49 U.S.C. § 30172 — Whistleblower incentives and protections

Page 807 TITLE 49—TRANSPORTATION § 30172 person’s agent), deliberately causes a violation of any requirement relating to motor vehicle safety under this chapter. (Added Pub. L. 112–141, div. C, title I, § 31307(a), July 6, 2012, 126 Stat. 765.) Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries EFFECTIVE DATE Section effective Oct. 1, 2012, see section 3(a) of Pub. L. 112–141, set out as an Effective and Termination Dates of 2012 Amendment note under section 101 of Title 23, Highways. § 30172. Whistleblower incentives and protections (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: (1) COVERED ACTION.—The term ‘‘covered ac- tion’’ means any administrative or judicial ac- tion, including any related administrative or judicial action, brought by the Secretary or the Attorney General under this chapter that in the aggregate results in monetary sanctions exceeding $1,000,000. (2) MONETARY SANCTIONS.—The term ‘‘mone- tary sanctions’’ means monies, including pen- alties and interest, ordered or agreed to be paid. (3) ORIGINAL INFORMATION.—The term ‘‘origi- nal information’’ means information that— (A) is derived from the independent knowl- edge or analysis of an individual; (B) is not known to the Secretary from any other source, unless the individual is the original source of the information; and (C) is not exclusively derived from an alle- gation made in a judicial or an administra- tive action, in a governmental report, a hearing, an audit, or an investigation, or from the news media, unless the individual is a source of the information. (4) PART SUPPLIER.—The term ‘‘part sup- plier’’ means a manufacturer of motor vehicle equipment. (5) SUCCESSFUL RESOLUTION.—The term ‘‘suc- cessful resolution’’, with respect to a covered action, includes any settlement or adjudica- tion of the covered action. (6) WHISTLEBLOWER.—The term ‘‘whistle- blower’’ means any employee or contractor of a motor vehicle manufacturer, part supplier, or dealership who voluntarily provides to the Secretary original information relating to any motor vehicle defect, noncompliance, or any violation or alleged violation of any notifica- tion or reporting requirement of this chapter, which is likely to cause unreasonable risk of death or serious physical injury. (b) AWARDS.— (1) IN GENERAL.—If the original information that a whistleblower provided to the Secretary leads to the successful resolution of a covered action, the Secretary, subject to subsection (c), may pay an award or awards to one or more whistleblowers in an aggregate amount of— (A) not less than 10 percent, in total, of collected monetary sanctions; and (B) not more than 30 percent, in total, of collected monetary sanctions. (2) PAYMENT OF AWARDS.—Any amount pay- able under paragraph (1) shall be paid from the monetary sanctions collected, and any mone- tary sanctions so collected shall be available for such payment. (c) DETERMINATION OF AWARDS; DENIAL OF AWARDS.— (1) DETERMINATION OF AWARDS.— (A) DISCRETION.—The determination of whether, to whom, or in what amount to make an award shall be in the discretion of the Secretary subject to the provisions in subsection (b)(1). (B) CRITERIA.—In determining an award made under subsection (b), the Secretary shall take into consideration— (i) if appropriate, whether a whistle- blower reported or attempted to report the information internally to an applicable motor vehicle manufacturer, part supplier, or dealership; (ii) the significance of the original infor- mation provided by the whistleblower to the successful resolution of the covered ac- tion; (iii) the degree of assistance provided by the whistleblower and any legal represent- ative of the whistleblower in the covered action; and (iv) such additional factors as the Sec- retary considers relevant. (2) DENIAL OF AWARDS.—No award under sub- section (b) shall be made— (A) to any whistleblower who is convicted of a criminal violation related to the cov- ered action for which the whistleblower oth- erwise could receive an award under this sec- tion; (B) to any whistleblower who, acting with- out direction from an applicable motor vehi- cle manufacturer, part supplier, or dealer- ship, or agent thereof, deliberately causes or substantially contributes to the alleged vio- lation of a requirement of this chapter; (C) to any whistleblower who submits in- formation to the Secretary that is based on the facts underlying the covered action sub- mitted previously by another whistleblower; (D) to any whistleblower who fails to pro- vide the original information to the Sec- retary in such form as the Secretary may re- quire by regulation; or (E) if the applicable motor vehicle manu- facturer, parts supplier, or dealership has an internal reporting mechanism in place to protect employees from retaliation, to any whistleblower who fails to report or attempt to report the information internally through such mechanism, unless— (i) the whistleblower reasonably believed that such an internal report would have resulted in retaliation, notwithstanding section 30171(a); (ii) the whistleblower reasonably be- lieved that the information— (I) was already internally reported; (II) was already subject to or part of an internal inquiry or investigation; or (III) was otherwise already known to the motor vehicle manufacturer, part supplier, or dealership; or (iii) the Secretary has good cause to waive this requirement. Page 808 TITLE 49—TRANSPORTATION § 30181 (d) REPRESENTATION.—A whistleblower may be represented by counsel. (e) NO CONTRACT NECESSARY.—No contract with the Secretary is necessary for any whistle- blower to receive an award under subsection (b). (f) PROTECTION OF WHISTLEBLOWERS; CONFIDEN- TIALITY.— (1) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding section 30167, and except as provided in paragraphs (4) and (5) of this subsection, the Secretary, and any officer or employee of the Department of Transportation, shall not disclose any infor- mation, including information provided by a whistleblower to the Secretary, which could reasonably be expected to reveal the identity of a whistleblower, except in accordance with the provisions of section 552a of title 5, un- less— (A) required to be disclosed to a defendant or respondent in connection with a public proceeding instituted by the Secretary or any entity described in paragraph (5); (B) the whistleblower provides prior writ- ten consent for the information to be dis- closed; or (C) the Secretary, or other officer or em- ployee of the Department of Transportation, receives the information through another source, such as during an inspection or in- vestigation under section 30166, and has au- thority under other law to release the infor- mation. (2) REDACTION.—The Secretary, and any offi- cer or employee of the Department of Trans- portation, shall take reasonable measures to not reveal the identity of the whistleblower when disclosing any information under para- graph (1). (3) SECTION 552(B)(3)(B).—For purposes of sec- tion 552 of title 5, paragraph (1) of this sub- section shall be considered a statute described in subsection (b)(3)(B) of that section. (4) EFFECT.—Nothing in this subsection is in- tended to limit the ability of the Attorney General to present such evidence to a grand jury or to share such evidence with potential witnesses or defendants in the course of an on- going criminal investigation. (5) AVAILABILITY TO GOVERNMENT AGENCIES.— (A) IN GENERAL.—Without the loss of its status as confidential in the hands of the Secretary, all information referred to in paragraph (1) may, in the discretion of the Secretary, when determined by the Sec- retary to be necessary or appropriate to ac- complish the purposes of this chapter and in accordance with subparagraph (B), be made available to the following: (i) The Department of Justice. (ii) An appropriate department or agency of the Federal Government, acting within the scope of its jurisdiction. (B) MAINTENANCE OF INFORMATION.—Each entity described in subparagraph (A) shall maintain information described in that sub- paragraph as confidential, in accordance with the requirements in paragraph (1). (g) PROVISION OF FALSE INFORMATION.—A whis- tleblower who knowingly and intentionally makes any false, fictitious, or fraudulent state- ment or representation, or who makes or uses any false writing or document knowing the same to contain any false, fictitious, or fraudu- lent statement or entry, shall not be entitled to an award under this section and shall be subject to prosecution under section 1001 of title 18. (h) APPEALS.— (1) IN GENERAL.—Any determination made under this section, including whether, to whom, or in what amount to make an award, shall be in the discretion of the Secretary. (2) APPEALS.—Any determination made by the Secretary under this section may be ap- pealed by a whistleblower to the appropriate court of appeals of the United States not later than 30 days after the determination is issued by the Secretary. (3) REVIEW.—The court shall review the de- termination made by the Secretary in accord- ance with section 706 of title 5. (i) REGULATION.—Not later than 18 months after the date of enactment of this section, the Secretary shall promulgate regulations on the requirements of this section, consistent with this section. (Added Pub. L. 114–94, div. B, title XXIV, § 24352(a), Dec. 4, 2015, 129 Stat. 1716.) Editorial Notes REFERENCES IN TEXT The date of enactment of this section, referred to in subsec. (i), is the date of enactment of Pub. L. 114–94, which was approved Dec. 4, 2015. Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries RULE OF CONSTRUCTION Pub. L. 114–94, div. B, title XXIV, § 24352(b), Dec. 4, 2015, 129 Stat. 1720, provided that: ‘‘(1) ORIGINAL INFORMATION.—Information submitted to the Secretary of Transportation by a whistleblower in accordance with the requirements of section 30172 of title 49, United States Code, shall not lose its status as original information solely because the whistleblower submitted the information prior to the effective date of the regulations issued under subsection (i) of that sec- tion if that information was submitted after the date of enactment of this Act [Dec. 4, 2015]. ‘‘(2) AWARDS.—A whistleblower may receive an award under section 30172 of title 49, United States Code, re- gardless of whether the violation underlying the cov- ered action occurred prior to the date of enactment of this Act, and may receive an award prior to the Sec- retary of Transportation promulgating the regulations under subsection (i) of that section.’’ SUBCHAPTER V—MOTOR VEHICLE SAFETY RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT § 30181. Policy The Secretary of Transportation shall conduct research, development, and testing on any area or aspect of motor vehicle safety necessary to carry out this chapter. (Added Pub. L. 112–141, div. C, title I, § 31204(a), July 6, 2012, 126 Stat. 759.) Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries EFFECTIVE DATE Section effective Oct. 1, 2012, see section 3(a) of Pub. L. 112–141, set out as an Effective and Termination