H.R. 4714: National Transportation Safety Board Reauthorization Act of 2010

March 8, 2010 at 10:54 am | Posted in Aviation Law | Leave a comment

by P.J. Blount with the blog faculty

H.R. 4714: National Transportation Safety Board Reauthorization Act of 2010 was introduced on March 2, 2010 by Rep. James Oberstar (D-MN8):

HR 4714 IH

111th CONGRESS

2d Session

H. R. 4714

To amend title 49, United States Code, to authorize appropriations for the National Transportation Safety Board for fiscal years 2011 through 2014, and for other purposes.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

March 2, 2010

Mr. OBERSTAR (for himself, Mr. MICA, Mr. COSTELLO, Mr. PETRI, Mr. DEFAZIO, Ms. NORTON, and Mr. CUMMINGS) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure

A BILL

To amend title 49, United States Code, to authorize appropriations for the National Transportation Safety Board for fiscal years 2011 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; TABLE OF CONTENTS.

(a) Short Title- This Act may be cited as the ‘National Transportation Safety Board Reauthorization Act of 2010’.

(b) Table of Contents-

Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents.

Sec. 2. Amendments to title 49, United States Code.

Sec. 3. Definitions.

Sec. 4. General organization.

Sec. 5. Administrative.

Sec. 6. Recordings, transcripts, and investigations.

Sec. 7. Training.

Sec. 8. Reports and studies.

Sec. 9. Authorization of appropriations.

Sec. 10. Accident investigation authority.

Sec. 11. Maritime casualty investigations.

Sec. 12. Inspections and autopsies.

Sec. 13. Discovery and use of cockpit and surface vehicle recordings and transcripts.

Sec. 14. Family assistance.

Sec. 15. Coast Guard notification.

SEC. 2. AMENDMENTS TO TITLE 49, UNITED STATES CODE.

Except as otherwise specifically provided, whenever in this Act an amendment or repeal is expressed in terms of an amendment to, or repeal of, a section or other provision of law, the reference shall be considered to be made to a section or other provision of title 49, United States Code.

SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.

Section 1101 is amended to read as follows:

‘Sec. 1101. Definitions

‘(a) Accident Defined- In this chapter, the term ‘accident’–

‘(1) means an event associated with the operation of a vehicle, aircraft, or pipeline, which results in damage to or destruction of the vehicle, aircraft or pipeline, or which results in the death of or serious injury to any person, regardless of whether the initiating event is accidental or otherwise; and

‘(2) may include an incident that does not involve destruction or damage of a vehicle, aircraft, or pipeline, but affects transportation safety, as the Board prescribes by regulation.

‘(b) Applicability of Definitions in Other Laws- The definitions contained in section 2101(17a) of title 46 and section 40102(a) of this title apply to this chapter.’.

SEC. 4. GENERAL ORGANIZATION.

The last sentence of section 1111(d) is amended by striking ‘absent’ and inserting ‘unavailable’.

SEC. 5. ADMINISTRATIVE.

(a) Additional Powers-

(1) AUTHORITY OF BOARD TO ENTER INTO CONTRACTS AND OTHER AGREEMENTS WITH NONPROFIT ENTITIES- Section 1113(b)(1)(H) is amended by inserting ‘and other agreements’ after ‘contracts’.

(2) AUTHORITY OF BOARD TO ENTER INTO AND PERFORM CONTRACTS, AGREEMENTS, LEASES, OR OTHER TRANSACTIONS- Section 1113(b)(1) is amended–

(A) by striking paragraph (1)(I) and inserting the following:

‘(I) negotiate, enter into, and perform contracts, agreements, leases, or other transactions with individuals, private entities, departments, agencies, and instrumentalities of the Government, State and local governments, and governments of foreign countries on such terms and conditions as the Chairman of the Board considers appropriate to carry out the functions of the Board and require that such entities provide appropriate consideration for the reasonable costs of any facilities, goods, services, or training provided by the Board.’; and

(B) by adding at the end the following:

‘(3) The Authority of the Board to enter into leases shall be limited to the provision of special use space related to an accident investigation, or for general use space, at an average annual rental cost of not more than $300,000 for any individual property.’.

(3) AUTHORITY OF OTHER FEDERAL AGENCIES- Section 1113(b)(2) is amended to read as follows:

‘(2) AUTHORITY OF OTHER FEDERAL AGENCIES- Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the head of a Federal department, agency, or instrumentality may transfer to or receive from the Board, with or without reimbursement, supplies, personnel, services, and equipment (other than administrative supplies and equipment).’.

(b) Criteria on Public Hearings-

(1) IN GENERAL- Section 1113 is amended by adding at the end the following:

‘(i) Public Hearings-

‘(1) DEVELOPMENT OF CRITERIA- The Board shall establish by regulation criteria to be used by the Board in determining, for each accident investigation and safety study undertaken by the Board, whether or not the Board will hold a public hearing on the investigation or study.

‘(2) FACTORS- In developing the criteria, the Board shall give priority consideration to the following factors:

‘(A) Whether the accident has caused significant loss of life.

‘(B) Whether the accident has caused significant property damage.

‘(C) Whether the accident may involve a national transportation safety issue.

‘(D) Whether a public hearing may provide needed information to the Board.

‘(E) Whether a public hearing may offer an opportunity to educate the public on a safety issue.

‘(F) Whether a public hearing may increase both the transparency of the Board’s investigative process and public confidence that such process is comprehensive, accurate, and unbiased.

‘(G) Whether a public hearing is likely to significantly delay the conclusion of an investigation and whether the possible adverse effects of the delay on safety outweigh the benefits of a public hearing.’.

(2) ANNUAL REPORT- Section 1117 is amended–

(A) by striking ‘and’ at the end of paragraph (5);

(B) by striking the period at the end of paragraph (6) and inserting ‘; and’; and

(C) by adding at the end the following:

‘(7) an analysis of the Board’s implementation of the criteria established pursuant to section 1113(i) during the prior calendar year, including an explanation of any instance in which the Board did not hold a public hearing for an investigation of an accident that has caused significant loss of life or property damage or that may involve a national transportation safety issue.’.

SEC. 6. RECORDINGS, TRANSCRIPTS, AND INVESTIGATIONS.

(a) Vessel Recordings and Transcripts- Section 1114 is amended–

(1) in subsection (a)(1) by striking ‘and (f)’ and inserting ‘(e), and (g)’;

(2) in subsection (d)(1) by striking ‘or vessel’;

(3) by redesignating subsections (e) and (f) as subsections (f) and (g), respectively; and

(4) by inserting after subsection (d) the following:

‘(e) Vessel Recordings and Transcripts-

‘(1) CONFIDENTIALITY OF RECORDINGS AND TRANSCRIPTS- The Board may not disclose publicly any part of a vessel’s voice or video recorder recording or transcript of oral communications by or among the crew, pilots, or docking masters of a vessel, vessel traffic services, or other vessels, or between the vessel’s crew and company communication centers, related to an accident investigated by the Board. However, the Board shall make public any part of a transcript or any written depiction of visual information that the Board decides is relevant to the accident–

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

‘(B) if the Board does not hold a public hearing, at the time a majority of the other factual reports on the accident are placed in the public docket.

‘(2) REFERENCES TO INFORMATION IN MAKING SAFETY RECOMMENDATIONS- This subsection does not prevent the Board from referring at any time to voice or video recorder information in making safety recommendations.’.

(b) Party Representatives to NTSB Investigations-

(1) IN GENERAL- Section 1114 is further amended by adding at the end the following:

‘(h) Party Representatives to NTSB Investigations-

‘(1) PROHIBITION ON DISCLOSURE OF INFORMATION- A party representative to an accident investigation of the Board is prohibited from disclosing, orally or in written form, investigative information, as defined by the Board, to anyone who is not an employee of the Board or who is not a party representative to such investigation, except–

‘(A) as provided in paragraph (2); or

‘(B) at the conclusion of the fact finding stage of an investigation, which the investigator-in-charge shall announce by formal posting of a notice in the publicly available investigation docket.

‘(2) EXCEPTION- If the investigator-in-charge determines that a disclosure of information related to an accident investigation is necessary to prevent additional accidents, to address a perceived safety deficiency, or to assist in the conduct of the investigation, the investigator-in-charge may at any time authorize in writing a party representative to disclose such information under conditions approved by the investigator-in-charge. Such conditions shall ensure that, until the posting of a formal notice described in paragraph (1)(B), or until the information disclosed pursuant to this paragraph becomes publicly available by any other means, neither the entity represented by the party representative nor any other person may use such information in preparation for the prosecution of any claim or defense in litigation in connection with the accident being investigated or to make or deny any insurance claim in connection with such accident.

‘(3) COMPLIANCE- The Board shall require any individual who is a party representative to an investigation of the Board to sign a party agreement that includes language informing the individual of the prohibition in paragraph (1).

‘(4) REPRESENTATIVES OF FEDERAL AGENCIES- Paragraph (3) shall not apply to an individual who is a representative of the Secretary of Transportation, the Secretary of the department in which the Coast Guard is operating, or any other Federal department, agency, or instrumentality participating in the investigation and deemed by the Board to be performing a law enforcement or similar function.

‘(5) PARTY REPRESENTATIVE DEFINED- In this subsection, the term ‘party representative’ means an individual representing a party to an investigation pursuant to section 831.11 of title 49, Code of Federal Regulations, as in effect on the date of enactment of this subsection.’.

(2) CIVIL PENALTY- Section 1151 is amended–

(A) in the section heading by striking ‘Aviation enforcement’ and inserting ‘Enforcement’; and

(B) by inserting ‘1114(h),’ before ‘1132,’ in each of subsections (a), (b)(1), and (c).

(3) CONFORMING AMENDMENT- The analysis for chapter 11 is amended by striking the item relating to section 1151 and inserting the following:

‘1151. Enforcement.’.

(c) GAO Study of Party Process-

(1) IN GENERAL- The Comptroller General shall conduct a study on the use of party representatives in investigations conducted by the National Transportation Safety Board.

(2) CONTENTS- In conducting the study, the Comptroller General shall examine, at a minimum–

(A) whether the composition of the party representatives should be broadened to include on-going representatives from other entities that could provide independent, technically qualified representatives to a Board investigation;

(B) whether the participation of party representatives in a Board investigation results in any unfair advantages for the entities represented by the party representatives while the Board is conducting the investigation;

(C) whether the use of party representatives leads to bias in the outcome of a Board investigation; and

(D) whether Board investigations would be compromised in any way absent the participation and expertise of party representatives.

(3) REPORT TO CONGRESS- Not later than 18 months after the date of enactment of this Act, the Comptroller General shall submit to the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the Senate a report on the results of the study conducted under this subsection, including any recommendations for improvements in the Board’s use of the party representative process.

SEC. 7. TRAINING.

Section 1115(d) is amended–

(1) by inserting ‘theory and techniques and on transportation safety methods to advance Board safety recommendations’ before the period at the end of the first sentence;

(2) by inserting ‘or who influence the course of transportation safety through support or adoption of Board safety recommendations’ before the period at the end of the second sentence; and

(3) by inserting ‘under section 1118(c)(2)’ before the period at the end of the third sentence.

SEC. 8. REPORTS AND STUDIES.

(a) Studies and Investigations- Section 1116(b) is amended–

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

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

‘(3) prescribe requirements for persons reporting accidents, as defined in section 1101(a), that may be investigated by the Board under this chapter;’.

(b) Evaluation and Audit- Section 1138(a) is amended by striking ‘conducted at least annually, but may be’.

SEC. 9. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

(a) In General- Section 1118(a) is amended to read as follows:

‘(a) In General- There is authorized to be appropriated for the purposes of this chapter–

‘(1) $117,368,000 for fiscal year 2011;

‘(2) $120,258,000 for fiscal year 2012;

‘(3) $122,187,000 for fiscal year 2013; and

‘(4) $124,158,000 for fiscal year 2014.

Such sums shall remain available until expended.’.

(b) Fees, Refunds, Reimbursements, and Advances- Section 1118(c) is amended–

(1) by striking the subsection heading and inserting the following: ‘Fees, Refunds, Reimbursements, and Advances’;

(2) in paragraph (1)–

(A) by striking ‘and reimbursements’ and inserting ‘reimbursements, and advances’; and

(B) by striking ‘services’ and inserting ‘activities, services, and facilities’;

(3) in paragraph (2)–

(A) in the matter preceding subparagraph (A) by striking ‘or reimbursement’ and inserting ‘reimbursement, or advance’; and

(B) in each of subparagraphs (A) and (B) by striking ‘activities’ and all that follows before the semicolon and inserting ‘activities, services, or facilities for which the fee, refund, reimbursement, or advance is associated’;

(4) by redesignating paragraph (3) as paragraph (4);

(5) by inserting after paragraph (2) the following:

‘(3) ANNUAL RECORD OF COLLECTIONS- The Board shall maintain an annual record of collections received under paragraph (2).’; and

(6) in paragraph (4) (as redesignated by paragraph (4) of this subsection) by inserting ‘or advance’ after ‘fee’.

SEC. 10. ACCIDENT INVESTIGATION AUTHORITY.

(a) In General- Section 1131(a)(1) is amended–

(1) in the matter preceding subparagraph (A) by striking ‘cause or probable cause’ and inserting ‘causes or probable causes’;

(2) in subparagraph (C) by striking ‘a fatality or substantial property damage’ and inserting ‘a fatality (other than a fatality involving a trespasser) or substantial property damage’;

(3) in subparagraph (E) by striking ‘and’ at the end;

(4) in subparagraph (F) by striking the period at the end and inserting a semicolon; and

(5) by adding at the end the following:

‘(G) an accident 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) each accident involving a commercial space launch vehicle.’.

(b) Authorities of Other Agencies- The second sentence of section 1131(a)(3) is amended by inserting ‘or relevant to’ after ‘developed about’.

(c) Accidents Not Involving Government Misfeasance or Nonfeasance- Section 1131(c) is amended by adding at the end the following:

‘(3) AUTHORITY OF BOARD REPRESENTATIVE- In the case of a delegation of authority under paragraph (1), the Secretary, or a person designated by the Secretary, shall have the authority of the Board, on display of appropriate credentials and written notice of inspection authority, to enter property where the aircraft accident has occurred or wreckage from the accident is located and to gather evidence in support of a Board investigation, in accordance with rules the Board may prescribe.’.

(d) Incident Investigations- Section 1131 is amended by adding at the end the following:

‘(f) Incident Investigations-

‘(1) MEMORANDUM OF UNDERSTANDING- Not later than 90 days after the issuance of final regulations under section 1101(a)(2), the Chairman of the Board shall seek to enter into a memorandum of understanding with the Secretary of Transportation and the head of each modal administration of the Department of Transportation that sets forth–

‘(A) an understanding of the conditions under which the Board will conduct an incident investigation that involves the applicable mode of transportation; and

‘(B) the roles and responsibilities of the parties to the memorandum when the Board is conducting an incident investigation.

‘(2) UPDATES AND RENEWALS- Each memorandum of understanding required under paragraph (1) shall be updated and renewed not less than once every 5 years, unless parties to the memorandum agree that updating the memorandum is unnecessary.

‘(3) BOARD AUTHORITY- Nothing in this paragraph negates the authority of the Board to investigate an incident.

‘(4) INCIDENT DEFINED- In this subsection, the term ‘incident’ means an incident described in regulations issued under section 1101(a)(2).’.

SEC. 11. MARITIME CASUALTY INVESTIGATIONS.

(a) In General- Chapter 11 is amended by inserting after section 1132 the following:

‘Sec. 1132a. Maritime casualty investigations

‘(a) Delegation of Authority to Coast Guard-

‘(1) IN GENERAL- In an investigation of a major marine casualty under section 1131(a)(1)(E), the Board, with the consent of the Secretary of the department in which the Coast Guard is operating, may delegate to the Commandant of the Coast Guard full authority to obtain the facts of the casualty. In the case of such a delegation, the Commandant, acting through the Commandant’s on-scene representative, shall have the full authority of the Board.

‘(2) REQUIRED TRAINING, EXPERIENCE, AND QUALIFICATIONS- The Board may not make a delegation under paragraph (1) unless the Board determines that the Commandant’s on-scene representatives have sufficient training, experience, and qualifications in investigation, marine casualty reconstruction, evidence collection and preservation, human factors, and documentation to act in accordance with the best investigation practices of Federal and non-Federal entities.

‘(b) Notification and Reporting- The Board and the Secretary shall jointly prescribe regulations governing the notification and reporting of marine casualties to the Board.

‘(c) Participation of Commandant in Marine Investigations- The Board shall provide for the participation of the Commandant of the Coast Guard in an investigation by the Board of a major marine casualty under section 1131(a)(1)(E) if such participation is necessary to carry out the duties and powers of the Commandant, except that the Commandant may not participate in establishing the probable cause of the marine casualty (other than as provided section 1131(b)).’.

(b) Conforming Amendment- The analysis for chapter 11 is amended by inserting after the item relating to section 1132 the following:

‘Sec. 1132a. Maritime casualty investigations.’.

SEC. 12. INSPECTIONS AND AUTOPSIES.

Section 1134(a) is amended in the matter preceding paragraph (1)–

(1) by striking ‘officer or employee’ and inserting ‘officer, employee, or Federal designee’; and

(2) by inserting ‘in the conduct of any accident investigation or study’ after ‘National Transportation Safety Board’.

SEC. 13. DISCOVERY AND USE OF COCKPIT AND SURFACE VEHICLE RECORDINGS AND TRANSCRIPTS.

Section 1154(a)(1)(A) is amended by striking ‘; and’ and inserting ‘; or’.

SEC. 14. FAMILY ASSISTANCE.

(a) Family Assistance in Commercial Aviation Accidents- Section 41113(b)(7) is amended by inserting before the period at the end the following: ‘, and that at least 60 days before the planned destruction of any unclaimed possession of a passenger a reasonable attempt will be made to notify the family of the passenger’.

(b) Family Assistance in Commercial Aviation Accidents Involving Foreign Carriers- Section 41313(c)(7) is amended by inserting before the period at the end the following: ‘, and that at least 60 days before the planned destruction of any unclaimed possession of a passenger a reasonable attempt will be made to notify the family of the passenger’.

SEC. 15. COAST GUARD NOTIFICATION.

Not later than 6 months after the date of enactment of this Act, the National Transportation Safety Board and the Secretary of the department in which the Coast Guard is operating shall issue regulations to provide the Board prompt notification through the Coast Guard of all marine accidents of potential investigative interest to the Board.