II 

110TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 3440 

To amend title 49, United States Code, to enhance aviation safety. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

AUGUST 1, 2008 

Ms. SNOWE (for herself and Ms. KLOBUCHAR) 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 enhance aviation 

safety. 

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 ‘‘Aviation Safety En5 hancement Act of 2008’’. 

6 SEC. 2. AVIATION SAFETY WHISTLEBLOWER INVESTIGA7 TION OFFICE. 

8 Section 106 of title 49, United States Code, is 

9 amended by adding at the end the following: 


smartinez on PROD1PC64 with BILLS
2 

•S 3440 IS

1 ‘‘(s) AVIATION SAFETY WHISTLEBLOWER INVES2 TIGATION OFFICE.— 

3 ‘‘(1) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established in 

4 the Department of Transportation an Aviation Safe5 ty Whistleblower Investigation Office (referred to in 

6 this subsection as the ‘Office’). 

7 ‘‘(2) DIRECTOR.— 

8 ‘‘(A) APPOINTMENT.—The head of the Of9 fice shall be the Director, who shall be ap10 pointed by the Secretary of Transportation. 

11 ‘‘(B) QUALIFICATIONS.—The Director 

12 shall have a demonstrated ability in investiga13 tions and knowledge of, or experience in, avia14 tion. 

15 ‘‘(C) TERM.—The Director shall be ap16 pointed for a term of 5 years. 

17 ‘‘(D) VACANCY.—Any individual appointed 

18 to fill a vacancy in the position of the Director 

19 occurring before the expiration of the term for 

20 which the individual’s predecessor was ap21 pointed shall be appointed for the remainder of 

22 that term. 

23 ‘‘(3) COMPLAINTS AND INVESTIGATIONS.— 

24 ‘‘(A) AUTHORITY OF DIRECTOR.—The Di25 rector shall— 


smartinez on PROD1PC64 with BILLS
3 

•S 3440 IS

1 ‘‘(i) receive complaints and informa2 tion submitted by employees of persons 

3 holding certificates issued under title 14, 

4 Code of Federal Regulations, and employ5 ees of the Administration concerning the 

6 possible existence of an activity relating to 

7 a violation of an order, regulation, or 

8 standard of the Administration or any 

9 other provision of Federal law relating to 

10 aviation safety; 

11 ‘‘(ii) assess complaints and informa12 tion submitted under clause (i) and deter13 mine whether a substantial likelihood ex14 ists that a violation of an order, regulation, 

15 or standard of the Administration or any 

16 other provision of Federal law relating to 

17 aviation safety may have occurred; and 

18 ‘‘(iii) based on findings of the assess19 ment conducted under clause (ii), submit 

20 written recommendations to the Adminis21 trator of the Federal Aviation Administra22 tion (referred to in this subsection as the 

23 ‘Administrator’) for further investigation 

24 or corrective actions. 


smartinez on PROD1PC64 with BILLS
4 

•S 3440 IS

1 ‘‘(B) DISCLOSURE OF IDENTITIES.—The 

2 Director shall not disclose the identity of an in3 dividual who submits a complaint or informa4 tion under subparagraph (A)(i) unless— 

5 ‘‘(i) the individual provides written 

6 consent to the disclosure; or 

7 ‘‘(ii) the Director determines, in the 

8 course of an investigation, that the disclo9 sure is unavoidable. 

10 ‘‘(C) INDEPENDENCE OF DIRECTOR.—The 

11 Secretary of Transportation, the Administrator, 

12 or any officer or employee of the Administra13 tion may not prevent or prohibit the Director 

14 from— 

15 ‘‘(i) initiating, carrying out, or com16 pleting any assessment of a complaint or 

17 information submitted subparagraph 

18 (A)(i); or 

19 ‘‘(ii) reporting to Congress on any 

20 such assessment. 

21 ‘‘(D) ACCESS TO INFORMATION.—In con22 ducting an assessment of a complaint or infor23 mation submitted under subparagraph (A)(i), 

24 the Director shall have access to all records, re25 ports, audits, reviews, documents, papers, recVerDate Aug 31 2005 23:54 Aug 04, 2008 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3440.IS S3440

smartinez on PROD1PC64 with BILLS
5 

•S 3440 IS

1 ommendations, and other material necessary to 

2 determine whether a substantial likelihood ex3 ists that a violation of an order, regulation, or 

4 standard of the Administration or any other 

5 provision of Federal law relating to aviation 

6 safety may have occurred. 

7 ‘‘(4) RESPONSES TO RECOMMENDATIONS.—The 

8 Administrator shall submit a written response to a 

9 recommendation submitted by the Director under 

10 subparagraph (A)(iii) and retain records related to 

11 any further investigations or corrective actions taken 

12 in response to the recommendation. 

13 ‘‘(5) INCIDENT REPORTS.—If the Director de14 termines there is a substantial likelihood that a vio15 lation of an order, regulation, or standard of the Ad16 ministration or any other provision of Federal law 

17 relating to aviation safety may have occurred that 

18 requires immediate corrective action, the Director 

19 shall expeditiously report the potential violation to 

20 the Administrator and the Inspector General of the 

21 Department of Transportation. 

22 ‘‘(6) REPORTING OF CRIMINAL VIOLATIONS TO

23 INSPECTOR GENERAL.—If the Director has reason24 able grounds to believe that there has been a viola25 tion of Federal criminal law, the Director shall expeVerDate Aug 31 2005 23:54 Aug 04, 2008 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3440.IS S3440

smartinez on PROD1PC64 with BILLS
6 

•S 3440 IS

1 ditiously report the violation to the Inspector Gen2 eral. 

3 ‘‘(7) ANNUAL REPORTS TO CONGRESS.—Not 

4 later than October 1 of each year, the Director shall 

5 submit a report to Congress that contains— 

6 ‘‘(A) information on the number of com7 plaints submitted and information received by 

8 the Director under paragraph (3)(A)(i) during 

9 the preceding 12-month period; 

10 ‘‘(B) summaries of the submissions de11 scribed in subparagraph (A); 

12 ‘‘(C) summaries of further investigations 

13 and corrective actions recommended in response 

14 to the submissions described in subparagraph 

15 (A); and 

16 ‘‘(D) summaries of the responses of the 

17 Administrator to the recommendations de18 scribed in subparagraph (C).’’. 

19 SEC. 3. MODIFICATION OF CUSTOMER SERVICE INITIATIVE. 

20 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds the following: 

21 (1) Subsections (a) and (d) of section 40101 of 

22 title 49, United States Code, directs the Federal 

23 Aviation Administration (in this section referred to 

24 as the ‘‘Administration’’) to make safety its highest 

25 priority. 


smartinez on PROD1PC64 with BILLS
7 

•S 3440 IS

1 (2) In 1996, to ensure that there would be no 

2 appearance of a conflict of interest for the Adminis3 tration in carrying out its safety responsibilities, 

4 Congress amended section 40101(d) of such title to 

5 remove the responsibilities of the Administration to 

6 promote airlines. 

7 (3) Despite these directives from Congress re8 garding the priority of safety, the Administration— 

9 (A) issued a vision statement in which it 

10 stated that the vision of the Administration in11 cludes ‘‘being responsive to our customers and 

12 accountable to the public’’; and 

13 (B) issued a customer service initiative in 

14 2003, which required aviation inspectors to 

15 treat air carriers and other aviation certificate 

16 holders as ‘‘customers’’ rather than as regu17 lated entities. 

18 (4) The initiatives described in paragraph (3) 

19 appear to have given regulated entities and Adminis20 tration inspectors the impression that the manage21 ment of the Administration gives an unduly high pri22 ority to the satisfaction of regulated entities regard23 ing its inspection and certification decisions and 

24 other lawful actions of its safety inspectors. 


smartinez on PROD1PC64 with BILLS
8 

•S 3440 IS

1 (5) As a result of the emphasis on customer 

2 satisfaction, some managers of the Administration 

3 have discouraged vigorous enforcement and replaced 

4 inspectors whose lawful actions adversely affected an 

5 air carrier. 

6 (b) MODIFICATION OF INITIATIVE.—Not later than 

7 90 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the 

8 Administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration 

9 shall modify the customer service initiative, mission, and 

10 vision statements, and other statements of policy of the 

11 Administration— 

12 (1) to remove any reference to air carriers and 

13 other entities regulated by the Administration as 

14 ‘‘customers’’; 

15 (2) to clarify that in regulating safety, the only 

16 customers of the Administration are individuals trav17 eling on aircraft; and 

18 (3) to clarify that air carriers and other entities 

19 regulated by the Administration do not have the 

20 right to select the employees of the Administration 

21 who will inspect their operations. 

22 (c) SAFETY PRIORITY.—In carrying out the Adminis23 trator’s responsibilities, the Administrator shall ensure 

24 that safety is given a higher priority than preventing the 

25 dissatisfaction of an air carrier or other entity regulated 


smartinez on PROD1PC64 with BILLS
9 

•S 3440 IS

1 by the Administration with an employee of the Adminis2 tration. 

3 SEC. 4. POST-EMPLOYMENT RESTRICTIONS FOR FLIGHT 

4 STANDARDS INSPECTORS. 

5 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 44711 of title 49, United 

6 States Code, is amended by adding at the end the fol7 lowing: 

8 ‘‘(d) POST-EMPLOYMENT RESTRICTIONS FOR

9 FLIGHT STANDARDS INSPECTORS.— 

10 ‘‘(1) PROHIBITION.—A person holding an oper11 ating certificate issued under title 14, Code of Fed12 eral Regulations, may not engage in employment ne13 gotiations, knowingly employ, or make a contractual 

14 arrangement of employment with an employee of the 

15 Federal Aviation Administration if the individual, in 

16 the preceding 2-year period— 

17 ‘‘(A) served as, or was responsible for over18 sight of, a flight standards inspector of the 

19 Agency; and 

20 ‘‘(B) had responsibility to inspect, or over21 see inspection of, the operations of the certifi22 cate holder. 

23 ‘‘(2) WRITTEN AND ORAL COMMUNICATIONS.— 

24 For purposes of paragraph (1), an individual shall 

25 be considered to be acting as an agent or representaVerDate Aug 31 2005 23:54 Aug 04, 2008 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3440.IS S3440

smartinez on PROD1PC64 with BILLS
10 

•S 3440 IS

1 tive of a certificate holder in a matter before the Ad2 ministration if the individual makes any written or 

3 oral communication on behalf of the certificate hold4 er to the Administration (or any of its officers or 

5 employees) in connection with a particular matter, 

6 whether or not involving a specific party and without 

7 regard to whether the individual has participated in, 

8 or had responsibility for, the particular matter while 

9 serving as a flight standards inspector of the Admin10 istration.’’. 

11 (b) APPLICABILITY.—The amendment made by sub12 section (a) shall not apply to an individual employed by 

13 a certificate holder as of the date of the enactment of this 

14 Act. 

15 SEC. 5. ASSIGNMENT OF PRINCIPAL SUPERVISORY INSPEC16 TORS. 

17 (a) IN GENERAL.—An individual serving as a prin18 cipal supervisory inspector of the Administration may not 

19 be responsible for overseeing the operations of a single air 

20 carrier for a continuous period of more than 5 years. 

21 (b) TRANSITIONAL PROVISION.—An individual serv22 ing as a principal supervisory inspector of the Agency with 

23 respect to an air carrier as of the date of enactment of 

24 this Act may be responsible for overseeing the operations 

25 of the carrier until the last day of the 5-year period speciVerDate Aug 31 2005 23:54 Aug 04, 2008 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3440.IS S3440

smartinez on PROD1PC64 with BILLS
11 

•S 3440 IS

1 fied in subsection (a) or the last day of the 2-year period 

2 beginning on such date of enactment, whichever is later. 

3 (c) ISSUANCE OF ORDER.—Not later than 90 days 

4 after the date of enactment of this Act, the Administrator 

5 of the Federal Aviation Administration shall issue an 

6 order to carry out this section. 

7 (d) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

8 are authorized to be appropriated to the Administrator 

9 such sums as may be necessary to carry out this section. 

10 SEC. 6. IMPROVED VOLUNTARY DISCLOSURE REPORTING 

11 SYSTEM. 

12 (a) DEFINED TERM.—In this section, the term ‘‘Vol13 untary Disclosure Reporting Program’’ means the pro14 gram established by the Federal Aviation Administration 

15 through Advisory Circular 00–58A, dated September 8, 

16 2006. 

17 (b) VERIFICATION AND EVALUATION.—The Adminis18 trator of the Federal Aviation Administration shall modify 

19 the Voluntary Disclosure Reporting Program to require 

20 inspectors to— 

21 (1) verify that air carriers implement com22 prehensive solutions to correct the underlying causes 

23 of the violations voluntarily disclosed by such air 

24 carriers; and 


smartinez on PROD1PC64 with BILLS
12 

•S 3440 IS

1 (2) evaluate, before accepting a new report of 

2 a previously disclosed violation, whether the air car3 rier took the actions described in paragraph (1). 

4 (c) SUPERVISORY REVIEW OF VOLUNTARY SELF5 DISCLOSURES.—The Administrator shall establish a proc6 ess by which voluntary self-disclosures received from air 

7 carriers are reviewed and approved by a supervisor after 

8 the initial paper review by an inspector. 

9 SEC. 7. NATIONAL REVIEW TEAM. 

10 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Administrator of the 

11 Federal Aviation Administration shall establish a National 

12 Review Team, comprised of Federal Aviation Administra13 tion inspectors who are serving or have served as principal 

14 supervisory inspectors. 

15 (b) RESPONSIBILITIES.—The National Review Team 

16 shall conduct periodic, unannounced audits of air carrier 

17 operations and maintenance practices and procedures to 

18 evaluate air carrier oversight carried out by the Federal 

19 Aviation Administration throughout the United States. 

20 (c) SUPERVISION.—The National Review Team shall 

21 be directly supervised by the Associate Administrator for 

22 Aviation Safety. 

23 (d) LIMITATION.—The Associate Administrator for 

24 Aviation Safety shall prohibit each member of the Na25 tional Review Team from participating in any audit deVerDate Aug 31 2005 23:54 Aug 04, 2008 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3440.IS S3440

smartinez on PROD1PC64 with BILLS
13 

•S 3440 IS

1 scribed in subsection (b) if such member had previously 

2 had the responsibility for inspecting, or overseeing the in3 spection of, the operations of the air carrier that is the 

4 subject of such audit. 

5 SEC. 8. HEADQUARTERS REVIEW OF AIR TRANSPORTATION 

6 OVERSIGHT SYSTEM DATABASE. 

7 (a) REVIEWS.—The Administrator of the Federal 

8 Aviation Administration shall establish a process by which 

9 the air transportation oversight system database of the 

10 Federal Aviation Administration is reviewed by a team of 

11 employees of the Administration on a monthly basis to en12 sure— 

13 (1) the identification of any trends in regu14 latory compliance; and 

15 (2) that appropriate corrective actions are 

16 taken in accordance with Administration regulations, 

17 advisory directives, policies, and procedures. 

18 (b) MONTHLY TEAM REPORTS.— 

19 (1) IN GENERAL.—The team of employees con20 ducting a monthly review of the air transportation 

21 oversight system database under subsection (a) shall 

22 submit a report on the results of the review to the 

23 Administrator, the Associate Administrator for Avia24 tion Safety, and the Director of Flight Standards. 


smartinez on PROD1PC64 with BILLS
14 

•S 3440 IS

1 (2) CONTENTS.—Each report submitted under 

2 paragraph (1) shall identify— 

3 (A) any trends in regulatory compliance 

4 discovered by the team of employees in con5 ducting the monthly review; and 

6 (B) any corrective actions taken or pro7 posed to be taken in response to the trends. 

8 (c) QUARTERLY REPORTS TO CONGRESS.—The Ad9 ministrator shall submit a quarterly report to the Com10 mittee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the 

11 Senate and the Committee on Transportation and Infra12 structure of the House of Representatives that— 

13 (1) describes the results of the reviews of the 

14 air transportation oversight system database con15 ducted under this section; and 

16 (2) includes copies of reports received under 

17 subsection (b). 

18 SEC. 9. RULEMAKING. 

19 Not later than 90 days after the date of the enact20 ment of this Act, the Administrator of the Federal Avia21 tion Administration shall prescribe regulations to carry 

22 out this Act and the amendments made by this Act. 

Æ 


smartinez on PROD1PC64 with BILLS