Fly Safe Canine COVID Detection Act of 2021

II 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 343 To require the Transportation Security Administration to conduct a feasibility study on the use of canine units for COVID–19 detection at airports. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES FEBRUARY 22, 2021 Mr. SCOTT of Florida (for himself and Ms. SINEMA) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation A BILL To require the Transportation Security Administration to conduct a feasibility study on the use of canine units for COVID–19 detection at airports. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Fly Safe Canine 4 COVID Detection Act of 2021’’. 5 SEC. 2. FEASIBILITY STUDY ON USE OF CANINE UNITS TO 6 DETECT COVID–19 AT AIRPORTS. 7 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator of the Trans- 8 portation Security Administration (in this section referred 9 VerDate Sep 11 2014 06:04 Mar 03, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S343.IS S343 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 2 •S 343 IS to as the ‘‘Administrator’’), in consultation with the Sec- 1 retary of Transportation, the Secretary of Homeland Se- 2 curity, the Secretary of Health and Human Services, and 3 the Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Pre- 4 vention, shall conduct a study to assess— 5 (1) the feasibility of using canines to detect the 6 presence of SARS–CoV–2, the virus that causes the 7 coronavirus disease 2019 (commonly known as 8 ‘‘COVID–19’’), in individuals infected with the 9 virus; 10 (2) if using canines to detect the presence of 11 SARS–CoV–2 is feasible, whether canine units could 12 be used at airports to screen passengers, individuals 13 accompanying passengers, crew members, and other 14 individuals who pass through airports and airport 15 security screening locations for SARS–CoV–2 infec- 16 tion; and 17 (3) if using canine units to conduct screening 18 described in paragraph (2) is feasible, how such 19 screening would be implemented and what metrics 20 would be used to monitor the efficacy of the screen- 21 ing. 22 (b) ASSESSMENT OF EFFICACY.— 23 (1) IN GENERAL.—In conducting the study re- 24 quired by subsection (a), the Administrator shall 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 06:04 Mar 03, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S343.IS S343 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 3 •S 343 IS conduct a comprehensive review and analysis of 1 SARS–CoV–2 detection solutions to determine the 2 efficacy of canines to detect SARS–CoV–2 in indi- 3 viduals. 4 (2) USE OF REVIEW.—The Administrator shall 5 use the results of the review and analysis required 6 by paragraph (1) to determine the biological detec- 7 tion capabilities of canines and to inform the oper- 8 ational factors and considerations necessary for the 9 deployment of canine units at airports to detect 10 SARS–CoV–2. 11 (c) ADDITIONAL ELEMENTS.—In conducting the as- 12 sessments required by subsections (a) and (b), the Admin- 13 istrator shall assess the following: 14 (1) The probability of canines responding to the 15 presence of SARS–CoV–2. 16 (2) The specificity of response by canines to 17 SARS–CoV–2 compared to their response to a pool 18 of similar viruses and controls. 19 (3) How close canine units must be to individ- 20 uals to detect SARS–CoV–2 at a high sensitivity 21 and specificity. 22 (4) The effectiveness of canine units in detect- 23 ing SARS–CoV–2 in symptomatic carriers compared 24 to asymptomatic carriers. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 06:04 Mar 03, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S343.IS S343 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 4 •S 343 IS (5) Other valid measures to determine the effi- 1 cacy of using canine units to screen for SARS–CoV– 2 2 at airports, such as the accuracy of detection and 3 the risks of false positives and false negatives. 4 (6) Identification of training and policy gaps 5 that are critical to be addressed before implementing 6 a program to use canine units at airports to screen 7 passengers, individuals accompanying passengers, 8 crew members, and other individuals who pass 9 through airports and airport security screening loca- 10 tions, for infection with SARS–CoV–2. 11 (d) CONSIDERATIONS.—In conducting the study re- 12 quired by subsection (a), the Administrator shall consider 13 the following: 14 (1) Opportunities to leverage established, pre- 15 existing scientific information regarding detection of 16 SARS–CoV–2 by canines. 17 (2) Established programs in foreign countries 18 related to detection of SARS–CoV–2 by canine 19 units. 20 (3) Detection approaches and solutions related 21 to the optimization of detection of SARS–CoV–2 by 22 canines. 23 (4) Private industry approaches aimed to facili- 24 tate detection of SARS–CoV–2 using canine units. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 06:04 Mar 03, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S343.IS S343 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 5 •S 343 IS (e) THIRD-PARTY VALIDATION AND 1 VERIFICATION.—The Administrator shall ensure that any 2 screening solutions developed pursuant to the study re- 3 quired by subsection (a) undergo validation and verifica- 4 tion analysis by a third party with appropriate expertise 5 to ensure accuracy of data obtained from the study. 6 (f) REPORT REQUIRED.—Not later than 120 days 7 after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Adminis- 8 trator shall submit to Congress a report— 9 (1) setting forth the results of the study re- 10 quired by subsection (a), including the assessments 11 required by subsections (b) and (c); and 12 (2) making a recommendation with respect to 13 whether to proceed with implementing a program to 14 use canine units at airports to screen passengers, in- 15 dividuals accompanying passengers, crew members, 16 and other individuals who pass through airports and 17 airport security screening locations, for infection 18 with SARS–CoV–2. 19 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 06:04 Mar 03, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S343.IS S343 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS