49 U.S.C. § 40123 — Protection of voluntarily submitted in-

Page 1099 TITLE 49—TRANSPORTATION § 40123 ‘‘(c) OFFICE OF INVESTIGATIONS AND PROFESSIONAL RE- SPONSIBILITY.—The Administrator shall take such ac- tion as may be necessary to redesignate the Office of Investigations of the Administration as the Office of Investigations and Professional Responsibility. ‘‘(d) MISCONDUCT INVESTIGATIONS.— ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator shall review and revise the Administration’s existing investiga- tive policies that govern the investigation of mis- conduct by a manager of the Administration con- ducted by the FAA (in this subsection referred to as the ‘Agency’). ‘‘(2) PRESERVATION OF COLLECTIVE BARGAINING AGREEMENTS.—The investigative policy established under paragraph (1) shall not apply to, or in the fu- ture, be extended by the Administrator to apply to, any employee who is not a manager or is covered by or eligible to be covered by a collective bargaining agreement entered into by the Agency. ‘‘(3) REQUIREMENTS.—In revising the investigative policies, the Administrator shall ensure such policies require— ‘‘(A) the utilization of investigative best prac- tices to ensure independent and objective investiga- tion and accurate recording and reporting of such investigation; ‘‘(B) the management of case files to ensure the integrity of the information contained in such case files; ‘‘(C) interviews be conducted in a manner that en- sures, to the greatest extent possible, truthful an- swers and accurate records of such interviews; ‘‘(D) coordination with the Office of the Inspector General of the Department of Transportation, the Office of the Special Counsel, and the Attorney General, as appropriate; and ‘‘(E) the completion of investigations in a timely manner. ‘‘(4) DEFINITION.—For purposes of this subsection, the term ‘manager’ means an employee of the Agency who is a supervisor or management official, as de- fined in section 7103(a) of title 5, United States Code.’’ [For definitions of terms used in section 133(c), (d) of div. V of Pub. L. 116–260, set out above, see section 137 of div. V of Pub. L. 116–260, set out as a note under sec- tion 40101 of this title.] APPLICATION OF 2016 AMENDMENT Pub. L. 114–242, § 2(c), Oct. 7, 2016, 130 Stat. 978, pro- vided that: ‘‘The amendments made by this section [amending this section] shall apply with respect to any employee of the Federal Aviation Administration hired on or after the date that is one year after the date of the enactment of this Act [Oct. 7, 2016].’’ POLICIES AND PROCEDURES Pub. L. 114–242, § 2(d), Oct. 7, 2016, 130 Stat. 978, pro- vided that: ‘‘Not later than 270 days after the date of the enactment of this Act [Oct. 7, 2016], the Adminis- trator of the Federal Aviation Administration shall prescribe policies and procedures to carry out the amendments made by this section [amending this sec- tion] that are comparable, to the maximum extent practicable, to the regulations prescribed by the Office of Personnel Management under section 6329 of title 5, United States Code.’’ § 40123. Protection of voluntarily submitted in- formation (a) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other provision of law, including section 552(b)(3)(B) of title 5, neither the Administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration, nor any agency or third party receiving information from the Ad- ministrator, shall disclose voluntarily-provided safety or security related information if the Ad- ministrator finds that— (1) the disclosure of the information would inhibit the voluntary provision of that type of information and that the receipt of that type of information aids in fulfilling the Adminis- trator’s safety and security responsibilities; and (2) withholding such information from dis- closure would be consistent with the Adminis- trator’s safety and security responsibilities. (b) REGULATIONS.—The Administrator shall issue regulations to carry out this section. (Added Pub. L. 104–264, title IV, § 402(a), Oct. 9, 1996, 110 Stat. 3255; amended Pub. L. 118–63, title III, § 354(a), May 16, 2024, 138 Stat. 1113.) Editorial Notes AMENDMENTS 2024—Subsec. (a). Pub. L. 118–63 inserted ‘‘, including section 552(b)(3)(B) of title 5’’ after ‘‘Notwithstanding any other provision of law’’ and ‘‘or third party’’ after ‘‘nor any agency’’ in introductory provisions. Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries EFFECTIVE DATE Except as otherwise specifically provided, section ap- plicable only to fiscal years beginning after Sept. 30, 1996, and not to be construed as affecting funds made available for a fiscal year ending before Oct. 1, 1996, see section 3 of Pub. L. 104–264, set out as an Effective Date of 1996 Amendment note under section 106 of this title. REVIEW OF PROTECTION FROM DISCLOSURE Pub. L. 118–63, title III, § 354(b), May 16, 2024, 138 Stat. 1114, provided that: ‘‘Not later than 180 days after the date of enactment of this Act [May 16, 2024], the Ad- ministrator [of the Federal Aviation Administration] shall review and update part 193 of title 14, Code of Fed- eral Regulations, and review section 44735 of title 49, United States Code, to ensure such laws and regula- tions designate and protect from disclosure informa- tion or data submitted, collected, or obtained by the Administrator under voluntary safety programs, in- cluding the following: ‘‘(1) Aviation Safety Action Program. ‘‘(2) Flight Operational Quality Assurance. ‘‘(3) Line Operations Safety Assessments. ‘‘(4) Air Traffic Safety Action Program. ‘‘(5) Technical Operations Safety Action Program. ‘‘(6) Such other voluntarily submitted information or programs as the Administrator determines appro- priate.’’ IMPROVED VOLUNTARY DISCLOSURE REPORTING SYSTEM Pub. L. 112–95, title III, § 344, Feb. 14, 2012, 126 Stat. 81, provided that: ‘‘(a) VOLUNTARY DISCLOSURE REPORTING PROGRAM DE- FINED.—In this section, the term ‘Voluntary Disclosure Reporting Program’ means the program established by the Federal Aviation Administration through Advisory Circular 00–58A, dated September 8, 2006, including any subsequent revisions thereto. ‘‘(b) VERIFICATION.—The Administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration shall modify the Voluntary Disclosure Reporting Program to require inspectors to— ‘‘(1) verify that air carriers are implementing com- prehensive solutions to correct the underlying causes of the violations voluntarily disclosed by such air carriers; and ‘‘(2) confirm, before approving a final report of a violation, that a violation with the same root causes, has not been previously discovered by an inspector or self-disclosed by the air carrier. ‘‘(c) SUPERVISORY REVIEW OF VOLUNTARY SELF-DIS- CLOSURES.—The Administrator shall establish a process by which voluntary self-disclosures received from air Page 1100 TITLE 49—TRANSPORTATION § 40124 carriers are reviewed and approved by a supervisor after the initial review by an inspector. ‘‘(d) INSPECTOR GENERAL STUDY.— ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Inspector General of the De- partment of Transportation shall conduct a study of the Voluntary Disclosure Reporting Program. ‘‘(2) REVIEW.—In conducting the study, the Inspec- tor General shall examine, at a minimum, if the Ad- ministration— ‘‘(A) conducts comprehensive reviews of vol- untary disclosure reports before closing a voluntary disclosure report under the provisions of the pro- gram; ‘‘(B) evaluates the effectiveness of corrective ac- tions taken by air carriers; and ‘‘(C) effectively prevents abuse of the voluntary disclosure reporting program through its secondary review of self-disclosures before they are accepted and closed by the Administration. ‘‘(3) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of this Act [Feb. 14, 2012], the Inspector General shall submit to the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure of the House of Representatives and Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the Senate a report on the results of the study conducted under this sec- tion.’’ § 40124. Interstate agreements for airport facili- ties Congress consents to a State making an agree- ment, not in conflict with a law of the United States, with another State to develop or operate an airport facility. (Added Pub. L. 104–287, § 5(69)(A), Oct. 11, 1996, 110 Stat. 3395, § 40121; renumbered § 40124, Pub. L. 105–102, § 3(d)(1)(B), Nov. 20, 1997, 111 Stat. 2215.) HISTORICAL AND REVISION NOTES This restates 49:44502(e) as 49:40121 [now 40124] to pro- vide a more appropriate place in title 49. Editorial Notes AMENDMENTS 1997—Pub. L. 105–102 amended Pub. L. 104–287, renum- bering section 40121 of this title as this section. Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries EFFECTIVE DATE OF 1997 AMENDMENT Pub. L. 105–102, § 3(d), Nov. 20, 1997, 111 Stat. 2215, pro- vided that the amendment made by section 3(d)(1)(B) is effective Oct. 11, 1996. Amendment by Pub. L. 105–102 effective as if included in the provisions of the Act to which the amendment relates, see section 3(f) of Pub. L. 105–102, set out as a note under section 106 of this title. § 40125. Qualifications for public aircraft status (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section, the following definitions apply: (1) COMMERCIAL PURPOSES.—The term ‘‘com- mercial purposes’’ means the transportation of persons or property for compensation or hire, but does not include the operation of an air- craft by the armed forces for reimbursement when that reimbursement is required by any Federal statute, regulation, or directive, in ef- fect on November 1, 1999, or by one govern- ment on behalf of another government under a cost reimbursement agreement if the govern- ment on whose behalf the operation is con- ducted certifies to the Administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration that the op- eration is necessary to respond to a significant and imminent threat to life or property (in- cluding natural resources) and that no service by a private operator is reasonably available to meet the threat. (2) GOVERNMENTAL FUNCTION.—The term ‘‘governmental function’’ means an activity undertaken by a government, such as national defense, intelligence missions, firefighting, search and rescue, law enforcement (including transport of prisoners, detainees, and illegal aliens), aeronautical research, biological or geological resource management (including data collection on civil aviation systems un- dergoing research, development, test, or eval- uation at a test range (as such term is defined in section 44801)), infrastructure inspections, or any other activity undertaken by a govern- mental entity that the Administrator deter- mines is inherently governmental. (3) QUALIFIED NON-CREWMEMBER.—The term ‘‘qualified non-crewmember’’ means an indi- vidual, other than a member of the crew, aboard an aircraft— (A) operated by the armed forces or an in- telligence agency of the United States Gov- ernment; or (B) whose presence is required to perform, or is associated with the performance of, a governmental function. (4) ARMED FORCES.—The term ‘‘armed forces’’ has the meaning given such term by section 101 of title 10. (b) AIRCRAFT OWNED BY GOVERNMENTS.—An aircraft described in subparagraph (A), (B), (C), (D), or (F) of section 40102(a)(41) does not qualify as a public aircraft under such section when the aircraft is used for commercial purposes or to carry an individual other than a crewmember or a qualified non-crewmember. (c) AIRCRAFT OWNED OR OPERATED BY THE ARMED FORCES.— (1) IN GENERAL.—Subject to paragraph (2), an aircraft described in section 40102(a)(41)(E) qualifies as a public aircraft if— (A) the aircraft is operated in accordance with title 10; (B) the aircraft is operated in the perform- ance of a governmental function under title 14, 31, 32, or 50 and the aircraft is not used for commercial purposes; or (C) the aircraft is chartered to provide transportation or other commercial air serv- ice to the armed forces and the Secretary of Defense (or the Secretary of the department in which the Coast Guard is operating) des- ignates the operation of the aircraft as being required in the national interest. (2) LIMITATION.—An aircraft that meets the criteria set forth in paragraph (1) and that is owned or operated by the National Guard of a State, the District of Columbia, or any terri- tory or possession of the United States, quali- fies as a public aircraft only to the extent that it is operated under the direct control of the Department of Defense. (d) SEARCH AND RESCUE PURPOSES.—An air- craft described in section 40102(a)(41)(D) that is