S. 2768: A bill to amend title 49, United States Code, to authorize appropriations for the National Transportation Safety Board for fiscal years 2010 through 2014, and for other purposes

November 16, 2009 at 10:38 am | Posted in Aviation Law | Leave a comment

by P.J. Blount with the blog faculty

S. 2768: A bill to amend title 49, United States Code, to authorize appropriations for the National Transportation Safety Board for fiscal years 2010 through 2014, and for other purposes was introduced on November 10, 2009 by Sen. Byron Dorgan (D-ND):

S 2768 IS

111th CONGRESS

1st Session

S. 2768

To amend title 49, United States Code, to authorize appropriations for the National Transportation Safety Board for fiscal years 2010 through 2014, and for other purposes.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

November 10, 2009

Mr. DORGAN (for himself, Mr. ROCKEFELLER, and Mr. LAUTENBERG) 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 authorize appropriations for the National Transportation Safety Board for fiscal years 2010 through 2014, 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 ‘National Transportation Safety Board Reauthorization Act of 2009’.

SEC. 2. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

(a) IN GENERAL- Section 1118(a) of title 49, United States Code, is amended to read as follows:

‘(a) IN GENERAL- There are authorized to be appropriated for the purposes of this chapter $100,000,000 for fiscal year 2010, $105,000,000 for fiscal year 2011, $112,000,000 for fiscal year 2012, $118,000,000 for fiscal year 2013, and $124,000,000 for fiscal year 2014. Such sums shall remain available until expended.’.

(b) FEES, REFUNDS, REIMBURSEMENTS, AND ADVANCES- Section 1118(c) of such title is amended to read as follows:

‘(c) Fees, Refunds, Reimbursements, and Advances-

‘(1) IN GENERAL- The Board may impose and collect such fees, refunds, reimbursements, and advances as it determines to be appropriate for activities, services, and facilities provided by or through the Board.

‘(2) RECEIPTS CREDITED AS OFFSETTING COLLECTIONS- Notwithstanding section 3302 of title 31, any fee, refund, reimbursement, or advance collected under this subsection–

‘(A) shall be credited as offsetting collections to the account that finances the activities, services, or facilities for which the fee, refund, reimbursement, or advance is associated;

‘(B) shall be available for expenditure only to pay the costs of activities, services, or facilities for which the fee, refund, reimbursement, or advance is associated; and

‘(C) shall remain available until expended.

‘(3) RECORD- The Board shall maintain an annual record of collections received under paragraph (2).

‘(4) REFUNDS- The Board may refund any fee or advance paid by mistake or any amount paid in excess of that required.’.

SEC. 3. TECHNICAL CORRECTIONS.

(a) DEFINITIONS- Section 1101 of title 49, United States Code, is amended by striking ‘otherwise.’ and inserting ‘otherwise, and may include incidents not involving destruction or damage, but significantly affecting transportation safety, as the Board may prescribe or Congress may direct.’.

(b) GENERAL ORGANIZATION- Section 1111(d) of title 49, United States Code, is amended by striking ‘absent’ and inserting ‘unavailable’.

(c) ADMINISTRATIVE- Section 1113 of title 49, United States Code, is amended–

(1) by inserting ‘or depositions’ in paragraph (a)(1) after ‘hearings’; and

(2) by inserting ‘In the interest of transportation safety, the Board shall have the authority by subpoena to summon witnesses and obtain any and all evidence relevant to an accident investigation conducted under this chapter.’ after ‘(2)’ in subsection (a)(2).

(d) DISCLOSURE, AVAILABILITY, AND USE OF INFORMATION- Section 1114 of title 49, United States Code, is amended–

(1) by striking the heading for subsection (b) and inserting ‘(b) TRADE SECRETS; COMMERCIAL OR FINANCIAL INFORMATION- ’;

(2) by inserting ‘submitted to the Board in the course of a Board investigation or study and’ in subsection (b)(1) after ‘information’ the first place it appears;

(3) by striking ‘title 18’ in subsection (b)(1) and inserting ‘title 18, or commercial or financial information,’;

(4) by striking ‘safety’ in subsection (b)(1)(D) the first place it appears and inserting ‘safety, including through the issuance of reports of accident investigation or safety studies and safety recommendations,’;

(5) by inserting ‘subparagraphs (A) through (C) of’ after ‘under’ in subsection (b)(2);

(6) by adding at the end of subsection (b) the following:

‘(4) Each person submitting to the Board trade secrets, commercial or financial information, or information that could be classified as controlled under the International Traffic in Arms Regulations shall appropriately annotate the information to indicate the restricted nature of the information in order to facilitate proper handling of such materials by the Board.’;

(7) by striking ‘shall’ in paragraph(1)(A) of subsection (f) and inserting ‘may’;

(8) by striking ‘information’ in paragraph (2) of subsection (f) and inserting ‘information, or other relevant information authorized for disclosure under this chapter,’; and

(9) by adding at the end thereof the following:

‘(g) ONGOING BOARD INVESTIGATIONS- (1) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, neither the Board, nor any agency receiving information from the Board, may publicly disclose records related to an ongoing Board investigation, and such records shall be exempt from disclosure under section 552(b)(3) of title 5. Notwithstanding the preceding sentence, the Board may make public specific records relevant to the investigation, release of which in the Board’s judgment is necessary to promote transportation safety–

‘(A) if the Board holds a public hearing on the accident or incident, at the time of the hearing;

‘(B) if the Board does not hold a public hearing, at the time the Board determines that substantial portions of the underlying factual reports on the accident or incident, and supporting evidence, will be placed in the public docket; or

‘(C) if the Board determines during an ongoing investigation or study that circumstances warrant disclosure of specific factual material and that such material need be placed in the public docket to facilitate dialogue with other agencies or instrumentalities, regulatory bodies, industry or industry groups, or Congress.

‘(2) This subsection does not prevent the Board from referring at any time to evidence from an ongoing investigation in making safety recommendations.

‘(3) In this subsection, the term ‘ongoing investigation’ means that period beginning at the time the Board is notified of an accident or incident and ending when the Board issues a final report or brief, or determines to close an investigation without issuing a report or brief.’.

(e) REPORTS AND STUDIES–Section 1116(b) of title 49, United States Code, is amended–

(1) by striking ‘carry out’ in paragraph (1) and inserting ‘conduct’; and

(2) by striking paragraph (3) and inserting the following:

‘(3) prescribe requirements for persons reporting accidents and incidents that may be investigated by the Board under this chapter;’.

(f) DISCOVERY AND USE OF COCKPIT AND SURFACE VEHICLE RECORDINGS AND TRANSCRIPTS- Section 1154(a)(1)(A) of title 49, United States Code, is amended by striking ‘and’ and inserting ‘or’.

SEC. 4. AUTHORITY OF THE BOARD.

(a) EVALUATION AND AUDIT- Section 1138(a) of title 49, United States Code, is amended by striking ‘conducted at least annually, but may be’.

(b) TRAINING OF BOARD EMPLOYEES AND OTHERS- Section 1115(d) of title 49, United States Code, is amended–

(1) by striking ‘investigation.’ and inserting ‘investigation, including investigation theory and techniques and transportation safety, to advance Board safety recommendations.’;

(2) by striking ‘training.’ and inserting ‘training or who influence transportation safety through support or adoption of Board safety recommendations.’; and

(3) by striking ‘collections.’ and inserting ‘collections under the provisions of section 1118 of this chapter.’.

(c) ACCIDENT INVESTIGATION AUTHORITY- Section 1131 of title 49, United States Code, is amended–

(1) by striking subsection (a)(1)(C) and inserting the following:

‘(C) a freight or passenger railroad accident in which there is a fatality (other than a fatality involving a trespasser), substantial property damage, or significant injury to the environment;’;

(2) by striking ‘and’ after the semicolon in subsection (a)(1)(E);

(3) by inserting ‘or incident’ after ‘accident’ each place it appears in subsection (a)(1)(F);

(4) by striking ‘chapter.’ in subsection (a)(1)(F) and inserting ‘chapter;’;

(5) by adding at the end of subsection (a)(1) the following:

‘(G) an accident or incident in response to an international request and delegation under appropriate international conventions, coordinated through the Department of State and accepted by the Board; and

‘(H) an incident or incidents significantly affecting transportation safety, as defined by the Board, under rules and in such detail as the Board may prescribe.’;

(6) by striking ‘paragraph (1)(A)-(D) or (F)’ in subsection (a)(2)(A) and inserting ‘any of subparagraphs (A) through (F) of paragraph (1)’;

(7) by inserting ‘or incident’ after ‘accident’ each place it appears in subsection (a)(3);

(8) by inserting ‘or relevant to’ after ‘developed about’ in subsection (a)(3);

(9) by inserting ‘AND INCIDENT’ after ‘Accident’ in the heading for subsection (e); and

(10) by inserting ‘and incident’ in subsection (e) after ‘each accident’.

(d) Civil Aircraft and Maritime Accident Investigations-

(1) IN GENERAL- Section 1132 of title 49, United States Code, is amended–

(A) by inserting ‘or have investigated’ in subsection (a)(1) after ‘investigate’;

(B) by striking ‘aircraft.’ in subsection (a)(1)(A) and inserting ‘aircraft or commercial space launch vehicle.’; and

(C) by adding at the end the following:

‘(e) AUTHORITY OF BOARD REPRESENTATIVE- The Board may, with the consent of the Secretary, delegate to the Department of Transportation full authority to obtain the facts of any aviation accident or incident the Board shall investigate, and the on-scene representative of the Secretary shall have the full authority of the Board to, on display of appropriate credentials and written notice of inspection authority, enter property where an aviation accident has occurred or wreckage from the accident is located and do anything necessary to gather evidence in support of a Board investigation, in accordance with such rules as the Board may prescribe.

‘(f) MARITIME ACCIDENT INVESTIGATIONS- The Board may, with the consent of the Secretary of the department in which the Coast Guard is operating, delegate to the Coast Guard full authority to obtain the facts of any maritime accident or incident the Board shall investigate, and the on-scene representative of the Commandant of the Coast Guard shall have the full authority of the Board to, on display of appropriate credentials and written notice of inspection authority, enter property where a maritime accident has occurred or wreckage from the accident is located and do anything necessary to gather evidence in support of a Board investigation, in accordance with such rules as the Board may prescribe.’.

(2) Conforming amendments-

(A) The heading for section 1132 of title 49, United States Code, is amended to read as follows:

‘1132. Civil aircraft and maritime accident investigations’.

(B) The table of contents for chapter 11 of title 49, United States Code, is amended by striking the item relating to section 1132 and inserting the following:

‘1132. Civil aircraft and maritime accident investigations’.

(e) INSPECTIONS AND AUTOPSIES- Section 1134 of title 49, United States Code, is amended–

(1) by striking ‘officer or employee of the National Transportation Safety Board–’ in subsection (a) and inserting ‘officer, employee, or designee of the National Transportation Safety Board in the conduct of any accident or incident investigation or study–’;

(2) by adding at the end of subsection (b)(1) the following: ‘The Board may download or seize any recording device and recordings and may require specific information only available from the manufacturer to enable the Board to read and interpret any flight parameter or navigation storage device or media on board the accident aircraft. The provisions of section 1114(b) of this chapter shall apply to matters properly identified as trade secrets or commercial or financial information.’; and

(3) by inserting after ‘component.’ in subsection (c) the following: ‘The officer or employee may download or seize any recording device and recordings, and may require the production of specific information only available from the manufacturer to enable the Board to read and interpret any operational parameter or navigation storage device or media on board the accident vehicle, vessel, or rolling stock. The provisions of section 1114(b) of this chapter shall apply to matters properly identified as trade secrets or commercial or financial information.’.

SEC. 5. AVIATION PENALTIES AND FAMILY ASSISTANCE.

(a) FAMILY ASSISTANCE IN COMMERCIAL AVIATION ACCIDENTS- Section 41113(b)(7) of title 49, United States Code is amended by striking ‘months.’ and inserting ‘months and that, prior to destruction of unclaimed possessions, a reasonable attempt will be made to notify the family of each passenger within 60 days of any planned destruction date.’.

(b) FAMILY ASSISTANCE IN COMMERCIAL AVIATION ACCIDENTS INVOLVING FOREIGN CARRIERS- Section 41313(c)(7) of title 49, United States Code is amended by striking ‘accident.’ and inserting ‘accident and that, prior to destruction of unclaimed possessions, a reasonable attempt will be made to notify the family of each passenger within 60 days of any planned destruction date.’.