II 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1256 

To amend title 49, United States Code, to require certain air carriers to 

provide reports with respect to maintenance, preventive maintenance, 

or alterations, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

APRIL 25, 2023 

Mrs. CAPITO (for herself and Ms. BALDWIN) 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 require certain 

air carriers to provide reports with respect to maintenance, preventive maintenance, or alterations, 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 ‘‘Global Aircraft Main5 tenance Safety Improvement Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. FAA OVERSIGHT OF REPAIR STATIONS LOCATED 

2 OUTSIDE THE UNITED STATES. 

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 44733 of title 49, United 

4 States Code, is amended— 

5 (1) in the section heading by striking ‘‘In6 spection’’ and inserting ‘‘Oversight’’; 

7 (2) in subsection (e)— 

8 (A) in the first sentence— 

9 (i) by inserting ‘‘, without prior notice 

10 to such repair stations,’’ after ‘‘annually’’; 

11 and 

12 (ii) by inserting ‘‘and the applicable 

13 laws of the country in which a repair sta14 tion is located’’ after ‘‘international agree15 ments’’; and 

16 (B) by striking the second sentence and in17 serting ‘‘The Administrator may carry out an18 nounced or unannounced inspections in addition 

19 to the annual unannounced inspection required 

20 under this subsection based on identified risks 

21 and in a manner consistent with United States 

22 obligations under international agreements and 

23 with the applicable laws of the country in which 

24 a repair station is located.’’; 

25 (3) by redesignating subsection (g) as sub26 section (i); and 


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1 (4) by inserting after subsection (f) the fol2 lowing: 

3 ‘‘(g) DATA ANALYSIS.— 

4 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—An air carrier conducting 

5 operations under part 121 of title 14, Code of Fed6 eral Regulations, shall, if applicable, provide to the 

7 appropriate office of the Administration, not less 

8 than once every year, a report containing the infor9 mation described in paragraph (2) with respect to 

10 heavy maintenance work on aircraft (including on11 wing aircraft engines) performed in the preceding 

12 year. 

13 ‘‘(2) INFORMATION REQUIRED.—A report under 

14 paragraph (1) shall contain the following informa15 tion: 

16 ‘‘(A) The location where any heavy mainte17 nance work on aircraft (including on-wing air18 craft engines) was performed outside the 

19 United States. 

20 ‘‘(B) A description of the work performed 

21 at each such location. 

22 ‘‘(C) The date of completion of the work 

23 performed at each such location. 

24 ‘‘(D) A list of all failures, malfunctions, or 

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1 craft identified by the air carrier within 30 days 

2 after the date on which an aircraft is returned 

3 to service, organized by reference to aircraft 

4 registration number, that— 

5 ‘‘(i) requires corrective action after 

6 the aircraft is approved for return to serv7 ice; and 

8 ‘‘(ii) results from the work performed 

9 on such aircraft. 

10 ‘‘(E) The certificate number of the person 

11 approving such aircraft or on-wing aircraft en12 gine, for return to service following completion 

13 of the work performed at each such location. 

14 ‘‘(3) ANALYSIS.—The Administrator of the 

15 Federal Aviation Administration shall— 

16 ‘‘(A) analyze information made available 

17 under paragraph (1) of this subsection and sec18 tions 121.703, 121.705, 121.707, and 145.221 

19 of title 14, Code of Federal Regulations, or any 

20 successor provisions, to detect safety issues as21 sociated with heavy maintenance work on air22 craft (including on-wing aircraft engines) per23 formed outside the United States; and 

24 ‘‘(B) require appropriate actions in re25 sponse. 


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1 ‘‘(4) CONFIDENTIALITY.—Information made 

2 available under paragraph (1) shall be subject to the 

3 same protections given to voluntarily provided safety 

4 or security related information under section 40123. 

5 ‘‘(h) MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS FOR MECHANICS

6 AND OTHERS WORKING ON U.S. REGISTERED AIR7 CRAFT.— 

8 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year after 

9 the date of enactment of this subsection, the Admin10 istrator of the Federal Aviation Administration shall 

11 require that, at each covered repair station— 

12 ‘‘(A) all supervisory personnel are appro13 priately certificated as a mechanic or repairman 

14 under part 65 of title 14, Code of Federal Reg15 ulations, or under an equivalent certification or 

16 licensing regime, as determined by the Adminis17 trator; and 

18 ‘‘(B) all personnel authorized to approve 

19 an article for return to service are appropriately 

20 certificated as a mechanic or repairman under 

21 part 65 of such title, or under an equivalent 

22 certification or licensing regime, as determined 

23 by the Administrator. 

24 ‘‘(2) AVAILABLE FOR CONSULTATION.—Not 

25 later than 1 year after the date of enactment of this 


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1 subsection, the Administrator of the Federal Avia2 tion Administration shall require any individual who 

3 is responsible for approving an article for return to 

4 service or who is directly in charge of aircraft (in5 cluding on-wing aircraft engine) maintenance per6 formed on aircraft operated under part 121 of title 

7 14, Code of Federal Regulations, be available for 

8 consultation while work is being performed at a cov9 ered repair station.’’. 

10 (b) DEFINITION OF COVERED REPAIR STATION.— 

11 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 44733(i) of title 49, 

12 United States Code (as redesignated by subsection 

13 (a)(3)), is amended— 

14 (A) by redesignating paragraphs (1) 

15 through (3) as paragraphs (2) through (4), re16 spectively; and 

17 (B) by inserting before paragraph (2), as 

18 so redesignated, the following: 

19 ‘‘(1) COVERED REPAIR STATION.—The term 

20 ‘covered repair station’ means a facility that— 

21 ‘‘(A) is located outside the United States; 

22 ‘‘(B) is certificated under part 145 of title 

23 14, Code of Federal Regulations; and 

24 ‘‘(C) performs heavy maintenance work on 

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1 erated under part 121 of title 14, Code of Fed2 eral Regulations.’’. 

3 (2) TECHNICAL AMENDMENT.—Section 

4 44733(a)(3) of title 49, United States Code, is 

5 amended by striking ‘‘covered part 145 repair sta6 tions’’ and inserting ‘‘part 145 repair stations’’. 

7 (c) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—The analysis for 

8 chapter 447 of title 49, United States Code, is amended 

9 by striking the item relating to section 44733 and insert10 ing the following: 

‘‘44733. Oversight of repair stations located outside the United States.’’. 

11 SEC. 3. ALCOHOL AND DRUG TESTING AND BACKGROUND 

12 CHECKS. 

13 (a) IN GENERAL.—Beginning on the date that is 2 

14 years after the date of enactment of this Act, the Adminis15 trator of the Federal Aviation Administration (in this Act 

16 referred to as the‘‘Administrator’’) may not approve or au17 thorize international travel for any employee of the Fed18 eral Aviation Administration until a final rule carrying out 

19 the requirements of subsection (b) of section 2112 of the 

20 FAA Extension, Safety, and Security Act of 2016 (49 

21 U.S.C. 44733 note) has been published in the Federal 

22 Register. 

23 (b) RULEMAKING ON ASSESSMENT REQUIREMENT.— 

24 With respect to any employee not covered under the re25 quirements of section 1554.101 of title 49, Code of FedVerDate Sep 11 2014 04:02 Apr 27, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1256.IS S1256

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1 eral Regulations, the Administrator shall initiate a rule2 making that requires a covered repair station to confirm 

3 that any such employee has successfully completed an as4 sessment commensurate with a security threat assessment 

5 described in subpart C of part 1540 of such title. 

6 (c) EXCEPTIONS.—The prohibition in subsection (a) 

7 shall not apply to international travel that is determined 

8 by the Administrator on an individual by individual basis 

9 to be— 

10 (1) exclusively for the purpose of conducting a 

11 safety inspection; 

12 (2) directly related to aviation safety standards, 

13 certification, and oversight; or 

14 (3) vital to the national interests of the United 

15 States. 

16 (d) NON-DELEGATION AND REPORTING.—For any 

17 determination to make an exception based on the criteria 

18 in paragraph (2) or (3) of subsection (c), the Adminis19 trator— 

20 (1) may not delegate the authority to make 

21 such a determination to any other individual; and 

22 (2) shall report to the Committee on Transpor23 tation and Infrastructure of the House of Represent24 atives and the Committee on Commerce, Science, 

25 and Transportation of the Senate not later than 3 


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1 days after making each determination under sub2 section (c)— 

3 (A) the name of the individual approved or 

4 authorized to travel internationally; 

5 (B) the location to which the individual is 

6 traveling; 

7 (C) a detailed explanation of why the Ad8 ministrator has determined the travel is— 

9 (i) directly related to aviation safety 

10 standards, certification, and oversight; or 

11 (ii) vital to the national interests of 

12 the United States; and 

13 (D) a detailed description of the status of 

14 the rulemakings described in subsection (a). 

15 (e) DEFINITION OF COVERED REPAIR STATION.— 

16 For purposes of this section, the term ‘‘covered repair sta17 tion’’ means a facility that— 

18 (1) is located outside the United States; 

19 (2) is certificated under part 145 of title 14, 

20 Code of Federal Regulations; and 

21 (3) performs heavy maintenance work on air22 craft (including on-wing aircraft engines), operated 

23 under part 121 of title 14, Code of Federal Regula24 tions. 

Æ 


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