I

107TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 2158

To provide for monitoring of aircraft air quality, to require air carriers

to produce certain mechanical and maintenance records, and for other

purposes.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

JUNE 13, 2001

Mr. NADLER introduced the following bill; which was referred to the

Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure

A BILL

To provide for monitoring of aircraft air quality, to require

air carriers to produce certain mechanical and maintenance records, 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 ‘‘Aircraft Clean Air Act

5 of 2001’’.

6 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS.

7 In this Act, the following definitions apply:
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1 (1) ADMINISTRATOR.—The term ‘‘Adminis2 trator’’ means the Administrator of the Federal

3 Aviation Administration.

4 (2) AIR CARRIER, AIRCRAFT, AND AIR TRANS5 PORTATION.—The terms ‘‘air carrier’’, ‘‘aircraft’’,

6 and ‘‘air transportation’’ have the meaning such

7 terms have under section 40102 of title 49, United

8 States Code.

9 (3) AIRCRAFT AIR QUALITY INCIDENT.—The

10 term ‘‘aircraft air quality incident’’ means an inci11 dent in an aircraft used in air transportation which

12 results in crew members or passengers reporting a

13 symptom that is consistent with exposure to

14 neurotoxins or asphyxiants. Such symptoms include

15 dizziness, fainting, disorientation, memory loss, pe16 ripheral neuropathy, muscle tremors, muscle twitch17 ing, or tunnel vision.

18 (4) MECHANICAL AND MAINTENANCE

19 RECORDS.—The term ‘‘mechanical and maintenance

20 records’’ with respect to an aircraft involved in an

21 aircraft air quality incident includes records regard22 ing the use of, and any loss or leakage of, hydraulic

23 fluids, lubrication oils, or fuel, and records regarding

24 any repairs that are, or could be, reported under the

25 Air Transport Association Specifications, including
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1 chapter 2100 (Air Conditioning), chapter 2900 (Hy2 draulic Power), chapter 3600 (Pneumatics), chapter

3 4900 (Airborne Auxiliary Power), and chapter 7200

4 (Engine).

5 SEC. 3. DISCLOSURE OF MAINTENANCE RECORDS.

6 (a) REQUEST MADE TO ADMINISTRATOR.—

7 (1) IN GENERAL.—Any crew member, pas8 senger, or their representative that experiences an

9 aircraft air quality incident may file, not later than

10 30 days after the incident, a request with the Ad11 ministrator for the mechanical and maintenance

12 records of the aircraft involved in the aircraft air

13 quality incident. The request may cover records with

14 respect to the aircraft for the 90-day period pre15 ceding the incident and the 30-day period following

16 the incident.

17 (2) SPECIAL RULE FOR PREVIOUS 5-YEAR PE18 RIOD.—Any crew member, passenger, or their rep19 resentative that experienced an aircraft air quality

20 incident in the 5-year period preceding the date of

21 enactment of this Act may file a request with the

22 Administrator for the mechanical and maintenance

23 records of the aircraft involved in the aircraft air

24 quality incident if the request is made not later than
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1 90 calendar days after the date of enactment of this

2 Act.

3 (3) VERIFICATION BY HEALTH CARE PROFES4 SIONAL.—A request described in paragraph (1) must

5 include a statement by a health care professional

6 verifying that the individual making the request re7 ported at least 1 symptom described in section 2(3).

8 (b) REQUEST FORWARDED TO AIR CARRIER.—With9 in 30 calendar days of receiving a request described in

10 subsection (a), the Administrator shall record receipt of

11 that request and forward it to the air carrier.

12 (c) INFORMATION TO BE DISCLOSED.—An air car13 rier that receives a request described in subsection (a)

14 shall provide the requested records to the individual mak15 ing that request—

16 (1) not later than 15 calendar days after receiv17 ing the request described in subsection (a)(1); or

18 (2) not later than 30 calendar days after receiv19 ing a request described in subsection (a)(2).

20 (d) CIVIL PENALTY FOR NONCOMPLIANCE.—

21 (1) IN GENERAL.—Any air carrier that does not

22 produce any records requested pursuant to this sec23 tion shall be subject to a civil penalty of $1,000 for

24 each day that the air carrier fails to produce the

25 records.
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1 (2) FINES INCREASED FOR INFLATION.—In the

2 case of any calendar year beginning after 2001, the

3 dollar amount described in paragraph (1) shall be

4 increased by an amount equal to—

5 (A) such dollar amount, multiplied by

6 (B) the cost-of-living adjustment deter7 mined under section 1(f)(3) of the Internal

8 Revenue Code of 1986 (26 U.S.C. 1(f)(3)) for

9 the calendar year in which the fine is assessed,

10 determined by substituting ‘‘calendar year

11 2000’’ for ‘‘calendar year 1992’’ in subpara12 graph (B) of such section 1(f)(3).

13 (e) RETENTION OF MECHANICAL AND MAINTENANCE

14 RECORDS.—The Administrator shall require that air car15 riers retain mechanical and maintenance records for a pe16 riod of not less than 5 years, or for such longer period

17 if required under any other provision of law.

18 (f) RETENTION OF RELATED MATERIALS AND DOCU19 MENTS.—The Administrator shall require that air carriers

20 retain all reports, investigative documents, studies, data,

21 memos, and letters relating to or arising from any com22 plaint, report, or request regarding air quality on aircraft

23 for a period of not less than 10 years.

24 SEC. 4. RELEASE OF FILTRATION MEDIA.

25 (a) REQUEST MADE TO ADMINISTRATOR.—
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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—Any crew member, pas2 senger, or their representative that experiences an

3 aircraft air quality incident may file a request with

4 the Administrator not later than 30 days after the

5 incident for the filtration media used in the air sup6 ply system of the aircraft involved in that aircraft

7 air quality incident.

8 (2) VERIFICATION BY HEALTH CARE PROFES9 SIONAL.—A request described in paragraph (1) must

10 include a statement by a health care professional

11 verifying that the individual making the request re12 ported at least 1 symptom described in section 2(3).

13 (b) REQUEST FORWARDED TO AIR CARRIER.—With14 in 30 calendar days of receiving a request described in

15 subsection (a), the Administrator shall record receipt of

16 that request and forward it to the air carrier.

17 (c) MEDIA TO BE PROVIDED.—An air carrier that

18 receives a request described in subsection (a) shall provide

19 the filtration media to the Administrator not later than

20 30 calendar days after replacing the requested filtration

21 media.

22 (d) ACTION BY ADMINISTRATOR.—

23 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 30 days after

24 receipt of filtration media under subsection (c), the

25 Administrator shall—
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1 (A) analyze the media to determine the

2 content and chemical properties of any mate3 rials contained in the filtration media; and

4 (B) provide the results of the analysis per5 formed under subparagraph (A) to the indi6 vidual making the request in subsection (a).

7 (2) RETENTION OF INFORMATION.—The Ad8 ministrator shall retain the results of any analysis

9 performed under paragraph (1) for a period of not

10 less than 5 years.

11 (e) CIVIL PENALTY FOR NONCOMPLIANCE.—

12 (1) IN GENERAL.—Any air carrier that does not

13 produce a filtration media requested pursuant to

14 this section shall be subject to a civil penalty of

15 $1,000 for each day that the air carrier fails to

16 produce the media.

17 (2) FINES INCREASED FOR INFLATION.—In the

18 case of any calendar year beginning after 2001, the

19 dollar amount described in paragraph (1) shall be

20 increased by an amount equal to—

21 (A) such dollar amount, multiplied by

22 (B) the cost-of-living adjustment deter23 mined under section 1(f)(3) of the Internal

24 Revenue Code of 1986 (26 U.S.C. 1(f)(3)) for

25 the calendar year in which the fine is assessed,
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1 determined by substituting ‘‘calendar year

2 2000’’ for ‘‘calendar year 1992’’ in subpara3 graph (B) of such section 1(f)(3).

4 (f) RETENTION OF FILTRATION MEDIA.—The Ad5 ministrator shall require that an air carrier retain and

6 properly store all filtration media for a period of not less

7 than 45 days after any filtration media is replaced.

8 SEC. 5. DISCLOSURE OF INFORMATION ON PRODUCTS

9 USED IN THE MAINTENANCE, OPERATION, OR

10 TREATMENT OF AIRCRAFT.

11 (a) REQUEST MADE TO THE ADMINISTRATOR.—

12 (1) IN GENERAL.—Any crew member, pas13 senger, or their representative may file a request

14 with the Administrator for information on the chem15 ical constituents of products (either alone or in com16 bination, including the byproducts generated by

17 thermal degradation or decomposition of those prod18 ucts) used in the maintenance, operation, or treat19 ment of aircraft to which a crew member or pas20 senger may be or may have been directly exposed.

21 (2) SPECIAL RULE FOR THE PREVIOUS 5-YEAR

22 PERIOD.—Any crew member, passenger, or their

23 representative may file a request with the Adminis24 trator for the information described in paragraph

25 (1) regarding a product that was used during the 5-
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1 year period preceding the date of enactment of this

2 Act if the request is made not later than 90 calendar

3 days after the date of enactment of this Act.

4 (b) REQUEST FORWARDED TO AIR CARRIER.—With5 in 30 calendar days of receiving a request described in

6 subsection (a), the Administrator shall record receipt of

7 that request and forward it to the air carrier.

8 (c) INFORMATION TO BE DISCLOSED.—

9 (1) IN GENERAL.—An air carrier that receives

10 a request described in subsection (a) shall provide

11 the information to the individual making that

12 request—

13 (A) not later than 15 calendar days after

14 receiving a request described in subsection

15 (a)(1); and

16 (B) not later than 30 days after receiving

17 a request described in subsection (a)(2).

18 (2) INFORMATION TO BE INCLUDED.—An air

19 carrier shall provide to a person making a request

20 described in subsection (a) the following:

21 (A) Information on the toxicity and toxi22 cology of the products described in subsection

23 (a).

24 (B) Any report of an aircraft air quality

25 incident, including any first aid and medical
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1 treatment or tests required by any person in

2 connection with the aircraft air quality incident.

3 (C) Any monitoring data, including meas4 urements of exposures of personnel in the work

5 environment, measurements of ambient air and

6 surface contamination in the work environment,

7 and in-duct measurements.

8 (D) All reports, investigative documents,

9 studies, memos, and letters related to or arising

10 from any complaint, report, or request regard11 ing air quality on aircraft.

12 (E) Any health or symptom survey distrib13 uted to crew members.

14 (d) CIVIL PENALTY FOR NONCOMPLIANCE.—

15 (1) IN GENERAL.—Any air carrier that does not

16 produce any information requested pursuant to this

17 section shall be subject to a civil penalty of $1,000

18 for each day that the carrier fails to produce the in19 formation.

20 (2) FINES INCREASED FOR INFLATION.—In the

21 case of any calendar year beginning after 2001, the

22 dollar amount described in paragraph (1) shall be

23 increased by an amount equal to—

24 (A) such dollar amount, multiplied by
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1 (B) the cost-of-living adjustment deter2 mined under section 1(f)(3) of the Internal

3 Revenue Code of 1986 (26 U.S.C. 1(f)(3)) for

4 the calendar year in which the fine is assessed,

5 determined by substituting ‘‘calendar year

6 2000’’ for ‘‘calendar year 1992’’ in subpara7 graph (B) of such section 1(f)(3).

8 (e) RETENTION OF INFORMATION ON PRODUCTS AND

9 BYPRODUCTS.—The Administrator shall require that an

10 air carrier retain the records described in this section for

11 a period of not less than 5 years, or for such longer period

12 as is under any other provision of law.

13 (f) RELATIONSHIP TO OTHER DISCLOSURES.—The

14 information required to be provided under this section

15 shall be provided to the crew member, passenger, or their

16 representative in addition to any information provided in

17 the material safety data sheet.

18 SEC. 6. CABIN PRESSURIZATION.

19 (a) STUDY OF CABIN OXYGEN LEVELS.—The Ad20 ministrator, in consultation with the National Academy of

21 Sciences Committee on Air Quality in Passenger Cabins

22 of Commercial Aircraft, shall award a grant to an eligible

23 applicant described in subsection (b) to conduct an

24 aeromedical research study to determine what cabin alti25 tude must be maintained to provide sufficient oxygen to
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1 ensure that the short- and long-term health of 95 percent

2 of a representative sample of cabin crew and passengers

3 is not adversely affected.

4 (b) ELIGIBLE APPLICANT.—An eligible applicant de5 scribed in this subsection is an expert in an appropriate

6 academic field who is affiliated with a school of public or

7 occupational health that does not receive funding from the

8 airline industry.

9 (c) ELEMENTS OF THE STUDY.—The study shall

10 include—

11 (1) measurements of blood oxygen saturation

12 collected at cabin altitudes that range from 5,000 to

13 8,000 feet from a sample of crew members and pas14 sengers selected to represent the range of weight

15 and health considerations that could affect blood ox16 ygen transport (including cardiovascular and res17 piratory conditions); and

18 (2) a review of existing data and published lit19 erature.

20 (d) REPORT.—The eligible applicant selected to re21 ceive the grant under this section shall complete the study

22 and submit a report regarding the results of the study to

23 the Administrator not later than 18 months after the re24 ceipt of the grant funds.

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