[Congressional Record Volume 147, Number 81 (Tuesday, June 12, 2001)]
[Senate]
[Page S6137]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mrs. FEINSTEIN:
  S. 1019. A bill to provide for monitoring of aircraft air quality, to 
require air carriers to produce certain mechanical and maintenance 
records, and for other purposes; to the Committee on Commerce, Science, 
and Transportation.
  Mrs. FEINSTEIN. Mr. President, today I am proud to introduce the 
Aircraft Clean Air Act of 2001. The bill is designed to encourage 
airlines to keep records of airplane cabin air quality complaints, as 
well as complaints of illnesses that may be a result of poor air 
quality.
  Airlines are not required to maintain records of passenger and 
crewmember complaints regarding cabin air quality, even if the 
passenger or crewmember reports an illness as a result of poor air 
quality.
  As a result, potentially valuable information is lost to researchers 
studying cabin air quality.
  The Aircraft Clean Air Act allows passengers and crewmembers to 
submit their complaints directly to the Federal Aviation Administration 
and requires that the Administration record the complaint and pass it 
on to the appropriate airline.
  The bill requires airlines to maintain records of complaints for ten 
years.
  If a passenger or crewmember requests mechanical or maintenance 
records with regard to their complaint, and the passenger or crewmember 
has had a health care professional verify their symptoms, this 
legislation requires that the airline provide the requested information 
within 15 days. If the airline does not comply with the request, it is 
subject to a civil penalty of $1,000 for each day it does not produce 
the records.
  Airlines must be ready to provide maintenance records of all 
chemicals used in or on the plan, from cleaning solvents to hydraulic 
fluids.
  The traveling public should have access to any chemicals to which 
they may be exposed.
  The Aircraft Clean Air Act addresses another issue, as well: aircraft 
pressurization.
  Planes are currently pressurized to 8,000 feet while in the air. That 
means that even though the plane is flying at 30,000 feet, the cabin 
has the same air pressure as it would at 8,000 feet.
  Airplane manufacturers arrived at the 8,000 figure in the 1960s when 
commercial air travel was booming. They agreed on the figure after 
testing the effects of different pressurizations on young, healthy 
pilots.
  Because oxygen is absorbed into the blood at a much lower rate in 
high altitudes, there is speculation that some illnesses experienced 
during flight are a result of the 8,000 feet pressurization. Commonly 
reported symptoms such as shortness of breath and numbness in the limbs 
may be a direct result of the high altitude.
  The Aircraft Clean Air Act directs the Federal Aviation 
Administration to sponsor an aeromedical research project to determine 
what cabin altitude limit should provide enough oxygen to passengers 
and crew.
  The bill allows universities to compete to conduct the study, and the 
National Academy of Sciences' Committee on Air Quality in Passenger 
Cabins of Commercial Aircraft to select the winner.
  Researchers will examine the oxygen saturation in people of different 
ages, weights, and body types at 5,000 feet through 8,000 feet. The 
bill directs researchers to determine which altitude provides enough 
oxygen to ensure that individuals' health is not adversely affected 
either in the short-term or long-term.
  It is unacceptable that airlines do not maintain records of air 
quality complaints on their commercial flights. I hope my colleagues 
will join me in this effort to protect the traveling public and the 
hardworking men and women who make air travel possible.
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