II 

Calendar No. 273 

111TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 2768 

[Report No. 111–127] 

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

the National Transportation Safety Board for fiscal years 2010 through 

2014, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

NOVEMBER 10, 2009 

Mr. DORGAN (for himself, Mr. ROCKEFELLER, and Mr. LAUTENBERG) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation 

FEBRUARY 23, 2010 

Reported by Mr. ROCKEFELLER, with an amendment 

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

A BILL 

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

for fiscal years 2010 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, 


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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘National Transpor3 tation Safety Board Reauthorization Act of 2009’’. 

4 SEC. 2. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

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

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

7 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—There are authorized to be ap8 propriated for the purposes of this chapter $100,000,000 

9 for fiscal year 2010, $105,000,000 for fiscal year 2011, 

10 $112,000,000 for fiscal year 2012, $118,000,000 for fis11 cal year 2013, and $124,000,000 for fiscal year 2014. 

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

13 (b) FEES, REFUNDS, REIMBURSEMENTS, AND AD14 VANCES.—Section 1118(c) of such title is amended to read 

15 as follows: 

16 ‘‘(c) FEES, REFUNDS, REIMBURSEMENTS, AND AD17 VANCES.— 

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

19 and collect such fees, refunds, reimbursements, and 

20 advances as it determines to be appropriate for ac21 tivities, services, and facilities provided by or 

22 through the Board. 

23 ‘‘(2) RECEIPTS CREDITED AS OFFSETTING COL24 LECTIONS.—Notwithstanding section 3302 of title 

25 31, any fee, refund, reimbursement, or advance col26 lected under this subsection— 


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1 ‘‘(A) shall be credited as offsetting collec2 tions to the account that finances the activities, 

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

4 reimbursement, or advance is associated; 

5 ‘‘(B) shall be available for expenditure only 

6 to pay the costs of activities, services, or facili7 ties for which the fee, refund, reimbursement, 

8 or advance is associated; and 

9 ‘‘(C) shall remain available until expended. 

10 ‘‘(3) RECORD.—The Board shall maintain an 

11 annual record of collections received under para12 graph (2). 

13 ‘‘(4) REFUNDS.—The Board may refund any 

14 fee or advance paid by mistake or any amount paid 

15 in excess of that required.’’. 

16 SEC. 3. TECHNICAL CORRECTIONS. 

17 (a) DEFINITIONS.—Section 1101 of title 49, United 

18 States Code, is amended by striking ‘‘otherwise.’’ and in19 serting ‘‘otherwise, and may include incidents not involv20 ing destruction or damage, but significantly affecting 

21 transportation safety, as the Board may prescribe or Con22 gress may direct.’’. 

23 (b) GENERAL ORGANIZATION.—Section 1111(d) of 

24 title 49, United States Code, is amended by striking ‘‘ab25 sent’’ and inserting ‘‘unavailable’’. 


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1 (c) ADMINISTRATIVE.—Section 1113 of title 49, 

2 United States Code, is amended— 

3 (1) by inserting ‘‘or depositions’’ in paragraph 

4 (a)(1) after ‘‘hearings’’; and 

5 (2) by inserting ‘‘In the interest of transpor6 tation safety, the Board shall have the authority by 

7 subpoena to summon witnesses and obtain any and 

8 all evidence relevant to an accident investigation 

9 conducted under this chapter.’’ after ‘‘(2)’’ in sub10 section (a)(2). 

11 (d) DISCLOSURE, AVAILABILITY, AND USE OF IN12 FORMATION.—Section 1114 of title 49, United States 

13 Code, is amended— 

14 (1) by striking the heading for subsection (b) 

15 and inserting ‘‘(b) TRADE SECRETS; COMMERCIAL

16 OR FINANCIAL INFORMATION.—’’; 

17 (2) by inserting ‘‘submitted to the Board in the 

18 course of a Board investigation or study and’’ in 

19 subsection (b)(1) after ‘‘information’’ the first place 

20 it appears; 

21 (3) by striking ‘‘title 18’’ in subsection (b)(1) 

22 and inserting ‘‘title 18, or commercial or financial 

23 information,’’; 

24 (4) by striking ‘‘safety’’ in subsection (b)(1)(D) 

25 the first place it appears and inserting ‘‘safety, inVerDate Nov 24 2008 23:21 Feb 23, 2010 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6401 E:\BILLS\S2768.RS S2768

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1 cluding through the issuance of reports of accident 

2 investigation or safety studies and safety rec3 ommendations,’’; 

4 (5) by inserting ‘‘subparagraphs (A) through 

5 (C) of’’ after ‘‘under’’ in subsection (b)(2); 

6 (6) by adding at the end of subsection (b) the 

7 following: 

8 ‘‘(4) Each person submitting to the Board trade se9 crets, commercial or financial information, or information 

10 that could be classified as controlled under the Inter11 national Traffic in Arms Regulations shall appropriately 

12 annotate the information to indicate the restricted nature 

13 of the information in order to facilitate proper handling 

14 of such materials by the Board.’’; 

15 (7) by striking ‘‘shall’’ in paragraph(1)(A) of 

16 subsection (f) and inserting ‘‘may’’; 

17 (8) by striking ‘‘information’’ in paragraph (2) 

18 of subsection (f) and inserting ‘‘information, or 

19 other relevant information authorized for disclosure 

20 under this chapter,’’; and 

21 (9) by adding at the end thereof the following: 

22 ‘‘(g) ONGOING BOARD INVESTIGATIONS.—(1) Not23 withstanding any other provision of law, neither the 

24 Board, nor any agency receiving information from the 

25 Board, may publicly disclose records related to an ongoing 


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1 Board investigation, and such records shall be exempt 

2 from disclosure under section 552(b)(3) of title 5. Not3 withstanding the preceding sentence, the Board may make 

4 public specific records relevant to the investigation, release 

5 of which in the Board’s judgment is necessary to promote 

6 transportation safety— 

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

8 accident or incident, at the time of the hearing; 

9 ‘‘(B) if the Board does not hold a public hear10 ing, at the time the Board determines that substan11 tial portions of the underlying factual reports on the 

12 accident or incident, and supporting evidence, will be 

13 placed in the public docket; or 

14 ‘‘(C) if the Board determines during an ongoing 

15 investigation or study that circumstances warrant 

16 disclosure of specific factual material and that such 

17 material need be placed in the public docket to facili18 tate dialogue with other agencies or instrumental19 ities, regulatory bodies, industry or industry groups, 

20 or Congress. 

21 ‘‘(2) This subsection does not prevent the Board from 

22 referring at any time to evidence from an ongoing inves23 tigation in making safety recommendations. 

24 ‘‘(3) In this subsection, the term ‘ongoing investiga25 tion’ means that period beginning at the time the Board 


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1 is notified of an accident or incident and ending when the 

2 Board issues a final report or brief, or determines to close 

3 an investigation without issuing a report or brief.’’. 

4 (e) REPORTS AND STUDIES—Section 1116(b) of title 

5 49, United States Code, is amended— 

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

7 and inserting ‘‘conduct’’; and 

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

9 following: 

10 ‘‘(3) prescribe requirements for persons report11 ing accidents and incidents that may be investigated 

12 by the Board under this chapter;’’. 

13 (f) DISCOVERY AND USE OF COCKPIT AND SURFACE

14 VEHICLE RECORDINGS AND TRANSCRIPTS.—Section 

15 1154(a)(1)(A) of title 49, United States Code, is amended 

16 by striking ‘‘and’’ and inserting ‘‘or’’. 

17 SEC. 4. AUTHORITY OF THE BOARD. 

18 (a) EVALUATION AND AUDIT.—Section 1138(a) of 

19 title 49, United States Code, is amended by striking ‘‘con20 ducted at least annually, but may be’’. 

21 (b) TRAINING OF BOARD EMPLOYEES AND OTH22 ERS.—Section 1115(d) of title 49, United States Code, is 

23 amended— 

24 (1) by striking ‘‘investigation.’’ and inserting 

25 ‘‘investigation, including investigation theory and 


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1 techniques and transportation safety, to advance 

2 Board safety recommendations.’’; 

3 (2) by striking ‘‘training.’’ and inserting ‘‘train4 ing or who influence transportation safety through 

5 support or adoption of Board safety recommenda6 tions.’’; and 

7 (3) by striking ‘‘collections.’’ and inserting ‘‘col8 lections under the provisions of section 1118 of this 

9 chapter.’’. 

10 (c) ACCIDENT INVESTIGATION AUTHORITY.—Section 

11 1131 of title 49, United States Code, is amended— 

12 (1) by striking subsection (a)(1)(C) and insert13 ing the following: 

14 ‘‘(C) a freight or passenger railroad accident in 

15 which there is a fatality (other than a fatality involv16 ing a trespasser), substantial property damage, or 

17 significant injury to the environment;’’; 

18 (2) by striking ‘‘and’’ after the semicolon in 

19 subsection (a)(1)(E); 

20 (3) by inserting ‘‘or incident’’ after ‘‘accident’’ 

21 each place it appears in subsection (a)(1)(F); 

22 (4) by striking ‘‘chapter.’’ in subsection 

23 (a)(1)(F) and inserting ‘‘chapter;’’; 

24 (5) by adding at the end of subsection (a)(1) 

25 the following: 


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1 ‘‘(G) an accident or incident in response to an 

2 international request and delegation under appro3 priate international conventions, coordinated through 

4 the Department of State and accepted by the Board; 

5 and 

6 ‘‘(H) an incident or incidents significantly af7 fecting transportation safety, as defined by the 

8 Board, under rules and in such detail as the Board 

9 may prescribe.’’; 

10 (6) by striking ‘‘paragraph (1)(A)–(D) or (F)’’ 

11 in subsection (a)(2)(A) and inserting ‘‘any of sub12 paragraphs (A) through (F) of paragraph (1)’’; 

13 (7) by inserting ‘‘or incident’’ after ‘‘accident’’ 

14 each place it appears in subsection (a)(3); 

15 (8) by inserting ‘‘or relevant to’’ after ‘‘devel16 oped about’’ in subsection (a)(3); 

17 (9) by inserting ‘‘AND INCIDENT’’ after ‘‘ACCI18 DENT’’ in the heading for subsection (e); and 

19 (10) by inserting ‘‘and incident’’ in subsection 

20 (e) after ‘‘each accident’’. 

21 (d) CIVIL AIRCRAFT AND MARITIME ACCIDENT IN22 VESTIGATIONS.— 

23 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 1132 of title 49, 

24 United States Code, is amended— 


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1 (A) by inserting ‘‘or have investigated’’ in 

2 subsection (a)(1) after ‘‘investigate’’; 

3 (B) by striking ‘‘aircraft.’’ in subsection 

4 (a)(1)(A) and inserting ‘‘aircraft or commercial 

5 space launch vehicle.’’; and 

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

7 ‘‘(e) AUTHORITY OF BOARD REPRESENTATIVE.—The 

8 Board may, with the consent of the Secretary, delegate 

9 to the Department of Transportation full authority to ob10 tain the facts of any aviation accident or incident the 

11 Board shall investigate, and the on-scene representative 

12 of the Secretary shall have the full authority of the Board 

13 to, on display of appropriate credentials and written notice 

14 of inspection authority, enter property where an aviation 

15 accident has occurred or wreckage from the accident is 

16 located and do anything necessary to gather evidence in 

17 support of a Board investigation, in accordance with such 

18 rules as the Board may prescribe. 

19 ‘‘(f) MARITIME ACCIDENT INVESTIGATIONS.—The 

20 Board may, with the consent of the Secretary of the de21 partment in which the Coast Guard is operating, delegate 

22 to the Coast Guard full authority to obtain the facts of 

23 any maritime accident or incident the Board shall inves24 tigate, and the on-scene representative of the Com25 mandant of the Coast Guard shall have the full authority 


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1 of the Board to, on display of appropriate credentials and 

2 written notice of inspection authority, enter property 

3 where a maritime accident has occurred or wreckage from 

4 the accident is located and do anything necessary to gath5 er evidence in support of a Board investigation, in accord6 ance with such rules as the Board may prescribe.’’. 

7 (2) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.— 

8 (A) The heading for section 1132 of title 

9 49, United States Code, is amended to read as 

10 follows: 

11 ‘‘§ 1132. Civil aircraft and maritime accident inves12 tigations’’. 

13 (B) The table of contents for chapter 11 of 

14 title 49, United States Code, is amended by 

15 striking the item relating to section 1132 and 

16 inserting the following: 

‘‘1132. Civil aircraft and maritime accident investigations’’. 

17 (e) INSPECTIONS AND AUTOPSIES.—Section 1134 of 

18 title 49, United States Code, is amended— 

19 (1) by striking ‘‘officer or employee of the Na20 tional Transportation Safety Board—’’ in subsection 

21 (a) and inserting ‘‘officer, employee, or designee of 

22 the National Transportation Safety Board in the 

23 conduct of any accident or incident investigation or 

24 study—’’; 


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1 (2) by adding at the end of subsection (b)(1) 

2 the following: ‘‘The Board may download or seize 

3 any recording device and recordings and may require 

4 specific information only available from the manu5 facturer to enable the Board to read and interpret 

6 any flight parameter or navigation storage device or 

7 media on board the accident aircraft. The provisions 

8 of section 1114(b) of this chapter shall apply to 

9 matters properly identified as trade secrets or com10 mercial or financial information.’’; and 

11 (3) by inserting after ‘‘component.’’ in sub12 section (c) the following: ‘‘The officer or employee 

13 may download or seize any recording device and re14 cordings, and may require the production of specific 

15 information only available from the manufacturer to 

16 enable the Board to read and interpret any oper17 ational parameter or navigation storage device or 

18 media on board the accident vehicle, vessel, or roll19 ing stock. The provisions of section 1114(b) of this 

20 chapter shall apply to matters properly identified as 

21 trade secrets or commercial or financial informa22 tion.’’. 

23 SEC. 5. AVIATION PENALTIES AND FAMILY ASSISTANCE. 

24 (a) FAMILY ASSISTANCE IN COMMERCIAL AVIATION

25 ACCIDENTS.—Section 41113(b)(7) of title 49, United 


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1 States Code is amended by striking ‘‘months.’’ and insert2 ing ‘‘months and that, prior to destruction of unclaimed 

3 possessions, a reasonable attempt will be made to notify 

4 the family of each passenger within 60 days of any 

5 planned destruction date.’’. 

6 (b) FAMILY ASSISTANCE IN COMMERCIAL AVIATION

7 ACCIDENTS INVOLVING FOREIGN CARRIERS.—Section 

8 41313(c)(7) of title 49, United States Code is amended 

9 by striking ‘‘accident.’’ and inserting ‘‘accident and that, 

10 prior to destruction of unclaimed possessions, a reasonable 

11 attempt will be made to notify the family of each pas12 senger within 60 days of any planned destruction date.’’. 

13 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

14 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘National Transportation 

15 Safety Board Reauthorization Act of 2009’’. 

16 SEC. 2. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

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

18 States Code, is amended to read as follows: 

19 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—There are authorized to be appro20 priated for the purposes of this chapter $100,000,000 for 

21 fiscal year 2010, $105,000,000 for fiscal year 2011, 

22 $112,000,000 for fiscal year 2012, $118,000,000 for fiscal 

23 year 2013, and $124,000,000 for fiscal year 2014. Such 

24 sums shall remain available until expended.’’. 


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1 (b) FEES, REFUNDS, REIMBURSEMENTS, AND AD2 VANCES.—Section 1118(c) of such title is amended to read 

3 as follows: 

4 ‘‘(c) FEES, REFUNDS, REIMBURSEMENTS, AND AD5 VANCES.— 

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

7 collect such fees, refunds, reimbursements, and ad8 vances as it determines to be appropriate for activi9 ties, services, and facilities provided by or through the 

10 Board. 

11 ‘‘(2) RECEIPTS CREDITED AS OFFSETTING COL12 LECTIONS.—Notwithstanding section 3302 of title 31, 

13 any fee, refund, reimbursement, or advance collected 

14 under this subsection— 

15 ‘‘(A) shall be credited as offsetting collec16 tions to the account that finances the activities, 

17 services, or facilities for which the fee, refund, re18 imbursement, or advance is associated; 

19 ‘‘(B) shall be available for expenditure only 

20 to pay the costs of activities, services, or facilities 

21 for which the fee, refund, reimbursement, or ad22 vance is associated; and 

23 ‘‘(C) shall remain available until expended. 


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1 ‘‘(3) RECORD.—The Board shall maintain an 

2 annual record of collections received under paragraph 

3 (2). 

4 ‘‘(4) REFUNDS.—The Board may refund any fee 

5 or advance paid by mistake or any amount paid in 

6 excess of that required.’’. 

7 SEC. 3. TECHNICAL CORRECTIONS. 

8 (a) DEFINITIONS.—Section 1101 of title 49, United 

9 States Code, is amended by striking ‘‘otherwise.’’ and in10 serting ‘‘otherwise, and may include incidents not involving 

11 destruction or damage, but significantly affecting transpor12 tation safety, as the Board may prescribe or Congress may 

13 direct.’’. 

14 (b) GENERAL ORGANIZATION.—Section 1111(d) of title 

15 49, United States Code, is amended by striking ‘‘absent’’ 

16 and inserting ‘‘unavailable’’. 

17 (c) ADMINISTRATIVE.—Section 1113 of title 49, United 

18 States Code, is amended— 

19 (1) by inserting ‘‘or depositions’’ in paragraph 

20 (a)(1) after ‘‘hearings’’; and 

21 (2) by inserting ‘‘In the interest of transpor22 tation safety, the Board shall have the authority by 

23 subpoena to summon witnesses and obtain any and 

24 all evidence relevant to an accident investigation conVerDate Nov 24 2008 23:21 Feb 23, 2010 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00015 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\S2768.RS S2768

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1 ducted under this chapter.’’ after ‘‘(2)’’ in subsection 

2 (a)(2). 

3 (d) DISCLOSURE, AVAILABILITY, AND USE OF INFOR4 MATION.—Section 1114 of title 49, United States Code, is 

5 amended— 

6 (1) by striking the heading for subsection (b) and 

7 inserting ‘‘(b) TRADE SECRETS; COMMERCIAL OR FI8 NANCIAL INFORMATION.—’’; 

9 (2) by inserting ‘‘submitted to the Board in the 

10 course of a Board investigation or study and’’ in sub11 section (b)(1) after ‘‘information’’ the first place it 

12 appears; 

13 (3) by striking ‘‘title 18’’ in subsection (b)(1) 

14 and inserting ‘‘title 18, or commercial or financial 

15 information,’’; 

16 (4) by striking ‘‘safety’’ in subsection (b)(1)(D) 

17 the first place it appears and inserting ‘‘safety, in18 cluding through the issuance of reports of accident in19 vestigation or safety studies and safety recommenda20 tions,’’; 

21 (5) by inserting ‘‘subparagraphs (A) through (C) 

22 of’’ after ‘‘under’’ in subsection (b)(2); 

23 (6) by adding at the end of subsection (b) the fol24 lowing: 


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1 ‘‘(4) Each person submitting to the Board trade se2 crets, commercial or financial information, or information 

3 that could be classified as controlled under the International 

4 Traffic in Arms Regulations shall appropriately annotate 

5 the information to indicate the restricted nature of the in6 formation in order to facilitate proper handling of such ma7 terials by the Board.’’; 

8 (7) by striking ‘‘shall’’ in paragraph(1)(A) of 

9 subsection (f) and inserting ‘‘may’’; 

10 (8) by striking ‘‘information’’ in paragraph (2) 

11 of subsection (f) and inserting ‘‘information, or other 

12 relevant information authorized for disclosure under 

13 this chapter,’’; and 

14 (9) by adding at the end thereof the following: 

15 ‘‘(g) ONGOING BOARD INVESTIGATIONS.—(1) Notwith16 standing any other provision of law, neither the Board, nor 

17 any agency receiving information from the Board, may 

18 publicly disclose records related to an ongoing Board inves19 tigation, and such records shall be exempt from disclosure 

20 under section 552(b)(3) of title 5. Notwithstanding the pre21 ceding sentence, the Board may make public specific records 

22 relevant to the investigation, release of which in the Board’s 

23 judgment is necessary to promote transportation safety— 

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

25 accident or incident, at the time of the hearing; 


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1 ‘‘(B) if the Board does not hold a public hearing, 

2 at the time the Board determines that substantial 

3 portions of the underlying factual reports on the acci4 dent or incident, and supporting evidence, will be 

5 placed in the public docket; or 

6 ‘‘(C) if the Board determines during an ongoing 

7 investigation or study that circumstances warrant 

8 disclosure of specific factual material and that such 

9 material need be placed in the public docket to facili10 tate dialogue with other agencies or instrumentalities, 

11 regulatory bodies, industry or industry groups, or 

12 Congress. 

13 ‘‘(2) This subsection does not prevent the Board from 

14 referring at any time to evidence from an ongoing inves15 tigation in making safety recommendations. 

16 ‘‘(3) In this subsection, the term ‘ongoing investiga17 tion’ means that period beginning at the time the Board 

18 is notified of an accident or incident and ending when the 

19 Board issues a final report or brief, or determines to close 

20 an investigation without issuing a report or brief.’’. 

21 (e) REPORTS AND STUDIES—Section 1116(b) of title 

22 49, United States Code, is amended— 

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

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 and incidents that may be investigated by 

5 the Board under this chapter;’’. 

6 (f) DISCOVERY AND USE OF COCKPIT AND SURFACE

7 VEHICLE RECORDINGS AND TRANSCRIPTS.—Section 

8 1154(a)(1)(A) of title 49, United States Code, is amended 

9 by striking ‘‘and’’ and inserting ‘‘or’’. 

10 SEC. 4. AUTHORITY OF THE BOARD. 

11 (a) EVALUATION AND AUDIT.—Section 1138(a) of title 

12 49, United States Code, is amended by striking ‘‘conducted 

13 at least annually, but may be’’. 

14 (b) TRAINING OF BOARD EMPLOYEES AND OTHERS.— 

15 Section 1115(d) of title 49, United States Code, is amend16 ed— 

17 (1) by striking ‘‘investigation.’’ and inserting 

18 ‘‘investigation, including investigation theory and 

19 techniques and transportation safety, to advance 

20 Board safety recommendations.’’; 

21 (2) by striking ‘‘training.’’ and inserting ‘‘train22 ing or who influence transportation safety through 

23 support or adoption of Board safety recommenda24 tions.’’; and 


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1 (3) by striking ‘‘collections.’’ and inserting ‘‘col2 lections under the provisions of section 1118 of this 

3 chapter.’’. 

4 (c) ACCIDENT INVESTIGATION AUTHORITY.—Section 

5 1131 of title 49, United States Code, is amended— 

6 (1) by striking subsection (a)(1)(C) and insert7 ing the following: 

8 ‘‘(C) a freight or passenger railroad accident in 

9 which there is a fatality (other than a fatality involv10 ing a trespasser), substantial property damage, or 

11 significant injury to the environment;’’; 

12 (2) by striking ‘‘and’’ after the semicolon in sub13 section (a)(1)(E); 

14 (3) by inserting ‘‘or incident’’ after ‘‘accident’’ 

15 each place it appears in subsection (a)(1)(F); 

16 (4) by striking ‘‘chapter.’’ in subsection (a)(1)(F) 

17 and inserting ‘‘chapter;’’; 

18 (5) by adding at the end of subsection (a)(1) the 

19 following: 

20 ‘‘(G) an accident or incident in response to an 

21 international request and delegation under appro22 priate international conventions, coordinated through 

23 the Department of State and accepted by the Board; 

24 and 


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1 ‘‘(H) an incident or incidents significantly af2 fecting transportation safety, as defined by the Board, 

3 under rules and in such detail as the Board may pre4 scribe.’’; 

5 (6) by striking ‘‘paragraph (1)(A)–(D) or (F)’’ 

6 in subsection (a)(2)(A) and inserting ‘‘any of sub7 paragraphs (A) through (F) of paragraph (1)’’; 

8 (7) by inserting ‘‘or incident’’ after ‘‘accident’’ 

9 each place it appears in subsection (a)(3); 

10 (8) by inserting ‘‘or relevant to’’ after ‘‘developed 

11 about’’ in subsection (a)(3); 

12 (9) by inserting ‘‘AND INCIDENT’’ after ‘‘ACCI13 DENT’’ in the heading for subsection (e); and 

14 (10) by inserting ‘‘and incident’’ in subsection 

15 (e) after ‘‘each accident’’. 

16 (d) CIVIL AIRCRAFT AND MARITIME ACCIDENT INVES17 TIGATIONS.— 

18 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 1132 of title 49, 

19 United States Code, is amended— 

20 (A) by inserting ‘‘or have investigated’’ in 

21 subsection (a)(1) after ‘‘investigate’’; 

22 (B) by striking ‘‘aircraft;’’ in subsection 

23 (a)(1)(A) and inserting ‘‘aircraft or a commer24 cial space launch vehicle;’’; and 

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


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1 ‘‘(e) AUTHORITY OF BOARD REPRESENTATIVE.—The 

2 Board may, with the consent of the Secretary, delegate to 

3 the Department of Transportation full authority to obtain 

4 the facts of any aviation accident or incident the Board 

5 shall investigate, and the on-scene representative of the Sec6 retary shall have the full authority of the Board to, on dis7 play of appropriate credentials and written notice of in8 spection authority, enter property where an aviation acci9 dent has occurred or wreckage from the accident is located 

10 and do anything necessary to gather evidence in support 

11 of a Board investigation, in accordance with such rules as 

12 the Board may prescribe. 

13 ‘‘(f) MARITIME ACCIDENT INVESTIGATIONS.—The 

14 Board may, with the consent of the Secretary of the depart15 ment in which the Coast Guard is operating, delegate to 

16 the Coast Guard full authority to obtain the facts of any 

17 maritime accident or incident the Board shall investigate, 

18 and the on-scene representative of the Commandant of the 

19 Coast Guard shall have the full authority of the Board to, 

20 on display of appropriate credentials and written notice of 

21 inspection authority, enter property where a maritime acci22 dent has occurred or wreckage from the accident is located 

23 and do anything necessary to gather evidence in support 

24 of a Board investigation, in accordance with such rules as 

25 the Board may prescribe.’’. 


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1 (2) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.— 

2 (A) The heading for section 1132 of title 49, 

3 United States Code, is amended to read as fol4 lows: 

5 ‘‘§ 1132. Civil aircraft and maritime accident inves6 tigations’’. 

7 (B) The table of contents for chapter 11 of 

8 title 49, United States Code, is amended by 

9 striking the item relating to section 1132 and in10 serting the following: 

‘‘1132. Civil aircraft and maritime accident investigations’’. 

11 (e) INSPECTIONS AND AUTOPSIES.—Section 1134 of 

12 title 49, United States Code, is amended— 

13 (1) by striking ‘‘officer or employee of the Na14 tional Transportation Safety Board—’’ in subsection 

15 (a) and inserting ‘‘officer, employee, or designee of the 

16 National Transportation Safety Board in the conduct 

17 of any accident or incident investigation or study— 

18 ’’; 

19 (2) by adding at the end of subsection (b)(1) the 

20 following: ‘‘The Board may download or seize any re21 cording device and recordings and may require spe22 cific information only available from the manufac23 turer to enable the Board to read and interpret any 

24 flight parameter or navigation storage device or 

25 media on board the accident aircraft. The provisions 


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24 

•S 2768 RS 

1 of section 1114(b) of this chapter shall apply to mat2 ters properly identified as trade secrets or commercial 

3 or financial information.’’; and 

4 (3) by inserting after ‘‘component.’’ in subsection 

5 (c) the following: ‘‘The officer or employee may 

6 download or seize any recording device and record7 ings, and may require the production of specific in8 formation only available from the manufacturer to 

9 enable the Board to read and interpret any oper10 ational parameter or navigation storage device or 

11 media on board the accident vehicle, vessel, or rolling 

12 stock. The provisions of section 1114(b) of this chapter 

13 shall apply to matters properly identified as trade se14 crets or commercial or financial information.’’. 

15 SEC. 5. AVIATION PENALTIES AND FAMILY ASSISTANCE. 

16 (a) FAMILY ASSISTANCE IN COMMERCIAL AVIATION

17 ACCIDENTS.—Section 41113(b)(7) of title 49, United States 

18 Code, is amended by striking ‘‘months.’’ and inserting 

19 ‘‘months and that, prior to destruction of unclaimed posses20 sions, a reasonable attempt will be made to notify the fam21 ily of each passenger within 60 days of any planned de22 struction date.’’. 

23 (b) FAMILY ASSISTANCE IN COMMERCIAL AVIATION

24 ACCIDENTS INVOLVING FOREIGN CARRIERS.—Section 

25 41313(c)(7) of title 49, United States Code, is amended by 


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•S 2768 RS 

1 striking ‘‘accident.’’ and inserting ‘‘accident and that, prior 

2 to destruction of unclaimed possessions, a reasonable at3 tempt will be made to notify the family of each passenger 

4 within 60 days of any planned destruction date.’’. 

5 SEC. 6. ACCIDENT-RELATED INFORMATION RELEASE POL6 ICY REPORT. 

7 Within 180 days after the date of enactment of this 

8 Act, the National Transportation Safety Board shall submit 

9 to the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Trans10 portation and the House of Representatives Committee on 

11 Transportation and Infrastructure a report describing the 

12 policies, procedures, and guidelines used by the Board in 

13 the expedited release of factual accident-related information 

14 to victims and their families, Federal, State, and local acci15 dent investigators and agencies, private or third party in16 vestigation partners, the public, and other stakeholders. 


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Calendar No. 273 

111TH

CONGRESS

2D SESSION S. 2768 

[Report No. 111–127] 

A BILL 

To amend title 49, United States Code, to authorthrough 2014, and for other purposes. tation Safety Board for fiscal years 2010 ize appropriations for the National TransporFEBRUARY 23, 2010 

Reported with an amendment 


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