IB 

Union Calendar No. 356 

111TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 4714 

[Report No. 111–613] 

To amend title 49, United States Code, to authorize appropriations for 

the National Transportation Safety Board for fiscal years 2011 through 

2014, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MARCH 2, 2010 

Mr. OBERSTAR (for himself, Mr. MICA, Mr. COSTELLO, Mr. PETRI, Mr. 

DEFAZIO, Ms. NORTON, and Mr. CUMMINGS) introduced the following 

bill; which was referred to the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure 

SEPTEMBER 22, 2010 

Additional sponsor: Ms. CORRINE BROWN of Florida 

SEPTEMBER 22, 2010 

Reported with an amendment, committed to the Committee of the Whole 

House on the State of the Union, and ordered to be printed 

[Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed in italic] 

[For text of introduced bill, see copy of bill as introduced on March 2, 2010] 


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A BILL 

To amend title 49, United States Code, to authorize appropriations for the National Transportation Safety Board 

for fiscal years 2011 through 2014, and for other purposes. 


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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; TABLE OF CONTENTS. 

4 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Na5 tional Transportation Safety Board Reauthorization Act of 

6 2010’’. 

7 (b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.— 

Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents. 

Sec. 2. Amendments to title 49, United States Code. 

Sec. 3. Definitions. 

Sec. 4. General organization. 

Sec. 5. Administrative. 

Sec. 6. Recordings, transcripts, and investigations. 

Sec. 7. Training. 

Sec. 8. Reports and studies. 

Sec. 9. Authorization of appropriations. 

Sec. 10. Accident investigation authority. 

Sec. 11. Maritime casualty investigations. 

Sec. 12. Inspections and autopsies. 

Sec. 13. Discovery and use of cockpit and surface vehicle recordings and transcripts. 

Sec. 14. Family assistance. 

Sec. 15. Coast Guard notification. 

Sec. 16. Use of board name, logo, initials, and seal. 

8 SEC. 2. AMENDMENTS TO TITLE 49, UNITED STATES CODE. 

9 Except as otherwise specifically provided, whenever in 

10 this Act an amendment or repeal is expressed in terms of 

11 an amendment to, or repeal of, a section or other provision 

12 of law, the reference shall be considered to be made to a 

13 section or other provision of title 49, United States Code. 

14 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 

15 Section 1101 is amended to read as follows: 


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1 ‘‘§ 1101. Definitions 

2 ‘‘(a) ACCIDENT DEFINED.—In this chapter, the term 

3 ‘accident’— 

4 ‘‘(1) means an event associated with the oper5 ation of a vehicle, aircraft, or pipeline, which results 

6 in damage to or destruction of the vehicle, aircraft, or 

7 pipeline, or which results in the death of or serious 

8 injury to any person, regardless of whether the initi9 ating event is accidental or otherwise; and 

10 ‘‘(2) may include an incident that does not in11 volve destruction or damage of a vehicle, aircraft, or 

12 pipeline, but affects transportation safety, as the 

13 Board prescribes by regulation. 

14 ‘‘(b) APPLICABILITY OF DEFINITIONS IN OTHER

15 LAWS.—The definitions contained in section 2101(17a) of 

16 title 46 and section 40102(a) of this title apply to this chap17 ter.’’. 

18 SEC. 4. GENERAL ORGANIZATION. 

19 The last sentence of section 1111(d) is amended by 

20 striking ‘‘absent’’ and inserting ‘‘unavailable’’. 

21 SEC. 5. ADMINISTRATIVE. 

22 (a) GENERAL AUTHORITY.—Section 1113(a) is 

23 amended— 

24 (1) in paragraph (1)— 

25 (A) by inserting ‘‘and depositions’’ after 

26 ‘‘hearings’’; and 


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1 (B) by striking ‘‘subpena’’ and inserting 

2 ‘‘subpoena’’; and 

3 (2) in paragraph (2) by inserting before the first 

4 sentence the following: ‘‘In the interest of promoting 

5 transportation safety, the Board shall have the au6 thority by subpoena to summon witnesses and obtain 

7 evidence relevant to an accident investigation con8 ducted under this chapter.’’. 

9 (b) ADDITIONAL POWERS.— 

10 (1) AUTHORITY OF BOARD TO ENTER INTO CON11 TRACTS AND OTHER AGREEMENTS WITH NONPROFIT

12 ENTITIES.—Section 1113(b)(1)(H) is amended by in13 serting ‘‘and other agreements’’ after ‘‘contracts’’. 

14 (2) AUTHORITY OF BOARD TO ENTER INTO AND

15 PERFORM CONTRACTS, AGREEMENTS, LEASES, OR

16 OTHER TRANSACTIONS.—Section 1113(b) is amend17 ed— 

18 (A) by striking paragraph (1)(I) and in19 serting the following: 

20 ‘‘(I) negotiate, enter into, and perform contracts, 

21 agreements, leases, or other transactions with individ22 uals, private entities, departments, agencies, and in23 strumentalities of the Government, State and local 

24 governments, and governments of foreign countries on 

25 such terms and conditions as the Chairman of the 


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1 Board considers appropriate to carry out the func2 tions of the Board and require that such entities pro3 vide appropriate consideration for the reasonable 

4 costs of any facilities, goods, services, or training pro5 vided by the Board.’’; and 

6 (B) by adding at the end the following: 

7 ‘‘(3) LEASE LIMITATION.—The authority of the 

8 Board to enter into leases shall be limited to the pro9 vision of special use space related to an accident in10 vestigation, or for general use space, at an average 

11 annual rental cost of not more than $300,000 for any 

12 individual property.’’. 

13 (3) AUTHORITY OF OTHER FEDERAL AGEN14 CIES.—Section 1113(b)(2) is amended to read as fol15 lows: 

16 ‘‘(2) AUTHORITY OF OTHER FEDERAL AGEN17 CIES.—Notwithstanding any other provision of law, 

18 the head of a Federal department, agency, or instru19 mentality may transfer to or receive from the Board, 

20 with or without reimbursement, supplies, personnel, 

21 services, and equipment (other than administrative 

22 supplies and equipment).’’. 

23 (c) CRITERIA ON PUBLIC HEARINGS.— 

24 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 1113 is amended by 

25 adding at the end the following: 


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1 ‘‘(i) PUBLIC HEARINGS.— 

2 ‘‘(1) DEVELOPMENT OF CRITERIA.—The Board 

3 shall establish by regulation criteria to be used by the 

4 Board in determining, for each accident investigation 

5 and safety study undertaken by the Board, whether or 

6 not the Board will hold a public hearing on the inves7 tigation or study. 

8 ‘‘(2) FACTORS.—In developing the criteria, the 

9 Board shall give priority consideration to the fol10 lowing factors: 

11 ‘‘(A) Whether the accident has caused sig12 nificant loss of life. 

13 ‘‘(B) Whether the accident has caused sig14 nificant property damage. 

15 ‘‘(C) Whether the accident may involve a 

16 national transportation safety issue. 

17 ‘‘(D) Whether a public hearing may provide 

18 needed information to the Board. 

19 ‘‘(E) Whether a public hearing may offer an 

20 opportunity to educate the public on a safety 

21 issue. 

22 ‘‘(F) Whether a public hearing may in23 crease both the transparency of the Board’s in24 vestigative process and public confidence that 


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1 such process is comprehensive, accurate, and un2 biased. 

3 ‘‘(G) Whether a public hearing is likely to 

4 significantly delay the conclusion of an inves5 tigation and whether the possible adverse effects 

6 of the delay on safety outweigh the benefits of a 

7 public hearing.’’. 

8 (2) ANNUAL REPORT.—Section 1117 is amend9 ed— 

10 (A) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of para11 graph (5); 

12 (B) by striking the period at the end of 

13 paragraph (6) and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

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

15 ‘‘(7) an analysis of the Board’s implementation 

16 of the criteria established pursuant to section 1113(i) 

17 during the prior calendar year, including an expla18 nation of any instance in which the Board did not 

19 hold a public hearing for an investigation of an acci20 dent that has caused significant loss of life or prop21 erty damage or that may involve a national transpor22 tation safety issue.’’. 

23 SEC. 6. RECORDINGS, TRANSCRIPTS, AND INVESTIGATIONS. 

24 (a) VESSEL RECORDINGS AND TRANSCRIPTS.—Section 

25 1114 is amended— 


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1 (1) in subsection (a)(1) by striking ‘‘and (f)’’ 

2 and inserting ‘‘(e), and (g)’’; 

3 (2) in subsection (d)(1) by striking ‘‘or vessel’’; 

4 (3) by redesignating subsections (e) and (f) as 

5 subsections (f) and (g), respectively; and 

6 (4) by inserting after subsection (d) the fol7 lowing: 

8 ‘‘(e) VESSEL RECORDINGS AND TRANSCRIPTS.— 

9 ‘‘(1) CONFIDENTIALITY OF RECORDINGS AND

10 TRANSCRIPTS.—The Board may not disclose publicly 

11 any part of a vessel’s voice or video recorder recording 

12 or transcript of oral communications by or among the 

13 crew, pilots, or docking masters of a vessel, vessel traf14 fic services, or other vessels, or between the vessel’s 

15 crew and company communication centers, related to 

16 an accident investigated by the Board. However, the 

17 Board shall make public any part of a transcript or 

18 any written depiction of visual information that the 

19 Board decides is relevant to the accident— 

20 ‘‘(A) if the Board holds a public hearing on 

21 the accident, at the time of the hearing; or 

22 ‘‘(B) if the Board does not hold a public 

23 hearing, at the time a majority of the other fac24 tual reports on the accident are placed in the 

25 public docket. 


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1 ‘‘(2) REFERENCES TO INFORMATION IN MAKING

2 SAFETY RECOMMENDATIONS.—This subsection does 

3 not prevent the Board from referring at any time to 

4 voice or video recorder information in making safety 

5 recommendations.’’. 

6 (b) PARTY REPRESENTATIVES TO NTSB INVESTIGA7 TIONS.— 

8 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 1114 is further 

9 amended by adding at the end the following: 

10 ‘‘(h) PARTY REPRESENTATIVES TO NTSB INVESTIGA11 TIONS.— 

12 ‘‘(1) PROHIBITION ON DISCLOSURE OF INFORMA13 TION.—A party representative to an accident inves14 tigation of the Board is prohibited from disclosing, 

15 orally or in written form, investigative information, 

16 as defined by the Board, to anyone who is not an em17 ployee of the Board or who is not a party representa18 tive to such investigation, except— 

19 ‘‘(A) as provided in paragraph (2); or 

20 ‘‘(B) at the conclusion of the fact finding 

21 stage of an investigation, which the investigator22 in-charge shall announce by formal posting of a 

23 notice in the publicly available investigation 

24 docket. 


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1 ‘‘(2) EXCEPTION.—If the investigator-in-charge 

2 determines that a disclosure of information related to 

3 an accident investigation is necessary to prevent ad4 ditional accidents, to address a perceived safety defi5 ciency, or to assist in the conduct of the investigation, 

6 the investigator-in-charge may at any time authorize 

7 in writing a party representative to disclose such in8 formation under conditions approved by the investi9 gator-in-charge. Such conditions shall ensure that, 

10 until the posting of a formal notice described in para11 graph (1)(B), or until the information disclosed pur12 suant to this paragraph becomes publicly available by 

13 any other means, neither the entity represented by the 

14 party representative nor any other person may use 

15 such information in preparation for the prosecution 

16 of any claim or defense in litigation in connection 

17 with the accident being investigated or to make or 

18 deny any insurance claim in connection with such 

19 accident. 

20 ‘‘(3) COMPLIANCE.—The Board shall require any 

21 individual who is a party representative to an inves22 tigation of the Board to sign a party agreement that 

23 includes language informing the individual of the 

24 prohibition in paragraph (1). 


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1 ‘‘(4) REPRESENTATIVES OF FEDERAL AGEN2 CIES.—Paragraph (3) shall not apply to an indi3 vidual who is a representative of the Secretary of 

4 Transportation, the Secretary of the department in 

5 which the Coast Guard is operating, or any other 

6 Federal department, agency, or instrumentality par7 ticipating in the investigation and deemed by the 

8 Board to be performing a law enforcement or similar 

9 function. 

10 ‘‘(5) PARTY REPRESENTATIVE DEFINED.—In this 

11 subsection, the term ‘party representative’ means an 

12 individual representing a party to an investigation 

13 pursuant to section 831.11 of title 49, Code of Federal 

14 Regulations, as in effect on the date of enactment of 

15 this subsection.’’. 

16 (2) CIVIL PENALTY.—Section 1151 is amended— 

17 (A) in the section heading by striking 

18 ‘‘Aviation enforcement’’ and inserting 

19 ‘‘Enforcement’’; and 

20 (B) by inserting ‘‘1114(h),’’ before ‘‘1132,’’ 

21 in each of subsections (a), (b)(1), and (c). 

22 (3) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—The analysis for 

23 chapter 11 is amended by striking the item relating 

24 to section 1151 and inserting the following: 

‘‘1151. Enforcement.’’. 

25 (c) GAO STUDY OF PARTY PROCESS.— 


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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Comptroller General shall 

2 conduct a study on the use of party representatives in 

3 investigations conducted by the National Transpor4 tation Safety Board. 

5 (2) CONTENTS.—In conducting the study, the 

6 Comptroller General shall examine, at a minimum— 

7 (A) whether the composition of the party 

8 representatives should be broadened to include 

9 on-going representatives from other entities that 

10 could provide independent, technically qualified 

11 representatives to a Board investigation; 

12 (B) whether the participation of party rep13 resentatives in a Board investigation results in 

14 any unfair advantages for the entities rep15 resented by the party representatives while the 

16 Board is conducting the investigation; 

17 (C) whether the use of party representatives 

18 leads to bias in the outcome of a Board inves19 tigation; and 

20 (D) whether Board investigations would be 

21 compromised in any way absent the participa22 tion and expertise of party representatives. 

23 (3) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—Not later than 18 

24 months after the date of enactment of this Act, the 

25 Comptroller General shall submit to the Committee on 


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1 Transportation and Infrastructure of the House of 

2 Representatives and the Committee on Commerce, 

3 Science, and Transportation of the Senate a report on 

4 the results of the study conducted under this sub5 section, including any recommendations for improve6 ments in the Board’s use of the party representative 

7 process. 

8 SEC. 7. TRAINING. 

9 Section 1115(d) is amended— 

10 (1) by inserting ‘‘theory and techniques and on 

11 transportation safety methods to advance Board safe12 ty recommendations’’ before the period at the end of 

13 the first sentence; 

14 (2) by inserting ‘‘or who influence the course of 

15 transportation safety through support or adoption of 

16 Board safety recommendations’’ before the period at 

17 the end of the second sentence; and 

18 (3) by inserting ‘‘under section 1118(c)(2)’’ be19 fore the period at the end of the third sentence. 

20 SEC. 8. REPORTS AND STUDIES. 

21 (a) STUDIES AND INVESTIGATIONS.—Section 1116(b) 

22 is amended— 

23 (1) in paragraph (1) by striking ‘‘carry out’’ 

24 and inserting ‘‘conduct’’; and 


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1 (2) by striking paragraph (3) and inserting the 

2 following: 

3 ‘‘(3) prescribe requirements for persons reporting 

4 accidents, as defined in section 1101(a), that may be 

5 investigated by the Board under this chapter;’’. 

6 (b) INTERIM SAFETY RECOMMENDATIONS AND MEAS7 URES.—Section 1116 is amended by adding at the end the 

8 following: 

9 ‘‘(c) INTERIM SAFETY RECOMMENDATIONS AND MEAS10 URES.—Nothing in this section shall restrict the Board 

11 from— 

12 ‘‘(1) making urgent safety recommendations, 

13 identified through an ongoing safety investigation or 

14 study, to any regulatory department, agency, or in15 strumentality of the Federal Government or a State 

16 or local governmental authority or a person concerned 

17 with transportation safety; or 

18 ‘‘(2) recommending interim measures to mitigate 

19 risks to transportation safety pending implementation 

20 of more comprehensive responses by the appropriate 

21 department, agency, instrumentality, authority, or 

22 person.’’. 

23 (c) EVALUATION AND AUDIT.—Section 1138(a) is 

24 amended by striking ‘‘conducted at least annually, but may 

25 be’’. 


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1 SEC. 9. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

2 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 1118(a) is amended to read 

3 as follows: 

4 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—There is authorized to be appro5 priated for the purposes of this chapter— 

6 ‘‘(1) $117,368,000 for fiscal year 2011; 

7 ‘‘(2) $120,258,000 for fiscal year 2012; 

8 ‘‘(3) $122,187,000 for fiscal year 2013; and 

9 ‘‘(4) $124,158,000 for fiscal year 2014. 

10 Such sums shall remain available until expended.’’. 

11 (b) FEES, REFUNDS, REIMBURSEMENTS, AND AD12 VANCES.—Section 1118(c) is amended— 

13 (1) by striking the subsection heading and in14 serting the following: ‘‘FEES, REFUNDS, REIMBURSE15 MENTS, AND ADVANCES’’; 

16 (2) in paragraph (1)— 

17 (A) by striking ‘‘and reimbursements’’ and 

18 inserting ‘‘reimbursements, and advances’’; and 

19 (B) by striking ‘‘services’’ and inserting 

20 ‘‘activities, services, and facilities’’; 

21 (3) in paragraph (2)— 

22 (A) in the matter preceding subparagraph 

23 (A) by striking ‘‘or reimbursement’’ and insert24 ing ‘‘reimbursement, or advance’’; and 

25 (B) in each of subparagraphs (A) and (B) 

26 by striking ‘‘activities’’ and all that follows beVerDate Mar 15 2010 21:05 Sep 22, 2010 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00016 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H4714.RH H4714

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1 fore the semicolon and inserting ‘‘activities, serv2 ices, or facilities for which the fee, refund, reim3 bursement, or advance is associated’’; 

4 (4) by redesignating paragraph (3) as para5 graph (4); 

6 (5) by inserting after paragraph (2) the fol7 lowing: 

8 ‘‘(3) ANNUAL RECORD OF COLLECTIONS.—The 

9 Board shall maintain an annual record of collections 

10 received under paragraph (2).’’; and 

11 (6) in paragraph (4) (as redesignated by para12 graph (4) of this subsection) by inserting ‘‘or ad13 vance’’ after ‘‘fee’’. 

14 SEC. 10. ACCIDENT INVESTIGATION AUTHORITY. 

15 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 1131(a)(1) is amended— 

16 (1) in the matter preceding subparagraph (A) by 

17 striking ‘‘cause or probable cause’’ and inserting 

18 ‘‘causes or probable causes’’; 

19 (2) in subparagraph (C) by striking ‘‘a fatality 

20 or substantial property damage’’ and inserting ‘‘a fa21 tality (other than a fatality involving a trespasser) or 

22 substantial property damage’’; 

23 (3) in subparagraph (E) by striking ‘‘and’’ at 

24 the end; 


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1 (4) in subparagraph (F) by striking the period 

2 at the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

3 (5) by adding at the end the following: 

4 ‘‘(G) an accident in response to an international 

5 request and delegation under appropriate inter6 national conventions, coordinated through the Depart7 ment of State and accepted by the Board.’’. 

8 (b) AUTHORITIES OF OTHER AGENCIES.—The second 

9 sentence of section 1131(a)(3) is amended by inserting ‘‘or 

10 relevant to’’ after ‘‘developed about’’. 

11 (c) ACCIDENTS NOT INVOLVING GOVERNMENT MISFEA12 SANCE OR NONFEASANCE.—Section 1131(c) is amended by 

13 adding at the end the following: 

14 ‘‘(3) AUTHORITY OF BOARD REPRESENTATIVE.— 

15 In the case of a delegation of authority under para16 graph (1), the Secretary, or a person designated by 

17 the Secretary, shall have the authority of the Board, 

18 on display of appropriate credentials and written no19 tice of inspection authority, to enter property where 

20 the aircraft accident has occurred or wreckage from 

21 the accident is located and to gather evidence in sup22 port of a Board investigation, in accordance with 

23 rules the Board may prescribe.’’. 

24 (d) INCIDENT INVESTIGATIONS.—Section 1131 is 

25 amended by adding at the end the following: 


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1 ‘‘(f) INCIDENT INVESTIGATIONS.— 

2 ‘‘(1) MEMORANDUM OF UNDERSTANDING.—Not 

3 later than 90 days after the issuance of final regula4 tions under section 1101(a)(2), the Chairman of the 

5 Board shall seek to enter into a memorandum of un6 derstanding with the Secretary of Transportation and 

7 the head of each modal administration of the Depart8 ment of Transportation that sets forth— 

9 ‘‘(A) an understanding of the conditions 

10 under which the Board will conduct an incident 

11 investigation that involves the applicable mode of 

12 transportation; and 

13 ‘‘(B) the roles and responsibilities of the 

14 parties to the memorandum when the Board is 

15 conducting an incident investigation. 

16 ‘‘(2) UPDATES AND RENEWALS.—Each memo17 randum of understanding required under paragraph 

18 (1) shall be updated and renewed not less than once 

19 every 5 years, unless parties to the memorandum 

20 agree that updating the memorandum is unnecessary. 

21 ‘‘(3) BOARD AUTHORITY.—Nothing in this para22 graph negates the authority of the Board to inves23 tigate an incident. 


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1 ‘‘(4) INCIDENT DEFINED.—In this subsection, the 

2 term ‘incident’ means an incident described in regu3 lations issued under section 1101(a)(2).’’. 

4 SEC. 11. MARITIME CASUALTY INVESTIGATIONS. 

5 (a) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 11 is amended by insert6 ing after section 1132 the following: 

7 ‘‘§ 1132a. Maritime casualty investigations 

8 ‘‘(a) DELEGATION OF AUTHORITY TO COAST

9 GUARD.— 

10 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—In an investigation of a 

11 major marine casualty under section 1131(a)(1)(E), 

12 the Board, with the consent of the Secretary of the de13 partment in which the Coast Guard is operating, 

14 may delegate to the Commandant of the Coast Guard 

15 full authority to obtain the facts of the casualty. In 

16 the case of such a delegation, the Commandant, acting 

17 through the Commandant’s on-scene representative, 

18 shall have the full authority of the Board. 

19 ‘‘(2) REQUIRED TRAINING, EXPERIENCE, AND

20 QUALIFICATIONS.—The Board may not make a dele21 gation under paragraph (1) unless the Board deter22 mines that the Commandant’s on-scene representa23 tives have sufficient training, experience, and quali24 fications in investigation, marine casualty recon25 struction, evidence collection and preservation, human 


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1 factors, and documentation to act in accordance with 

2 the best investigation practices of Federal and non3 Federal entities. 

4 ‘‘(b) NOTIFICATION AND REPORTING.—The Board and 

5 the Secretary shall jointly prescribe regulations governing 

6 the notification and reporting of marine casualties to the 

7 Board. 

8 ‘‘(c) PARTICIPATION OF COMMANDANT IN MARINE IN9 VESTIGATIONS.—The Board shall provide for the participa10 tion of the Commandant of the Coast Guard in an inves11 tigation by the Board of a major marine casualty under 

12 section 1131(a)(1)(E) if such participation is necessary to 

13 carry out the duties and powers of the Commandant, except 

14 that the Commandant may not participate in establishing 

15 the probable cause of the marine casualty (other than as 

16 provided in section 1131(b)).’’. 

17 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—The analysis for 

18 chapter 11 is amended by inserting after the item relating 

19 to section 1132 the following: 

‘‘ 1132a. Maritime casualty investigations.’’. 

20 SEC. 12. INSPECTIONS AND AUTOPSIES. 

21 Section 1134(a) is amended in the matter preceding 

22 paragraph (1)— 

23 (1) by striking ‘‘officer or employee’’ and insert24 ing ‘‘officer, employee, or Federal designee’’; and 


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1 (2) by inserting ‘‘in the conduct of any accident 

2 investigation or study’’ after ‘‘National Transpor3 tation Safety Board’’. 

4 SEC. 13. DISCOVERY AND USE OF COCKPIT AND SURFACE 

5 VEHICLE RECORDINGS AND TRANSCRIPTS. 

6 Section 1154(a)(1)(A) is amended by striking ‘‘; and’’ 

7 and inserting ‘‘; or’’. 

8 SEC. 14. FAMILY ASSISTANCE. 

9 (a) FAMILY ASSISTANCE IN COMMERCIAL AVIATION

10 ACCIDENTS.—Section 41113(b)(7) is amended by inserting 

11 before the period at the end the following: ‘‘, and that at 

12 least 60 days before the planned destruction of any un13 claimed possession of a passenger a reasonable attempt will 

14 be made to notify the family of the passenger’’. 

15 (b) FAMILY ASSISTANCE IN COMMERCIAL AVIATION

16 ACCIDENTS INVOLVING FOREIGN CARRIERS.—Section 

17 41313(c)(7) is amended by inserting before the period at 

18 the end the following: ‘‘, and that at least 60 days before 

19 the planned destruction of any unclaimed possession of a 

20 passenger a reasonable attempt will be made to notify the 

21 family of the passenger’’. 

22 SEC. 15. COAST GUARD NOTIFICATION. 

23 Not later than 6 months after the date of enactment 

24 of this Act, the National Transportation Safety Board and 

25 the Secretary of the department in which the Coast Guard 


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1 is operating shall issue regulations to provide the Board 

2 prompt notification through the Coast Guard of all marine 

3 casualties of potential investigative interest to the Board. 

4 SEC. 16. USE OF BOARD NAME, LOGO, INITIALS, AND SEAL. 

5 Section 709 of title 18, United States Code, is amend6 ed— 

7 (1) by inserting ‘‘or’’ at the end of the paragraph 

8 immediately preceding the paragraph that begins 

9 ‘‘Shall be punished as follows:’’; and 

10 (2) by inserting the following before the para11 graph that begins ‘‘Shall be punished as follows:’’: 

12 ‘‘Whoever, except with the written permission of the 

13 Chairman of the National Transportation Safety Board, 

14 knowingly uses the words ‘National Transportation Safety 

15 Board’, the logo of the Board, the initials ‘NTSB’, or the 

16 official seal of the Board, or any colorable imitation of such 

17 words, logo, initials, or seal, in connection with any adver18 tisement, circular, book, pamphlet, or other publication, or 

19 any play, motion picture, broadcast, telecast, or other pro20 duction, in a manner reasonably calculated to convey the 

21 impression that such advertisement, circular, book, pam22 phlet, or other publication, or such play, motion picture, 

23 broadcast, telecast, or other production, is approved, en24 dorsed, or authorized by the National Transportation Safe25 ty Board;’’. 


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Union Calendar No. 356 

111TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 4714 

[Report No. 111–613] 

A BILL 

To amend title 49, United States Code, to authorthrough 2014, and for other purposes. tation Safety Board for fiscal years 2011 ize appropriations for the National TransporSEPTEMBER 22, 2010 

Reported with an amendment, committed to the Comand ordered to be printed mittee of the Whole House on the State of the Union, 


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