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‘‘§ 44734. Disclosure and use of information 
‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other pro-
vision of law, and except as provided in this section, the 
following reports and data shall not be subject to discovery 
or subpoena or admitted into evidence in a Federal or 
State court proceeding or considered for other purposes 
in any such proceeding: 
‘‘(1) A report developed under the Aviation 
Safety Action Program. 
‘‘(2) Data produced or collected under the 
Flight Operational Quality Assurance Program. 
‘‘(3) A report developed under the Line Oper-
ations Safety Audit Program. 
‘‘(4) Hazard identification, risk assessment, 
risk control, and safety assurance data produced or 
collected for purposes of— 
‘‘(A) assessing and improving aviation 
safety; or 
‘‘(B) developing and implementing a safety 
management system acceptable to the Adminis-
trator. 
‘‘(5) Reports, analyses, and directed studies 
based in whole or in part on reports or data de-
scribed in paragraphs (1) through (4), including 
those prepared under the Aviation Safety Informa-
tion Analysis and Sharing Program. 
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HR 658 RDS 
‘‘(b) PROTECTION OF VOLUNTARILY SUBMITTED IN-
FORMATION.—Any report or data described in subsection 
(a) that is voluntarily provided to the Federal Aviation Ad-
ministration shall be considered to be voluntarily sub-
mitted information within the meaning of section 40123, 
and shall not be disclosed to the public pursuant to section 
552(b)(3)(B) of title 5. 
‘‘(c) FAA REPORTS.—Notwithstanding any other 
provision of this section, the Administrator of the Federal 
Aviation Administration may release documents to the 
public that include summaries, aggregations, or statistical 
analyses based on reports or data described in subsection 
(a). 
‘‘(d) SAFETY RECOMMENDATIONS.—Nothing in this 
section shall be construed to prevent the National Trans-
portation Safety Board, in connection with an ongoing ac-
cident investigation, from referring to relevant information 
contained in reports or data described in subsection (a) 
in making safety recommendations. 
‘‘(e) WAIVER.—Subsection (a) shall not apply with 
respect to a report developed, or data produced or col-
lected, by or on behalf of a person if that person waives 
the privileges provided under subsection (a). A waiver 
under this subsection shall be made in writing or occa-
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HR 658 RDS 
sioned by the person’s own use of the information in pre-
senting a claim or defense.’’. 
(b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The analysis for such 
chapter (as amended by this Act) is further amended by 
adding at the end the following: 
‘‘44734. Disclosure and use of information.’’. 
SEC. 338. LIABILITY PROTECTION FOR PERSONS IMPLE-
MENTING SAFETY MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 447 (as amended by this 
Act) is further amended by adding at the end the fol-
lowing: 
‘‘§ 44735. Liability protection for persons imple-
menting safety management systems 
‘‘(a) PERSONS IMPLEMENTING SAFETY MANAGE-
MENT SYSTEMS.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other 
provision of law, a person that is required by the 
Administrator of the Federal Aviation Administra-
tion to implement a safety management system may 
not be held liable for damages in connection with a 
claim filed in a State or Federal court (including a 
claim for compensatory, punitive, contributory, or in-
demnity damages) relating to the person’s prepara-
tion or implementation of, or an event or occurrence 
contemplated by, the safety management system. 
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‘‘(2) LIMITATION.—Nothing in this section 
shall relieve a person from liability for damages re-
sulting from the person’s own willful or reckless acts 
or omissions as demonstrated by clear and con-
vincing evidence. 
‘‘(b) ACCOUNTABLE EXECUTIVES.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other 
provision of law, a person who is employed by a per-
son described in subsection (a) and who is respon-
sible for performing the functions of an accountable 
executive pursuant to a safety management system 
required by the Administrator— 
‘‘(A) shall be deemed to be acting in the 
person’s official capacity as an officer or em-
ployee of the person described in subsection (a) 
when performing such functions; and 
‘‘(B) except as provided in paragraph (2), 
may not be held personally liable for damages 
in connection with a claim filed in a State or 
Federal court (including a claim for compen-
satory, punitive, contributory, or indemnity 
damages) relating to the person’s responsibil-
ities pursuant to the safety management sys-
tem. 
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‘‘(2) LIMITATION.—Nothing in this subsection 
shall relieve a person performing the functions of an 
accountable executive pursuant to a safety manage-
ment system from personal liability for damages re-
sulting from the person’s willful or reckless acts or 
omissions as demonstrated by clear and convincing 
evidence.’’. 
(b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The analysis for such 
chapter (as amended by this Act) is further amended by 
adding at the end the following: 
‘‘44735. Liability protection for persons implementing safety management sys-
tems.’’. 
TITLE IV—AIR SERVICE 
IMPROVEMENTS 
Subtitle A—Essential Air Service 
SEC. 401. ESSENTIAL AIR SERVICE MARKETING. 
Section 41733(c)(1) is amended— 
(1) by redesignating subparagraph (E) as sub-
paragraph (F); 
(2) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of subpara-
graph (D); and 
(3) by inserting after subparagraph (D) the fol-
lowing: 
‘‘(E) whether the air carrier has included a 
plan in its proposal to market its services to the 
community; and’’. 
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