II

Calendar No. 762

106TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION S. 2412

[Report No. 106–386]

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

the National Transportation Safety Board for fiscal years 2000, 2001,

2002, and 2003, and for other purposes.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

APRIL 12, 2000

Mr. MCCAIN introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred

to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation

AUGUST 25, 2000

Reported under authority of the order of the Senate of July 26, 2000, by Mr.

MCCAIN, without amendment

A BILL

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

for fiscal years 2000, 2001, 2002, and 2003, 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; REFERENCES.

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

3 ‘‘National Transportation Safety Board Amendments Act

4 of 2000’’.

5 (b) REFERENCES.—Except as otherwise specifically

6 provided, whenever in this Act an amendment or repeal

7 is expressed in terms of an amendment to, or repeal of,

8 a section or other provision of law, the reference shall be

9 considered to be made to a section or other provision of

10 title 49, United States Code.

11 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS.

12 Section 1101 is amended to read as follows:

13 ‘‘§ 1101. Definitions

14 ‘‘Section 2101(17a) of title 46 and section 40102(a)

15 of this title apply to this chapter. In this chapter, the term

16 ‘accident’ includes damage to or destruction of vehicles in

17 surface or air transportation or pipelines, regardless of

18 whether the initiating event is accidental or otherwise.’’.

19 SEC. 3. AUTHORITY TO ENTER INTO AGREEMENTS.

20 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 1113(b)(1)(I) is amended

21 to read as follows:

22 ‘‘(I) negotiate and enter into agreements

23 with individuals and private entities and depart24 ments, agencies, and instrumentalities of the

25 Government, State and local governments, and

26 governments of foreign countries for the provi-
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1 sion of facilities, accident-related services or

2 training in accident investigation techniques,

3 and require that such entities provide appro4 priate consideration for the reasonable costs of

5 any facilities, services, or training provided by

6 the Board.’’.

7 (b) DEPOSIT OF AMOUNTS.—

8 (1) Section 1113(b)(2) is amended—

9 (A) by inserting ‘‘as offsetting collections’’

10 after ‘‘to be credited’’; and

11 (B) by adding after ‘‘Board.’’ the fol12 lowing: ‘‘The Board shall maintain an annual

13 record of collections received under paragraph

14 (1)(I) of this subsection.’’.

15 (2) Section 1114(a) is amended—

16 (A) by inserting ‘‘(1)’’ before ‘‘Except’’;

17 and

18 (B) by adding at the end thereof the fol19 lowing:

20 ‘‘(2) The Board shall deposit in the Treasury

21 amounts received under paragraph (1) to be credited

22 to the appropriation of the Board as offsetting col23 lections.’’.
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1 (3) Section 1115(d) is amended by striking ‘‘of

2 the ‘National Transportation Safety Board, Salaries

3 and Expenses’ ’’ and inserting ‘‘of the Board’’.

4 SEC. 4. OVERTIME PAY.

5 Section 1113 is amended by adding at the end the

6 following:

7 ‘‘(g) OVERTIME PAY.—

8 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Subject to the require9 ments of this section and notwithstanding para10 graphs (1) and (2) of section 5542(a) of title 5, for

11 an employee of the Board whose basic pay is at a

12 rate which equals or exceeds the minimum rate of

13 basic pay for GS–10 of the General Schedule, the

14 Board may establish an overtime hourly rate of pay

15 for the employee with respect to work performed at

16 the scene of an accident (including travel to or from

17 the scene) and other work that is critical to an acci18 dent investigation in an amount equal to one and

19 one-half times the hourly rate of basic pay of the

20 employee. All of such amount shall be considered to

21 be premium pay.

22 ‘‘(2) LIMITATION ON OVERTIME PAY TO AN EM23 PLOYEE.—An employee of the Board may not re24 ceive overtime pay under paragraph (1), for work

25 performed in a calendar year, in an amount that ex-
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1 ceeds 15 percent of the annual rate of basic pay of

2 the employee for such calendar year.

3 ‘‘(3) BASIC PAY DEFINED.—In this subsection,

4 the term ‘basic pay’ includes any applicable locality5 based comparability payment under section 5304 of

6 title 5 (or similar provision of law) and any special

7 rate of pay under section 5305 of title 5 (or similar

8 provision of law).

9 ‘‘(4) ANNUAL REPORT.—Not later than Janu10 ary 31, 2001, and annually thereafter, the Board

11 shall transmit to the Senate Committee on Com12 merce, Science, and Transportation and the House

13 Transportation and Infrastructure Committee a re14 port identifying the total amount of overtime pay15 ments made under this subsection in the preceding

16 fiscal year.’’.

17 SEC. 5. RECORDERS.

18 (a) COCKPIT VIDEO RECORDINGS.—Section 1114(c)

19 is amended—

20 (1) by striking ‘‘VOICE’’ in the subsection head21 ing;

22 (2) by striking ‘‘cockpit voice recorder’’ in para23 graphs (1) and (2) and inserting ‘‘cockpit voice or

24 video recorder’’; and
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1 (3) by inserting ‘‘or any written depiction of

2 visual information’’ after ‘‘transcript’’ in the second

3 sentence of paragraph (1).

4 (b) SURFACE VEHICLE RECORDINGS AND TRAN5 SCRIPTS.—

6 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 1114 is amended—

7 (A) by redesignating subsections (d) and

8 (e) as subsections (e) and (f), respectively; and

9 (B) by inserting after subsection (e) the

10 following:

11 ‘‘(d) SURFACE VEHICLE RECORDINGS AND TRAN12 SCRIPTS.—

13 ‘‘(1) CONFIDENTIALITY OF RECORDINGS.—The

14 Board may not disclose publicly any part of a sur15 face vehicle voice or video recorder recording or

16 transcript of oral communications by or among driv17 ers, train employees, or other operating employees

18 responsible for the movement and direction of the

19 vehicle or vessel, or between such operating employ20 ees and company communication centers, related to

21 an accident investigated by the Board. However, the

22 Board shall make public any part of a transcript or

23 any written depiction of visual information that the

24 Board decides is relevant to the accident—
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1 ‘‘(A) if the Board holds a public hearing

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

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

4 hearing, at the time a majority of the other fac5 tual reports on the accident are placed in the

6 public docket.

7 ‘‘(2) REFERENCES TO INFORMATION IN MAKING

8 SAFETY RECOMMENDATIONS.—This subsection does

9 not prevent the Board from referring at any time to

10 voice or video recorder information in making safety

11 recommendations.’’.

12 (2) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—The first sen13 tence of section 1114(a) is amended by striking

14 ‘‘and (e)’’ and inserting ‘‘(d), and (f)’’.

15 (c) DISCOVERY AND USE OF COCKPIT AND SURFACE

16 VEHICLE RECORDINGS AND TRANSCRIPTS.—

17 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 1154 is amended—

18 (A) by striking the section heading and in19 serting the following:

20 ‘‘§ 1154. Discovery and use of cockpit and surface ve21 hicle recordings and transcripts;

22 (B) by striking ‘‘cockpit voice recorder’’

23 each place it appears in subsection (a) and in24 serting ‘‘cockpit or surface vehicle recorder’’;
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1 (C) by striking ‘‘section 1114(e)’’ each

2 place it appears in subsection (a) and inserting

3 ‘‘section 1114(c) or 1114(d)’’; and

4 (D) by adding at the end the following:

5 ‘‘(6) In this subsection:

6 ‘‘(A) RECORDER.—The term ‘recorder’

7 means a voice or video recorder.

8 ‘‘(B) TRANSCRIPT.—The term ‘transcript’

9 includes any written depiction of visual infor10 mation obtained from a video recorder.’’.

11 (2) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—The chapter

12 analysis for chapter 11 is amended by striking the

13 item relating to section 1154 and inserting the fol14 lowing:

‘‘1154. Discovery and use of cockpit and surface vehicle recordings and

transcripts.’’.

15 SEC. 6. PRIORITY OF INVESTIGATIONS.

16 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 1131(a)(2) is amended—

17 (1) by striking ‘‘(2) An investigation’’ and in18 serting:

19 ‘‘(2)(A) Subject to the requirements of this

20 paragraph, an investigation’’; and

21 (2) by adding at the end the following:

22 ‘‘(B) If the Attorney General, in consulta23 tion with the Chairman of the Board, deter24 mines and notifies the Board that cir-
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1 cumstances reasonably indicate that the acci2 dent may have been caused by an intentional

3 criminal act, the Board shall relinquish inves4 tigative priority to the Federal Bureau of Inves5 tigation. The relinquishment of investigative

6 priority by the Board shall not otherwise affect

7 the authority of the Board to continue its inves8 tigation under this section.

9 ‘‘(C) If a Federal law enforcement agency

10 suspects and notified the Board that an acci11 dent being investigated by the Board under

12 subparagraph (A), (B), (C), or (D) of para13 graph (1) may have been caused by an inten14 tional criminal act, the Board, in consultation

15 with the law enforcement agency, shall take

16 necessary actions to ensure that evidence of the

17 criminal act is preserved.’’.

18 (b) REVISION OF 1977 AGREEMENT.—Not later than

19 1 year the date of the enactment of this Act, the National

20 Transportation Safety Board and the Federal Bureau of

21 Investigation shall revise their 1977 agreement on the in22 vestigation of accidents to take into account the amend23 ments made by this Act.
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1 SEC. 7. PUBLIC AIRCRAFT INVESTIGATION CLARIFICATION.

2 Section 1131(d) is amended by striking ‘‘1134(b)(2)’’

3 and inserting ‘‘1134 (a), (b), (d), and (f)’’.

4 SEC. 8. MEMORANDUM OF UNDERSTANDING.

5 Not later than 1 year after the date of the enactment

6 of this Act, the National Transportation Safety Board and

7 the United States Coast Guard shall revise their Memo8 randum of Understanding governing major marine

9 accidents—

10 (1) to redefine or clarify the standards used to

11 determine when the National Transportation Safety

12 Board will lead an investigation; and

13 (2) to develop new standards to determine when

14 a major marine accident involves significant safety

15 issues relating to Coast Guard safety functions.

16 SEC. 9. TRAVEL BUDGETS.

17 The Chairman of the National Transportation Safety

18 Board shall establish annual fiscal year budgets for non19 accident-related travel expenditures for Board members,

20 and submit to the Senate Committee on Commerce,

21 Science, and Transportation and to the House of Rep22 resentatives Committee on Transportation and Infrastruc23 ture an annual report detailing the non-accident-related

24 travel of each Board member. The report shall include sep25 arate accounting for foreign and domestic travel, including
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1 any personnel or other expenses associated with that

2 travel.

3 SEC. 10. CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER.

4 Section 1111 is amended—

5 (1) by redesignating subsection (h) as sub6 section (i); and

7 (2) by inserting after subsection (g) the fol8 lowing:

9 ‘‘(h) CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER.—The Chairman

10 shall designate an officer or employee of the Board as the

11 Chief Financial Officer. The Chief Financial Officer

12 shall—

13 ‘‘(1) report directly to the Chairman on finan14 cial management and budget execution;

15 ‘‘(2) direct, manage, and provide policy guid16 ance and oversight on financial management and

17 property and inventory control; and

18 ‘‘(3) review the fees, rents, and other charges

19 imposed by the Board for services and things of

20 value it provides, and suggest appropriate revisions

21 to those charges to reflect costs incurred by the

22 Board in providing those services and things of

23 value.’’.
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1 SEC. 11. IMPROVED AUDIT PROCEDURES.

2 The National Transportation Safety Board shall de3 velop and implement comprehensive internal audit controls

4 for its financial programs based on the findings and rec5 ommendations of the private sector audit firm contract en6 tered into by the Board in March, 2000. The improved

7 internal audit controls shall, at a minimum, address Board

8 asset management systems, including systems for account9 ing management, debt collection, travel, and property and

10 inventory management and control.

11 SEC. 12. AUTHORITY OF THE INSPECTOR GENERAL.

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

13 subtitle II is amended by adding at the end the following:

14 ‘‘§ 1137. Authority of the Inspector General

15 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Inspector General of the

16 Department of Transportation, in accordance with the

17 mission of the Inspector General to prevent and detect

18 fraud and abuse, shall have authority to review only the

19 financial management and business operations of the Na20 tional Transportation Safety Board, including internal ac21 counting and administrative control systems, to determine

22 compliance with applicable Federal laws, rules, and regu23 lations.

24 ‘‘(b) DUTIES.—In carrying out this section, the In25 spector General shall—
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1 ‘‘(1) keep the Chairman of the Board and Con2 gress fully and currently informed about problems

3 relating to administration of the internal accounting

4 and administrative control systems of the Board;

5 ‘‘(2) issue findings and recommendations for

6 actions to address such problems; and

7 ‘‘(3) report periodically to Congress on any

8 progress made in implementing actions to address

9 such problems.

10 ‘‘(c) ACCESS TO INFORMATION.—In carrying out this

11 section, the Inspector General may exercise authorities

12 granted to the Inspector General under subsections (a)

13 and (b) of section 6 of the Inspector General Act of 1978

14 (5 U.S.C. App.).

15 ‘‘(d) REIMBURSEMENT.—The Inspector General shall

16 be reimbursed by the Board for the costs associated with

17 carrying out activities under this section.’’.

18 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—The subchapter

19 analysis for such subchapter is amended by adding at the

20 end the following:

‘‘1137. Authority of the Inspector General.’’.

21 SEC. 13. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

22 Section 1118 is amended to read as follows:

23 ‘‘§ 1118. Authorization of appropriations

24 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—There are authorized to be ap25 propriated for the purposes of this chapter $57,000,000
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1 for fiscal year 2000, $65,000,000 for fiscal year 2001,

2 $72,000,000 for fiscal year 2002, and $79,000,000 for fis3 cal year 2003, such sums to remain available until ex4 pended.

5 ‘‘(b) EMERGENCY FUND.—The Board has an emer6 gency fund of $2,000,000 available for necessary expenses

7 of the Board, not otherwise provided for, for accident in8 vestigations. Amounts equal to the amounts expended an9 nually out of the fund are authorized to be appropriated

10 to the emergency fund.’’.

Calendar No. 762

106TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION S. 2412

[Report No. 106–386]

A BILL

To amend title 49, United States Code, to authorize appropriations for the National Transportation Safety Board for fiscal years 2000, 2001,

2002, and 2003, and for other purposes.

AUGUST 25, 2000

Reported without amendment