Procedures for the Handling of Discrimination Complaints under Section 519 of the Wendell H. Ford Aviation Investment and Reform Act for the 21st Century

This document provides the final text of regulations governing the employee protection (“whistleblower”) provisions of Section 519 of the Wendell H. Ford Aviation Investment and Reform Act for the 21st Century (“AIR21”), a Federal Aviation Administration reauthorization bill, enacted into law April 5, 2000. This rule establishes procedures and time frames for the handling of complaints under AIR21, including procedures and time frames for employee complaints to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (“OSHA”), investigations by OSHA, appeals of OSHA determinations to an administrative law judge (“ALJ”) for a hearing de novo, hearings by ALJs, appeal of ALJ decisions to the Administrative Review Board (acting on behalf of the Secretary) and judicial review of the Secretary's final decision. On April 1, 2002, OSHA published an interim final rule (67 FR 15454) which provided for rules of procedure and time frames to implement Section 519 of AIR21. At that time the agency requested comments concerning the interim final rules, and in response several comments were received from interested parties. OSHA has reviewed the comments and now adopts this final rule which has been revised in part to address problems perceived by the agency and the commenters.