Global Aircraft Maintenance Safety Improvement Act

II 118TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 1256 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 SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES APRIL 25, 2023 Mrs. CAPITO (for herself and Ms. BALDWIN) 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 certain air carriers to provide reports with respect to mainte- nance, preventive maintenance, or alterations, and for other purposes. 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 ‘‘Global Aircraft Main- 4 tenance Safety Improvement Act’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:02 Apr 27, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1256.IS S1256 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •S 1256 IS SEC. 2. FAA OVERSIGHT OF REPAIR STATIONS LOCATED 1 OUTSIDE THE UNITED STATES. 2 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 44733 of title 49, United 3 States Code, is amended— 4 (1) in the section heading by striking ‘‘In- 5 spection’’ and inserting ‘‘Oversight’’; 6 (2) in subsection (e)— 7 (A) in the first sentence— 8 (i) by inserting ‘‘, without prior notice 9 to such repair stations,’’ after ‘‘annually’’; 10 and 11 (ii) by inserting ‘‘and the applicable 12 laws of the country in which a repair sta- 13 tion is located’’ after ‘‘international agree- 14 ments’’; and 15 (B) by striking the second sentence and in- 16 serting ‘‘The Administrator may carry out an- 17 nounced or unannounced inspections in addition 18 to the annual unannounced inspection required 19 under this subsection based on identified risks 20 and in a manner consistent with United States 21 obligations under international agreements and 22 with the applicable laws of the country in which 23 a repair station is located.’’; 24 (3) by redesignating subsection (g) as sub- 25 section (i); and 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:02 Apr 27, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1256.IS S1256 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •S 1256 IS (4) by inserting after subsection (f) the fol- 1 lowing: 2 ‘‘(g) DATA ANALYSIS.— 3 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—An air carrier conducting 4 operations under part 121 of title 14, Code of Fed- 5 eral Regulations, shall, if applicable, provide to the 6 appropriate office of the Administration, not less 7 than once every year, a report containing the infor- 8 mation described in paragraph (2) with respect to 9 heavy maintenance work on aircraft (including on- 10 wing aircraft engines) performed in the preceding 11 year. 12 ‘‘(2) INFORMATION REQUIRED.—A report under 13 paragraph (1) shall contain the following informa- 14 tion: 15 ‘‘(A) The location where any heavy mainte- 16 nance work on aircraft (including on-wing air- 17 craft engines) was performed outside the 18 United States. 19 ‘‘(B) A description of the work performed 20 at each such location. 21 ‘‘(C) The date of completion of the work 22 performed at each such location. 23 ‘‘(D) A list of all failures, malfunctions, or 24 defects affecting the safe operation of such air- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:02 Apr 27, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1256.IS S1256 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •S 1256 IS craft identified by the air carrier within 30 days 1 after the date on which an aircraft is returned 2 to service, organized by reference to aircraft 3 registration number, that— 4 ‘‘(i) requires corrective action after 5 the aircraft is approved for return to serv- 6 ice; and 7 ‘‘(ii) results from the work performed 8 on such aircraft. 9 ‘‘(E) The certificate number of the person 10 approving such aircraft or on-wing aircraft en- 11 gine, for return to service following completion 12 of the work performed at each such location. 13 ‘‘(3) ANALYSIS.—The Administrator of the 14 Federal Aviation Administration shall— 15 ‘‘(A) analyze information made available 16 under paragraph (1) of this subsection and sec- 17 tions 121.703, 121.705, 121.707, and 145.221 18 of title 14, Code of Federal Regulations, or any 19 successor provisions, to detect safety issues as- 20 sociated with heavy maintenance work on air- 21 craft (including on-wing aircraft engines) per- 22 formed outside the United States; and 23 ‘‘(B) require appropriate actions in re- 24 sponse. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:02 Apr 27, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1256.IS S1256 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •S 1256 IS ‘‘(4) CONFIDENTIALITY.—Information made 1 available under paragraph (1) shall be subject to the 2 same protections given to voluntarily provided safety 3 or security related information under section 40123. 4 ‘‘(h) MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS FOR MECHANICS 5 AND OTHERS WORKING ON U.S. REGISTERED AIR- 6 CRAFT.— 7 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year after 8 the date of enactment of this subsection, the Admin- 9 istrator of the Federal Aviation Administration shall 10 require that, at each covered repair station— 11 ‘‘(A) all supervisory personnel are appro- 12 priately certificated as a mechanic or repairman 13 under part 65 of title 14, Code of Federal Reg- 14 ulations, or under an equivalent certification or 15 licensing regime, as determined by the Adminis- 16 trator; and 17 ‘‘(B) all personnel authorized to approve 18 an article for return to service are appropriately 19 certificated as a mechanic or repairman under 20 part 65 of such title, or under an equivalent 21 certification or licensing regime, as determined 22 by the Administrator. 23 ‘‘(2) AVAILABLE FOR CONSULTATION.—Not 24 later than 1 year after the date of enactment of this 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:02 Apr 27, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1256.IS S1256 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 6 •S 1256 IS subsection, the Administrator of the Federal Avia- 1 tion Administration shall require any individual who 2 is responsible for approving an article for return to 3 service or who is directly in charge of aircraft (in- 4 cluding on-wing aircraft engine) maintenance per- 5 formed on aircraft operated under part 121 of title 6 14, Code of Federal Regulations, be available for 7 consultation while work is being performed at a cov- 8 ered repair station.’’. 9 (b) DEFINITION OF COVERED REPAIR STATION.— 10 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 44733(i) of title 49, 11 United States Code (as redesignated by subsection 12 (a)(3)), is amended— 13 (A) by redesignating paragraphs (1) 14 through (3) as paragraphs (2) through (4), re- 15 spectively; and 16 (B) by inserting before paragraph (2), as 17 so redesignated, the following: 18 ‘‘(1) COVERED REPAIR STATION.—The term 19 ‘covered repair station’ means a facility that— 20 ‘‘(A) is located outside the United States; 21 ‘‘(B) is certificated under part 145 of title 22 14, Code of Federal Regulations; and 23 ‘‘(C) performs heavy maintenance work on 24 aircraft (including on-wing aircraft engines) op- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:02 Apr 27, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1256.IS S1256 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 7 •S 1256 IS erated under part 121 of title 14, Code of Fed- 1 eral Regulations.’’. 2 (2) TECHNICAL AMENDMENT.—Section 3 44733(a)(3) of title 49, United States Code, is 4 amended by striking ‘‘covered part 145 repair sta- 5 tions’’ and inserting ‘‘part 145 repair stations’’. 6 (c) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—The analysis for 7 chapter 447 of title 49, United States Code, is amended 8 by striking the item relating to section 44733 and insert- 9 ing the following: 10 ‘‘44733. Oversight of repair stations located outside the United States.’’. SEC. 3. ALCOHOL AND DRUG TESTING AND BACKGROUND 11 CHECKS. 12 (a) IN GENERAL.—Beginning on the date that is 2 13 years after the date of enactment of this Act, the Adminis- 14 trator of the Federal Aviation Administration (in this Act 15 referred to as the‘‘Administrator’’) may not approve or au- 16 thorize international travel for any employee of the Fed- 17 eral Aviation Administration until a final rule carrying out 18 the requirements of subsection (b) of section 2112 of the 19 FAA Extension, Safety, and Security Act of 2016 (49 20 U.S.C. 44733 note) has been published in the Federal 21 Register. 22 (b) RULEMAKING ON ASSESSMENT REQUIREMENT.— 23 With respect to any employee not covered under the re- 24 quirements of section 1554.101 of title 49, Code of Fed- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:02 Apr 27, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1256.IS S1256 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 8 •S 1256 IS eral Regulations, the Administrator shall initiate a rule- 1 making that requires a covered repair station to confirm 2 that any such employee has successfully completed an as- 3 sessment commensurate with a security threat assessment 4 described in subpart C of part 1540 of such title. 5 (c) EXCEPTIONS.—The prohibition in subsection (a) 6 shall not apply to international travel that is determined 7 by the Administrator on an individual by individual basis 8 to be— 9 (1) exclusively for the purpose of conducting a 10 safety inspection; 11 (2) directly related to aviation safety standards, 12 certification, and oversight; or 13 (3) vital to the national interests of the United 14 States. 15 (d) NON-DELEGATION AND REPORTING.—For any 16 determination to make an exception based on the criteria 17 in paragraph (2) or (3) of subsection (c), the Adminis- 18 trator— 19 (1) may not delegate the authority to make 20 such a determination to any other individual; and 21 (2) shall report to the Committee on Transpor- 22 tation and Infrastructure of the House of Represent- 23 atives and the Committee on Commerce, Science, 24 and Transportation of the Senate not later than 3 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:02 Apr 27, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1256.IS S1256 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 9 •S 1256 IS days after making each determination under sub- 1 section (c)— 2 (A) the name of the individual approved or 3 authorized to travel internationally; 4 (B) the location to which the individual is 5 traveling; 6 (C) a detailed explanation of why the Ad- 7 ministrator has determined the travel is— 8 (i) directly related to aviation safety 9 standards, certification, and oversight; or 10 (ii) vital to the national interests of 11 the United States; and 12 (D) a detailed description of the status of 13 the rulemakings described in subsection (a). 14 (e) DEFINITION OF COVERED REPAIR STATION.— 15 For purposes of this section, the term ‘‘covered repair sta- 16 tion’’ means a facility that— 17 (1) is located outside the United States; 18 (2) is certificated under part 145 of title 14, 19 Code of Federal Regulations; and 20 (3) performs heavy maintenance work on air- 21 craft (including on-wing aircraft engines), operated 22 under part 121 of title 14, Code of Federal Regula- 23 tions. 24 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:02 Apr 27, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S1256.IS S1256 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS