I 

112TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 3816 

To amend title 49, United States Code, to provide rights for pilots, and 

for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JANUARY 24, 2012 

Mr. GRAVES of Missouri (for himself and Mr. LIPINSKI) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Transportation and 

Infrastructure 

A BILL 

To amend title 49, United States Code, to provide rights 

for pilots, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Pilot’s Bill of Rights’’. 

5 SEC. 2. FAA ENFORCEMENT PROCEEDINGS AND ELIMI6 NATION OF DEFERENCE. 

7 (a) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other provi8 sion of law, any proceeding conducted under subpart C 

9 or D and F of part 821 of title 49, Code of Federal Regu10 lations, relating to denial, amendment, modification, susVerDate Mar 15 2010 03:37 Jan 25, 2012 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3816.IH H3816

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1 pension, or revocation of an airman certificate, shall be 

2 conducted in accordance with the Federal Rules of Civil 

3 Procedure and Federal Rules of Evidence, to the extent 

4 practicable. 

5 (b) ACCESS TO INFORMATION.— 

6 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator of the 

7 Federal Aviation Administration shall advise (in a 

8 timely manner and in writing) an individual who is 

9 the subject of an investigation relating to approval, 

10 denial, suspension, modification, or revocation of an 

11 airman certificate under chapter 447 of title 49, 

12 United States Code, of the following: 

13 (A) The nature of the investigation. 

14 (B) An oral or written response to a Letter 

15 of Investigation from the Administrator is not 

16 required. 

17 (C) No action or adverse inference can be 

18 taken against the individual for declining to re19 spond to a Letter of Investigation from the Ad20 ministrator. 

21 (D) Any response to a Letter of Investiga22 tion from the Administrator or to an inquiry 

23 made by a representative of the Administrator 

24 by the individual may be used as evidence 

25 against the individual. 


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1 (E) The releasable portions of the Admin2 istrator’s investigative report will be available to 

3 the individual. 

4 (2) ACCESS TO AIR TRAFFIC DATA.—The Ad5 ministrator of the Federal Aviation Administration 

6 shall provide (in a timely manner) an individual who 

7 is the subject of an investigation relating to ap8 proval, denial, suspension, modification, or revoca9 tion of an airman certificate under chapter 447 of 

10 title 49, United States Code, any air traffic data 

11 that would facilitate the individual’s ability to pro12 ductively participate in the investigation, including 

13 the following: 

14 (A) Relevant air traffic communication 

15 tapes. 

16 (B) Radar information. 

17 (C) Air traffic controller statements. 

18 (D) Flight data. 

19 (E) Investigative reports. 

20 (F) Any other air traffic or flight data that 

21 would facilitate the individual’s ability to pro22 ductively participate in the investigation. 

23 (3) TIMING.—The Administrator shall not pro24 ceed against an individual that is the subject of an 

25 investigation described in paragraph (1) for at least 


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1 30 days after the air traffic data required under 

2 paragraph (2) is made available to the individual. 

3 (c) AMENDMENTS TO TITLE 49.— 

4 (1) AIRMAN CERTIFICATES.—Section 

5 44703(d)(2) of title 49, United States Code, is 

6 amended by striking the second sentence and insert7 ing the following: ‘‘The Board is not bound by the 

8 findings of fact of the Administrator of the Federal 

9 Aviation Administration or the interpretation of laws 

10 or regulations the Administrator carries out, but 

11 may consider the interpretation and guidance of the 

12 Administrator in its review in accordance with the 

13 general administrative law principles of deference.’’. 

14 (2) AMENDMENTS, MODIFICATIONS, SUSPEN15 SIONS, AND REVOCATIONS OF CERTIFICATES.—Sec16 tion 44709(d)(3) of title 49, United States Code, is 

17 amended by striking ‘‘is not bound’’ and all that fol18 lows through the end period and inserting the fol19 lowing: ‘‘is not bound by the findings of fact of the 

20 Administrator or the interpretation of laws or regu21 lations the Administrator carries out, but may con22 sider the interpretation and guidance of the Admin23 istrator in its review in accordance with the general 

24 administrative law principles of deference.’’. 


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1 (3) REVOCATION OF AIRMAN CERTIFICATES

2 FOR CONTROLLED SUBSTANCE VIOLATIONS.—The 

3 third sentence of section 44710(d)(1) of title 49, 

4 United States Code, is amended in the third sen5 tence, by striking ‘‘is not bound’’ and all that follows 

6 through the end period, and inserting the following: 

7 ‘‘is not bound by findings of fact of the Adminis8 trator or the interpretation of laws or regulations 

9 the Administrator carries out, but may consider the 

10 interpretation and guidance of the Administrator in 

11 its review in accordance with the general administra12 tive law principles of deference.’’. 

13 (d) APPEAL FROM CERTIFICATE ACTIONS.—Upon 

14 an order or final decision by the Administrator of the Fed15 eral Aviation Administration denying an airman certificate 

16 under section 44703(d) of title 49, United States Code, 

17 or imposing a punitive civil action or an emergency order 

18 of revocation under section 44709 (d) and (e) of title 49, 

19 United States Code, the individual adversely affected by 

20 the Administrator’s action may, at the individual’s elec21 tion, file an appeal in the United States district court in 

22 which the individual resides, in which the action in ques23 tion occurred, or in the district court for the District of 

24 Columbia. If the individual adversely affected by the Ad25 ministrator’s action elects not to file an appeal in a FedVerDate Mar 15 2010 03:37 Jan 25, 2012 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3816.IH H3816

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1 eral district court, the individual may file an appeal with 

2 the National Transportation Safety Board. 

3 (e) STANDARD OF REVIEW.—In an appeal filed under 

4 subsection (d), the district court or the National Trans5 portation Safety Board, as the case may be, shall give full 

6 independent review of a denial, suspension, or revocation 

7 ordered by the Administrator, including substantive inde8 pendent and expedited review of any decision by the Ad9 ministrator to make the order effective immediately. 

10 SEC. 3. NOTAMS PROVIDED TO AIRMEN. 

11 (a) IN GENERAL.— 

12 (1) DEFINITION.—In this section, the term 

13 ‘‘NOTAM’’ means notices to airmen. 

14 (2) IMPROVEMENTS.—Not later than 180 days 

15 after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Ad16 ministrator of the Federal Aviation Administration 

17 shall begin a Notice to Airmen Improvement Pro18 gram (in this section referred to as the ‘‘NOTAM 

19 Improvement Program’’) to— 

20 (A) improve the system of providing air21 men with pertinent and timely information re22 garding the national airspace system; 

23 (B) to archive, in a public central location, 

24 all notices to airmen, including the original con25 tent and form of the notices, the original date 


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1 of publication, and any amendments to such no2 tices with the date of each amendment; and 

3 (C) apply filters so that pilots can 

4 prioritize critical flight safety information from 

5 other airspace system information. 

6 (b) GOALS OF PROGRAM.—The goals of the NOTAM 

7 Improvement Program are to— 

8 (1) decrease the overwhelming volume of 

9 NOTAMS an airman receives when retrieving air10 man information prior to a flight in the national air11 space system; 

12 (2) make the NOTAMS more specific and rel13 evant to the airman’s route and in a format that is 

14 more useable to the airman; 

15 (3) provide both a full set of NOTAM results 

16 in addition to specific information requested by air17 men; 

18 (4) provide a document that is easily search19 able; and 

20 (5) provide a filtering mechanism similar to 

21 that provided by the Department of Defense Notices 

22 to Airmen. 

23 (c) ADVICE FROM PRIVATE SECTOR GROUPS.—The 

24 Administrator shall establish a NOTAM Improvement 

25 Panel, consisting of relevant nonprofit and not-for-profit 


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1 general aviation pilot groups, to advise the Administrator 

2 in carrying out the goals of the Program under this sec3 tion. 

4 (d) PHASE-IN AND COMPLETION.—The improve5 ments required by this section shall be phased in as quick6 ly as practicable and shall be completed not later than the 

7 date that is 1 year after the date of the enactment of this 

8 Act. 

9 SEC. 4. FLIGHT SERVICE STATION BRIEFINGS. 

10 The Flight Service Station briefings and other air 

11 traffic services performed by any government contractor 

12 shall be available to airmen under the section 522 of title 

13 5, United States Code (commonly known as the ‘‘Freedom 

14 of Information Act’’). 

15 SEC. 5. MEDICAL CERTIFICATION. 

16 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days after the 

17 date of the enactment of this Act, the Administrator of 

18 the Federal Aviation Administration shall begin a review 

19 of the Administration’s medical certification standards 

20 and forms in order to— 

21 (1) revise the medical application form to pro22 vide greater clarity and guidance to applicants; and 

23 (2) align medical qualification policies with 

24 present-day qualified medical judgment and pracVerDate Mar 15 2010 03:37 Jan 25, 2012 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3816.IH H3816

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1 tices as they may apply to an individual’s medically 

2 relevant circumstances; and 

3 (3) publish objective medical standards so that 

4 the public is fairly advised of the criteria that deter5 mines an airman’s medical certificate eligibility. 

6 (b) GOALS OF PROGRAM.—The goals of the review 

7 are to— 

8 (1) provide questions in the medical application 

9 form that— 

10 (A) are appropriate without being overly 

11 broad; 

12 (B) are subject to a minimum amount of 

13 misinterpretation and mistaken responses; 

14 (C) allow for consistent treatment and re15 sponses during the medical application process; 

16 and 

17 (D) avoid unnecessary allegations that an 

18 individual has intentionally falsified answers on 

19 the form; 

20 (2) provide questions that elicit information 

21 that is relevant to making a determination of an in22 dividual’s medical qualifications within the standards 

23 identified in the Administrator’s regulations; 


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1 (3) give medical standards greater meaning by 

2 ensuring the information requested aligns with 

3 present-day medical judgment and practices; and 

4 (4) provide that the application of those stand5 ards ensures an appropriate and fair evaluation of 

6 an individual’s qualifications, and that the individual 

7 understands the basis for determining medical quali8 fications. 

9 (c) ADVICE FROM PRIVATE SECTOR GROUPS.—The 

10 Administrator shall establish a panel, consisting of rel11 evant nonprofit and not-for-profit general aviation pilot 

12 groups, aviation medical examiners, and other qualified 

13 medical experts, to advise the Administrator in carrying 

14 out the goals of the review required by this section. 

15 (d) PHASE-IN AND COMPLETION.—The actions to re16 vise the medical application form, to align the medical 

17 qualification policies, and to publish objective medical 

18 standards shall be phased in as quickly as practicable and 

19 shall be completed not later than the date that is 1 year 

20 after the date of the enactment of this Act. 

Æ 


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