II 

109TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 3679 

To authorize appropriations for the National Transportation Safety Board, 

and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JULY 18, 2006 

Mr. BURNS (for himself and Mr. ROCKEFELLER) introduced the following bill; 

which was read twice and referred to the Committtee on Commerce, 

Science, and Transportation 

A BILL 

To authorize appropriations for the National Transportation 

Safety Board, 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 2006’’. 

7 (b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents for 

8 this Act is as follows: 

Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents. 

Sec. 2. Reports. 

Sec. 3. Repeal of reimbursement for DOT inspector general services. 

Sec. 4. Contracting requirements for investigation services. 


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Sec. 5. Technical corrections. 

Sec. 6. AMTRAK plan to assist families of passengers involved in rail passenger accidents. 

Sec. 7. Inspector General of the National Transportation Safety Board. 

Sec. 8. Audit procedures. 

Sec. 9. Authorization of appropriations. 

1 SEC. 2. REPORTS. 

2 (a) ANNUAL REPORTS.— 

3 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 1117 of title 49, 

4 United States Code, is amended— 

5 (A) by striking ‘‘and’’ after the semicolon 

6 in paragraph (2); 

7 (B) by striking ‘‘State.’’ in paragraph (3) 

8 and inserting ‘‘State;’’; and 

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

10 ‘‘(4) a description of the activities and oper11 ations of the National Transportation Safety Board 

12 Academy during the prior calendar year; 

13 ‘‘(5) a list of accidents during the prior cal14 endar year that the Board was required to inves15 tigate under section 1131 of this title but did not in16 vestigate, and an explanation of why they were not 

17 investigated; and 

18 ‘‘(6) a list of ongoing investigations that have 

19 exceeded the expected time allotted for completion 

20 by Board order and an explanation for the addi21 tional time required to complete each such investiga22 tion.’’. 


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1 (2) UTILIZATION PLAN.— 

2 (A) PLAN.—Within 90 days after the date 

3 of enactment of this Act, the National Trans4 portation Safety Board shall— 

5 (i) develop a plan to achieve the self6 sufficient operation of the National Trans7 portation Safety Board Academy and uti8 lize fully the Academy’s facilities and re9 sources; 

10 (ii) submit a draft of the plan to the 

11 Comptroller General for review and com12 ment; and 

13 (iii) submit a draft of the plan to the 

14 Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, 

15 and Transportation and the House of Rep16 resentatives Committee on Transportation 

17 and Infrastructure. 

18 (B) PLAN DEVELOPMENT CONSIDER19 ATIONS.—The Board shall— 

20 (i) give consideration in developing 

21 the plan to subleasing the facility to an22 other entity or other revenue-generating 

23 measures; and 

24 (ii) include in the plan a detailed fi25 nancial statement that covers current 


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1 Academy expenses and revenues and an 

2 analysis of the projected impact of the plan 

3 on the Academy’s expenses and revenues. 

4 (C) REPORT.—Within 180 days after the 

5 date of enactment of this Act, the National 

6 Transportation Safety Board shall submit a re7 port to the Senate Committee on Commerce, 

8 Science, and Transportation and the House of 

9 Representatives Committee on Transportation 

10 and Infrastructure that includes— 

11 (i) an updated copy of the plan; 

12 (ii) any comments and recommenda13 tions made by the Comptroller General 

14 pursuant to the Government Accountability 

15 Office’s review of the draft plan; and 

16 (iii) a response to the Comptroller 

17 General’s comments and recommendations, 

18 including a description of any modifica19 tions made to the plan in response to those 

20 comments and recommendations. 

21 (D) IMPLEMENTATION.—The plan shall be 

22 fully implemented within 2 years after the date 

23 of enactment of this Act. 

24 (b) DOT REPORT ON COMPLIANCE WITH REC25 OMMENDATIONS.—Within 90 days after the Secretary of 


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1 Transportation submits a report under section 1135(d) of 

2 title 49, United States Code, the National Transportation 

3 Safety Board shall review the Secretary’s report and 

4 transmit comments on the report to the Secretary, the 

5 Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transpor6 tation and the House of Representatives Committee on 

7 Transportation and Infrastructure. 

8 (c) TRANSPORTATION SAFETY REAUTHORIZATION

9 RECOMMENDATIONS.—The Board shall, as appropriate, 

10 provide recommendations and comments to the Congress 

11 pertaining to pending transportation safety legislation. 

12 SEC. 3. REPEAL OF REIMBURSEMENT FOR DOT INSPECTOR 

13 GENERAL SERVICES. 

14 Section 1137 of title 49, United States Code, is 

15 amended by striking subsection (d). 

16 SEC. 4. CONTRACTING REQUIREMENTS FOR INVESTIGA17 TION SERVICES. 

18 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 1113(b) of title 49, 

19 United States Code, is amended— 

20 (1) by striking ‘‘and’’ after the semicolon in 

21 paragraph (1)(H); 

22 (2) by redesignating subparagraph (I) as sub23 paragraph (J) in paragraph (1); 

24 (3) by inserting after subparagraph (H) of 

25 paragraph (1) the following: 


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1 ‘‘‘(I) for an investigation under section 1131, 

2 enter into agreements or contracts without regard to 

3 any other provision of law requiring competition, if 

4 necessary to expedite the investigation; and’’; and 

5 (4) by striking ‘‘(1)(I)’’ each place it appears in 

6 paragraph (2) and inserting ‘‘(1)(J)’’. 

7 (b) REPORT ON USAGE.—Section 1117 of title 49, 

8 United States Code, as amended by section 2, is further 

9 amended— 

10 (1) by striking ‘‘and’’ after the semicolon in 

11 paragraph (5); 

12 (2) by striking ‘‘investigation.’’ in paragraph 

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

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

15 ‘‘(7) a description of each contract executed 

16 during the preceding calendar year under the au17 thority of section 1113(b)(1)(I), and the rationale 

18 for dispensing with competition requirements with 

19 respect to each such contract.’’. 

20 SEC. 5. TECHNICAL CORRECTIONS. 

21 (a) FUNCTIONAL UNIT FOR MARINE INVESTIGA22 TIONS.—Section 1111(g) of title 49, United States Code, 

23 is amended by adding at the end the following: 

24 ‘‘(5) marine.’’. 


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1 (b) MARINE CASUALTY INVESTIGATIONS.—Section 

2 1131(a)(1)(E) of title 49, United States Code, is amend3 ed— 

4 (1) by striking ‘‘on the navigable waters or ter5 ritorial sea of the United States,’’ and inserting ‘‘on 

6 the navigable waters, all internal waters, and the 

7 territorial sea of the United States,’’; and 

8 (2) by inserting ‘‘(as defined in section 

9 2101(46))’’ after ‘‘vessel of the United States’’. 

10 (c) REFERENCE TO DEPARTMENTAL AUTHORITY.— 

11 Section 1131(c)(1) of title 49, United States Code, is 

12 amended by inserting ‘‘or the Secretary of the department 

13 in which the Coast Guard is operating’’ after ‘‘Transpor14 tation’’. 

15 (d) APPOINTMENT OF MANAGING DIRECTOR.—Sec16 tion 1111 of title 49, United States Code, is amended— 

17 (1) by striking paragraph (1) of subsection (e) 

18 and inserting the following: 

19 ‘‘(1) appoint and supervise officers and employ20 ees, other than regular and fulltime employees in the 

21 immediate offices of another member, necessary to 

22 carry out this chapter;’’; 

23 (2) by redesignating paragraphs (2) and (3) of 

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1 tively, and inserting after paragraph (1) the fol2 lowing: 

3 ‘‘(2) fix the pay of officers and employees nec4 essary to carry out this chapter;’’; 

5 (3) by redesignating subsection (i) as subsection 

6 (k); and 

7 (4) by inserting after subsection (h) the fol8 lowing: 

9 ‘‘(i) MANAGING DIRECTOR.—The Board shall have a 

10 Managing Director who shall be— 

11 ‘‘(1) appointed by the Chairman, in consulta12 tion with the Board; and 

13 ‘‘(2) approved by the Board, pursuant to a pro14 cedure developed and adopted by the Board. 

15 ‘‘(j) BOARD MEMBER STAFF.—Each member of the 

16 Board shall appoint and supervise regular and fulltime 

17 employees in his or her immediate office as long as any 

18 such employee has been approved for employment by the 

19 designated agency ethics official under the same guidelines 

20 that apply to all employees of the Board. The appointment 

21 authority provided by this subsection is limited to the 

22 number of fulltime equivalent positions, in addition to 1 

23 senior professional staff at the GS–15 level and 1 adminis24 trative staff, allocated each member through the Board’s 

25 annual budget and allocation process.’’. 


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1 (e) BOARD APPROVAL.—Section 1113(c) of title 49, 

2 United States Code, is amended by inserting ‘‘The Board 

3 shall develop and approve a process for the Board’s review 

4 and comment or approval of documents submitted to the 

5 President, Director of the Office of Management and 

6 Budget, or the Congress under this subsection.’’ after 

7 ‘‘Congress.’’. 

8 (f) INVESTIGATION TRACKING SYSTEM.—Within 6 

9 months after the date of enactment of this Act, the Na10 tional Transportation Safety Board shall develop and im11 plement a process or system available to all Board mem12 bers that tracks the status and activities associated with 

13 all ongoing and pending investigations undertaken by the 

14 Board, including the expected completion date, staff as15 signments, and such other information as the Board may 

16 require for the investigations. 

17 (g) INVESTIGATIVE OFFICERS.—Section 1113 of title 

18 49, United States Code, is amended by adding at the end 

19 thereof the following: 

20 ‘‘(h) INVESTIGATIVE OFFICERS.—The Board shall 

21 maintain at least 1 fulltime employee in each State located 

22 more than 1,000 miles from the nearest Board regional 

23 office to provide initial investigative response to accidents 

24 the Board is empowered to investigate under this chapter 

25 that occur in those States.’’. 


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1 SEC. 6. AMTRAK PLAN TO ASSIST FAMILIES OF PAS2 SENGERS INVOLVED IN RAIL PASSENGER AC3 CIDENTS. 

4 (a) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 243 of title 49, United 

5 States Code, is amended by adding at the end the fol6 lowing: 

7 ‘‘§ 24316. Plans to address needs of families of pas8 sengers involved in rail passenger acci9 dents 

10 ‘‘(a) SUBMISSION OF PLAN.—Not later than 6 

11 months after the date of the enactment of the Rail Secu12 rity Act of 2005, Amtrak shall submit to the Chairman 

13 of the National Transportation Safety Board, the Sec14 retary of Transportation, and the Secretary of Homeland 

15 Security a plan for addressing the needs of the families 

16 of passengers involved in any rail passenger accident in17 volving an Amtrak intercity train and resulting in a loss 

18 of life. 

19 ‘‘(b) CONTENTS OF PLANS.—The plan to be sub20 mitted by Amtrak under subsection (a) shall include, at 

21 a minimum, the following: 

22 ‘‘(1) A process by which Amtrak will maintain 

23 and provide to the National Transportation Safety 

24 Board and the Secretary of Transportation, imme25 diately upon request, a list (which is based on the 

26 best available information at the time of the request) 


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1 of the names of the passengers aboard the train 

2 (whether or not such names have been verified), and 

3 will periodically update the list. The plan shall in4 clude a procedure, with respect to unreserved trains 

5 and passengers not holding reservations on other 

6 trains, for Amtrak to use reasonable efforts to ascer7 tain the number and names of passengers aboard a 

8 train involved in an accident. 

9 ‘‘(2) A plan for creating and publicizing a reli10 able, toll-free telephone number within 4 hours after 

11 such an accident occurs, and for providing staff, to 

12 handle calls from the families of the passengers. 

13 ‘‘(3) A process for notifying the families of the 

14 passengers, before providing any public notice of the 

15 names of the passengers, by suitably trained individ16 uals. 

17 ‘‘(4) A process for providing the notice de18 scribed in paragraph (2) to the family of a pas19 senger as soon as Amtrak has verified that the pas20 senger was aboard the train (whether or not the 

21 names of all of the passengers have been verified). 

22 ‘‘(5) A process by which the family of each pas23 senger will be consulted about the disposition of all 

24 remains and personal effects of the passenger within 

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1 senger within Amtrak’s control will be returned to 

2 the family unless the possession is needed for the ac3 cident investigation or any criminal investigation; 

4 and that any unclaimed possession of a passenger 

5 within Amtrak’s control will be retained by the rail 

6 passenger carrier for at least 18 months. 

7 ‘‘(6) A process by which the treatment of the 

8 families of nonrevenue passengers will be the same 

9 as the treatment of the families of revenue pas10 sengers. 

11 ‘‘(7) An assurance that Amtrak will provide 

12 adequate training to its employees and agents to 

13 meet the needs of survivors and family members fol14 lowing an accident. 

15 ‘‘(c) USE OF INFORMATION.—The National Trans16 portation Safety Board, the Secretary of Transportation, 

17 and Amtrak may not release any personal information on 

18 a list obtained under subsection (b)(1) but may provide 

19 information on the list about a passenger to the family 

20 of the passenger to the extent that the Board or Amtrak 

21 considers appropriate. 

22 ‘‘(d) LIMITATION ON LIABILITY.—Amtrak shall not 

23 be liable for damages in any action brought in a Federal 

24 or State court arising out of the performance of Amtrak 

25 in preparing or providing a passenger list, or in providing 


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1 information concerning a train reservation, pursuant to a 

2 plan submitted by Amtrak under subsection (b), unless 

3 such liability was caused by Amtrak’s conduct. 

4 ‘‘(e) LIMITATION ON STATUTORY CONSTRUCTION.— 

5 Nothing in this section may be construed as limiting the 

6 actions that Amtrak may take, or the obligations that Am7 trak may have, in providing assistance to the families of 

8 passengers involved in a rail passenger accident. 

9 ‘‘(f) FUNDING.—There shall be made available to the 

10 Secretary of Transportation for the use of Amtrak 

11 $500,000 for fiscal year 2007 to carry out this section. 

12 Amounts made available pursuant to this subsection shall 

13 remain available until expended.’’. 

14 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—The chapter anal15 ysis for chapter 243 of title 49, United States Code, is 

16 amended by adding at the end the following: 

‘‘24316. Plan to assist families of passengers involved in rail passenger accidents.’’. 

17 SEC. 7. INSPECTOR GENERAL OF THE NATIONAL TRANS18 PORTATION SAFETY BOARD. 

19 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 1137 of title 49, United 

20 States Code, is amended to read as follows: 


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1 ‘‘§ 1137. Designation of the Department of Transpor2 tation Inspector General as Inspector 

3 General of the National Transportation 

4 Safety Board 

5 ‘‘(a) ESTABLISHMENT OF INSPECTOR GENERAL OF

6 THE NATIONAL TRANSPORTATION SAFETY BOARD.—In 

7 order to promote economy, efficiency, and effectiveness in 

8 the administration of, and to prevent and detect fraud and 

9 abuse in the programs, operations, and activities of the 

10 National Transportation Safety Board, the Inspector Gen11 eral of the Department of Transportation shall serve as 

12 the Inspector General of the National Transportation 

13 Safety Board. 

14 ‘‘(b) AUTHORITY OF THE INSPECTOR GENERAL.— 

15 ‘‘(1) The Inspector General shall exercise such 

16 authority as provided by the Inspector General Act 

17 of 1978, and other applicable laws, over Board pro18 grams, operations and activities not directly associ19 ated with specific accident investigations or adju20 dications, including— 

21 ‘‘(A) financial management, property man22 agement, and business operations, including in23 ternal accounting and administrative control 

24 systems; 


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1 ‘‘(B) information management and secu2 rity, including privacy protection of personally 

3 identifiable information; 

4 ‘‘(C) resource management; 

5 ‘‘(D) workforce development; 

6 ‘‘(E) procurement and contracting plan7 ning, practices and policies; 

8 ‘‘(F) malfeasance in office by Board em9 ployees and contractors; and 

10 ‘‘(G) allegations of false statements, fraud, 

11 and other criminal activity within the jurisdic12 tion of the Board. 

13 ‘‘(2) In consultation with the Senate Committee 

14 on Commerce, Science, and Transportation or the 

15 House Committee on Transportation and Infrastruc16 ture Committee, the Inspector General may conduct 

17 an audit, investigation, or other review on matters 

18 not described in subparagraphs (A) through (G) of 

19 paragraph (1). 

20 ‘‘(c) DUTIES.—In carrying out this section, the In21 spector General shall— 

22 ‘‘(1) report directly to the Chairman of the 

23 Committee and ensure that the Chairman is kept 

24 fully and currently informed concerning fraud and 

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1 lating to the administration of programs, operations, 

2 and activities of the Board; 

3 ‘‘(2) recommend to the Chairman corrective ac4 tion concerning such problems, abuses, and defi5 ciencies; 

6 ‘‘(3) report to the Chairman on the progress 

7 made in implementing such corrective action; and 

8 ‘‘(4) promptly notify the Chairman on any 

9 problems related to access for information or car10 rying out an audit or investigation. 

11 ‘‘(d) INFORMATION PROVIDED TO BOARD MEM12 BERS.—The Inspector General and Chairman shall ensure 

13 that all members of the Board are informed of major work 

14 in progress through regular and periodic briefings and, as 

15 appropriate, on a timelier basis for matters of a significant 

16 nature. 

17 ‘‘(e) AUTHORIZATION FOR APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

18 are authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary of 

19 Transportation for use by the Inspector General of the De20 partment of Transportation such sums as may be nec21 essary to cover expenses associated with activities pursu22 ant to the authority exercised as the Inspector General 

23 of the Board. In the absence of an appropriation, the In24 spector General and the Board shall have a reimbursable 

25 agreement to cover such expenses.’’. 


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1 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—The chapter anal2 ysis for chapter 11 of title 49, United States Code, is 

3 amended by striking the item relating to section 1137 and 

4 inserting the following: 

‘‘1137. Designation of the Department of Transportation Inspector General as 

Inspector General of the National Transportation Safety 

Board.’’. 

5 SEC. 8. AUDIT PROCEDURES. 

6 The National Transportation Safety Board, in con7 sultation with the Inspector General, shall continue to de8 velop and implement comprehensive internal audit controls 

9 for its operations. The audit controls shall, at a minimum, 

10 address Board asset management systems, including sys11 tems for accounting management, debt collection, travel, 

12 and property and inventory management and control. 

13 SEC. 9. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

14 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 1118(a) of title 49, 

15 United States Code, is amended— 

16 (1) by striking ‘‘and’’ after ‘‘2005,’’; and 

17 (2) by striking ‘‘2006.’’ and inserting ‘‘2006, 

18 $79,594,000 for fiscal year 2007, and $84,382,432 

19 for fiscal year 2008.’’. 

20 (b) EMERGENCY FUND.—Section 1118(b) of title 49, 

21 United States Code, is amended to read as follows: 

22 ‘‘(b) EMERGENCY FUND.—There are authorized to 

23 be appropriated for necessary expenses of the Board, not 

24 otherwise provided for, for accident investigations 


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1 amounts sufficient to maintain the emergency fund at a 

2 level not to exceed $4,000,000, such sums to remain avail3 able until expended.’’. 

4 (c) FEES, REFUNDS, AND REIMBURSEMENTS.— 

5 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 1118(c) of title 49, 

6 United States Code, is amended— 

7 (A) by striking ‘‘ACADEMY.—’’ and insert8 ing ‘‘FEES, REFUNDS, AND REIMBURSE9 MENTS.—’’; 

10 (B) by striking paragraph (1) and redesig11 nating paragraphs (2), (3), and (4) as para12 graphs (1), (2), and (3), respectively, and reset13 ting each such paragraph 2 ems from the left 

14 margin; 

15 (C) by striking paragraph (1), as redesig16 nated, and inserting the following: 

17 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Board may impose 

18 and collect such fees, refunds, and reimbursements 

19 as it determines to be appropriate for services pro20 vided by or through the Board.’’; 

21 (D) by striking ‘‘fee’’ the first place it ap22 pears in paragraph (2), as redesignated, and in23 serting ‘‘fee, refund, or reimbursement’’; and 

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1 ignated, and inserting ‘‘imposed or with which 

2 the refund or reimbursement is associated;’’. 

3 (2) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made 

4 by paragraph (1) shall take effect on October 1, 

5 2005. 

6 (d) REPORT.—Section 1118(d) of title 49, United 

7 States Code, is repealed. 

Æ 


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