109TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 5076

AN ACT

To amend title 49, United States Code, to authorize appropriations for fiscal years 2007 and 2008, 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; TABLE OF CONTENTS. 

2 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 

3 ‘‘National Transportation Safety Board Reauthorization 

4 Act of 2006’’. 

5 (b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents for 

6 this Act is as follows:

Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents. 

Sec. 2. Reports. 

Sec. 3. Investigation services. 

Sec. 4. Expenses of DOT Inspector General. 

Sec. 5. Evaluation and audit of the National Transportation Safety Board. 

Sec. 6. Audit procedures. 

Sec. 7. Implementation of NTSB’s ‘‘Most Wanted Transportation Safety Improvements, 2006’’. 

Sec. 8. Authorization of appropriations. 

Sec. 9. Technical corrections. 

Sec. 10. Safety review. 

Sec. 11. DOT Inspector General oversight and investigations related to Central 

Artery tunnel project.

7 SEC. 2. REPORTS. 

8 (a) ANNUAL REPORTS.—

9 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 1117 of title 49, 

10 United States Code, is amended—

11 (A) in paragraph (2) by striking ‘‘and’’ 

12 after the semicolon; 

13 (B) in paragraph (3) by striking ‘‘State.’’ 

14 and inserting ‘‘State;’’; and 

15 (C) by adding at the end the following: 

16 ‘‘(4) a description of the activities and oper17 ations of the National Transportation Safety Board 

18 Academy during the prior calendar year; 
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1 ‘‘(5) a list of accidents, during the prior cal2 endar year, that the Board was required to inves3 tigate under section 1131 but did not investigate 

4 and an explanation of why they were not inves5 tigated; and 

6 ‘‘(6) a list of ongoing investigations that have 

7 exceeded the expected time allotted for completion 

8 by Board order and an explanation for the addi9 tional time required to complete each such investiga10 tion.’’. 

11 (2) UTILIZATION PLAN.—

12 (A) PLAN.—Within 90 days after the date 

13 of enactment of this Act, the National Trans14 portation Safety Board shall—

15 (i) develop a plan to achieve, to the 

16 maximum extent feasible, the self-sufficient 

17 operation of the National Transportation 

18 Safety Board Academy and utilize the 

19 Academy’s facilities and resources; 

20 (ii) submit a draft of the plan to the 

21 Comptroller General for review and com22 ment; and 

23 (iii) submit a draft of the plan to the 

24 Committee on Commerce, Science, and 

25 Transportation of the Senate and the 
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1 Committee on Transportation and Infra2 structure of the House of Representatives. 

3 (B) PLAN DEVELOPMENT CONSIDER4 ATIONS.—The Board shall—

5 (i) give consideration in developing 

6 the plan under subparagraph (A)(i) to 

7 other revenue-generating measures, includ8 ing subleasing the facility to another enti9 ty; and 

10 (ii) include in the plan a detailed fi11 nancial statement that covers current 

12 Academy expenses and revenues and an 

13 analysis of the projected impact of the plan 

14 on the Academy’s expenses and revenues. 

15 (C) REPORT.—Within 180 days after the 

16 date of enactment of this Act, the National 

17 Transportation Safety Board shall submit a re18 port to the Committee on Commerce, Science, 

19 and Transportation of the Senate and the Com20 mittee on Transportation and Infrastructure of 

21 the House of Representatives that includes—

22 (i) an updated copy of the plan devel23 oped pursuant to subparagraph (A)(i); 

24 (ii) any comments and recommenda25 tions made by the Comptroller General 
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1 pursuant to the Government Accountability 

2 Office’s review of the draft plan; and 

3 (iii) a response to the Comptroller 

4 General’s comments and recommendations, 

5 including a description of any modifica6 tions made to the plan in response to those 

7 comments and recommendations. 

8 (D) IMPLEMENTATION.—The plan devel9 oped pursuant to subparagraph (A)(i) shall be 

10 implemented within 2 years after the date of 

11 enactment of this Act. 

12 (b) DOT REPORT ON COMPLIANCE WITH REC13 OMMENDATIONS.—Section 1135(d)(3) of title 49, United 

14 States Code, is amended to read as follows: 

15 ‘‘(3) COMPLIANCE REPORT WITH REC16 OMMENDATIONS.—Within 90 days after the date on 

17 which the Secretary submits a report under this sub18 section, the Board shall review the Secretary’s re19 port and transmit comments on the report to the 

20 Secretary, the Committee on Commerce, Science, 

21 and Transportation of the Senate, and the Com22 mittee on Transportation and Infrastructure of the 

23 House of Representatives.’’. 
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1 SEC. 3. INVESTIGATION SERVICES. 

2 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 4(a) of the National 

3 Transportation Safety Board Reauthorization Act of 2003 

4 (Public Law 108–168; 49 U.S.C. 1113 note) is amended 

5 by striking ‘‘From the date of enactment of this Act 

6 through September 30, 2006, the’’ and inserting ‘‘The’’. 

7 (b) REPORT.—Section 4(b) of such Act is amended—

8 (1) by striking ‘‘On February 1, 2006,’’ and in9 serting ‘‘On July 1 of each year, as part of the an10 nual report required by section 1117 of title 49, 

11 United States Code,’’; and 

12 (2) in paragraph (1) by striking ‘‘for $25,000 

13 or more’’. 

14 SEC. 4. EXPENSES OF DOT INSPECTOR GENERAL. 

15 Section 1137(d) of title 49, United States Code, is 

16 amended to read as follows: 

17 ‘‘(d) AUTHORIZATIONS OF APPROPRIATIONS.—

18 ‘‘(1) FUNDING.—There are authorized to be ap19 propriated to the Secretary of Transportation for 

20 use by the Inspector General of the Department of 

21 Transportation such sums as may be necessary to 

22 cover expenses associated with activities pursuant to 

23 the authority exercised under this section. 

24 ‘‘(2) REIMBURSABLE AGREEMENT.—In the ab25 sence of an appropriation under this subsection for 

26 an expense referred to in paragraph (1), the Inspec-
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1 tor General and the Board shall have a reimbursable 

2 agreement to cover such expense.’’. 

3 SEC. 5. EVALUATION AND AUDIT OF THE NATIONAL TRANS4 PORTATION SAFETY BOARD. 

5 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subchapter III of chapter 11 of 

6 title 49, United States Code, is amended by adding at the 

7 end the following: 

8 ‘‘§ 1138. Evaluation and audit of National Transpor9 tation Safety Board 

10 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—To promote economy, efficiency, 

11 and effectiveness in the administration of the programs, 

12 operations, and activities of the National Transportation 

13 Safety Board, the Comptroller General of the United 

14 States shall evaluate and audit the programs and expendi15 tures of the National Transportation Safety Board. Such 

16 evaluation and audit shall be conducted at least annually, 

17 but may be conducted as determined necessary by the 

18 Comptroller General or the appropriate congressional com19 mittees. 

20 ‘‘(b) RESPONSIBILITY OF COMPTROLLER GEN21 ERAL.—The Comptroller General shall evaluate and audit 

22 Board programs, operations, and activities, including—

23 ‘‘(1) information management and security, in24 cluding privacy protection of personally identifiable 

25 information; 
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1 ‘‘(2) resource management; 

2 ‘‘(3) workforce development; 

3 ‘‘(4) procurement and contracting planning, 

4 practices and policies; 

5 ‘‘(5) the extent to which the Board follows lead6 ing practices in selected management areas; and 

7 ‘‘(6) the extent to which the Board addresses 

8 management challenges in completing accident inves9 tigations. 

10 ‘‘(c) APPROPRIATE CONGRESSIONAL COMMITTEES.—

11 For purposes of this section the term ‘appropriate con12 gressional committees’ means the Committee on Com13 merce, Science and Transportation of the Senate and the 

14 Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure of the 

15 House of Representatives.’’. 

16 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The analysis for such 

17 chapter is amended by inserting after the item relating 

18 to section 1137 the following:

‘‘1138. Evaluation and audit of National Transportation Safety Board’’.

19 SEC. 6. AUDIT PROCEDURES. 

20 The National Transportation Safety Board, in con21 sultation with the Inspector General of the Department 

22 of Transportation, shall continue to develop and imple23 ment comprehensive internal audit controls for its oper24 ations. The audit controls shall address, at a minimum, 

25 Board asset management systems, including systems for 
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1 accounting management, debt collection, travel, and prop2 erty and inventory management and control. 

3 SEC. 7. IMPLEMENTATION OF NTSB’S ‘‘MOST WANTED 

4 TRANSPORTATION SAFETY IMPROVEMENTS, 

5 2006’’. 

6 Within 90 days after the date of enactment of this 

7 Act, the Administrator of the Federal Aviation Adminis8 tration shall submit a report to the Committee on Com9 merce, Science, and Transportation of the Senate and the 

10 Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure of the 

11 House of Representatives explaining why the Federal 

12 Aviation Administration has not implemented the aviation 

13 recommendations in the ‘‘Most Wanted Transportation 

14 Safety Improvements, 2006’’ of the National Transpor15 tation Safety Board. 

16 SEC. 8. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

17 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 1118(a) of title 49, 

18 United States Code, is amended—

19 (1) by striking ‘‘and’’ after ‘‘2005,’’; and 

20 (2) by striking ‘‘2006.’’ and inserting ‘‘2006, 

21 $81,594,000 for fiscal year 2007, and $92,625,000 

22 for fiscal year 2008.’’. 

23 (b) FEES, REFUNDS, AND REIMBURSEMENTS.—

24 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 1118(c) of such title 

25 is amended to read as follows: 
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1 ‘‘(c) FEES, REFUNDS, AND REIMBURSEMENTS.—

2 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Board may impose 

3 and collect such fees, refunds, and reimbursements 

4 as it determines to be appropriate for services pro5 vided by or through the Board. 

6 ‘‘(2) RECEIPTS CREDITED AS OFFSETTING COL7 LECTIONS.—Notwithstanding section 3302 of title 

8 31, any fee, refund, or reimbursement collected 

9 under this subsection—

10 ‘‘(A) shall be credited as offsetting collec11 tions to the account that finances the activities 

12 and services for which the fee is imposed or 

13 with which the refund or reimbursement is as14 sociated; 

15 ‘‘(B) shall be available for expenditure only 

16 to pay the costs of activities and services for 

17 which the fee is imposed or with which the re18 fund or reimbursement is associated; and 

19 ‘‘(C) shall remain available until expended. 

20 ‘‘(3) REFUNDS.—The Board may refund any 

21 fee paid by mistake or any amount paid in excess of 

22 that required.’’. 

23 (2) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made 

24 by paragraph (1) shall take effect on October 1, 

25 2005. 
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1 (c) REPORT.—Section 1118(d) of title 49, United 

2 States Code, is repealed. 

3 SEC. 9. TECHNICAL CORRECTIONS. 

4 (a) FUNCTIONAL UNIT FOR MARINE INVESTIGA5 TIONS.—Section 1111(g) of title 49, United States Code, 

6 is amended by adding at the end the following: 

7 ‘‘(5) marine.’’. 

8 (b) MARINE CASUALTY INVESTIGATIONS.—Section 

9 1131(a)(1)(E) of such title is amended—

10 (1) by striking ‘‘on the navigable waters or ter11 ritorial sea of the United States,’’ and inserting ‘‘on 

12 or under the navigable waters, internal waters, or 

13 the territorial sea of the United States as described 

14 in Presidential Proclamation No. 5928 of December 

15 27, 1988,’’; and 

16 (2) by inserting ‘‘(as defined in section 

17 2101(46) of title 46)’’ after ‘‘vessel of the United 

18 States’’. 

19 (c) REFERENCE TO DEPARTMENTAL AUTHORITY.—

20 Section 1131(c)(1) of such title is amended by inserting 

21 ‘‘or the Secretary of the department in which the Coast 

22 Guard is operating’’ after ‘‘Transportation’’. 

23 (d) APPOINTMENT OF STAFF.—Section 1111 of such 

24 title is amended—
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1 (1) by striking paragraph (1) of subsection (e) 

2 and inserting the following: 

3 ‘‘(1) appoint and supervise officers and employ4 ees, other than regular and full-time employees in 

5 the immediate offices of another member, necessary 

6 to carry out this chapter;’’; 

7 (2) by redesignating paragraphs (2) and (3) of 

8 subsection (e) as paragraphs (3) and (4), respec9 tively; 

10 (3) by inserting after paragraph (1) of sub11 section (e) the following: 

12 ‘‘(2) fix the pay of officers and employees nec13 essary to carry out this chapter;’’; 

14 (4) by redesignating subsection (i) as subsection 

15 (j); and 

16 (5) by inserting after subsection (h) the fol17 lowing: 

18 ‘‘(i) BOARD MEMBER STAFF.—Each member of the 

19 Board shall select and supervise regular and full-time em20 ployees in his or her immediate office as long as any such 

21 employee has been approved for employment by the des22 ignated agency ethics official under the same guidelines 

23 that apply to all employees of the Board. Except for the 

24 Chairman, the appointment authority provided by this 

25 subsection is limited to the number of full-time equivalent 
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1 positions, in addition to 1 senior professional staff at a 

2 level not to exceed the GS 15 level and 1 administrative 

3 staff, allocated to each member through the Board’s an4 nual budget and allocation process.’’. 

5 (e) SPELLING CORRECTION.—Section 1113(a) of 

6 such title is amended in paragraphs (3) and (4) by strik7 ing ‘‘subpena’’ and inserting ‘‘subpoena’’. 

8 (f) BOARD REVIEW.—Section 1113(c) of such title is 

9 amended by inserting after the period at the end the fol10 lowing: ‘‘The Board shall develop and approve a process 

11 for the Board’s review and comment or approval of docu12 ments submitted to the President, Director of the Office 

13 of Management and Budget, or Congress under this sub14 section.’’. 

15 (g) INVESTIGATIVE OFFICERS.—Section 1113 of 

16 such title is amended by adding at the end the following: 

17 ‘‘(h) INVESTIGATIVE OFFICERS.—The Board shall 

18 maintain at least 1 full-time employee in each State lo19 cated more than 1,000 miles from the nearest Board re20 gional office to provide initial investigative response to ac21 cidents the Board is empowered to investigate under this 

22 chapter that occur in that State.’’. 

23 SEC. 10. SAFETY REVIEW. 

24 (a) SAFETY AREA ALTERNATIVES.—With regard to 

25 an environmental review of a project to improve runway 
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1 safety areas on Runway 8/26 at Juneau International Air2 port, the Secretary of Transportation may only select as 

3 the preferred alternative the least expensive runway safety 

4 area alternative that meets the standards of the Federal 

5 Aviation Administration and that maintains the length of 

6 the runway as of the date of enactment of this Act. 

7 (b) COSTS TO BE CONSIDERED.—In determining 

8 what is the least expensive runway safety area for pur9 poses of subsection (a), the Secretary shall consider, at 

10 a minimum, the initial development costs and life cycle 

11 costs of the project. 

12 (c) SATISFACTION OF REQUIREMENT.—With respect 

13 to the project described in subsection (a), the require14 ments of section 303(c)(1) of title 49, United States Code, 

15 shall be considered to be satisfied by the selection of the 

16 least expensive safety area alternative. 

17 SEC. 11. DOT INSPECTOR GENERAL OVERSIGHT AND IN18 VESTIGATIONS RELATED TO CENTRAL AR19 TERY TUNNEL PROJECT. 

20 (a) OVERSIGHT OF SAFETY REVIEW.—The Inspector 

21 General of the Department of Transportation shall provide 

22 objective and independent oversight of the activities per23 formed by the Federal Highway Administration, the Mas24 sachusetts Executive Office of Transportation, and the 

25 Massachusetts Department of Transportation for the 
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1 project-wide safety review initiated as a result of the July 

2 10, 2006, accident in the Central Artery tunnel project 

3 in Boston, Massachusetts. The Inspector General shall en4 sure that such oversight is comprehensive, complete, and 

5 carried out in a rigorous manner.

6 (b) INVESTIGATIONS OF CRIMINAL AND FRAUDU7 LENT ACTIVITIES.—In cooperation with the Attorney 

8 General of the United States and the Attorney General 

9 of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, the Inspector 

10 General shall investigate criminal or fraudulent acts com11 mitted in the design, expenditure of funds, and construc12 tion of the Central Artery tunnel project. 

13 (c) REPORTS TO CONGRESS.—The Inspector General 

14 shall submit to Congress periodically reports on the over15 sight and investigative activities conducted pursuant to 

16 this section, together with any recommendations and ob17 servations of the Inspector General. If the Inspector 

18 General identifies any safety issues of a time sensitive and 

19 critical nature in carrying out this section, the Inspector 

20 General shall promptly notify Congress. 

Passed the House of Representatives December 6, 

2006. 

Attest:

Clerk. 
109TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 5076

AN ACT

To amend title 49, United States Code, to author2008, and for other purposes. ize appropriations for fiscal years 2007 and