I 

111TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 4714 

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 

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. 

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 

5 ‘‘National Transportation Safety Board Reauthorization 

6 Act of 2010’’. 

7 (b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.— 


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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. 

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

2 Except as otherwise specifically provided, whenever in 

3 this Act an amendment or repeal is expressed in terms 

4 of an amendment to, or repeal of, a section or other provi5 sion of law, the reference shall be considered to be made 

6 to a section or other provision of title 49, United States 

7 Code. 

8 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 

9 Section 1101 is amended to read as follows: 

10 ‘‘§ 1101. Definitions 

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

12 ‘accident’— 

13 ‘‘(1) means an event associated with the oper14 ation of a vehicle, aircraft, or pipeline, which results 

15 in damage to or destruction of the vehicle, aircraft 

16 or pipeline, or which results in the death of or seri17 ous injury to any person, regardless of whether the 

18 initiating event is accidental or otherwise; and 


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1 ‘‘(2) may include an incident that does not in2 volve destruction or damage of a vehicle, aircraft, or 

3 pipeline, but affects transportation safety, as the 

4 Board prescribes by regulation. 

5 ‘‘(b) APPLICABILITY OF DEFINITIONS IN OTHER

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

7 title 46 and section 40102(a) of this title apply to this 

8 chapter.’’. 

9 SEC. 4. GENERAL ORGANIZATION. 

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

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

12 SEC. 5. ADMINISTRATIVE. 

13 (a) ADDITIONAL POWERS.— 

14 (1) AUTHORITY OF BOARD TO ENTER INTO

15 CONTRACTS AND OTHER AGREEMENTS WITH NON16 PROFIT ENTITIES.—Section 1113(b)(1)(H) is 

17 amended by inserting ‘‘and other agreements’’ after 

18 ‘‘contracts’’. 

19 (2) AUTHORITY OF BOARD TO ENTER INTO AND

20 PERFORM CONTRACTS, AGREEMENTS, LEASES, OR

21 OTHER TRANSACTIONS.—Section 1113(b)(1) is 

22 amended— 

23 (A) by striking paragraph (1)(I) and in24 serting the following: 


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1 ‘‘(I) negotiate, enter into, and perform con2 tracts, agreements, leases, or other transactions with 

3 individuals, private entities, departments, agencies, 

4 and instrumentalities of the Government, State and 

5 local governments, and governments of foreign coun6 tries on such terms and conditions as the Chairman 

7 of the Board considers appropriate to carry out the 

8 functions of the Board and require that such entities 

9 provide appropriate consideration for the reasonable 

10 costs of any facilities, goods, services, or training 

11 provided by the Board.’’; and 

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

13 ‘‘(3) The Authority of the Board to enter into leases 

14 shall be limited to the provision of special use space re15 lated to an accident investigation, or for general use space, 

16 at an average annual rental cost of not more than 

17 $300,000 for any individual property.’’. 

18 (3) AUTHORITY OF OTHER FEDERAL AGEN19 CIES.—Section 1113(b)(2) is amended to read as 

20 follows: 

21 ‘‘(2) AUTHORITY OF OTHER FEDERAL AGEN22 CIES.—Notwithstanding any other provision of law, 

23 the head of a Federal department, agency, or instru24 mentality may transfer to or receive from the Board, 

25 with or without reimbursement, supplies, personnel, 


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1 services, and equipment (other than administrative 

2 supplies and equipment).’’. 

3 (b) CRITERIA ON PUBLIC HEARINGS.— 

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

5 adding at the end the following: 

6 ‘‘(i) PUBLIC HEARINGS.— 

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

8 shall establish by regulation criteria to be used by 

9 the Board in determining, for each accident inves10 tigation and safety study undertaken by the Board, 

11 whether or not the Board will hold a public hearing 

12 on the investigation or study. 

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

14 Board shall give priority consideration to the fol15 lowing factors: 

16 ‘‘(A) Whether the accident has caused sig17 nificant loss of life. 

18 ‘‘(B) Whether the accident has caused sig19 nificant property damage. 

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

21 national transportation safety issue. 

22 ‘‘(D) Whether a public hearing may pro23 vide needed information to the Board. 


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1 ‘‘(E) Whether a public hearing may offer 

2 an opportunity to educate the public on a safety 

3 issue. 

4 ‘‘(F) Whether a public hearing may in5 crease both the transparency of the Board’s in6 vestigative process and public confidence that 

7 such process is comprehensive, accurate, and 

8 unbiased. 

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

10 significantly delay the conclusion of an inves11 tigation and whether the possible adverse ef12 fects of the delay on safety outweigh the bene13 fits of a public hearing.’’. 

14 (2) ANNUAL REPORT.—Section 1117 is amend15 ed— 

16 (A) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of para17 graph (5); 

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

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

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

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

22 of the criteria established pursuant to section 

23 1113(i) during the prior calendar year, including an 

24 explanation of any instance in which the Board did 

25 not hold a public hearing for an investigation of an 


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1 accident that has caused significant loss of life or 

2 property damage or that may involve a national 

3 transportation safety issue.’’. 

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

5 (a) VESSEL RECORDINGS AND TRANSCRIPTS.—Sec6 tion 1114 is amended— 

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

8 and inserting ‘‘(e), and (g)’’; 

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

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

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

12 (4) by inserting after subsection (d) the fol13 lowing: 

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

15 ‘‘(1) CONFIDENTIALITY OF RECORDINGS AND

16 TRANSCRIPTS.—The Board may not disclose publicly 

17 any part of a vessel’s voice or video recorder record18 ing or transcript of oral communications by or 

19 among the crew, pilots, or docking masters of a ves20 sel, vessel traffic services, or other vessels, or be21 tween the vessel’s crew and company communication 

22 centers, related to an accident investigated by the 

23 Board. However, the Board shall make public any 

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1 ual information that the Board decides is relevant to 

2 the accident— 

3 ‘‘(A) if the Board holds a public hearing 

4 on the accident, at the time of the hearing; or 

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

6 hearing, at the time a majority of the other fac7 tual reports on the accident are placed in the 

8 public docket. 

9 ‘‘(2) REFERENCES TO INFORMATION IN MAKING

10 SAFETY RECOMMENDATIONS.—This subsection does 

11 not prevent the Board from referring at any time to 

12 voice or video recorder information in making safety 

13 recommendations.’’. 

14 (b) PARTY REPRESENTATIVES TO NTSB INVESTIGA15 TIONS.— 

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

17 amended by adding at the end the following: 

18 ‘‘(h) PARTY REPRESENTATIVES TO NTSB INVES19 TIGATIONS.— 

20 ‘‘(1) PROHIBITION ON DISCLOSURE OF INFOR21 MATION.—A party representative to an accident in22 vestigation of the Board is prohibited from dis23 closing, orally or in written form, investigative infor24 mation, as defined by the Board, to anyone who is 


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1 not an employee of the Board or who is not a party 

2 representative to such investigation, except— 

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

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

5 stage of an investigation, which the investi6 gator-in-charge shall announce by formal post7 ing of a notice in the publicly available inves8 tigation docket. 

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

10 determines that a disclosure of information related 

11 to an accident investigation is necessary to prevent 

12 additional accidents, to address a perceived safety 

13 deficiency, or to assist in the conduct of the inves14 tigation, the investigator-in-charge may at any time 

15 authorize in writing a party representative to dis16 close such information under conditions approved by 

17 the investigator-in-charge. Such conditions shall en18 sure that, until the posting of a formal notice de19 scribed in paragraph (1)(B), or until the information 

20 disclosed pursuant to this paragraph becomes pub21 licly available by any other means, neither the entity 

22 represented by the party representative nor any 

23 other person may use such information in prepara24 tion for the prosecution of any claim or defense in 

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1 vestigated or to make or deny any insurance claim 

2 in connection with such accident. 

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

4 any individual who is a party representative to an 

5 investigation of the Board to sign a party agreement 

6 that includes language informing the individual of 

7 the prohibition in paragraph (1). 

8 ‘‘(4) REPRESENTATIVES OF FEDERAL AGEN9 CIES.—Paragraph (3) shall not apply to an indi10 vidual who is a representative of the Secretary of 

11 Transportation, the Secretary of the department in 

12 which the Coast Guard is operating, or any other 

13 Federal department, agency, or instrumentality par14 ticipating in the investigation and deemed by the 

15 Board to be performing a law enforcement or similar 

16 function. 

17 ‘‘(5) PARTY REPRESENTATIVE DEFINED.—In 

18 this subsection, the term ‘party representative’ 

19 means an individual representing a party to an in20 vestigation pursuant to section 831.11 of title 49, 

21 Code of Federal Regulations, as in effect on the date 

22 of enactment of this subsection.’’. 

23 (2) CIVIL PENALTY.—Section 1151 is amend24 ed— 


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1 (A) in the section heading by striking 

2 ‘‘Aviation enforcement’’ and inserting 

3 ‘‘Enforcement’’; and 

4 (B) by inserting ‘‘1114(h),’’ before 

5 ‘‘1132,’’ in each of subsections (a), (b)(1), and 

6 (c). 

7 (3) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—The analysis 

8 for chapter 11 is amended by striking the item relat9 ing to section 1151 and inserting the following: 

‘‘1151. Enforcement.’’. 

10 (c) GAO STUDY OF PARTY PROCESS.— 

11 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Comptroller General 

12 shall conduct a study on the use of party representa13 tives in investigations conducted by the National 

14 Transportation Safety Board. 

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

16 Comptroller General shall examine, at a minimum— 

17 (A) whether the composition of the party 

18 representatives should be broadened to include 

19 on-going representatives from other entities 

20 that could provide independent, technically 

21 qualified representatives to a Board investiga22 tion; 

23 (B) whether the participation of party rep24 resentatives in a Board investigation results in 

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1 resented by the party representatives while the 

2 Board is conducting the investigation; 

3 (C) whether the use of party representa4 tives leads to bias in the outcome of a Board 

5 investigation; and 

6 (D) whether Board investigations would be 

7 compromised in any way absent the participa8 tion and expertise of party representatives. 

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

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

11 Comptroller General shall submit to the Committee 

12 on Transportation and Infrastructure of the House 

13 of Representatives and the Committee on Commerce, 

14 Science, and Transportation of the Senate a report 

15 on the results of the study conducted under this sub16 section, including any recommendations for improve17 ments in the Board’s use of the party representative 

18 process. 

19 SEC. 7. TRAINING. 

20 Section 1115(d) is amended— 

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

22 transportation safety methods to advance Board 

23 safety recommendations’’ before the period at the 

24 end of the first sentence; 


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

2 transportation safety through support or adoption of 

3 Board safety recommendations’’ before the period at 

4 the end of the second sentence; and 

5 (3) by inserting ‘‘under section 1118(c)(2)’’ be6 fore the period at the end of the third sentence. 

7 SEC. 8. REPORTS AND STUDIES. 

8 (a) STUDIES AND INVESTIGATIONS.—Section 

9 1116(b) is amended— 

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

11 and inserting ‘‘conduct’’; and 

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

13 following: 

14 ‘‘(3) prescribe requirements for persons report15 ing accidents, as defined in section 1101(a), that 

16 may be investigated by the Board under this chap17 ter;’’. 

18 (b) EVALUATION AND AUDIT.—Section 1138(a) is 

19 amended by striking ‘‘conducted at least annually, but 

20 may be’’. 

21 SEC. 9. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

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

23 read as follows: 

24 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—There is authorized to be appro25 priated for the purposes of this chapter— 


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

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

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

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

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

6 (b) FEES, REFUNDS, REIMBURSEMENTS, AND AD7 VANCES.—Section 1118(c) is amended— 

8 (1) by striking the subsection heading and in9 serting the following: ‘‘FEES, REFUNDS, REIM10 BURSEMENTS, AND ADVANCES’’; 

11 (2) in paragraph (1)— 

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

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

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

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

16 (3) in paragraph (2)— 

17 (A) in the matter preceding subparagraph 

18 (A) by striking ‘‘or reimbursement’’ and insert19 ing ‘‘reimbursement, or advance’’; and 

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

21 by striking ‘‘activities’’ and all that follows be22 fore the semicolon and inserting ‘‘activities, 

23 services, or facilities for which the fee, refund, 

24 reimbursement, or advance is associated’’; 


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1 (4) by redesignating paragraph (3) as para2 graph (4); 

3 (5) by inserting after paragraph (2) the fol4 lowing: 

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

6 Board shall maintain an annual record of collections 

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

8 (6) in paragraph (4) (as redesignated by para9 graph (4) of this subsection) by inserting ‘‘or ad10 vance’’ after ‘‘fee’’. 

11 SEC. 10. ACCIDENT INVESTIGATION AUTHORITY. 

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

13 (1) in the matter preceding subparagraph (A) 

14 by striking ‘‘cause or probable cause’’ and inserting 

15 ‘‘causes or probable causes’’; 

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

17 or substantial property damage’’ and inserting ‘‘a 

18 fatality (other than a fatality involving a trespasser) 

19 or substantial property damage’’; 

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

21 the end; 

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

23 at the end and inserting a semicolon; and 

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


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

2 request and delegation under appropriate inter3 national conventions, coordinated through the De4 partment of State and accepted by the Board; and 

5 ‘‘(H) each accident involving a commercial 

6 space launch vehicle.’’. 

7 (b) AUTHORITIES OF OTHER AGENCIES.—The sec8 ond sentence of section 1131(a)(3) is amended by insert9 ing ‘‘or relevant to’’ after ‘‘developed about’’. 

10 (c) ACCIDENTS NOT INVOLVING GOVERNMENT MIS11 FEASANCE OR NONFEASANCE.—Section 1131(c) is 

12 amended by adding at the end the following: 

13 ‘‘(3) AUTHORITY OF BOARD REPRESENTA14 TIVE.—In the case of a delegation of authority 

15 under paragraph (1), the Secretary, or a person des16 ignated by the Secretary, shall have the authority of 

17 the Board, on display of appropriate credentials and 

18 written notice of inspection authority, to enter prop19 erty where the aircraft accident has occurred or 

20 wreckage from the accident is located and to gather 

21 evidence in support of a Board investigation, in ac22 cordance with rules the Board may prescribe.’’. 

23 (d) INCIDENT INVESTIGATIONS.—Section 1131 is 

24 amended by adding at the end the following: 

25 ‘‘(f) INCIDENT INVESTIGATIONS.— 


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

2 later than 90 days after the issuance of final regula3 tions under section 1101(a)(2), the Chairman of the 

4 Board shall seek to enter into a memorandum of un5 derstanding with the Secretary of Transportation 

6 and the head of each modal administration of the 

7 Department of Transportation that sets forth— 

8 ‘‘(A) an understanding of the conditions 

9 under which the Board will conduct an incident 

10 investigation that involves the applicable mode 

11 of transportation; and 

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

13 parties to the memorandum when the Board is 

14 conducting an incident investigation. 

15 ‘‘(2) UPDATES AND RENEWALS.—Each memo16 randum of understanding required under paragraph 

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

18 every 5 years, unless parties to the memorandum 

19 agree that updating the memorandum is unneces20 sary. 

21 ‘‘(3) BOARD AUTHORITY.—Nothing in this 

22 paragraph negates the authority of the Board to in23 vestigate an incident. 


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

2 the term ‘incident’ means an incident described in 

3 regulations 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 

13 department in which the Coast Guard is operating, 

14 may delegate to the Commandant of the Coast 

15 Guard full authority to obtain the facts of the cas16 ualty. In the case of such a delegation, the Com17 mandant, acting through the Commandant’s on18 scene representative, shall have the full authority of 

19 the Board. 

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

21 QUALIFICATIONS.—The Board may not make a dele22 gation under paragraph (1) unless the Board deter23 mines that the Commandant’s on-scene representa24 tives have sufficient training, experience, and quali25 fications in investigation, marine casualty reconVerDate Nov 24 2008 01:39 Mar 03, 2010 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00018 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4714.IH H4714

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1 struction, evidence collection and preservation, 

2 human factors, and documentation to act in accord3 ance with the best investigation practices of Federal 

4 and non-Federal entities. 

5 ‘‘(b) NOTIFICATION AND REPORTING.—The Board 

6 and the Secretary shall jointly prescribe regulations gov7 erning the notification and reporting of marine casualties 

8 to the Board. 

9 ‘‘(c) PARTICIPATION OF COMMANDANT IN MARINE

10 INVESTIGATIONS.—The Board shall provide for the par11 ticipation of the Commandant of the Coast Guard in an 

12 investigation by the Board of a major marine casualty 

13 under section 1131(a)(1)(E) if such participation is nec14 essary to carry out the duties and powers of the Com15 mandant, except that the Commandant may not partici16 pate in establishing the probable cause of the marine cas17 ualty (other than as provided section 1131(b)).’’. 

18 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—The analysis for 

19 chapter 11 is amended by inserting after the item relating 

20 to section 1132 the following: 

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

21 SEC. 12. INSPECTIONS AND AUTOPSIES. 

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

23 paragraph (1)— 

24 (1) by striking ‘‘officer or employee’’ and in25 serting ‘‘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 ‘‘; 

7 and’’ and inserting ‘‘; or’’. 

8 SEC. 14. FAMILY ASSISTANCE. 

9 (a) FAMILY ASSISTANCE IN COMMERCIAL AVIATION

10 ACCIDENTS.—Section 41113(b)(7) is amended by insert11 ing before the period at the end the following: ‘‘, and that 

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

14 will 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 accidents of potential investigative interest to the Board. 

Æ 


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