Administration.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                           September 28, 2016

 Mr. Blumenthal (for himself, Mr. Markey, Mrs. Shaheen, Mr. Brown, and 
 Ms. Cantwell) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 
   referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To require air carriers to provide all flight attendants with scheduled 
rest periods of at least 10 consecutive hours between duty periods and 
to comply with fatigue management plans for flight attendants that have 
         been approved by the Federal Aviation Administration.

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

SECTION 1. FLIGHT ATTENDANT DUTY PERIOD LIMITATIONS AND REST 
              REQUIREMENTS.

    (a) Rulemaking.--Not later than 30 days after the date of the 
enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Transportation shall modify the 
flight attendant duty period limitations and rest requirements under 
section 121.467 of title 14, Code of Federal Regulations, to require 
that--
            (1) all flight attendants scheduled to a duty period of 14 
        hours or less are given a scheduled rest period of at least 10 
        consecutive hours; and
            (2) the rest period referred to in paragraph (1)--
                    (A) is not reduced under any circumstances; and
                    (B) occurs between the completion of the scheduled 
                duty period and the commencement of the subsequent duty 
                period.
    (b) Fatigue Risk Management Plan.--
            (1) Submission of plan by part 121 air carriers.--Not later 
        than 90 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, each 
        air carrier operating under part 121 of title 13, Code of 
        Federal Regulations (referred to in this subsection as a ``part 
        121 air carrier''), shall submit a fatigue risk management plan 
        for the carrier's flight attendants to the Administrator of the 
        Federal Aviation Administration for review and acceptance.
            (2) Contents of plan.--Each fatigue risk management plan 
        submitted under paragraph (1) shall include--
                    (A) current flight time and duty period 
                limitations;
                    (B) a rest scheme that is consistent with such 
                limitations and enables the management of flight 
                attendant fatigue, including annual training to 
                increase awareness of--
                            (i) fatigue;
                            (ii) the effects of fatigue on flight 
                        attendants; and
                            (iii) fatigue countermeasures; and
                    (C) the development and use of methodology that 
                continually assesses the effectiveness of 
                implementation of the plan, including the ability of 
                the plan--
                            (i) to improve alertness; and
                            (ii) to mitigate performance errors.
            (3) Review.--Not later than 1 year after the date of the 
        enactment of this Act, the Administrator of the Federal 
        Aviation Administration shall--
                    (A) review each fatigue risk management plan 
                submitted under this subsection; and
                    (B)(i) accept the plan; or
                    (ii) reject the plan and provide the part 121 air 
                carrier with suggested modifications to be included 
                when the plan is resubmitted.
            (4) Plan updates.--
                    (A) In general.--Not less frequently than once 
                every 2 years, each part 121 air carrier shall--
                            (i) update the fatigue risk management plan 
                        submitted under paragraph (1); and
                            (ii) submit the updated plan to the 
                        Administrator for review and acceptance.
                    (B) Review.--Not later than 1 year after the date 
                on which an updated plan is submitted under 
                subparagraph (A)(ii), the Administrator shall--
                            (i) review the updated plan; and
                            (ii)(I) accept the updated plan; or
                            (II) reject the updated plan and provide 
                        the part 121 air carrier with suggested 
                        modifications to be included when the updated 
                        plan is resubmitted.
            (5) Compliance.--Each part 121 air carrier shall comply 
        with its fatigue risk management plan after the plan is 
        accepted by the Administrator under this subsection.
            (6) Civil penalties.--A violation of this subsection by a 
        part 121 air carrier shall be treated as a violation of chapter 
        447 of title 49, United States Code, for the purpose of 
        applying civil penalties under chapter 463 of such title.
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