Safe Aircraft Maintenance Standards Act

IB Union Calendar No. 370 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION H. R. 5119 [Report No. 116–462] To amend title 49, United States Code, to require certain air carriers to provide reports with respect to maintenance, preventive maintenance, or alterations, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES NOVEMBER 15, 2019 Mr. DEFAZIO (for himself, Ms. BROWNLEY of California, Mr. GARAMENDI, Mr. GARCI´A of Illinois, Ms. NORTON, Mr. SIRES, Mr. PAPPAS, and Mr. KATKO) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Com- mittee on Transportation and Infrastructure JULY 29, 2020 Additional sponsors: Mr. FITZPATRICK, Mr. CARSON of Indiana, Mr. SMITH of New Jersey, Mr. LIPINSKI, Mrs. FLETCHER, Mr. POCAN, Mrs. DEMINGS, Mr. BACON, Mr. LYNCH, and Mr. HORSFORD JULY 29, 2020 Reported from the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure; com- mitted to the Committee of the Whole House on the State of the Union and ordered to be printed VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:14 Jul 30, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6652 E:\BILLS\H5119.RH H5119 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 5119 RH A BILL To amend title 49, United States Code, to require certain air carriers to provide reports with respect to mainte- nance, preventive maintenance, or alterations, and for other purposes. VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:14 Jul 30, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6652 E:\BILLS\H5119.RH H5119 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 5119 RH 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 ‘‘Safe Aircraft Mainte- 4 nance Standards Act’’. 5 SEC. 2. SENSE OF CONGRESS. 6 It is the sense of Congress that— 7 (1) the safety of the United States aviation sys- 8 tem requires the highest standards for aircraft main- 9 tenance, repair, and overhaul work; 10 (2) the safety of aircraft operated by United 11 States air carriers should not be dependent on the 12 location where maintenance, repair, and overhaul 13 work is performed; and 14 (3) the Federal Aviation Administration must 15 fully enforce its standards for maintenance, repair, 16 and overhaul work at every facility, whether in the 17 United States or abroad, where such work is per- 18 formed on aircraft operated by United States air 19 carriers. 20 SEC. 3. OVERSIGHT OF REPAIR STATIONS LOCATED OUT- 21 SIDE THE UNITED STATES. 22 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 44733 of title 49, United 23 States Code, is amended— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:14 Jul 30, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5119.RH H5119 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 5119 RH (1) in the heading by striking ‘‘Inspection’’ 1 and inserting ‘‘Oversight’’; 2 (2) in subsection (e)— 3 (A) by inserting ‘‘, without prior notice,’’ 4 after ‘‘annually’’; and 5 (B) by striking the last sentence and in- 6 serting ‘‘The Administrator may carry out an- 7 nounced or unannounced inspections in addition 8 to the annual unannounced inspection required 9 under this subsection based on identified 10 risks.’’; 11 (3) by redesignating subsection (g) as sub- 12 section (k); and 13 (4) by inserting after subsection (f) the fol- 14 lowing: 15 ‘‘(g) DATA ANALYSIS.— 16 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—An air carrier conducting 17 operations under part 121 of title 14, Code of Fed- 18 eral Regulations, shall provide to the responsible 19 Flight Standards office of the Administration, not 20 later than the last day of each calendar month, a re- 21 port containing the information described in para- 22 graph (2) with respect to maintenance, preventive 23 maintenance, or alteration of an aircraft that is per- 24 formed during the preceding calendar month. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:14 Jul 30, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5119.RH H5119 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 5119 RH ‘‘(2) INFORMATION REQUIRED.—A report under 1 paragraph (1) shall contain the following informa- 2 tion: 3 ‘‘(A) The location where any maintenance, 4 preventive maintenance, or alteration was per- 5 formed outside the United States. 6 ‘‘(B) A description of the work performed 7 at each such location. 8 ‘‘(C) The date of completion of the work 9 performed at each such location. 10 ‘‘(D) The total man-hours associated with 11 completing the work performed at each such lo- 12 cation. 13 ‘‘(E) A list of all failures, malfunctions, or 14 defects affecting the safe operation of an air- 15 craft identified by the air carrier as requiring 16 corrective action after return to service, orga- 17 nized by reference to aircraft registration num- 18 ber. 19 ‘‘(F) The certificate number of the person 20 approving an aircraft, or a powerplant or part, 21 for return to service following completion of the 22 work performed at each such location. 23 ‘‘(3) UPDATES.—Not later than 180 days after 24 the date on which an aircraft returns to service, an 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:14 Jul 30, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5119.RH H5119 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 5119 RH air carrier shall update the information described in 1 paragraph (2)(E) with respect to any failure, mal- 2 function, or defect discovered by the air carrier fol- 3 lowing return to service during such period. 4 ‘‘(4) ANALYSIS.—The Administrator shall— 5 ‘‘(A) analyze reports submitted under 6 paragraph (1) of this subsection and sections 7 121.703, 121.705, 121.707, and 145.221 of 8 title 14, Code of Federal Regulations, or any 9 successor provisions, to detect safety issues as- 10 sociated with maintenance, preventive mainte- 11 nance, and alterations performed outside the 12 United States; and 13 ‘‘(B) require appropriate actions in re- 14 sponse to such reports. 15 ‘‘(h) ANNUAL REPORTING REQUIREMENT.— 16 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year after 17 the date of enactment of this subsection, and annu- 18 ally thereafter, each air carrier conducting oper- 19 ations under part 121 of title 14, Code of Federal 20 Regulations, shall upload to the online repository de- 21 scribed in paragraph (2) a report containing— 22 ‘‘(A) a minimum of 1 year of heavy main- 23 tenance work history for each aircraft (orga- 24 nized by reference to aircraft registration num- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:14 Jul 30, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5119.RH H5119 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 5119 RH ber) that conducted operations under such part 1 121 during the previous calendar year; 2 ‘‘(B) the percentage and total number of 3 mechanics carrying out maintenance, preventive 4 maintenance, or alterations on aircraft for the 5 air carrier during the previous year who are 6 employees and who are not employees of the air 7 carrier; 8 ‘‘(C) the percentage and total number of 9 mechanics certified under part 65 of such title 10 carrying out maintenance, preventive mainte- 11 nance, or alterations on aircraft for the air car- 12 rier during the previous year who are based and 13 who are not based in the United States; 14 ‘‘(D) the percentage and total number of 15 mechanics, regardless of certification, carrying 16 out maintenance, preventive maintenance, or al- 17 terations on aircraft for the air carrier during 18 the previous year who are based and who are 19 not based in the United States; 20 ‘‘(E) the percentage and total number of 21 mechanics carrying out maintenance, preventive 22 maintenance, or alterations on aircraft for the 23 air carrier during the previous year who are 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:14 Jul 30, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5119.RH H5119 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 8 •HR 5119 RH certified under part 65 of such title and who 1 are not certified under part 65 of such title; 2 ‘‘(F) other information to be provided by 3 the air carrier regarding maintenance, safety, 4 and the aircraft fleet of the carrier that is of 5 interest to the traveling public, as determined 6 appropriate by the Administrator; 7 ‘‘(G) all locations where aircraft in the 8 fleet of such air carrier have undergone heavy 9 maintenance work in the past 3 years, listed by 10 total man-hours; and 11 ‘‘(H) all locations where heavy mainte- 12 nance work on an aircraft may be carried out 13 for the air carrier under an existing contract. 14 ‘‘(2) ONLINE REPOSITORY.—The Administrator 15 shall establish an online repository for information 16 submitted under paragraph (1) that allows an air 17 carrier to electronically upload the data required to 18 be submitted under such paragraph. 19 ‘‘(i) INTERNATIONAL STANDARDS FOR SAFETY 20 OVERSIGHT OF CIVIL AVIATION.— 21 ‘‘(1) APPLICATIONS AND REQUESTS FOR RE- 22 NEWAL.— 23 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator 24 may not approve any application or request for 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:14 Jul 30, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5119.RH H5119 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 9 •HR 5119 RH renewal under part 145 of title 14, Code of 1 Federal Regulations, from a person located or 2 headquartered in a country that the Adminis- 3 tration, through the International Aviation 4 Safety Assessment program, has classified as 5 Category 2. 6 ‘‘(B) MAINTENANCE IMPLEMENTATION 7 PROCEDURES AGREEMENT.—The Administrator 8 may elect not to enter into a maintenance im- 9 plementation procedures agreement with a 10 country that the Administrator has classified as 11 Category 2 to the extent the Administrator de- 12 termines is necessary to comply with the re- 13 quirements of this subsection. 14 ‘‘(2) CONTINUED HEAVY MAINTENANCE 15 WORK.—No air carrier conducting operations under 16 part 121 of title 14, Code of Federal Regulations, 17 may contract for heavy maintenance work with a 18 person located or headquartered in a country that 19 the Administration, through the International Avia- 20 tion Safety Assessment program, has classified as 21 Category 2. 22 ‘‘(j) MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS FOR MECHANICS 23 AND OTHERS WORKING ON U.S.-REGISTERED AIR- 24 CRAFT.— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:14 Jul 30, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5119.RH H5119 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 10 •HR 5119 RH ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year after 1 the date of enactment of this subsection, the Admin- 2 istrator shall require that, at each covered repair 3 station— 4 ‘‘(A) all supervisory personnel are appro- 5 priately certificated as a mechanic or repairman 6 under part 65 of title 14, Code of Federal Reg- 7 ulations; 8 ‘‘(B) all personnel authorized to approve 9 an article for return to service are appropriately 10 certificated as a mechanic or repairman under 11 part 65 of such title; and 12 ‘‘(C) all personnel performing required in- 13 spections under part 145 of such title are ap- 14 propriately certificated as a mechanic or repair- 15 man under part 65 of such title. 16 ‘‘(2) PHYSICAL PRESENCE.—Not later than 1 17 year after the date of enactment of this subsection, 18 the Administrator shall require that any individual 19 who is responsible for authorization of return of an 20 article to service or who is directly in charge of 21 maintenance, preventive maintenance, or alterations 22 performed on aircraft operated under part 121 of 23 title 14, Code of Federal Regulations— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:14 Jul 30, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5119.RH H5119 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 11 •HR 5119 RH ‘‘(A) be physically present near the aircraft 1 and available for consultation while work is 2 being performed; or 3 ‘‘(B) personally perform the work.’’. 4 (b) DEFINITION OF COVERED REPAIR STATION.— 5 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 44733(k) of title 49, 6 United States Code (as redesignated by this sec- 7 tion), is amended— 8 (A) by redesignating paragraphs (1) 9 through (3) as paragraphs (2) through (4); and 10 (B) by inserting before paragraph (2), as 11 so redesignated, the following: 12 ‘‘(1) COVERED REPAIR STATION.—The term 13 ‘covered repair station’ means a facility that— 14 ‘‘(A) is located outside the United States; 15 ‘‘(B) is certificated under part 145 of title 16 14, Code of Federal Regulations; and 17 ‘‘(C) performs maintenance, preventive 18 maintenance, or alterations of aircraft, includ- 19 ing powerplants and parts of such aircraft, op- 20 erated under part 121 of title 14, Code of Fed- 21 eral Regulations.’’. 22 (2) TECHNICAL AMENDMENT.—Section 23 44733(a)(3) of title 49, United States Code, is 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:14 Jul 30, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5119.RH H5119 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 12 •HR 5119 RH amended by striking ‘‘covered part 145 repair sta- 1 tions’’ and inserting ‘‘part 145 repair stations’’. 2 (c) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—The analysis for 3 chapter 447 of title 49, United States Code, is amended 4 by striking the item relating to section 44733 and insert- 5 ing the following: 6 ‘‘44733. Oversight of repair stations located outside the United States.’’. SEC. 4. MORATORIUM. 7 (a) MORATORIUM ON ISSUANCE OF PART 145 CER- 8 TIFICATE.—Beginning on the date that is 1 year after the 9 date of enactment of this Act, the Administrator may not 10 issue any new certificate under part 145 of title 14, Code 11 of Federal Regulations, with respect to a facility located 12 outside the United States until— 13 (1) the final rule required under section 14 2112(b) of the FAA Extension, Safety, and Security 15 Act of 2016 (Public Law 114–190) has been issued; 16 (2) the Administrator has issued the final rule 17 required under subsection (b); and 18 (3) any regulatory changes required by this Act 19 or the amendments made by this Act have been im- 20 plemented. 21 (b) FINAL RULE ON ASSESSMENT REQUIREMENT.— 22 With respect to any employee not covered under the re- 23 quirements of section 1554.101 of title 49, Code of Fed- 24 eral Regulations, the Administrator shall issue a final rule 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:14 Jul 30, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5119.RH H5119 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 13 •HR 5119 RH that requires a covered repair station to confirm that any 1 such employee has successfully completed an assessment 2 commensurate with a security threat assessment described 3 in subpart C of part 1540 of such title. 4 SEC. 5. DEFINITIONS. 5 In this Act, unless otherwise specified, the following 6 definitions apply: 7 (1) ADMINISTRATOR.—The term ‘‘Adminis- 8 trator’’ means the Administrator of the Federal 9 Aviation Administration. 10 (2) COVERED REPAIR STATION.—The term 11 ‘‘covered repair station’’ means a facility that— 12 (A) is located outside the United States; 13 (B) i [Text truncated for display. Full text available on Congress.gov.]