[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 4565 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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116th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                S. 4565

 To amend title 49, United States Code, to rename the Aviation Safety 
   Whistleblower Investigation Office and to establish an Office of 
   Professional Responsibility and an Office of the Ombudsman in the 
        Federal Aviation Administration, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                           September 10, 2020

  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 rename the Aviation Safety 
   Whistleblower Investigation Office and to establish an Office of 
   Professional Responsibility and an Office of the Ombudsman in the 
        Federal Aviation Administration, 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 ``Federal Aviation Administration 
Accountability Enhancement Act''.

SEC. 2. ENHANCEMENT OF THE AVIATION SAFETY WHISTLEBLOWER INVESTIGATION 
              OFFICE IN THE FEDERAL AVIATION ADMINISTRATION.

    (a) Renaming of the Office.--Section 106(t)(1) of title 49, United 
States Code, is amended by striking ``an Aviation Safety Whistleblower 
Investigation Office'' and inserting ``the Office of Accountability and 
Whistleblower Protection''.
    (b) Duties.--
            (1) In general.--Section 106(t)(3) of title 49, United 
        States Code, is amended--
                    (A) in subparagraph (A)--
                            (i) in clause (i)--
                                    (I) by inserting ``and investigate 
                                in accordance with subsection (w)'' 
                                after ``receive''; and
                                    (II) by striking ``(if the 
                                certificate holder does not have a 
                                similar in-house whistleblower or 
                                safety and regulatory noncompliance 
                                reporting process)'';
                            (ii) in clause (ii), by striking ``and'' at 
                        the end;
                            (iii) in clause (iii), by striking the 
                        period at the end and inserting ``; and''; and
                            (iv) by adding at the end the following:
                            ``(iv) investigate in accordance with 
                        subsection (w) any misconduct alleged or 
                        discovered as a result of an investigation 
                        conducted pursuant to clause (i);
                            ``(v) receive and investigate in accordance 
                        with subsection (w) complaints and information 
                        concerning whistleblower retaliation by 
                        employees of the Agency;
                            ``(vi) assess the results of any 
                        investigation under clause (i), (iv), or (v), 
                        and if there is a finding of whistleblower 
                        retaliation or related misconduct, provide a 
                        recommendation for a range of disciplinary 
                        actions to the Agency proposing official;
                            ``(vii) if the Agency proposing official 
                        deviates from the recommended range of 
                        disciplinary action described in clause (vi), 
                        or if the Agency deciding official deviates 
                        from the range of disciplinary actions proposed 
                        by the Agency proposing official, notify 
                        Congress in writing not later than 10 days 
                        after such deviation; and
                            ``(viii) comply with all legal requirements 
                        concerning disciplinary actions related to 
                        whistleblower retaliation.'';
                    (B) in subparagraph (B), by striking ``subparagraph 
                (A)(i)'' and inserting ``clause (i), (iv), or (v) of 
                subparagraph (A)'';
                    (C) in subparagraph (C), by striking ``subparagraph 
                (A)(i)'' and inserting ``clause (i), (iv), or (v) of 
                subparagraph (A)''; and
                    (D) in subparagraph (D)--
                            (i) by striking ``assessment'' and 
                        inserting ``investigation'';
                            (ii) by striking ``subparagraph (A)(i)'' 
                        and inserting ``clause (i), (iv), or (v) of 
                        subparagraph (A)''; and
                            (iii) by inserting ``, misconduct, or 
                        whistleblower retaliation'' after ``aviation 
                        safety''.
            (2) Limitation.--Section 106(t)(2) of title 49, United 
        States Code, is amended by adding at the end the following:
                    ``(E) Limitation of duties.--The Administrator may 
                only assign to the Director responsibilities relating 
                to the duties of the Office described in paragraph 
                (3).''.
            (3) Conforming amendments.--Section 106(t) of title 49, 
        United States Code, as amended--
                    (A) in paragraph (5), by inserting ``, misconduct, 
                or whistleblower retaliation'' after ``aviation 
                safety'';
                    (B) in paragraph (7)--
                            (i) in the matter preceding subparagraph 
                        (A)--
                                    (I) by striking ``October 1'' and 
                                inserting ``November 15''; and
                                    (II) by inserting ``directly'' 
                                after ``the Director shall submit''; 
                                and
                            (ii) in subparagraph (A), by striking 
                        ``paragraph (3)(A)(i) in the preceding 12-month 
                        period'' and inserting ``clause (i), (iv), or 
                        (v) of paragraph 3(A) in the preceding fiscal 
                        year''; and
                    (C) by adding at the end the following:
            ``(8) Staff and resources.--The Administrator shall ensure 
        that the Director has such staff, resources, and access to 
        information as may be necessary to carry out the functions of 
        the Office.''.

SEC. 3. OFFICE OF THE WHISTLEBLOWER OMBUDSMAN IN THE FEDERAL AVIATION 
              ADMINISTRATION.

    Section 106 of title 49, United States Code, is amended by adding 
at the end the following:
    ``(u) Office of the Whistleblower Ombudsman.--
            ``(1) Establishment.--The Administrator shall establish in 
        the Federal Aviation Administration (in this subsection 
        referred to as the `Agency') an Office of the Whistleblower 
        Ombudsman (in this subsection referred to as the `Office').
            ``(2) Ombudsman.--The Office shall be headed by an 
        Ombudsman, who shall be appointed by the Administrator.
            ``(3) Duties.--The Ombudsman shall carry out the following 
        duties:
                    ``(A) Educate Agency employees about prohibitions 
                on retaliation and any specific rights or remedies with 
                respect to any retaliatory practice.
                    ``(B) Serve as an independent confidential resource 
                for Agency employees to discuss any specific 
                retaliation allegation and available rights or remedies 
                based on the circumstances.
                    ``(C) Coordinate with Human Resource Management, 
                the Office of Accountability and Whistleblower 
                Protection, the Office of Professional Responsibility, 
                and the Office of the Chief Counsel, as necessary.
                    ``(D) Coordinate with the Office of the Inspector 
                General of the Department of Transportation's 
                Whistleblower Protection Coordinator and the Office of 
                the Special Counsel, as necessary.
                    ``(E) Conduct outreach and training within the 
                Agency to mitigate retaliation and promote timely and 
                appropriate processing of any protected disclosure or 
                allegation of retaliation.
            ``(4) Staff and resources.--The Administrator shall ensure 
        that the Ombudsman has such staff, resources, and access to 
        information as may be necessary to carry out the functions of 
        the Office.''.

SEC. 4. OFFICE OF PROFESSIONAL RESPONSIBILITY IN THE FEDERAL AVIATION 
              ADMINISTRATION.

    Section 106 of title 49, United States Code, as amended by section 
3, is amended by adding at the end the following:
    ``(v) Office of Professional Responsibility.--
            ``(1) Establishment.--The Administrator shall establish in 
        the Federal Aviation Administration (in this subsection 
        referred to as the `Agency') an Office of Professional 
        Responsibility (in this subsection referred to as the 
        `Office').
            ``(2) Duties.--The Office shall carry out the following 
        duties:
                    ``(A) Receive any complaints and information 
                concerning misconduct by managers within the Agency.
                    ``(B) Assess any complaint and information 
                concerning misconduct by managers received under this 
                paragraph and determine whether sufficient information 
                exists to initiate an investigation in accordance with 
                subsection (w).
                    ``(C) Except as provided in subparagraph (D), refer 
                each misconduct case, based on the nature of the 
                allegations, to--
                            ``(i) the Office of the Inspector General 
                        of the Department of Transportation for 
                        investigation and appropriate referral, as 
                        necessary; or
                            ``(ii) the appropriate venue within the 
                        Agency for investigation in accordance with 
                        subsection (w) and adjudication in accordance 
                        with subsection (x), unless the Office decides 
                        to retain such case.
                    ``(D) Retain and independently investigate in 
                accordance with subsection (w) any allegation, other 
                than an allegation investigated by the Office of 
                Accountability and Whistleblower Protection or referred 
                outside of the Agency, that carries a possible penalty 
                of suspension of pay for more than 14 days.
                    ``(E) Record and track the disposition of each 
                misconduct case received under this paragraph.
            ``(3) Staff and resources.--The Administrator shall ensure 
        that the Office has such staff, resources, and access to 
        information as may be necessary to carry out the functions of 
        the Office.
            ``(4) Definition.--For purposes of this subsection, the 
        term `manager' means an employee of the Agency who is a 
        supervisor or management official, as defined in section 
        7103(a) of title 5, United States Code.''.

SEC. 5. MISCONDUCT INVESTIGATIONS AND ADJUDICATIONS IN THE FEDERAL 
              AVIATION ADMINISTRATION.

    Section 106 of title 49, United States Code, as amended by section 
4, is amended by adding at the end the following:
    ``(w) Misconduct Investigations.--
            ``(1) Establishment of policy.--
                    ``(A) In general.--The Administrator shall 
                establish an investigative policy that governs any 
                investigation of misconduct by a manager conducted by 
                the Federal Aviation Administration (in this subsection 
                referred to as the `Agency').
                    ``(B) Preservation of collective bargaining 
                agreements.--The investigative policy established under 
                subparagraph (A) shall not apply to, or in the future, 
                be extended by the Administrator to apply to, any 
                employee covered by or eligible to be covered by a 
                collective bargaining agreement entered into by the 
                Agency.
            ``(2) Requirements.--The investigative policy established 
        under paragraph (1) shall require the utilization of 
        investigative best practices to ensure independent and 
        objective investigation and accurate recording and reporting of 
        such investigation, including--
                    ``(A) managing case files to ensure the integrity 
                of the information contained in such case files;
                    ``(B) conducting interviews in a manner that 
                ensures truthful answers and accurate records of such 
                interviews;
                    ``(C) coordinating with the Office of the Inspector 
                General of the Department of Transportation, the Office 
                of the Special Counsel, and the Attorney General, as 
                necessary; and
                    ``(D) completing investigations in a timely manner.
            ``(3) Definition.--For purposes of this subsection, the 
        term `manager' has the meaning given such term in subsection 
        (v)(4).
    ``(x) Discipline Management.--
            ``(1) Establishment of policy.--
                    ``(A) In general.--The Administrator shall 
                establish a discipline management policy that governs 
                any adjudication of an investigation of misconduct by a 
                manager conducted by the Federal Aviation 
                Administration (in this subsection referred to as the 
                `Agency').
                    ``(B) Preservation of collective bargaining 
                agreements.--The discipline management policy 
                established under subparagraph (A) shall not apply to, 
                or in the future, be extended by the Administrator to 
                apply to, any employee covered by or eligible to be 
                covered by a collective bargaining agreement entered 
                into by the Agency.
            ``(2) Requirements.--The discipline management policy 
        established under paragraph (1) shall require--
                    ``(A) except as provided in subsection (t)(3)(A) or 
                in a case where the allegation involved carries a 
                possible penalty of suspension of pay for 14 days or 
                less, the Administrator to appoint an individual to 
                serve as the Agency proposing official in any 
                adjudication conducted by the Agency;
                    ``(B) except in a case where the allegation 
                involved carries a possible penalty of suspension of 
                pay for 14 days or less, the Administrator to appoint 
                an individual to serve as the Agency deciding official 
                in any adjudication conducted by the Agency;
                    ``(C) the Agency to conduct any adjudication in 
                accordance with best practices; and
                    ``(D) the Agency to complete--
                            ``(i) the discipline proposal process, 
                        including an opportunity for employee response, 
                        not later than 60 days after the receipt of a 
                        completed misconduct investigation; and
                            ``(ii) the decision process, including any 
                        employee appeal, not later than 60 days after 
                        the conclusion of the discipline proposal 
                        process.
            ``(3) Definition.--For purposes of this subsection, the 
        term `manager' has the meaning given such term in subsection 
        (v)(4).''.
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