Mental Health in Aviation Act of 2025

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 2591 Introduced in House (IH)]

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119th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 2591

To require the Administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration to 
   revise regulations for certain individuals carrying out aviation 
activities who disclose a mental health diagnosis or condition, and for 
                            other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             April 2, 2025

Mr. Casten (for himself, Mr. Stauber, Mr. Larsen of Washington, and Mr. 
    Mann) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
             Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To require the Administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration to 
   revise regulations for certain individuals carrying out aviation 
activities who disclose a mental health diagnosis or condition, 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 ``Mental Health in Aviation Act of 
2025''.

SEC. 2. REGULATIONS FOR INDIVIDUALS CARRYING OUT AVIATION ACTIVITIES.

    (a) In General.--Not later than 2 years after the date of enactment 
of this Act, the Administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration 
shall update regulations, including in part 67 of title 14 of Code of 
Federal Regulations, as appropriate, and take any other actions 
necessary to implement the recommendations of the aviation workforce 
mental health task group established under section 411(d) the FAA 
Reauthorization Act of 2024 to encourage individuals to--
            (1) seek help for mental health conditions or symptoms of 
        mental health conditions; and
            (2) to disclose conditions or symptoms described in 
        paragraph (1).
    (b) Consultation.--In carrying out this section, the task group 
described in subsection (a) shall consult with relevant stakeholders 
from the aviation and medical communities, as necessary, including--
            (1) the certified exclusive bargaining representatives of 
        air traffic controllers of the Administration certified under 
        section 7111 of title 5, United States Code;
            (2) the principal organization representing the largest 
        certified collective bargaining representative of airline 
        pilots;
            (3) aviation medical examiners, as described in section 
        183.21 of title 14, Code of Federal Regulations; and
            (4) any other stakeholder determined relevant by the task 
        group, including any stakeholders described in section 
        411(d)(3)(B) of the FAA Reauthorization Act of 2024.
    (c) Report Requirements.--Section 411(d)(4) of the FAA 
Reauthorization Act of 2024 (Public Law 118-63) is amended--
            (1) in subparagraph (B) by striking ``and'' at the end;
            (2) in subparagraph (C) by striking the period at the end 
        and inserting a semicolon; and
            (3) by adding at the end the following:
                    ``(D) a review and evaluation of any 
                recommendations reached by the National Transportation 
                Safety Board related to aviation workforce mental 
                health; and
                    ``(E) a description of relevant clinical studies, 
                research, diagnostic manuals, and protocols used by the 
                licensed professionals as of the date of enactment of 
                this Act.''.

SEC. 3. ANNUAL REVIEW OF MENTAL HEALTH SPECIAL ISSUANCE PROCESS.

    The Administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration shall 
conduct an annual review, and update, as appropriate, the applicable 
regulations and policies, on mental health-related special issuance for 
pilots and air traffic controllers to--
            (1) reclassify and approve additional medications that may 
        be safely prescribed to airmen to treat mental health 
        conditions;
            (2) improve mental health knowledge and training for 
        aviation medical examiners;
            (3) if the Administrator determines appropriate, delegate 
        additional authority to aviation medical examiners consistent 
        with the recommendation of the Mental Health Aviation 
        Rulemaking Committee described in section 5; and
            (4) improve the special issuance process for pilots and air 
        traffic controllers.

SEC. 4. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATION FOR ADDITIONAL AVIATION MEDICAL 
              EXAMINERS.

    There is authorized to be appropriated $13,740,000 to the 
Administrator for each of fiscal years 2026 through 2029 to--
            (1) recruit, select, train, and delegate the necessary 
        authorities to additional aviation medical examiners and human 
        intervention motivation study aviation medical examiners, 
        including those who are psychiatrists;
            (2) expand capacity to provide oversight of aviation 
        medical examiners and clear the backlog of special issuance 
        requests and cases awaiting review at the Office of Aerospace 
        Medicine; and
            (3) support any other related activities, as determined by 
        the Administrator.

SEC. 5. IMPLEMENTATION OF AVIATION RULEMAKING COMMITTEE 
              RECOMMENDATIONS.

    (a) In General.--Not later than 2 years after the date of enactment 
of this Act, the Administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration 
shall implement the recommendations of the Mental Health and Aviation 
Medical Clearances Aviation Rulemaking Committee which were submitted 
to the Administrator on April 1, 2024.
    (b) Consultation.--Subject to section 2, the Administrator shall 
consult with parties in the implementation described in subsection (a).

SEC. 6. PUBLIC INFORMATION CAMPAIGN.

    (a) In General.--There are authorized to be appropriated to the 
Administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration $1,500,000 for 
each of fiscal years 2026 through 2029 for a public information 
campaign or similar public education efforts to destigmatize 
individuals in (or interested in joining) the aviation industry who 
seek mental health care, to broaden awareness of available supportive 
services, and establish trust with pilots and air traffic controllers.
    (b) Report.--Not later than 1 year after the Administrator creates 
the public information campaign described in subsection (a), the 
Administrator shall submit to appropriate committees of Congress a 
report describing the actions taken to develop such campaign and the 
plans for implementation.

SEC. 7. DEFINITIONS.

    In this Act:
            (1) Appropriate committees of congress.--The term 
        ``appropriate committees of Congress'' means--
                    (A) the Committee on Transportation and 
                Infrastructure of the House of Representatives; and
                    (B) the Committee on Commerce, Science, and 
                Transportation of the Senate.
            (2) Special issuance.--The term ``special issuance'' has 
        the meaning given the term in section 67.401 of title 14, Code 
        of Federal Regulations.
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