Sec. 341. AVIATION SAFETY WHISTLEBLOWER INVESTIGATION OFFICE
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## SEC. 341 AVIATION SAFETY WHISTLEBLOWER INVESTIGATION OFFICE Section 106 (as amended by this Act) is further amended by adding at the end the following: > > ### “(t) Aviation Safety Whistleblower Investigation Office > > > #### “(1) Establishment > > There is established in the Federal Aviation Administration (in this subsection referred to as the ‘Agency’) an Aviation Safety Whistleblower Investigation Office (in this subsection referred to as the ‘Office’). > > > #### “(2) Director > > > ##### “(A) Appointment > > The head of the Office shall be the Director, who shall be appointed by the Secretary of Transportation. > > > ##### “(B) Qualifications > > The Director shall have a demonstrated ability in investigations and knowledge of or experience in aviation. > > > ##### “(C) Term > > The Director shall be appointed for a term of 5 years. > > > ##### “(D) Vacancies > > Any individual appointed to fill a vacancy in the position of the Director occurring before the expiration of the term for which the individual’s predecessor was appointed shall be appointed for the remainder of that term. > > > #### “(3) Complaints and investigations > > > ##### “(A) Authority of director > > The Director shall— > > > ###### “(i) > > receive complaints and information submitted by employees of persons holding certificates issued under title 14, Code of Federal Regulations (if the certificate holder does not have a similar in-house whistleblower or safety and regulatory noncompliance reporting process) and employees of the Agency concerning the possible existence of an activity relating to a violation of an order, a regulation, or any other provision of Federal law relating to aviation safety; > > > ###### “(ii) > > assess complaints and information submitted under clause
(i)and determine whether a substantial likelihood exists that a violation of an order, a regulation, or any other provision of Federal law relating to aviation safety has occurred; and > > > ###### “(iii) > > based on findings of the assessment conducted under clause (ii), make recommendations to the Administrator of the Agency, in writing, regarding further investigation or corrective actions. > > > ##### “(B) Disclosure of identities > > The Director shall not disclose the identity of an individual who submits a complaint or information under subparagraph (A)(i) unless— > > > ###### “(i) > > the individual consents to the disclosure in writing; or > > > ###### “(ii) > > the Director determines, in the course of an investigation, that the disclosure is required by regulation, statute, or court order, or is otherwise unavoidable, in which case the Director shall provide the individual reasonable advanced notice of the disclosure. > > > ##### “(C) Independence of director > > The Secretary, the Administrator, or any officer or employee of the Agency may not prevent or prohibit the Director from initiating, carrying out, or completing any assessment of a complaint or information submitted under subparagraph (A)(i) or from reporting to Congress on any such assessment. > > > ##### “(D) Access to information > > In conducting an assessment of a complaint or information submitted under subparagraph (A)(i), the Director shall have access to all records, reports, audits, reviews, documents, papers, recommendations, and other material of the Agency necessary to determine whether a substantial likelihood exists that a violation of an order, a regulation, or any other provision of Federal law relating to aviation safety may have occurred. > > > #### “(4) Responses to recommendations > > Not later than 60 days after the date on which the Administrator receives a report with respect to an investigation, the Administrator shall respond to a recommendation made by the Director under paragraph (3)(A)(iii) in writing and retain records related to any further investigations or corrective actions taken in response to the recommendation. > > > #### “(5) Incident reports > > If the Director determines there is a substantial likelihood that a violation of an order, a regulation, or any other provision of Federal law relating to aviation safety has occurred that requires immediate corrective action, the Director shall report the potential violation expeditiously to the Administrator and the Inspector General of the Department of Transportation. > > > #### “(6) Reporting of criminal violations to inspector general > > If the Director has reasonable grounds to believe that there has been a violation of Federal criminal law, the Director shall report the violation expeditiously to the Inspector General. > > > #### “(7) Annual reports to congress > > Not later than October 1 of each year, the Director shall submit to Congress a report containing— > > > ##### “(A) > > information on the number of submissions of complaints and information received by the Director under paragraph (3)(A)(i) in the preceding 12-month period; > > > ##### “(B) > > summaries of those submissions; > > > ##### “(C) > > summaries of further investigations and corrective actions recommended in response to the submissions; and > > > ##### “(D) > > summaries of the responses of the Administrator to such recommendations.” > .