104TH CONGRESS
2D SESSION
H. R. 3159
AN ACT
To amend title 49, United States Code, to authorize appro-
priations for fiscal years 1997, 1998, and 1999 for the
National Transportation Safety Board, and for other
purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘National Transpor-
tation Safety Board Amendments of 1996’’.
SEC. 2. TERMS OF OFFICE.
(a) IN GENERAL.—Section 1111(d) of title 49, Unit-
ed States Code, is amended by striking the third sentence
and inserting the following: ‘‘The term of office of the
Chairman shall be 4 years and the term of the Vice Chair-
man shall be 2 years.’’.
(b) APPLICABILITY.—The amendment made by sub-
section (a) shall only apply to persons designated as Chair-
man of the National Transportation Safety Board after
the date of the enactment of this Act.
SEC. 3. FOREIGN INVESTIGATIONS.
Section 1114 of title 49, United States Code, is
amended—
(1) in subsection (a) by striking ‘‘(b) and (c)’’
and inserting ‘‘(b), (c), and (e)’’; and
(2) by adding at the end the following:
‘‘(e) FOREIGN INVESTIGATIONS.—
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other
provision of law, neither the Board, nor any agency
receiving information from the Board, shall disclose
records or information relating to its participation in
foreign 
aircraft 
accident 
investigations; 
except
that—
‘‘(A) the Board shall release records per-
taining to such an investigation when the coun-
try conducting the investigation issues its final
report or 2 years following the date of the acci-
dent, whichever occurs first; and
‘‘(B) the Board may disclose records and
information when authorized to do so by the
country conducting the investigation.
‘‘(2) SAFETY RECOMMENDATIONS.—Nothing in
this subsection shall restrict the Board at any time
from referring to foreign accident investigation in-
formation in making safety recommendations.’’.
SEC. 4. PROTECTION OF VOLUNTARY SUBMISSION OF IN-
FORMATION.
Section 1114(b) of title 49, United States Code, is
amended by adding at the end the following:
‘‘(3) PROTECTION OF VOLUNTARY SUBMISSION
OF INFORMATION.—Notwithstanding any other pro-
vision of law, neither the Board, nor any agency re-
ceiving information from the Board, shall disclose
voluntarily provided safety-related information if
that information is not related to the exercise of the
Board’s accident or incident investigation authority
under this chapter and if the Board finds that the
disclosure of the information would inhibit the vol-
untary provision of that type of information.’’.
SEC. 5. TRAINING.
Section 1115 of title 49, United States Code, is
amended by adding at the end the following:
‘‘(d) TRAINING OF BOARD EMPLOYEES AND OTH-
ERS.—The Board may conduct training of its employees
in those subjects necessary for the proper performance of
accident investigations. The Board may also authorize at-
tendance at courses given under this subsection by other
governmental personnel, personnel of foreign govern-
ments, and personnel from industry or otherwise who have
a requirement for accident investigation training. The
Board may require non-Board personnel to reimburse
some or all of the training costs, and amounts so reim-
bursed shall be credited to the appropriation of the ‘Na-
tional Transportation Safety Board, Salaries and Ex-
penses’ as offsetting collections.’’.
SEC. 6. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.
Section 1118(a) of title 49, United States Code, is
amended—
(1) by striking ‘‘and’’; and
(2) by inserting before the period at the end of
the first sentence the following: ‘‘, $42,407,000 for
fiscal year 1997, $44,460,000 for fiscal year 1998,
and $45,040,000 for fiscal year 1999’’.
SEC. 7. REPORTS ON SAFETY RECOMMENDATIONS.
Section 1135(d) of title 49, United States Code, is
amended—
(1) by striking ‘‘January 1’’ and inserting
‘‘January 31’’;
(2) by inserting ‘‘or any other officer of the De-
partment of Transportation’’ after ‘‘to the Sec-
retary’’; and
(3) by inserting ‘‘or such officer’s’’ after ‘‘the
Secretary’s’’.
Passed the House of Representatives July 22, 1996.
Attest:
Clerk.