[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 4979 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

<DOC>






118th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                S. 4979

  To establish an independent expert review panel to review and make 
      findings and recommendations to inform the Federal Aviation 
   Administration's implementation of a comprehensive and integrated 
 Safety Management System for all lines of business within the Federal 
            Aviation Administration, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             August 1, 2024

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

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
  To establish an independent expert review panel to review and make 
      findings and recommendations to inform the Federal Aviation 
   Administration's implementation of a comprehensive and integrated 
 Safety Management System for all lines of business within 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 ``FAA SMS Compliance Review Act of 
2024''.

SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS.

     In this Act:
            (1) Administrator.--The term ``Administrator'' means the 
        Administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration.
            (2) Appropriate committees of congress.--The term 
        ``appropriate committees of Congress'' means the Committee on 
        Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the Senate and the 
        Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure of the House of 
        Representatives.
            (3) FAA.--The term ``FAA'' means the Federal Aviation 
        Administration.
            (4) SMS.--The term ``SMS'' means a Safety Management 
        System.

SEC. 3. EXPERT COMPLIANCE REVIEW OF FAA SAFETY MANAGEMENT SYSTEM.

    (a) Expert Compliance Review.--
            (1) Establishment.--
                    (A) In general.--Not later than 60 days after the 
                date of enactment of this section, the Administrator 
                shall convene an independent expert panel (in this 
                section referred to as the ``review panel'') to review 
                and make findings and recommendations on the matters 
                listed in paragraph (2).
                    (B) Purpose.--The purpose of the review panel is to 
                review and evaluate FAA orders and policies to inform 
                the FAA's implementation of a comprehensive and 
                integrated SMS for all lines of business within the 
                FAA.
            (2) Contents of review.--The review panel shall review the 
        following:
                    (A) The extent to which the FAA's SMS complies with 
                relevant FAA orders and policies.
                    (B) The actual and projected safety enhancements 
                achieved through the FAA's prior implementation of the 
                SMS.
                    (C) The effectiveness of the SMS, including with 
                respect to the implementation of the following 4 
                components:
                            (i) Safety policy.
                            (ii) Safety risk management.
                            (iii) Safety assurance.
                            (iv) Safety promotion.
                    (D) The extent to which the SMS and each of the 4 
                components described in subparagraph (C) are integrated 
                among all lines of business of the FAA.
                    (E) The extent to which the SMS and each of the 4 
                components so described are understood and communicated 
                to personnel at the FAA.
                    (F) The efficacy of the FAA's Voluntary Safety 
                Reporting Program as part of the SMS, including any 
                actions taken by the FAA in response to reports filed 
                under such program.
                    (G) Whether the Federal Government should advocate 
                for changes to Annex 19-Safety Management of the 
                International Civil Aviation Organization (in this 
                section referred to as ``ICAO'') to ensure appropriate 
                updates to the State Safety Program standards and 
                recommended practices, including--
                            (i) a systems-level approach to evaluating 
                        and improving SMS for air navigation service 
                        providers; and
                            (ii) the implementation of the SMS for 
                        civil aviation regulators.
                    (H) Any other matter determined by the 
                Administrator for which review by the review panel 
                would be consistent with the public interest in 
                aviation safety.
            (3) Composition of review panel.--
                    (A) Appointed members.--The review panel shall 
                consist of the following members appointed by the 
                Administrator:
                            (i) Two representatives of the National 
                        Aeronautics and Space Administration with 
                        expertise in SMSs.
                            (ii) Three appropriately qualified 
                        representatives of aviation labor 
                        organizations, designated by the applicable 
                        represented organization.
                            (iii) Not less than 5 independent subject 
                        matter experts in safety management systems 
                        who--
                                    (I) have not served as a political 
                                appointee in the FAA; and
                                    (II) have a minimum of 10 years of 
                                relevant applied experience.
                            (iv) Three representatives from the 
                        aviation industry with expertise in safety 
                        management systems.
                            (v) A representative of the United States 
                        Mission to the ICAO.
                    (B) Advisory members.--
                            (i) In general.--In addition to the 
                        appointed members described in subparagraph 
                        (A), the review panel shall be advised by up to 
                        5 employees of the FAA, at least 3 of whom 
                        shall be subject matter experts in implementing 
                        SMS at the FAA.
                            (ii) Duties.--The advisory members may take 
                        part in deliberations of the review panel and 
                        provide subject matter expertise with respect 
                        to the review panel's work.
            (4) Recommendations.--The review panel shall issue 
        recommendations to the Administrator based on the review of the 
        matters listed in paragraph (2) in order to inform the FAA's 
        implementation of a comprehensive and integrated SMS for all 
        lines of business within the FAA.
            (5) Report.--
                    (A) Submission.--Not later than 180 days after the 
                date of the first meeting of the review panel, the 
                review panel shall submit to the Administrator and the 
                appropriate committees of Congress a report containing 
                the findings and recommendations regarding the matters 
                listed in paragraph (2) that are endorsed by a majority 
                of the review panel.
                    (B) Dissenting views.--In submitting the report 
                under subparagraph (A), the review panel shall append 
                to such report the dissenting views of any individual 
                member or group of members of the review panel 
                regarding the findings or recommendations of the review 
                panel.
                    (C) Publication.--Not later than 5 days after 
                receiving the report under subparagraph (A), the 
                Administrator shall publish such report, including any 
                dissenting views appended to the report, on the website 
                of the FAA.
                    (D) Termination.--The review panel shall terminate 
                upon the submission of the report under subparagraph 
                (A).
            (6) Administrative provisions.--
                    (A) Access to information.--
                            (i) In general.--The review panel shall 
                        have the authority to perform the following 
                        actions if a majority of the review panel 
                        members consider each action necessary and 
                        appropriate:
                                    (I) Entering onto the premises of 
                                the FAA for access to and inspection of 
                                records or other purposes.
                                    (II) Notwithstanding any other 
                                provision of law, except as provided in 
                                clause (ii), accessing and inspecting 
                                unredacted records directly necessary 
                                for the completion of the review 
                                panel's work under this section that 
                                are in the possession of the FAA.
                                    (III) Interviewing employees of the 
                                FAA as necessary for the review panel 
                                to complete its work.
                            (ii) Non-federal government members.--
                        Members of the review panel who are not 
                        officers or employees of the Federal Government 
                        shall only have access to, and be allowed to 
                        inspect, information provided to the FAA 
                        pursuant to section 40123 of title 49, United 
                        States Code, and part 193 of title 14, Code of 
                        Federal Regulations, in a de-identified form.
                    (B) Nondisclosure of confidential information.--
                            (i) Nondisclosure for non-federal 
                        government members.--
                                    (I) Non-federal government 
                                participants.--Prior to participating 
                                on the review panel, each individual 
                                serving on the review panel 
                                representing a non-Federal entity shall 
                                execute an agreement with the 
                                Administrator in which the individual 
                                shall be prohibited from disclosing at 
                                any time, except as required by law, to 
                                any person, foreign or domestic, any 
                                non-public information made available 
                                to the panel under subparagraph (A).
                                    (II) Federal government 
                                participants.--Federal officers or 
                                employees serving on the review panel 
                                as representatives of the Federal 
                                Government and subject to the 
                                requirement to protect confidential 
                                information (including proprietary 
                                information and trade secrets under 
                                section 1905 of title 18, United States 
                                Code) shall not be required to execute 
                                agreements under this clause.
                            (ii) Protection of information.--
                        Information that is obtained or reviewed by the 
                        review panel shall not constitute a waiver of 
                        the protections applicable to the information 
                        under section 552 of title 5, United States 
                        Code (commonly referred to as the ``Freedom of 
                        Information Act''). Members of the review panel 
                        shall protect such information to the extent 
                        permitted under applicable law.
                            (iii) Protection of proprietary information 
                        and trade secrets.--Members of the review panel 
                        shall protect proprietary information, trade 
                        secrets, and other information otherwise exempt 
                        under section 552 of title 5, United States 
                        Code, to the extent permitted under applicable 
                        law.
            (7) Inapplicability of faca.--The review panel shall not be 
        subject to chapter 10 of title 5, United States Code (commonly 
        referred to as the ``Federal Advisory Committee Act'').
            (8) Process improvements.--Not later than 1 year after the 
        submission of the recommendations under paragraph (4), the 
        Administrator shall report to the appropriate committees of 
        Congress on the status of any ongoing actions in response to 
        such recommendations, including the status of implementation of 
        each of the recommendations of the review panel, if any, with 
        which the Administrator concurs.
    (b) Non-Concurrence With Recommendations.--Not later than 6 months 
after submission of the recommendations under subsection (a)(4), with 
respect to each recommendation of the review panel with which the 
Administrator does not concur, if any, the Administrator shall publish 
on the website of the FAA and submit to the appropriate committees of 
Congress a detailed explanation for such determination, including if 
the Administrator believes implementation of such recommendation would 
not improve aviation safety.

SEC. 4. FAA'S SAFETY RISK MANAGEMENT PROCESSES.

    (a) In General.--Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment 
of this section, the Administrator shall develop and implement 
effective processes for performing root cause analyses to identify 
opportunities for improvement in executing the regulatory oversight 
responsibilities of the FAA.
    (b) Briefing.--Not later than 30 days after the date described in 
subsection (a), the Administrator shall brief the appropriate 
committees of Congress on the processes implemented under such 
subsection.

SEC. 5. FAA PRODUCTION AUDITS.

    Not later than 6 months after the date of enactment of this 
section, the Administrator shall revise the production audit procedures 
of the FAA to--
            (1) provide not more than 7 days advance notice to a 
        production certificate holder or supplier that the FAA will 
        conduct an audit of the holder's or supplier's facilities; and
            (2) direct inspectors to audit systemic compliance with 
        quality system elements identified in section 21.137 of title 
        14, Code of Federal Regulations, in addition to compliance with 
        individual requirements of the holder's quality system.
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