Title: Fairness for Pilots Act
Policy area: Transportation and Public Works

Summary:
Fairness for Pilots Act
This bill amends the Pilot's Bill of Rights to revise the authorization for appeal to a federal court by a substantially affected individual from a decision of the National Transportation Safety Board to uphold an adverse Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) order or final decision. The bill specifies the suspension or revocation of an airman certificate as the punitive civil action which may be appealed.
A U.S. district court shall review de novo an FAA denial, suspension, or revocation of an airman certificate.
The bill prescribes requirements for FAA reexamination of airmen certificates where there are reasonable grounds to question an airman's lack of competence or believe a certificate was obtained through fraud.
The FAA may not take enforcement action against an individual for violation of a Notice to Airmen (NOTAM) regarding airspace system information until the FAA certifies its compliance with certain NOTAM Improvement Program requirements.
The FAA, upon receiving a request for a covered flight record of air traffic data not in its possession, shall request the record from a FAA contract tower or other FAA contractor possessing it.
The FAA shall revise certain regulations for FAA administrative disposition of a case under the Federal Aviation Act of 1958 or the Hazardous Materials Transportation Act to authorize the FAA legal counsel to close covered enforcement actions with a warning notice, letter of correction, or other administrative action.

[Congressional Bills 115th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 755 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

<DOC>






115th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                 S. 755

To amend the Pilot's Bill of Rights to facilitate appeals, to limit the 
     reexamination of airman certificates, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             March 29, 2017

  Mr. Inhofe introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 
   referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To amend the Pilot's Bill of Rights to facilitate appeals, to limit the 
     reexamination of airman certificates, and for other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Fairness for Pilots Act''.

SEC. 2. EXPANSION OF PILOT'S BILL OF RIGHTS.

    (a) Appeals of Suspended and Revoked Airman Certificates.--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 by striking ``or imposing a 
punitive civil action or an emergency order of revocation under 
subsections (d) and (e) of section 44709 of such title'' and inserting 
``suspending or revoking an airman certificate under section 44709(d) 
of such title, or imposing an emergency order of revocation under 
subsections (d) and (e) of section 44709 of such title''.
    (b) De Novo Review by District Court; Burden of Proof.--Section 
2(e) of the Pilot's Bill of Rights (Public Law 112-153; 126 Stat. 1159; 
49 U.S.C. 44703 note) is amended--
            (1) by amending paragraph (1) to read as follows:
            ``(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 an airman certificate by the 
        Administrator--
                    ``(A) the district court shall review the denial, 
                suspension, or revocation de novo, including by--
                            ``(i) conducting a full independent review 
                        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 without being 
                        bound to any findings of fact of the 
                        Administrator or the National Transportation 
                        Safety Board.'';
            (2) by redesignating paragraph (2) as paragraph (3); and
            (3) by inserting after paragraph (1) the following:
            ``(2) Burden of proof.--In an appeal filed under subsection 
        (d) in a United States district court after an exhaustion of 
        administrative remedies, the burden of proof shall be as 
        follows:
                    ``(A) In an appeal of the denial of an application 
                for the issuance or renewal of an airman certificate 
                under section 44703 of title 49, United States Code, 
                the burden of proof shall be upon the applicant denied 
                an airman certificate by the Administrator.
                    ``(B) In an appeal of an order issued by the 
                Administrator under section 44709 of title 49, United 
                States Code, the burden of proof shall be upon the 
                Administrator.''; and
            (4) by adding at the end the following:
            ``(4) Applicability of administrative procedure act.--
        Notwithstanding paragraph (1)(A) of this subsection or 
        subsection (a)(1) of section 554 of title 5, United States 
        Code, section 554 of such title shall apply to adjudications of 
        the Administrator and the National Transportation Safety Board 
        to the same extent as that section applied to such 
        adjudications before the date of enactment of the Fairness for 
        Pilots Act.''.
    (c) Notification of Investigation.--Subsection (b) of section 2 of 
the Pilot's Bill of Rights (Public Law 112-153; 126 Stat. 1159; 49 
U.S.C. 44703 note) is amended--
            (1) in paragraph (2)(A), by inserting ``and the specific 
        activity on which the investigation is based'' after ``nature 
        of the investigation'';
            (2) in paragraph (3), by striking ``timely''; and
            (3) in paragraph (5), by striking ``section 44709(c)(2)'' 
        and inserting ``section 44709(e)(2)''.
    (d) Release of Investigative Reports.--Section 2 of the Pilot's 
Bill of Rights (Public Law 112-153; 126 Stat. 1159; 49 U.S.C. 44703 
note) is further amended by inserting after subsection (e) the 
following:
    ``(f) Release of Investigative Reports.--
            ``(1) In general.--
                    ``(A) Emergency orders.--In any proceeding 
                conducted under part 821 of title 49, Code of Federal 
                Regulations, relating to the amendment, modification, 
                suspension, or revocation of an airman certificate, in 
                which the Administrator issues an emergency order under 
                subsections (d) and (e) of section 44709, section 
                44710, or section 46105(c) of title 49, United States 
                Code, or another order that takes effect immediately, 
                the Administrator shall provide to the individual 
                holding the airman certificate the releasable portion 
                of the investigative report at the time the 
                Administrator issues the order. If the complete Report 
                of Investigation is not available at the time the 
                Emergency Order is issued, the Administrator shall 
                issue all portions of the report that are available at 
                the time and shall provide the full report within 5 
                days of its completion.
                    ``(B) Other orders.--In any non-emergency 
                proceeding conducted under part 821 of title 49, Code 
                of Federal Regulations, relating to the amendment, 
                modification, suspension, or revocation of an airman 
                certificate, in which the Administrator notifies the 
                certificate holder of a proposed certificate action 
                under subsections (b) and (c) of section 44709 or 
                section 44710 of title 49, United States Code, the 
                Administrator shall, upon the written request of the 
                covered certificate holder and at any time after that 
                notification, provide to the covered certificate holder 
                the releasable portion of the investigative report.
            ``(2) Motion for dismissal.--If the Administrator does not 
        provide the releasable portions of the investigative report to 
        the individual holding the airman certificate subject to the 
        proceeding referred to in paragraph (1) by the time required by 
        that paragraph, the individual may move to dismiss the 
        complaint of the Administrator or for other relief and, unless 
        the Administrator establishes good cause for the failure to 
        provide the investigative report or for a lack of timeliness, 
        the administrative law judge shall order such relief as the 
        judge considers appropriate.
            ``(3) Releasable portion of investigative report.--For 
        purposes of paragraph (1), the releasable portion of an 
        investigative report is all information in the report, 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 defined in 
                section 15.5 of title 49, Code of Federal Regulations 
                (or any corresponding similar ruling or regulation).
            ``(4) Rule of construction.--Nothing in this subsection 
        shall be construed to prevent the Administrator from releasing 
        to an individual subject to an investigation described in 
        subsection (b)(1)--
                    ``(A) information in addition to the information 
                included in the releasable portion of the investigative 
                report; or
                    ``(B) a copy of the investigative report before the 
                Administrator issues a complaint.''.

SEC. 3. LIMITATIONS ON REEXAMINATION OF CERTIFICATE HOLDERS.

    (a) In General.--Section 44709(a) of title 49, United States Code, 
is amended--
            (1) by striking ``The Administrator'' and inserting the 
        following:
            ``(1) In general.--The Administrator'';
            (2) by striking ``reexamine'' and inserting ``, except as 
        provided in paragraph (2), reexamine''; and
            (3) by adding at the end the following:
            ``(2) Limitation on the reexamination of airman 
        certificates.--
                    ``(A) In general.--The Administrator may not 
                reexamine an airman holding a student, sport, 
                recreational, or private pilot certificate issued under 
                section 44703 of this title if the reexamination is 
                ordered as a result of an event involving the fault of 
                the Federal Aviation Administration or its designee, 
                unless the Administrator has reasonable grounds--
                            ``(i) to establish that the airman may not 
                        be qualified to exercise the privileges of a 
                        particular certificate or rating, based upon an 
                        act or omission committed by the airman while 
                        exercising those privileges, after the 
                        certificate or rating was issued by the Federal 
                        Aviation Administration or its designee; or
                            ``(ii) to demonstrate that the airman 
                        obtained the certificate or the rating through 
                        fraudulent means or through an examination that 
                        was substantially and demonstrably inadequate 
                        to establish the airman's qualifications.
                    ``(B) Notification requirements.--Before taking any 
                action to reexamine an airman under subparagraph (A), 
                the Administrator shall provide to the airman--
                            ``(i) a reasonable basis, described in 
                        detail, for requesting the reexamination; and
                            ``(ii) any information gathered by the 
                        Federal Aviation Administration, that the 
                        Administrator determines is appropriate to 
                        provide, such as the scope and nature of the 
                        requested reexamination, that formed the basis 
                        for that justification.''.
    (b) Amendment, Modification, Suspension, or Revocation of Airman 
Certificates After Reexamination.--Section 44709(b) of title 49, United 
States Code, is amended--
            (1) in paragraph (1), by redesignating subparagraphs (A) 
        and (B) as clauses (i) and (ii), respectively, and indenting 
        appropriately;
            (2) by redesignating paragraphs (1) and (2) as 
        subparagraphs (A) and (B), respectively, and indenting 
        appropriately;
            (3) in the matter preceding subparagraph (A), as 
        redesignated, by striking ``The Administrator'' and inserting 
        the following:
            ``(1) In general.--Except as provided in paragraph (2), the 
        Administrator''; and
            (4) by adding at the end the following:
            ``(2) Amendments, modifications, suspensions, and 
        revocations of airman certificates after reexamination.--
                    ``(A) In general.--The Administrator may not issue 
                an order to amend, modify, suspend, or revoke an airman 
                certificate held by a student, sport, recreational, or 
                private pilot and issued under section 44703 of this 
                title after a reexamination of the airman holding the 
                certificate unless the Administrator determines that 
                the airman--
                            ``(i) lacks the technical skills and 
                        competency, or care, judgment, and 
                        responsibility, necessary to hold and safely 
                        exercise the privileges of the certificate; or
                            ``(ii) materially contributed to the 
                        issuance of the certificate by fraudulent 
                        means.
                    ``(B) Standard of review.--Any order of the 
                Administrator under this paragraph shall be subject to 
                the standard of review provided for under section 2 of 
                the Pilot's Bill of Rights (49 U.S.C. 44703 note).''.
    (c) Conforming Amendments.--Section 44709(d)(1) of title 49, United 
States Code, is amended--
            (1) in subparagraph (A), by striking ``subsection 
        (b)(1)(A)'' and inserting ``subsection (b)(1)(A)(i)''; and
            (2) in subparagraph (B), by striking ``subsection 
        (b)(1)(B)'' and inserting ``subsection (b)(1)(A)(ii)''.

SEC. 4. EXPEDITING UPDATES TO NOTAM PROGRAM.

    (a) In General.--
            (1) Beginning on the date that is 180 days after the date 
        of enactment of this Act, the Administrator of the Federal 
        Aviation Administration may not take any enforcement action 
        against any individual for a violation of a NOTAM (as defined 
        in section 3 of the Pilot's Bill of Rights (49 U.S.C. 44701 
        note)) until the Administrator certifies to the appropriate 
        congressional committees that the Administrator has complied 
        with the requirements of section 3 of the Pilot's Bill of 
        Rights, as amended by this section.
            (2) In this subsection, the term ``appropriate 
        congressional committees'' means--
                    (A) the Committee on Commerce, Science, and 
                Transportation of the Senate; and
                    (B) the Committee on Transportation and 
                Infrastructure of the House of Representatives.
    (b) Amendments.--Section 3 of the Pilot's Bill of Rights (Public 
Law 112-153; 126 Stat. 1162; 49 U.S.C. 44701 note) is amended--
            (1) in subsection (a)(2)--
                    (A) in the matter preceding subparagraph (A)--
                            (i) by striking ``this Act'' and inserting 
                        ``the Fairness for Pilots Act''; and
                            (ii) by striking ``begin'' and inserting 
                        ``complete the implementation of'';
                    (B) by amending subparagraph (B) to read as 
                follows:
                    ``(B) to continue developing and modernizing the 
                NOTAM repository, in a public central location, to 
                maintain and archive all NOTAMs, including the original 
                content and form of the notices, the original date of 
                publication, and any amendments to such notices with 
                the date of each amendment, in a manner that is 
                Internet-accessible, machine-readable, and 
                searchable;'';
                    (C) in subparagraph (C), by striking the period at 
                the end and inserting a semicolon; and
                    (D) by adding at the end the following:
                    ``(D) to specify the times during which temporary 
                flight restrictions are in effect and the duration of a 
                designation of special use airspace in a specific 
                area.''; and
            (2) by amending subsection (d) to read as follows:
    ``(d) Designation of Repository as Sole Source for NOTAMs.--
            ``(1) In general.--The Administrator--
                    ``(A) shall consider the repository for NOTAMs 
                under subsection (a)(2)(B) to be the sole location for 
                airmen to check for NOTAMs; and
                    ``(B) may not consider a NOTAM to be announced or 
                published until the NOTAM is included in the repository 
                for NOTAMs under subsection (a)(2)(B).
            ``(2) Prohibition on taking action for violations of notams 
        not in repository.--
                    ``(A) In general.--Except as provided in 
                subparagraph (B), beginning on the date that the 
                repository under subsection (a)(2)(B) is final and 
                published, the Administrator may not take any 
                enforcement action against an airman for a violation of 
                a NOTAM during a flight if--
                            ``(i) that NOTAM is not available through 
                        the repository before the commencement of the 
                        flight; and
                            ``(ii) that NOTAM is not reasonably 
                        accessible and identifiable to the airman.
                    ``(B) Exception for national security.--
                Subparagraph (A) shall not apply in the case of an 
                enforcement action for a violation of a NOTAM that 
                directly relates to national security.''.

SEC. 5. ACCESSIBILITY OF CERTAIN FLIGHT DATA.

    (a) In General.--Subchapter I of chapter 471 of title 49, United 
States Code, is amended by inserting after section 47124 the following:
``Sec. 47124a. Accessibility of certain flight data
    ``(a) Definitions.--In this section:
            ``(1) Administration.--The term `Administration' means the 
        Federal Aviation Administration.
            ``(2) Administrator.--The term `Administrator' means the 
        Administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration.
            ``(3) Applicable individual.--The term `applicable 
        individual' means an individual who is the subject of an 
        investigation initiated by the Administrator related to a 
        covered flight record.
            ``(4) Contract tower.--The term `contract tower' means an 
        air traffic control tower providing air traffic control 
        services pursuant to a contract with the Administration under 
        the contract air traffic control tower program under section 
        47124(b)(3).
            ``(5) Covered flight record.--The term `covered flight 
        record' means any air traffic data (as defined in section 
        2(b)(4)(B) of the Pilot's Bill of Rights (49 U.S.C. 44703 
        note)), created, maintained, or controlled by any program of 
        the Administration, including any program of the Administration 
        carried out by employees or contractors of the Administration, 
        such as contract towers, flight service stations, and 
        controller training programs.
    ``(b) Provision of Covered Flight Record to Administration.--
            ``(1) Requests.--Whenever the Administration receives a 
        written request for a covered flight record from an applicable 
        individual and the covered flight record is not in the 
        possession of the Administration, the Administrator shall 
        request the covered flight record from the contract tower or 
        other contractor of the Administration in possession of the 
        covered flight record.
            ``(2) Provision of records.--Any covered flight record 
        created, maintained, or controlled by a contract tower or 
        another contractor of the Administration that maintains covered 
        flight records shall be provided to the Administration if the 
        Administration requests the record pursuant to paragraph (1).
            ``(3) Notice of proposed certificate action.--If the 
        Administrator has issued, or subsequently issues, a Notice of 
        Proposed Certificate Action relying on evidence contained in 
        the covered flight record and the individual who is the subject 
        of an investigation has requested the record, the Administrator 
        shall promptly produce the record and extend the time the 
        individual has to respond to the Notice of Proposed Certificate 
        Action until the covered flight record is provided.
    ``(c) Implementation.--
            ``(1) In general.--Not later than 180 days after the date 
        of enactment of the Fairness for Pilots Act, the Administrator 
        shall promulgate regulations or guidance to ensure compliance 
        with this section.
            ``(2) Compliance by contractors.--
                    ``(A) Compliance with this section by a contract 
                tower or other contractor of the Administration that 
                maintains covered flight records shall be included as a 
                material term in any contract between the 
                Administration and the contract tower or contractor 
                entered into or renewed on or after the date of 
                enactment of the Fairness for Pilots Act.
                    ``(B) Subparagraph (A) shall not apply to any 
                contract or agreement in effect on the date of 
                enactment of the Fairness for Pilots Act unless the 
                contract or agreement is renegotiated, renewed, or 
                modified after that date.''.
    (b) Technical and Conforming Amendments.--The table of contents for 
chapter 471 of title 49, United States Code, is amended by inserting 
after the item relating to section 47124 the following:

``47124a. Accessibility of certain flight data.''.

SEC. 6. AUTHORITY FOR LEGAL COUNSEL TO ISSUE CERTAIN NOTICES.

    Not later than 180 days after the date of enactment of this Act, 
the Administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration shall revise 
section 13.11 of title 14, Code of Federal Regulations, to authorize 
legal counsel of the Federal Aviation Administration to close 
enforcement actions covered by that section with a warning notice, 
letter of correction, or other administrative action.
                                 <all>