Thu, Mar 20, 2003
On March 17,
the Professional Aviation Maintenance Association (PAMA) submitted
comments opposing the TSA and the FAA's direct final rules
establishing procedures for notifying FAA certificate holders of
TSA's assessment that the certificate holder poses, or is suspected
to pose, a security threat. The repercussions of such an assessment
are immediate certificate suspension, a superficial opportunity for
the certificate holder to refute charges that likely will not be
disclosed, a two-tier internal TSA-only review of the charges and
no independent appeals process.
"PAMA takes strong exception to these rules. They are an
abrogation of a U.S. citizen's constitutionally guaranteed right to
due process, including the right to know the charges of which one
is accused and the right to an independent appeals process," said
PAMA President Brian Finnegan. "While PAMA supports the TSA's
actions to combat terrorism by removing known threats from
operational access to aircraft, the inclusion of those 'suspected
of posing' a terrorist threat opens the door for abuse that could
ruin the careers of innocent men and women," he said.
"We are very concerned that such a rule would be
enacted without comment from the aviation community, and we
encourage PAMA members and the entire aviation community to submit
comments opposing these rules as written by the March 24 deadline,"
said Mr. Finnegan (right).
PAMA's comments are a 16-page legal opinion on the TSA and FAA's
final rules issued in the Federal Register on January 24, 2003.
Included in PAMA's official comments are eight recommendations that
acknowledge the TSA's efforts to prevent terrorist attacks within
our aviation infrastructure but assure the sanctity of our
constitutional rights.
PAMA recommends the following for amendment of the TSA final
rule:
- The rule should provide an explanation of the processes and
rationale(s) that TSA employs to make or review threat
determinations;
- Threat determinations based on mere suspicion should be
eliminated;
- The rule should provided for a pre-deprivation appeal and
review unless TSA makes specific findings and justifications in
writing that such procedures are contrary to the interests of
national security;
- TSA should develop and publish procedures for determining if
immediate action against an FAA certificate holder is
justified;
- If TSA determines that immediate action against an FAA
certificate holder is justified, an appeal procedure related solely
to that determination should be provided;
-
TSA should develop procedures to provide (at
least) a summary of the evidence relied upon and the rationale for
making any initial determination of a threat to security, and TSA
should include this summary in the initial notification provided to
the affected airman;
- TSA should develop procedures (in connection with the FAA and
NTSB) to provide an airman the maximum access possible to evidence
or intelligence information that underlies the TSA determination of
a security threat while safeguarding classified and sensitive
security information (such access should be provided at a time and
manner allowing the affected airman to make use of such
information); and
- TSA, FAA and NTSB should collaborate to develop an effective
and timely appeal procedure for airmen whose certificates are
suspended or revoked on the basis of a TSA threat assessment. Such
an appeal procedure should, to the maximum extent possible, be
based on the current procedures for appeals and review of FAA
airman certificate actions.
"PAMA worked with the entire aviation community to
help educate the largely non-aviation Transportation Security
Administration," emphasized Mr. Finnegan. "We continue to offer our
expertise and support for their goals which assure safety of the
flying public while assuring the stability and integrity of our
critical professional aviation maintenance workforce."
Comments on both the FAA and TSA rules should be made to the
Department of Transportation's Docket Management System by
registering at http://dmses.dot.gov/submit.
Where indicated, you may submit your comments to the TSA using
Docket ID number TSA-2002-13732 and to the FAA using Docket ID
number FAA-2003-14293.
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