Air Traffic Control Safe Operation and Readiness Act

II 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 1129 To amend title 49, United States Code, to require the Administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration to give preferential consideration to individuals who have successfully completed air traffic controller train- ing when hiring air traffic control specialists, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES APRIL 14, 2021 Mr. LEE introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation A BILL To amend title 49, United States Code, to require the Ad- ministrator of the Federal Aviation Administration to give preferential consideration to individuals who have successfully completed air traffic controller training when hiring air traffic control specialists, and for other pur- poses. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Air Traffic Control 4 Safe Operation and Readiness Act’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:36 Apr 27, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1129.IS S1129 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •S 1129 IS SEC. 2. HIRING OF AIR TRAFFIC CONTROL SPECIALISTS. 1 Section 44506(f)(1)(B) of title 49, United States 2 Code, is amended by adding at the end the following new 3 clause: 4 ‘‘(iv) CONSIDERATION OF CAN- 5 DIDATES.—The Administrator shall con- 6 sider for the interview stage of the hiring 7 process candidates in each applicant pool 8 described in this subparagraph who— 9 ‘‘(I) score at or above a passing 10 score as determined by the Adminis- 11 trator on the Air Traffic Skills As- 12 sessment (AT–SA); and 13 ‘‘(II) meet minimum qualifica- 14 tions established by the Adminis- 15 trator.’’. 16 SEC. 3. ENSURING HIRING OF AIR TRAFFIC CONTROL SPE- 17 CIALISTS IS BASED ON ASSESSMENT OF JOB- 18 RELEVANT APTITUDES. 19 (a) UPDATE OF THE AIR TRAFFIC SKILLS ASSESS- 20 MENT.—Not later than 180 days after the date of enact- 21 ment of this Act, the Administrator of the Federal Avia- 22 tion Administration shall revise the Air Traffic Skills As- 23 sessment (in this section referred to as the ‘‘AT–SA’’) ad- 24 ministered to air traffic controller applicants described in 25 clauses (ii) and (iii) of section 44506(f)(1)(B) of title 49, 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:36 Apr 27, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1129.IS S1129 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •S 1129 IS United States Code, in accordance with the following re- 1 quirements: 2 (1) The Administrator shall ensure that all 3 questions on the AT–SA are supported by a peer-re- 4 viewed job analysis that ensures all questions test 5 job-relevant aptitudes. 6 (2) The Administrator shall ensure that the 7 AT–SA does not incorporate any biographical ques- 8 tionnaire or assessment or other questions of a bio- 9 graphical nature (other than basic identifiers such 10 as first and last name) for applicants for the posi- 11 tion of air traffic controller from the applicant pools 12 described in clauses (ii) and (iii) of section 13 44506(f)(1)(B) of title 49, United States Code. 14 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS ELIMINATING USE 15 OF BIOGRAPHICAL ASSESSMENTS FOR ALL APPLI- 16 CANTS.—Section 44506(f) of title 49, United States Code, 17 as amended by section 2, is further amended— 18 (1) in paragraph (1)(C)— 19 (A) by striking clause (ii); and 20 (B) by redesignating clause (iii) as clause 21 (ii); and 22 (2) by striking paragraph (2) and inserting the 23 following: 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:36 Apr 27, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1129.IS S1129 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •S 1129 IS ‘‘(2) NO BIOGRAPHICAL ASSESSMENTS.—The 1 Administrator shall not use any biographical assess- 2 ment when hiring under paragraph (1)(A) or para- 3 graph (1)(B).’’. 4 SEC. 4. DOT INSPECTOR GENERAL REPORT. 5 Not later than 180 days after the date on which the 6 Administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration 7 completes the revision of the Air Traffic Skills Assessment 8 (AT–SA) required under section 3(a), the Inspector Gen- 9 eral of the Department of Transportation shall submit a 10 report to the Administrator, the Committee on Commerce, 11 Science, and Transportation of the Senate, the Committee 12 on Transportation and Infrastructure of the House of 13 Representatives, and, upon request, to any member of 14 Congress, that assesses the assumptions and methodolo- 15 gies used to develop such revisions, the job-relevant apti- 16 tudes measured, and the scoring process for the revised 17 assessment, together with, if appropriate, a description of 18 any actions taken or recommended to be taken to address 19 the results of the report. 20 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:36 Apr 27, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S1129.IS S1129 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS