SEC. 2. MEDICAL CERTIFICATION OF CERTAIN SMALL AIR-
CRAFT PILOTS. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days after the 
date of the enactment of this Act, the Administrator of 
the Federal Aviation Administration shall issue or revise 
medical certification regulations to ensure that an indi-
vidual may operate as pilot in command of a covered air-
craft without regard to any medical certification or proof 
of health requirement otherwise applicable under Federal 
law if— 
(1) the individual possesses a valid State driv-
er’s license and complies with any medical require-
ment associated with that license; 
(2) the individual is transporting not more than 
5 passengers; 
(3) the individual is operating under visual 
flight rules or instrument flight rules; and 
(4) the relevant flight, including each portion 
thereof, is not carried out— 
(A) for compensation, including that no 
passenger or property on the flight is being car-
ried for compensation; 
(B) at an altitude that is more than 
14,000 feet above mean sea level; 
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(C) outside the United States, unless au-
thorized by the country in which the flight is 
conducted; or 
(D) at an indicated air speed exceeding 
250 knots. 
(b) COVERED AIRCRAFT DEFINED.—In this section, 
the term ‘‘covered aircraft’’ means an aircraft that— 
(1) is not authorized under Federal law to carry 
more than 6 occupants; and 
(2) has a maximum certificated takeoff weight 
of not more than 6,000 pounds. 
(c) REPORT REQUIRED.—Not later than 5 years 
after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Adminis-
trator shall submit to Congress a report that describes the 
effect of the regulations issued or revised under subsection 
(a) and includes statistics with respect to changes in small 
aircraft activity and safety incidents. 
(d) PROHIBITION ON ENFORCEMENT ACTIONS.—On 
and after the date that is 180 days after the date of the 
enactment of this Act, the Administrator may not take 
an enforcement action for not holding a valid third-class 
medical certificate against a pilot of a covered aircraft for 
a flight if the pilot and the flight meet the applicable re-
quirements under paragraphs (1) through (4) of sub-
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section (a) unless the Administrator has published final 
regulations in the Federal Register under subsection (a). 
SEC. 3. EXPANSION OF PILOT’S BILL OF RIGHTS. 
(a) APPEALS NOT SUBJECT TO EXHAUSTION OF AD-
MINISTRATIVE REMEDIES.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—Section 2(d)(1) of the Pilot’s 
Bill of Rights (Public Law 112–153; 126 Stat. 
1159; 49 U.S.C. 44703 note) is amended to read as 
follows: 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Upon a decision by the Ad-
ministrator denying a covered certificate, or impos-
ing a punitive civil action or an order of revocation 
under section 44709 of title 49, United States Code, 
a person substantially affected by the decision may, 
at the person’s election, file an appeal with the Na-
tional Transportation Safety Board or, without fur-
ther administrative review, in the United States dis-
trict court in which the person resides or in which 
the action in question occurred, or in the United 
States District Court for the District of Columbia.’’. 
(2) 
CONFORMING
AMENDMENT.—Section 
2(d)(2) of such Act is amended by striking ‘‘Federal 
district court’’ and inserting ‘‘United States district 
court’’. 
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(b) DE NOVO REVIEW BY DISTRICT COURT; BURDEN 
OF PROOF.—Section 2(e) of such Act is amended— 
(1) by amending paragraph (1) to read as fol-
lows: 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—In an appeal filed under 
subsection (d) in a United States district court with 
respect to a denial, suspension, or revocation of a 
covered certificate by the Administrator— 
‘‘(A) the district court shall review the de-
nial, suspension, or revocation de novo, includ-
ing by— 
‘‘(i) conducting a full independent re-
view of the complete administrative record 
of the denial, suspension, or revocation; 
‘‘(ii) permitting additional discovery 
and the taking of additional evidence; and 
‘‘(iii) making the findings of fact and 
conclusions of law required by Rule 52 of 
the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure with-
out being bound to any facts found by the 
Administrator or the National Transpor-
tation Safety Board; and 
‘‘(B) the Administrator shall bear the bur-
den of proof.’’; and 
(2) by adding at the end the following: 
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‘‘(3) APPLICABILITY OF ADMINISTRATIVE PRO-
CEDURE
ACT.—Notwithstanding paragraph (1)(A) 
or subsection (a)(1) of section 554 of title 5, United 
States Code, that section applies to adjudications of 
the Administrator and the National Transportation 
Safety Board to the same extent as that section ap-
plied to such adjudications before the date of the en-
actment of the Pilot’s Bill of Rights 2.’’. 
(c) EXPANSION TO ALL CERTIFICATES ISSUED BY 
FEDERAL AVIATION ADMINISTRATION.— 
(1) IN
GENERAL.—Section 2 of such Act is 
amended— 
(A) in subsection (a)— 
(i) by striking ‘‘subpart C, D, or F 
of’’; and 
(ii) by striking ‘‘an airman certifi-
cate’’ and inserting ‘‘a covered certificate’’; 
and 
(B) in subsection (b)(1), by striking ‘‘an 
airman certificate under chapter 447 of title 49, 
United States Code’’ and inserting ‘‘a covered 
certificate’’. 
(2) COVERED CERTIFICATE DEFINED.—Section 
2 of such Act is amended by adding at the end the 
following: 
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‘‘(k) COVERED CERTIFICATE DEFINED.—In this sec-
tion, the term ‘covered certificate’ means an airman cer-
tificate, design organization certificate, holder of type cer-
tificate, production certificate, airworthiness certificate, 
air carrier operating certificate, airport operating certifi-
cate, air agency certificate, air navigation facility certifi-
cate, medical certificate, or any other authorization issued 
by the Administrator under chapter 447 of title 49, United 
States Code.’’. 
(3) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—Section 2 of 
such Act, as amended by this subsection, is further 
amended— 
(A) in subsection (b)(4)(C)— 
(i) in clause (i), by striking ‘‘Any indi-
vidual’’ and inserting ‘‘Any person’’; 
(ii) in clauses (ii) and (iii), in the 
clause headings, by striking ‘‘INDIVIDUAL’’ 
and inserting ‘‘PERSON’’; and 
(iii) in clause (iii)(II), by striking ‘‘the 
requesting individual’’ and inserting ‘‘the 
requesting person’’; 
(B) by striking ‘‘the individual’s’’ each 
place it appears and inserting ‘‘the person’s’’; 
(C) by striking ‘‘the individual’’ each place 
it appears and inserting ‘‘the person’’; and 
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quired under paragraph (2), the Administrator may 
not— 
‘‘(A) retain records of the investigation; 
‘‘(B) deny, suspend, or revoke the covered 
certificate; 
‘‘(C) seek a civil penalty or other punitive 
action against the person; or 
‘‘(D) in any way take action, including 
issuance of a warning letter or letter of correc-
tion or any other administrative action, with re-
gard to the matter that was the subject of the 
investigation.’’; and 
(4) in subsection (c), as redesignated by para-
graph (2), by striking ‘‘section 44709(c)(2)’’ and in-
serting ‘‘section 44709(e)(2)’’. 
(e) RELEASE OF INVESTIGATIVE REPORTS.—Section 
2 of such Act is amended by inserting after subsection 
(e) the following: 
‘‘(f) RELEASE OF INVESTIGATIVE REPORTS.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.— 
‘‘(A) EMERGENCY ORDERS.—In any pro-
ceeding conducted under part 821 of title 49, 
Code of Federal Regulations, relating to denial, 
amendment, modification, suspension, or rev-
ocation of a covered certificate, in which the 
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Administrator issues an emergency order of rev-
ocation under subsections (d) and (e) of section 
44709 of title 49, United States Code, an emer-
gency order under section 46105(c) of such 
title, or another order that takes effect imme-
diately, the Administrator shall provide to the 
person holding the covered certificate the re-
leasable portion of the investigative report be-
fore issuing the order. 
‘‘(B) OTHER ORDERS.—In any proceeding 
conducted under part 821 of title 49, Code of 
Federal Regulations, relating to denial, amend-
ment, modification, suspension, or revocation of 
a covered certificate, in which the Adminis-
trator notifies the holder of the covered certifi-
cate of a proposed action under subsections (b) 
and (c) of section 44709 of title 49, United 
States Code, the Administrator shall, upon re-
quest of the holder of the covered certificate 
and at any time after that notification, provide 
to the holder of the covered certificate the re-
leasable portion of the investigative report. 
‘‘(2) MOTION FOR DISMISSAL.—If the Adminis-
trator does not provide the investigative report to 
the person holding the covered certificate subject to 
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the proceeding referred to in paragraph (1) by the 
time required by that paragraph, the person may 
move to dismiss the complaint of the Administrator 
or for other relief and, unless the Administrator es-
tablishes good cause for the failure to provide the in-
vestigative report, the administrative law judge shall 
order such relief as the judge considers appropriate. 
‘‘(3) RELEASABLE PORTION OF REPORT.—For 
purposes of paragraph (1), the releasable portion of 
an investigative report is all information in the re-
port, except for the following: 
‘‘(A) Information that is privileged. 
‘‘(B) Information that constitutes work 
product or reflects internal deliberative process. 
‘‘(C) Information that would disclose the 
identity of a confidential source. 
‘‘(D) Information the disclosure of which is 
prohibited by any other provision of law. 
‘‘(E) Information that is not relevant to 
the subject matter of the proceeding. 
‘‘(F) Information the Administrator can 
demonstrate is withheld for good cause. 
‘‘(G) Sensitive security information, as de-
fined in section 15.5 of title 49, Code of Fed-
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eral Regulations (or any corresponding similar 
ruling or regulation). 
‘‘(4) RULE
OF
CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in 
this subsection shall be construed to prevent the Ad-
ministrator from releasing to a person subject to an 
investigation described in subsection (b)(1)— 
‘‘(A) information in addition to the infor-
mation included in the releasable portion of the 
investigative report; or 
‘‘(B) a copy of the investigative report be-
fore the Administrator issues a complaint.’’. 
(f) LIMITATION ON DOCUMENT REQUESTS.—Section 
2 of such Act, as amended by subsection (e), is further 
amended by inserting after subsection (f) the following: 
‘‘(g) LIMITATION
ON DOCUMENT REQUESTS.—In 
any case in which the Administrator initiates an investiga-
tion described in subsection (b)(1) with respect to a per-
son, the Administrator and the investigating officials may 
request documents from the person only if the request is 
limited and narrowly tailored to issues in the investiga-
tion.’’. 
(g) RESPONSE TO REQUESTS BY REPAIR STATIONS 
TO SETTLE OR WITHDRAW.—Section 2 of such Act, as 
amended by subsections (e) and (f), is further amended 
by inserting after subsection (g) the following: 
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‘‘(h) RESPONSE TO REQUESTS BY REPAIR STATIONS 
TO SETTLE OR WITHDRAW.—The Administrator shall re-
spond to a written request by a repair station holding a 
certificate under part 145, Code of Federal Regulations, 
that is subject to an investigation described in subsection 
(b)(1) to withdraw from or settle a proceeding relating to 
the investigation not later than 30 calendar days after re-
ceiving the request.’’. 
(h) LIMITATION ON RETENTION OF RECORDS.—Sec-
tion 2 of such Act, as amended by subsections (e), (f), 
and (g), is further amended by inserting after subsection 
(h) the following: 
‘‘(i) LIMITATION ON RETENTION OF RECORDS.—The 
Administrator shall expunge the record of any investiga-
tion described in subsection (b)(1) with respect to a cov-
ered certificate that does not lead to the denial, suspen-
sion, modification, or revocation of the certificate not later 
than 90 days after the Administrator determines not to 
deny, suspend, modify, or revoke the certificate. 
‘‘(j) PROHIBITION ON PUBLICIZING PENDING EN-
FORCEMENT ACTIONS.—The Administrator may not indi-
cate in the publicly accessible records of a person holding 
a covered certificate who is the subject of an investigation 
described in subsection (b)(1) any information that is dif-
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ferent from information in such records of an airman who 
is not under such an investigation.’’. 
SEC. 4. LIMITATIONS ON REEXAMINATION OF CERTIFICATE 
HOLDERS. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Section 44709 of title 49, United 
States Code, is amended— 
(1) in subsection (a)— 
(A) in the subsection heading, by striking 
‘‘AND REEXAMINATION’’; 
(B) by striking ‘‘The Administrator’’ and 
inserting the following: 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator’’; 
(C) by striking ‘‘, or reexamine an airman 
holding a certificate issued under section 44703 
of this title’’; and 
(D) by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(2) REEXAMINATION
OF
AIRMEN
CERTIFI-
CATES.— 
‘‘(A) IN
GENERAL.—The Administrator 
may reexamine an airman holding a certificate 
issued under section 44703 of this title only if 
the Administrator has reasonable grounds— 
‘‘(i) to question the airman’s lack of 
competence based on acts or omissions 
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