InsideGov
Congress · Laws

National Transportation Safety Board Reauthorization Act of 2006

Public Law 109-443 · H.R. 5076 · 109th Congress · began in the House

Signed by George W. Bush (R) on Dec 21, 2006 · Transportation and Public Works

Sponsor: Rep. Don Young (R-AK)

Cosponsors (3): Rep. James Oberstar,

Passage votes

  • HouseVoice vote
  • SenateUnanimous consent
Data notes

The final version of the law, as each chamber passed it. A chamber that passed it by voice vote or unanimous consent has no count. “Method not stated” means the record does not say how the chamber voted. Where the record has a member-by-member vote, the “Who voted for it” section shows who voted yea.

Report a correction

Summary

The Congressional Research Service’s plain-language summary of what the law does.

National Transportation Safety Board Reauthorization Act of 2006 - (Sec. 2) Amends federal transportation law to require a certain National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) annual transportation accident investigation report to Congress to include: (1) a description of NTSB Academy activities and operations; (2) a list of transportation accidents during the prior calendar year that the NTSB did not investigate, including an explanation of why they were not investigated; and (3) a list of ongoing transportation accident investigations that have exceeded the time for completion by NTSB order, including an explanation for the additional time required to complete such investigations.

Directs the NTSB to develop, and submit to the Comptroller General and Congress, a plan for the NTSB Academy to achieve, to the maximum extent feasible, self-sufficiency and utilize fully the Academy's facilities and resources. Makes permanent the requirement of the Secretary of Transportation to submit a report to Congress and the NTSB containing the regulatory status of each NTSB recommendation made to the Secretary that is on the NTSB's "most wanted list" and requires the NTSB to review the Secretary's report and transmit comments to the Secretary and the congressional transportation committees.

(Sec. 3) Amends the National Transportation Safety Board Reauthorization Act of 2003 to: (1) make permanent the authority of the NTSB to enter noncompetitive contracts for the investigation of accidents; and (2) require annually, (currently, on February 1, 2006) as part of its transportation accident investigation report a report to the congressional transporation committees that describes each noncompetitive accident investigation contract for $25,000 or more executed by the NTSB and explains the rationale for dispensing with competition with respect to each such contract.

(Sec. 4) Authorizes appropriations to the Secretary for use by the Inspector General of the Department of Transportation (DOT) to cover expenses related to the prevention and detection of fraud and abuse in, and review of the financial management, property management, and business operations of, the NTSB.

(Sec. 5) Directs the Comptroller General of the United States to evaluate and audit NTSB programs and expenditures.

(Sec. 6) Requires the NTSB to continue to develop and implement internal audit controls for its operations.

(Sec. 7) Directs the Administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to report to Congress on why the FAA has not implemented the aviation recommendations in the NTSB's "Most Wanted Transportation Safety Improvements, 2006".

(Sec. 8) Extends the authorization of appropriations for the NTSB through FY2008. Authorizes the NTSB to impose and collect fees, refunds, and reimbursements for services provided by it (under current law, the NTSB can impose and collect fees for services provided by the NTSB Academy).

(Sec. 9) Requires, in addition to current related requirements, the NTSB to establish staffed bureaus, divisions, or offices to investigate and report on accidents involving marine transportation.

Grants the NTSB the authority to investigate major marine casualties occurring on or under all internal U.S. waters, in addition to the current authority to investigate on U.S. navigable waters or territorial seas. Grants the Secretary of the department in which the Coast Guard is operating the authority to investigate transportation accidents not involving government misfeasance or nonfeasance.

Grants authority to: (1) the Chairman of the NTSB to appoint non-regular and non-full-time employees in the immediate offices of another NTSB member; and (2) NTSB members to select and supervise regular and full-time employees in their immediate office (under current law, the Chairman has the authority to appoint and supervise such employees).

Directs the NTSB to develop and approve a process for the NTSB's review and comment or approval of documents submitted to the President, Director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), or Congress. Directs the NTSB to maintain at least one full-time employee in each state located more than 1,000 miles from the nearest NTSB regional office to provide initial investigative response to accidents investigated by the NTSB.

(Sec. 10) Requires the Secretary, with respect to the environmental review of a project to improve runway safety areas on Runway 8/26 at Juneau International Airport, Alaska, to only select as the preferred alternative the least expensive runway safety area alternative.

(Sec. 11) Directs the Inspector General of the DOT to provide oversight of activities performed by the Federal Highway Administration, the Massachusetts Executive Office of Transportation, and the Massachusetts Department of Transportation for the project-wide safety review initiated as a result of the July 10, 2006, accident in the Central Artery tunnel project in Boston, Massachusetts. Requires the Inspector General to: (1) investigate criminal or fraudulent acts committed in the design, expenditure of funds, and construction of such project; and (2) report periodically to Congress on such oversight and investigative activities.

Committees

The committees the bill was sent to, and what each did with it.

Data notes

A committee links to its page only where it exists in the current Congress; older and renamed committees are named without a link.

Report a correction

Related bills

1 bill the Library of Congress relates to this one.

  • S. 3679Related bill

    National Transportation Safety Board Reauthorization Act of 2006

Data notes

Related bills are identified by the Congressional Research Service, the House and the Senate: companion and identical bills, bills with similar text, bills that were folded into this law, and rules that brought it to the floor. A bill that is itself a public law in this site’s data links here; the others link to Congress.gov.

Report a correction

Timeline

From introduction to signing, newest first: the committees, the floor and the president. 20 actions.

  1. Dec 21, 2006Became lawBecame law · Became Public Law No: 109-443.
  2. Became lawBecame law · Signed by President.
  3. Dec 11, 2006FloorFloor · Presented to President.
  4. Dec 7, 2006FloorFloor · Message on Senate action sent to the House.
  5. FloorFloor · Passed Senate without amendment by Unanimous Consent.
  6. Dec 6, 2006FloorFloor · The title of the measure was amended. Agreed to without objection.
  7. FloorFloor · Motion to reconsider laid on the table Agreed to without objection.
  8. FloorFloor · On motion to suspend the rules and pass the bill, as amended Agreed to by voice vote.
  9. FloorFloor · DEBATE - The House proceeded with forty minutes of debate on H.R. 5076.
  10. FloorFloor · Considered under suspension of the rules.
  11. FloorFloor · Mr. Mica moved to suspend the rules and pass the bill, as amended.
  12. CommitteeCommittee · Received in the Senate, read twice.
  13. Jun 20, 2006CalendarCalendar · Placed on the Union Calendar, Calendar No. 287.
  14. CommitteeCommittee · Reported by the Committee on Transportation. H. Rept. 109-512.
  15. Apr 5, 2006CommitteeCommittee · Ordered to be Reported by Voice Vote.
  16. CommitteeCommittee · Committee Consideration and Mark-up Session Held.
  17. CommitteeCommittee · Subcommittee on Aviation Discharged.
  18. CommitteeCommittee · Referred to the Subcommittee on Aviation.
  19. Apr 4, 2006CommitteeCommittee · Referred to the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure.
  20. IntroducedIntroduced · Introduced in House
Data notes

Every action the Library of Congress lists for the bill, from introduction to signing, plus the dated committee hearings. The source lists many steps twice (the chamber’s own entry and the Library of Congress copy, or a presidential and a became-law entry with the same words); those are shown once. Amendments are listed in their own section.

Report a correction

Amendments

No amendments to this bill are on record.

Data notes

Amendments offered to this bill in either chamber, as the Library of Congress records them: each with a status read from its last recorded step: agreed to, rejected, withdrawn, ruled out of order, fell with another amendment, or offered with no vote recorded (most Senate amendments are only ever offered). The wording of each amendment is the source’s. Amendments to amendments and amendments to other bills are not listed.

Report a correction

Official record

The bill’s full text is on Congress.gov. Data through Oct 7, 2026.