Security Screening During COVID–19 Act

IIB 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 1877 IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES JULY 21, 2021 Received; read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation AN ACT To require the Transportation Security Administration to issue a plan to improve security screening procedures at airports during the COVID–19 national emergency, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:28 Jul 22, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1877.RFS H1877 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 2 HR 1877 RFS SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 1 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Security Screening 2 During COVID–19 Act’’. 3 SEC. 2. PLAN. 4 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 90 days after the 5 date of the enactment of this Act, the Administrator, in 6 coordination with the Chief Medical Officer of the Depart- 7 ment of Homeland Security, and in consultation with the 8 Secretary of Health and Human Services and the Director 9 of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, shall 10 issue and commence implementing a plan to enhance, as 11 appropriate, security operations at airports during the 12 COVID–19 national emergency in order to reduce risk of 13 the spread of the coronavirus at passenger screening 14 checkpoints and among the TSA workforce. 15 (b) CONTENTS.—The plan required under subsection 16 (a) shall include the following: 17 (1) An identification of best practices developed 18 in response to the coronavirus among foreign gov- 19 ernments, airports, and air carriers conducting avia- 20 tion security screening operations, as well as among 21 Federal agencies conducting similar security screen- 22 ing operations outside of airports, including in loca- 23 tions where the spread of the coronavirus has been 24 successfully contained, that could be further inte- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:28 Jul 22, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1877.RFS H1877 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 3 HR 1877 RFS grated into the United States aviation security sys- 1 tem. 2 (2) Specific operational changes to aviation se- 3 curity screening operations informed by the identi- 4 fication of best practices under paragraph (1) that 5 could be implemented without degrading aviation se- 6 curity and a corresponding timeline and costs for 7 implementing such changes. 8 (c) CONSIDERATIONS.—In carrying out the identi- 9 fication of best practices under subsection (b), the Admin- 10 istrator shall take into consideration the following: 11 (1) Aviation security screening procedures and 12 practices in place at security screening locations, in- 13 cluding procedures and practices implemented in re- 14 sponse to the coronavirus. 15 (2) Volume and average wait times at each such 16 security screening location. 17 (3) Public health measures already in place at 18 each such security screening location. 19 (4) The feasibility and effectiveness of imple- 20 menting similar procedures and practices in loca- 21 tions where such are not already in place. 22 (5) The feasibility and potential benefits to se- 23 curity, public health, and travel facilitation of con- 24 tinuing any procedures and practices implemented in 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:28 Jul 22, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1877.RFS H1877 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 4 HR 1877 RFS response to the COVID–19 national emergency be- 1 yond the end of such emergency. 2 (d) CONSULTATION.—In developing the plan required 3 under subsection (a), the Administrator may consult with 4 public and private stakeholders and the TSA workforce, 5 including through the labor organization certified as the 6 exclusive representative of full- and part-time non-super- 7 visory TSA personnel carrying out screening functions 8 under section 44901 of title 49, U.S. Code. 9 (e) SUBMISSION.—Upon issuance of the plan re- 10 quired under subsection (a), the Administrator shall sub- 11 mit the plan to the Committee on Homeland Security of 12 the House of Representatives and the Committee on Com- 13 merce, Science, and Transportation of the Senate. 14 (f) ISSUANCE AND IMPLEMENTATION.—The Admin- 15 istrator shall not be required to issue or implement, as 16 the case may be, the plan required under subsection (a) 17 upon the termination of the COVID–19 national emer- 18 gency except to the extent the Administrator determines 19 such issuance or implementation, as the case may be, to 20 be feasible and beneficial to security screening operations. 21 (g) GAO REVIEW.—Not later than 1 year after the 22 issuance of the plan required under subsection (a) (if such 23 plan is issued in accordance with subsection (f)), the 24 Comptroller General of the United States shall submit to 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:28 Jul 22, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1877.RFS H1877 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 5 HR 1877 RFS the Committee on Homeland Security of the House of 1 Representatives and the Committee on Commerce, 2 Science, and Transportation of the Senate a review, if ap- 3 propriate, of such plan and any efforts to implement such 4 plan. 5 (h) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 6 (1) ADMINISTRATOR.—The term ‘‘Adminis- 7 trator’’ means the Administrator of the Transpor- 8 tation Security Administration. 9 (2) CORONAVIRUS.—The term ‘‘coronavirus’’ 10 has the meaning given such term in section 506 of 11 the Coronavirus Preparedness and Response Supple- 12 mental Appropriations Act, 2020 (Public Law 116– 13 123). 14 (3) COVID–19 NATIONAL EMERGENCY.—The 15 term ‘‘COVID–19 national emergency’’ means the 16 national emergency declared by the President under 17 the National Emergencies Act (50 U.S.C. 1601 et 18 seq.) on March 13, 2020, with respect to the 19 coronavirus. 20 (4) PUBLIC AND PRIVATE STAKEHOLDERS.— 21 The term ‘‘public and private stakeholders’’ has the 22 meaning given such term in section 114(t)(1)(C) of 23 title 49, United States Code. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:28 Jul 22, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1877.RFS H1877 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 6 HR 1877 RFS (5) TSA.—The term ‘‘TSA’’ means the Trans- 1 portation Security Administration. 2 Passed the House of Representatives July 20, 2021. Attest: CHERYL L. JOHNSON, Clerk. VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:28 Jul 22, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1877.RFS H1877 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS