I 

112TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 1335 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JUNE 29, 2012 

Referred to the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure 

AN ACT 

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, 


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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

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

3 SEC. 2. FEDERAL AVIATION ADMINISTRATION ENFORCE4 MENT PROCEEDINGS AND ELIMINATION OF 

5 DEFERENCE. 

6 (a) IN GENERAL.—Any proceeding conducted under 

7 subpart C, D, or F of part 821 of title 49, Code of Federal 

8 Regulations, relating to denial, amendment, modification, 

9 suspension, or revocation of an airman certificate, shall 

10 be conducted, to the extent practicable, in accordance with 

11 the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure and the Federal 

12 Rules of Evidence. 

13 (b) ACCESS TO INFORMATION.— 

14 (1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided under 

15 paragraph (3), the Administrator of the Federal 

16 Aviation Administration (referred to in this section 

17 as the ‘‘Administrator’’) shall provide timely, written 

18 notification to an individual who is the subject of an 

19 investigation relating to the approval, denial, suspen20 sion, modification, or revocation of an airman certifi21 cate under chapter 447 of title 49, United States 

22 Code. 

23 (2) INFORMATION REQUIRED.—The notification 

24 required under paragraph (1) shall inform the indi25 vidual— 

26 (A) of the nature of the investigation; 


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1 (B) that an oral or written response to a 

2 Letter of Investigation from the Administrator 

3 is not required; 

4 (C) that no action or adverse inference can 

5 be taken against the individual for declining to 

6 respond to a Letter of Investigation from the 

7 Administrator; 

8 (D) that any response to a Letter of Inves9 tigation from the Administrator or to an in10 quiry made by a representative of the Adminis11 trator by the individual may be used as evi12 dence against the individual; 

13 (E) that the releasable portions of the Ad14 ministrator’s investigative report will be avail15 able to the individual; and 

16 (F) that the individual is entitled to access 

17 or otherwise obtain air traffic data described in 

18 paragraph (4). 

19 (3) EXCEPTION.—The Administrator may delay 

20 timely notification under paragraph (1) if the Ad21 ministrator determines that such notification may 

22 threaten the integrity of the investigation. 

23 (4) ACCESS TO AIR TRAFFIC DATA.— 

24 (A) FAA AIR TRAFFIC DATA.—The Admin25 istrator shall provide an individual described in 


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1 paragraph (1) with timely access to any air 

2 traffic data in the possession of the Federal 

3 Aviation Administration that would facilitate 

4 the individual’s ability to productively partici5 pate in a proceeding relating to an investigation 

6 described in such paragraph. 

7 (B) AIR TRAFFIC DATA DEFINED.—As 

8 used in subparagraph (A), the term ‘‘air traffic 

9 data’’ includes— 

10 (i) relevant air traffic communication 

11 tapes; 

12 (ii) radar information; 

13 (iii) air traffic controller statements; 

14 (iv) flight data; 

15 (v) investigative reports; and 

16 (vi) any other air traffic or flight data 

17 in the Federal Aviation Administration’s 

18 possession that would facilitate the individ19 ual’s ability to productively participate in 

20 the proceeding. 

21 (C) GOVERNMENT CONTRACTOR AIR TRAF22 FIC DATA.— 

23 (i) IN GENERAL.—Any individual de24 scribed in paragraph (1) is entitled to ob25 tain any air traffic data that would faciliVerDate Mar 15 2010 00:40 Jul 03, 2012 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1335.RFH S1335

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1 tate the individual’s ability to productively 

2 participate in a proceeding relating to an 

3 investigation described in such paragraph 

4 from a government contractor that pro5 vides operational services to the Federal 

6 Aviation Administration, including control 

7 towers and flight service stations. 

8 (ii) REQUIRED INFORMATION FROM

9 INDIVIDUAL.—The individual may obtain 

10 the information described in clause (i) by 

11 submitting a request to the Administrator 

12 that— 

13 (I) describes the facility at which 

14 such information is located; and 

15 (II) identifies the date on which 

16 such information was generated. 

17 (iii) PROVISION OF INFORMATION TO

18 INDIVIDUAL.—If the Administrator re19 ceives a request under this subparagraph, 

20 the Administrator shall— 

21 (I) request the contractor to pro22 vide the requested information; and 

23 (II) upon receiving such informa24 tion, transmitting the information to 


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1 the requesting individual in a timely 

2 manner. 

3 (5) TIMING.—Except when the Administrator 

4 determines that an emergency exists under section 

5 44709(c)(2) or 46105(c), the Administrator may not 

6 proceed against an individual that is the subject of 

7 an investigation described in paragraph (1) during 

8 the 30-day period beginning on the date on which 

9 the air traffic data required under paragraph (4) is 

10 made available to the individual. 

11 (c) AMENDMENTS TO TITLE 49.— 

12 (1) AIRMAN CERTIFICATES.—Section 

13 44703(d)(2) of title 49, United States Code, is 

14 amended by striking ‘‘but is bound by all validly 

15 adopted interpretations of laws and regulations the 

16 Administrator carries out unless the Board finds an 

17 interpretation is arbitrary, capricious, or otherwise 

18 not according to law’’. 

19 (2) AMENDMENTS, MODIFICATIONS, SUSPEN20 SIONS, AND REVOCATIONS OF CERTIFICATES.—Sec21 tion 44709(d)(3) of such title is amended by striking 

22 ‘‘but is bound by all validly adopted interpretations 

23 of laws and regulations the Administrator carries 

24 out and of written agency policy guidance available 

25 to the public related to sanctions to be imposed 


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1 under this section unless the Board finds an inter2 pretation is arbitrary, capricious, or otherwise not 

3 according to law’’. 

4 (3) REVOCATION OF AIRMAN CERTIFICATES

5 FOR CONTROLLED SUBSTANCE VIOLATIONS.—Sec6 tion 44710(d)(1) of such title is amended by striking 

7 ‘‘but shall be bound by all validly adopted interpre8 tations of laws and regulations the Administrator 

9 carries out and of written agency policy guidance 

10 available to the public related to sanctions to be im11 posed under this section unless the Board finds an 

12 interpretation is arbitrary, capricious, or otherwise 

13 not according to law’’. 

14 (d) APPEAL FROM CERTIFICATE ACTIONS.— 

15 (1) IN GENERAL.—Upon a decision by the Na16 tional Transportation Safety Board upholding an 

17 order or a final decision by the Administrator deny18 ing an airman certificate under section 44703(d) of 

19 title 49, United States Code, or imposing a punitive 

20 civil action or an emergency order of revocation 

21 under subsections (d) and (e) of section 44709 of 

22 such title, an individual substantially affected by an 

23 order of the Board may, at the individual’s election, 

24 file an appeal in the United States district court in 

25 which the individual resides or in which the action 


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1 in question occurred, or in the United States Dis2 trict Court for the District of Columbia. If the indi3 vidual substantially affected by an order of the 

4 Board elects not to file an appeal in a United States 

5 district court, the individual may file an appeal in an 

6 appropriate United States court of appeals. 

7 (2) EMERGENCY ORDER PENDING JUDICIAL RE8 VIEW.—Subsequent to a decision by the Board to 

9 uphold an Administrator’s emergency order under 

10 section 44709(e)(2) of title 49, United States Code, 

11 and absent a stay of the enforcement of that order 

12 by the Board, the emergency order of amendment, 

13 modification, suspension, or revocation of a certifi14 cate shall remain in effect, pending the exhaustion 

15 of an appeal to a Federal district court as provided 

16 in this Act. 

17 (e) STANDARD OF REVIEW.— 

18 (1) IN GENERAL.—In an appeal filed under 

19 subsection (d) in a United States district court, the 

20 district court shall give full independent review of a 

21 denial, suspension, or revocation ordered by the Ad22 ministrator, including substantive independent and 

23 expedited review of any decision by the Adminis24 trator to make such order effective immediately. 


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1 (2) EVIDENCE.—A United States district 

2 court’s review under paragraph (1) shall include in 

3 evidence any record of the proceeding before the Ad4 ministrator and any record of the proceeding before 

5 the National Transportation Safety Board, including 

6 hearing testimony, transcripts, exhibits, decisions, 

7 and briefs submitted by the parties. 

8 SEC. 3. NOTICES TO AIRMEN. 

9 (a) IN GENERAL.— 

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

11 ‘‘NOTAM’’ means Notices to Airmen. 

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

13 after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Ad14 ministrator of the Federal Aviation Administration 

15 shall begin a Notice to Airmen Improvement Pro16 gram (in this section referred to as the ‘‘NOTAM 

17 Improvement Program’’)— 

18 (A) to improve the system of providing air19 men with pertinent and timely information re20 garding the national airspace system; 

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

22 all NOTAMs, including the original content and 

23 form of the notices, the original date of publica24 tion, and any amendments to such notices with 

25 the date of each amendment; and 


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1 (C) to apply filters so that pilots can 

2 prioritize critical flight safety information from 

3 other airspace system information. 

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

5 Improvement Program are— 

6 (1) to decrease the overwhelming volume of 

7 NOTAMs an airman receives when retrieving airman 

8 information prior to a flight in the national airspace 

9 system; 

10 (2) make the NOTAMs more specific and rel11 evant to the airman’s route and in a format that is 

12 more useable to the airman; 

13 (3) to provide a full set of NOTAM results in 

14 addition to specific information requested by airmen; 

15 (4) to provide a document that is easily search16 able; and 

17 (5) to provide a filtering mechanism similar to 

18 that provided by the Department of Defense Notices 

19 to Airmen. 

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

21 Administrator shall establish a NOTAM Improvement 

22 Panel, which shall be comprised of representatives of rel23 evant nonprofit and not-for-profit general aviation pilot 

24 groups, to advise the Administrator in carrying out the 


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1 goals of the NOTAM Improvement Program under this 

2 section. 

3 (d) PHASE-IN AND COMPLETION.—The improve4 ments required by this section shall be phased in as quick5 ly as practicable and shall be completed not later than the 

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

7 Act. 

8 SEC. 4. MEDICAL CERTIFICATION. 

9 (a) ASSESSMENT.— 

10 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days 

11 after the date of the enactment of this Act, the 

12 Comptroller General of the United States shall ini13 tiate an assessment of the Federal Aviation Admin14 istration’s medical certification process and the asso15 ciated medical standards and forms. 

16 (2) REPORT.—The Comptroller General shall 

17 submit a report to Congress based on the assess18 ment required under paragraph (1) that examines— 

19 (A) revisions to the medical application 

20 form that would provide greater clarity and 

21 guidance to applicants; 

22 (B) the alignment of medical qualification 

23 policies with present-day qualified medical judg24 ment and practices, as applied to an individ25 ual’s medically relevant circumstances; and 


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1 (C) steps that could be taken to promote 

2 the public’s understanding of the medical re3 quirements that determine an airman’s medical 

4 certificate eligibility. 

5 (b) GOALS OF THE FEDERAL AVIATION ADMINISTRA6 TION’S MEDICAL CERTIFICATION PROCESS.—The goals of 

7 the Federal Aviation Administration’s medical certifi8 cation process are— 

9 (1) to provide questions in the medical applica10 tion form that— 

11 (A) are appropriate without being overly 

12 broad; 

13 (B) are subject to a minimum amount of 

14 misinterpretation and mistaken responses; 

15 (C) allow for consistent treatment and re16 sponses during the medical application process; 

17 and 

18 (D) avoid unnecessary allegations that an 

19 individual has intentionally falsified answers on 

20 the form; 

21 (2) to provide questions that elicit information 

22 that is relevant to making a determination of an in23 dividual’s medical qualifications within the standards 

24 identified in the Administrator’s regulations; 


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1 (3) to give medical standards greater meaning 

2 by ensuring the information requested aligns with 

3 present-day medical judgment and practices; and 

4 (4) to ensure that— 

5 (A) the application of such medical stand6 ards provides an appropriate and fair evalua7 tion of an individual’s qualifications; and 

8 (B) the individual understands the basis 

9 for determining medical qualifications. 

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

11 Administrator shall establish a panel, which shall be com12 prised of representatives of relevant nonprofit and not-for13 profit general aviation pilot groups, aviation medical ex14 aminers, and other qualified medical experts, to advise the 

15 Administrator in carrying out the goals of the assessment 

16 required under this section. 

17 (d) FEDERAL AVIATION ADMINISTRATION RE18 SPONSE.—Not later than 1 year after the issuance of the 

19 report by the Comptroller General pursuant to subsection 


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1 (a)(2), the Administrator shall take appropriate actions to 

2 respond to such report. 

Passed the Senate June 29, 2012. 

Attest: NANCY ERICKSON, 

Secretary. 


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