Sec. 31204. Research Ombudsman
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Subtitle III is amended by inserting after chapter 63 the following: Sec. 6501. Research ombudsman. The Assistant Secretary for Research and Technology shall appoint a career Federal employee to serve as Research Ombudsman. This appointment shall not diminish the authority of peer review of research. The Research Ombudsman appointed under subsection (a), to the extent practicable— shall have a background in academic research and a strong understanding of sound study design; shall develop a working knowledge of the stakeholder communities and research needs of the transportation field; and shall not have served as a political appointee of the Department.
The Research Ombudsman shall— receive complaints and questions about— significant alleged omissions, improprieties, and systemic problems; and excessive delays of, or within, a specific research project; and evaluate and address the complaints and questions described in subparagraph (A). The Research Ombudsman shall review petitions relating to— conflicts of interest; the study design and methodology; assumptions and potential bias; the length of the study; and the composition of any data sampled.
The Research Ombudsman shall— respond to relevant petitions within a reasonable period; identify deficiencies in the petition’s study design; and propose a remedy for such deficiencies to the administrator of the modal administration responsible for completing the research project. The administrator of the modal administration charged with completing the research project shall respond to the proposed research remedy. The Research Ombudsman shall evaluate the study plan for all statutorily required studies and reports before the commencement of such studies to ensure that the research plan has an appropriate sample size and composition to address the stated purpose of the study.
Upon the completion of each review under subsection (c), the Research Ombudsman shall— submit a report containing the results of such review to— the Secretary; the head of the relevant modal administration; and the study or research leader; and publish such results on a public website, with the modal administration response required under subsection (c)(2)(C). Each report required under this section shall be provided directly to the individuals described in paragraph
(1)without any comment or amendment from the Secretary, the Deputy Secretary of Transportation, the head of any modal administration of the Department, or any other officer or employee of the Department or the Office of Management and Budget. The Research Ombudsman shall submit any evidence of misfeasance, malfeasance, waste, fraud, or abuse uncovered during a review under this section to the Inspector General for further review. The Research Ombudsman shall be subject to adverse employment action for misconduct or good cause in accordance with the procedures and grounds set forth in chapter 75 of title 5. . The table of chapters for subtitle III is amended by inserting after the item relating to chapter 63 the following: 65. Research ombudsman 6501 .