106TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
H. R. 2910
AN ACT
To amend title 49, United States Code, to authorize appro-
priations for the National Transportation Safety Board
for fiscal years 2000, 2001, and 2002, 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; REFERENCES.
(a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the
‘‘National Transportation Safety Board Amendments Act
of 1999’’.
(b) REFERENCES.—Except as otherwise specifically
provided, whenever in this Act an amendment or repeal
is expressed in terms of an amendment to, or repeal of,
a section or other provision of law, the reference shall be
considered to be made to a section or other provision of
title 49, United States Code.
SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS.
Section 1101 is amended to read as follows:
‘‘§ 1101. Definitions
‘‘Section 2101(17a) of title 46 and section 40102(a)
of this title apply to this chapter. In this chapter, the term
‘accident’ includes damage to or destruction of vehicles in
surface or air transportation or pipelines, regardless of
whether the initiating event is accidental or otherwise.’’.
SEC. 3. AUTHORITY TO ENTER INTO AGREEMENTS.
(a) IN GENERAL.—Section 1113(b)(1)(I) is amended
to read as follows:
‘‘(I) negotiate and enter into agreements with
private entities and departments, agencies, and in-
strumentalities of the Government, State and local
governments, and governments of foreign countries
for the provision of technical services or training in
accident investigation theory and technique, and re-
quire that such entities provide appropriate consider-
ation for the reasonable costs of any goods, services,
or training provided by the Board.’’.
(b) DEPOSIT
OF AMOUNTS.—Section 1114(a) is
amended—
(1) by inserting ‘‘(1)’’ before ‘‘Except’’; and
(2) by adding at the end the following:
‘‘(2) The Board shall deposit in the Treasury
amounts received under paragraph (1). Such amounts
shall be available to the Board as provided in appropria-
tions Acts.’’.
SEC. 4. OVERTIME PAY.
Section 1113 is amended by adding at the end the
following:
‘‘(g) OVERTIME PAY.—
‘‘(1) IN
GENERAL.—Subject to the require-
ments of this section and notwithstanding para-
graphs (1) and (2) of section 5542(a) of title 5, for
an employee of the Board whose basic pay is at a
rate which equals or exceeds the minimum rate of
basic pay for GS–10 of the General Schedule, the
Board may establish an overtime hourly rate of pay
for the employee with respect to work performed at
the scene of an accident (including travel to or from
the scene) and other work that is critical to an acci-
dent investigation in an amount equal to one and
one-half times the hourly rate of basic pay of the
employee. All of such amount shall be considered to
be premium pay.
‘‘(2) LIMITATION ON OVERTIME PAY TO AN EM-
PLOYEE.—An employee of the Board may not re-
ceive overtime pay under paragraph (1), for work
performed in a calendar year, in an amount that ex-
ceeds 15 percent of the annual rate of basic pay of
the employee for such calendar year.
‘‘(3) LIMITATION ON TOTAL AMOUNT OF OVER-
TIME PAY.—The Board may not make overtime pay-
ments under paragraph (1), for work performed in
a calendar year, in a total amount that exceeds
$570,000.
‘‘(4) BASIC PAY DEFINED.—In this subsection,
the term ‘basic pay’ includes any applicable locality-
based comparability payment under section 5304 of
title 5 (or similar provision of law) and any special
rate of pay under section 5305 of title 5 (or similar
provision of law).
‘‘(5) ANNUAL REPORT.—Not later than Janu-
ary 31, 2001, and annually thereafter, the Board
shall transmit to Congress a report identifying the
total amount of overtime payments made under this
subsection in the preceding fiscal year and the num-
ber of employees whose overtime pay under this sub-
section was limited in such fiscal year as a result
of the 15 percent limit established by paragraph
(2).’’.
SEC. 5. RECORDERS.
(a) COCKPIT VIDEO RECORDINGS.—Section 1114(c)
is amended—
(1) in the subsection heading by striking
‘‘VOICE’’;
(2) in paragraphs (1) and (2) by striking
‘‘cockpit voice recorder’’ and inserting ‘‘cockpit voice
or video recorder’’; and
(3) in the second sentence of paragraph (1) by
inserting ‘‘or any written depiction of visual infor-
mation’’ after ‘‘transcript’’.
(b) SURFACE VEHICLE RECORDINGS
AND TRAN-
SCRIPTS.—
(1) IN GENERAL.—Section 1114 is amended—
(A) by redesignating subsections (d) and
(e) as subsections (e) and (f), respectively; and
(B) by inserting after subsection (c) the
following:
‘‘(d) SURFACE VEHICLE RECORDINGS AND TRAN-
SCRIPTS.—
‘‘(1) CONFIDENTIALITY OF RECORDINGS.—The
Board may not disclose publicly any part of a sur-
face vehicle voice or video recorder recording or
transcript of oral communications by or among driv-
ers, train employees, or other operating employees
responsible for the movement and direction of the
vehicle or vessel, or between such operating employ-
ees and company communication centers, related to
an accident investigated by the Board. However, the
Board shall make public any part of a transcript or
any written depiction of visual information that the
Board decides is relevant to the accident—
‘‘(A) if the Board holds a public hearing
on the accident, at the time of the hearing; or
‘‘(B) if the Board does not hold a public
hearing, at the time a majority of the other fac-
tual reports on the accident are placed in the
public docket.
‘‘(2) REFERENCES TO INFORMATION IN MAKING
SAFETY RECOMMENDATIONS.—This subsection does
not prevent the Board from referring at any time to
voice or video recorder information in making safety
recommendations.’’.
(2) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—The first sen-
tence of section 1114(a) is amended by striking
‘‘and (e)’’ and inserting ‘‘(d), and (f)’’.
(c) DISCOVERY AND USE OF COCKPIT AND SURFACE
VEHICLE RECORDINGS AND TRANSCRIPTS.—
(1) IN GENERAL.—Section 1154 is amended—
(A) in the section heading by striking
‘‘cockpit voice and other material’’ and
inserting ‘‘cockpit and surface vehicle
recordings and transcripts’’;
(B) in subsection (a)—
(i) by striking ‘‘cockpit voice re-
corder’’ each place it appears and inserting
‘‘cockpit or surface vehicle recorder’’;
(ii) by striking ‘‘section 1114(c)’’ each
place it appears and inserting ‘‘section
1114(c) or 1114(d)’’; and
(iii) by adding at the end the fol-
lowing:
‘‘(6) In this subsection—
‘‘(A) the term ‘recorder’ means a voice or video
recorder; and
‘‘(B) the term ‘transcript’ includes any written
depiction of visual information obtained from a video
recorder.’’.
(2) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—The table of
sections for chapter 11 is amended by striking the
item relating to section 1154 and inserting the fol-
lowing:
‘‘1154. Discovery and use of cockpit and surface vehicle recordings and tran-
scripts.’’.
(d) REQUIREMENTS FOR INSTALLATION AND USE OF
RECORDING DEVICES.—Section 329 is amended by add-
ing at the end the following:
‘‘(e) REQUIREMENTS FOR INSTALLATION AND USE
OF RECORDING DEVICES.—A requirement for the installa-
tion and use of an automatic voice, video, or data record-
ing device on an aircraft, vessel, or surface vehicle shall
not be construed to be the collection of information for
the purpose of any Federal law or regulation, if the
requirement—
‘‘(1) meets a safety need for the automatic re-
cording of realtime voice or data experience that is
restricted to a fixed period of the most recent oper-
ation of the aircraft, vessel, or surface vehicle;
‘‘(2) does not place a periodic reporting burden
on any person; and
‘‘(3) does not necessitate the collection and
preservation of data separate from the device.’’.
SEC. 6. PRIORITY OF INVESTIGATIONS.
(a) IN GENERAL.—Section 1131(a)(2) is amended—
(1) by striking ‘‘(2) An investigation’’ and in-
serting ‘‘(2)(A) Subject to the requirements of this
paragraph, an investigation’’; and
(2) by adding at the end the following:
‘‘(B) If the Attorney General, in consultation with the
Chairman of the Board, determines and notifies the Board
that circumstances reasonably indicate that the accident
may have been caused by an intentional criminal act, the
Board shall relinquish investigative priority to the Federal
Bureau of Investigation. The relinquishment of investiga-
tive priority by the Board shall not otherwise affect the
authority of the Board to continue its investigation under
this section.
‘‘(C) If a law enforcement agency suspects and noti-
fies the Board that an accident being investigated by the
Board under paragraph (1)(A) through (D) may have
been caused by an intentional criminal act, the Board, in
consultation with the law enforcement agency, shall take
necessary actions to ensure that evidence of the criminal
act is preserved.’’.
(b) REVISION OF 1977 AGREEMENT.—Not later than
1 year after the date of the enactment of this Act, the
National Transportation Safety Board and the Federal
Bureau of Investigation shall revise their 1977 agreement
on the investigation of accidents to take into account the
amendments made by this Act.
SEC. 7. PUBLIC AIRCRAFT INVESTIGATION CLARIFICATION.
Section 1131(d) is amended by striking ‘‘1134(b)(2)’’
and inserting ‘‘1134(a), (b), (d), and (f)’’.
SEC. 8. AUTHORITY OF THE INSPECTOR GENERAL.
(a) IN GENERAL.—Subchapter III of chapter 11 of
subtitle II is amended by adding at the end the following:
‘‘§ 1137. Authority of the Inspector General
‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Inspector General of the
Department of Transportation, in accordance with the
mission of the Inspector General to prevent and detect
fraud and abuse, shall have authority to review only the
financial management and business operations of the Na-
tional Transportation Safety Board, including internal ac-
counting and administrative control systems, to determine
compliance with applicable Federal laws, rules, and regu-
lations.
‘‘(b) DUTIES.—In carrying out this section, the In-
spector General shall—
‘‘(1) keep the Chairman of the Board and Con-
gress fully and currently informed about problems
relating to administration of the internal accounting
and administrative control systems of the Board;
‘‘(2) issue findings and recommendations for
actions to address such problems; and
‘‘(3) report periodically to Congress on any
progress made in implementing actions to address
such problems.
‘‘(c) ACCESS TO INFORMATION.—In carrying out this
section, the Inspector General may exercise authorities
granted to the Inspector General under subsections (a)
and (b) of section 6 of the Inspector General Act of 1978
(5 U.S.C. App.).
‘‘(d) REIMBURSEMENT.—The Inspector General shall
be reimbursed by the Board for the costs associated with
carrying out activities under this section.’’.
(b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—The table of sec-
tions for such subchapter is amended by adding at the
end the following:
‘‘1137. Authority of the Inspector General.’’.
SEC. 9. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.
Section 1118(a) is amended to read as follows:
‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—There is authorized to be appro-
priated for the purposes of this chapter $57,000,000 for
fiscal year 2000, $65,000,000 for fiscal year 2001, and
$72,000,000 for fiscal year 2002. Such sums remain avail-
able until expended.’’.
Passed the House of Representatives September 30,
1999.
Attest:
Clerk.