SENATE, No. 1438
STATE OF NEW JERSEY
210th LEGISLATURE
INTRODUCED MAY 9, 2002
Sponsored by:
Senator PETER A. INVERSO
District 14 (Mercer and Middlesex)
Co-Sponsored by:
Senators Palaia, Cafiero, Matheussen and Coniglio
SYNOPSIS
Requires background checks on individuals requesting flight instruction or aircraft rental; disqualifies certain persons from instruction or rental.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
As introduced.
(Sponsorship Updated As Of: 11/15/2002)
An Act providing for disqualification from certain aeronautical activities, requiring an identity background and criminal history record check, and supplementing P.L.1938, c.48 (C.6:1-20 et seq.).
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. Any aeronautical facility, flight school or institution of higher learning offering air or flight instruction, or aircraft rental shall require that an individual requesting such instruction, or rental provide an identification card, issued by the Department of Transportation, containing the individual's name, address, citizenship status, photograph, and such other information as the Commissioner of Transportation, hereinafter the commissioner, may require. Information from the identification card regarding the individual obtaining air or flight instruction, or renting an aircraft shall be entered upon a permanent register maintained by the aeronautical facility, flight school or institution of higher learning, and by the Department of Transportation, which shall be available for inspection by the commissioner and federal, State and local law enforcement officers. No air or flight instruction, or aircraft rental shall be permitted absent the presentation of a valid identification card issued pursuant to this section.
2. An individual subject to the provisions of section 1 of this act shall submit to being fingerprinted in accordance with applicable State and federal laws, rules and regulations. The individual shall provide to the commissioner written consent to the performance of an identity background and criminal history record background check. The commissioner is authorized to request and receive criminal history record background information from the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Division of State Police for use in performing background checks. The division shall provide the commissioner with the results of the individual's criminal history record background check. The individual shall bear the cost of fingerprinting and the cost for the background checks, including all costs of administering and processing the checks. As used in this act, "criminal history record background check" means a determination of whether a person has a criminal record by cross-referencing that person's name and fingerprints with those on file with the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the State Bureau of Identification in the Division of State Police.
3. An individual shall be disqualified from being issued an identification card required pursuant to section 1 of this act if the individual's criminal history record background check reveals a record of conviction for any of the following:
a. In New Jersey or elsewhere: (1) other than a disorderly persons or petty disorderly persons offense, the unlawful use, possession or sale of a controlled dangerous substance as defined in N.J.S.2C:35-2; or (2) an act of terrorism. As used in this act, "terrorism" means any unlawful act involving the use of a deadly weapon, destructive device or any instrument, article or substance readily capable of causing death or serious physical injury or damage to property committed for political reasons, political gain or financial gain with the intent to intimidate, coerce or disrupt the State, any of its political subdivisions, agencies, instrumentalities, officers or agents or cause the impairment or interruption of public communications, public transportation, public or private buildings, common carriers, public utilities or other public services.
b. In any state, territory, commonwealth or other jurisdiction of the United States, or any country in the world, as a result of a conviction in a court of competent jurisdiction, a crime or act which in that other jurisdiction or country is comparable to the crime or act enumerated in subsection a. of this section.
4. The commissioner is authorized to adopt regulations, pursuant to the "Administrative Procedure Act," P.L.1968, c.410 (C.52:14B-1 et seq.), to effectuate the purposes of this act.
5. This act shall take effect immediately.
STATEMENT
This bill requires that any individual seeking air or flight instruction, or aircraft rental from an aeronautical facility, flight school, or institution of higher learning provide an identification card, issued by the Department of Transportation, containing the individual's name, address, citizenship status, photograph, and such other information as the Commissioner of Transportation may require. Information from the identification card regarding the individual obtaining air or flight instruction, or renting an aircraft shall be entered upon a permanent register maintained by the aeronautical facility, flight school or institution of higher learning, and by the Department of Transportation, which shall be available for inspection by the commissioner and federal, State and local law enforcement officers. Absent the presentation of a valid identification card issued by the department, no air or flight instruction, or aircraft rental shall be permitted.
Further, an individual would be required to provide fingerprints and be subject to an identity background and criminal history record background check. An individual would be disqualified from receiving an identification card if the individual's background checks indicate that the individual had been convicted of a crime involving the unlawful use, possession or sale of a controlled dangerous substance, or an act of terrorism.
The identification card and criminal background check required by this bill are necessary to help protect the public against acts of violence and intimidation that could be conducted against the general population by terrorists who may be piloting aircraft.