[Congressional Bills 114th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 5292 Introduced in House (IH)]
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114th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. R. 5292
To amend title 49, United States Code, relating to hiring of certain
air traffic control specialists, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
May 19, 2016
Mr. Curbelo of Florida (for himself and Mr. Sean Patrick Maloney of New
York) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the
Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To amend title 49, United States Code, relating to hiring of certain
air traffic control specialists, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Air Traffic Controller Hiring
Improvement Act of 2016''.
SEC. 2. HIRING OF AIR TRAFFIC CONTROLLERS.
(a) In General.--Section 44506 of title 49, United States Code, is
amended by adding at the end the following:
``(f) Hiring of Certain Air Traffic Control Specialists.--
``(1) Consideration of applicants.--
``(A) Ensuring selection of most qualified
applicants.--In appointing individuals to the position
of air traffic controllers, the Administrator shall
give preferential consideration to qualified
individuals maintaining 52 consecutive weeks of air
traffic control experience involving the active
separation of air traffic after receipt of an air
traffic certification or air traffic control facility
rating within 5 years of application while serving at--
``(i) a Federal Aviation Administration air
traffic control facility;
``(ii) a civilian or military air traffic
control facility of the Department of Defense;
or
``(iii) a tower operating under contract
with the Federal Aviation Administration under
section 47124.
``(B) Consideration of additional applicants.--The
Administrator shall consider additional applicants for
the position of air traffic controller by referring an
approximately equal number of employees for appointment
among 2 applicant pools. The number of employees
referred for consideration from each group shall not
differ by more than 10 percent.
``(i) Pool one.--Pool one shall consist of
applicants who--
``(I) have successfully completed
air traffic controller training and
graduated from an institution
participating in the Collegiate
Training Initiative program maintained
under subsection (c)(1) who have
received from the institution--
``(aa) an appropriate
recommendation; or
``(bb) an endorsement
certifying that the applicant
would have met the requirements
in effect as of December 31,
2013, for an appropriate
recommendation;
``(II) are eligible for a veterans
recruitment appointment pursuant to
section 4214 of title 38 and provide a
Certificate of Release or Discharge
from Active Duty within 120 days of the
announcement closing;
``(III) are eligible veterans under
section 4211 of title 38 maintaining
aviation experience obtained in the
course of the individual's military
experience; or
``(IV) are preference eligible
veterans pursuant to section 2108 of
title 5.
``(ii) Pool two.--Pool two shall consist of
applicants who apply under a vacancy
announcement recruiting from all United States
citizens.
``(2) Use of biographical assessments.--
``(A) Biographical assessments.--The Administration
may not use any biographical assessment when hiring
under subparagraph (A) or subparagraph (B)(i) of
paragraph (1).
``(B) Reconsideration of applicants disqualified on
the basis of biographical assessments.--
``(i) In general.--If an individual
described in subparagraph (A) or subparagraph
(B)(i) of paragraph (1) who applied for the
position of air traffic controller with the
Administration in response to Vacancy
Announcement FAA-AMC-14-ALLSRCE-33537 (issued
on February 10, 2014) and was disqualified from
the position as the result of a biographical
assessment, the Administrator shall provide the
applicant an opportunity to reapply as soon as
practicable for the position under the revised
hiring practices.
``(ii) Waiver of age restriction.--The
Administrator shall waive any maximum age
restriction for the position of air traffic
controller with the Administration that would
otherwise disqualify an individual from the
position if the individual--
``(I) is reapplying for the
position pursuant to clause (i) on or
before December 31, 2017; and
``(II) met the maximum age
requirement on the date of the
individual's previous application for
the position during the interim hiring
process.
``(3) Maximum entry age for experienced controllers.--
Notwithstanding section 3307 of title 5, the maximum limit of
age for an original appointment to a position as an air traffic
controller shall be 35 years of age for those maintaining 52
weeks of air traffic control experience involving the active
separation of air traffic after receipt of an air traffic
certification or air traffic control facility rating in a
civilian or military air traffic control facility.''.
(b) Notification of Vacancies.--The Administrator of the Federal
Aviation Administration shall consider directly notifying secondary
schools and institutes of higher learning, including Historically Black
Colleges and Universities, Hispanic-serving institutions, Minority
Institutions, and Tribal Colleges and Universities, of the vacancy
announcement under section 44506(f)(1)(B)(ii) of title 49, United
States Code.
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