James Oberstar: “One of the reasons that the Aviation Security Act of 1990 was so long in reaching fruition is that the rules required to…”

“One of the reasons that the Aviation Security Act of 1990 was so long in reaching fruition is that the rules required to implement the provisions of law had to go through excruciating cost-benefit analyses. One of the matters in which Members on our side... was that cost-benefit analysis on rulemaking should be waived in matters of security. The provisions of this legislation are very clear: The Under Secretary shall consider whether the costs are excessive in relation to the enhancement of the security the regulation will provide. The Under Secretary may waive requirements for analysis that estimate the number of lives that would be saved by regulation and the monetary value of such lives if the Under Secretary determines it is not feasible. That kind of cost-benefit analysis has given to the FAA the unfortunate misnomer of 'tombstone mentality.' It is not because the FAA wanted to do those analyses, it is because they had to. And we are going to take that onerous burden out of the rulemaking process and speed it up in the interest of security and saving lives.”