49 U.S.C. § 1135 — Secretary of Transportation’s responses to safety recommendations

(a) General.— When the National Transportation Safety Board submits a recommendation about transportation safety to the Secretary of Transportation, the Secretary must give to the Board a formal written response to each recommendation by 90 days after receiving the recommendation. The response must say whether the Secretary intends— (1) to carry out procedures to adopt the complete recommendation; (2) to carry out procedures to adopt a part of the recommendation; or (3) to refuse to carry out procedures to adopt the recommendation. (b) Timetable for Completing Procedures and Reasons for Refusals.— A response under subsection (a)(1) or (2) of this section must include a copy of a proposed timetable for completing the procedures. A response under subsection (a)(2) of this section must detail the reasons for the refusal to carry out procedures on the remainder of the recommendation. A response under subsection (a)(3) of this section must detail the reasons for the refusal to carry out procedures. (c) Public Availability.— The Board must make a copy of each recommendation and response available to the public— (1) in electronic form at no cost in a publicly accessible database on a website of the Board; and (2) if the electronic form required in paragraph (1) is not printable, in printed form upon a reasonable request at a reasonable cost. (d) Annual Report on Air Carrier Safety Recommendations.— (1) In general.— The Secretary must submit to Congress and the Board, on an annual basis, a report on the recommendations made by the Board to the Secretary regarding air carrier operations conducted under part 121 of title 14, Code of Federal Regulations. (2) Recommendations to be covered.— The report must cover— (A) any recommendation for which the Secretary has developed, or intends to develop, procedures to adopt the recommendation or part of the recommendation, but has yet to complete the procedures; and (B) any recommendation for which the Secretary, in the preceding year, has issued a response under subsection (a)(2) or (a)(3) refusing to carry out all or part of the procedures to adopt the recommendation. (3) Contents.— (A) Plans to adopt recommendations.— For each recommendation of the Board described in paragraph (2)(A), the report must contain— (i) a description of the recommendation; (ii) a description of the procedures planned for adopting the recommendation or part of the recommendation; (iii) the proposed date for completing the procedures; and (iv) if the Secretary has not met a deadline contained in a proposed timeline developed in connection with the recommendation under subsection (b), an explanation for not meeting the deadline. (B) Refusals to adopt recommendations.— For each recommendation of the Board described in paragraph (2)(B), the report must contain— (i) a description of the recommendation; and (ii) a description of the reasons for the refusal to carry out all or part of the procedures to adopt the recommendation.