Screening Partnership Reform Act

II 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 1184 To improve the program providing for private screening companies to conduct security screening at airports, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES APRIL 15, 2021 Mr. LEE introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation A BILL To improve the program providing for private screening com- panies to conduct security screening at airports, 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 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Screening Partnership 4 Reform Act’’. 5 SEC. 2. SCREENING PARTNERSHIP PROGRAM. 6 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 44920 of title 49, United 7 States Code, is amended— 8 (1) by amending subsection (b) to read as fol- 9 lows: 10 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:06 Apr 28, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1184.IS S1184 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 2 •S 1184 IS ‘‘(b) SELECTION OF QUALIFIED PRIVATE SCREEN- 1 ING COMPANIES.— 2 ‘‘(1) LIST OF QUALIFIED PRIVATE SCREENING 3 COMPANIES.—Not later than 30 days after receiving 4 an application from the operator of an airport under 5 subsection (a), the Administrator shall provide the 6 operator of such airport with an opportunity— 7 ‘‘(A) for the operator to select a qualified 8 private screening company with which the oper- 9 ator prefers the Administrator enter into a con- 10 tract for screening services at such airport; or 11 ‘‘(B) to request that the Administrator se- 12 lect a qualified private screening company with 13 which to enter into such a contract. 14 ‘‘(2) ENTRY INTO CONTRACT.— 15 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Subject to subsections 16 (c) and (d), not later than 60 days after the 17 date on which the operator of an airport selects 18 a qualified private screening company under 19 paragraph (1)(A) or clause (ii) or requests the 20 Administrator to select such a company under 21 paragraph (1)(B)— 22 ‘‘(i) the Administrator shall enter into 23 a contract for screening services at that 24 airport with the qualified private screening 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:06 Apr 28, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1184.IS S1184 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 3 •S 1184 IS company selected by the airport or the 1 company selected by the Administrator, as 2 the case may be; or 3 ‘‘(ii) in the case of a company selected 4 by the operator of the airport, if the Ad- 5 ministrator rejects the bid from that com- 6 pany, or is otherwise unable to enter into 7 a contract with that company, the Admin- 8 istrator shall provide the operator of the 9 airport another 60 days to select another 10 qualified private screening company. 11 ‘‘(B) REJECTION OF BIDS.—If the Admin- 12 istrator rejects a bid from a private screening 13 company selected by the operator of an airport 14 under paragraph (1)(A) or subparagraph 15 (A)(ii), the Administrator shall, not later than 16 30 days after rejecting such bid, submit a re- 17 port to the operator, the Committee on Com- 18 merce, Science, and Transportation of the Sen- 19 ate, and the Committee on Homeland Security 20 of the House of Representatives that includes— 21 ‘‘(i) the findings that served as the 22 basis for rejecting such bid; 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:06 Apr 28, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1184.IS S1184 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 4 •S 1184 IS ‘‘(ii) the results of any cost or security 1 analyses conducted in relation to such bid; 2 and 3 ‘‘(iii) recommendations for how the 4 operator of the airport can address the 5 reasons the Administrator rejected such 6 bid.’’; 7 (2) in subsection (c), by striking ‘‘and will pro- 8 vide’’ and all that follows through ‘‘with this chap- 9 ter’’; 10 (3) in subsection (d)— 11 (A) by striking paragraph (1); 12 (B) by redesignating paragraphs (2) and 13 (3) as paragraphs (1) and (2), respectively; 14 (C) in paragraph (1), as redesignated— 15 (i) in the matter preceding subpara- 16 graph (A), by striking ‘‘The Adminis- 17 trator’’ and all that follows and inserting 18 ‘‘The Administrator shall enter into a con- 19 tract with a qualified private screening 20 company only if—’’; 21 (ii) in subparagraph (B), by striking 22 ‘‘and’’ at the end; and 23 (iii) by striking subparagraph (C) and 24 inserting the following: 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:06 Apr 28, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1184.IS S1184 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 5 •S 1184 IS ‘‘(C) the cost of providing screening serv- 1 ices at the airport under the contract is equal 2 to or less than the cost to the Federal Govern- 3 ment of providing screening services at that air- 4 port during the term of the contract; and 5 ‘‘(D) entering into the contract would not 6 compromise aviation security or the effective- 7 ness of the screening of passengers or property 8 at the airport.’’; 9 (D) in paragraph (2), as redesignated, by 10 striking the second sentence; and 11 (E) by adding at the end the following: 12 ‘‘(3) TRAINING AND CERTIFICATION.— 13 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—A private screening 14 company may fulfill the requirement under 15 paragraph (1)(A) by using screening super- 16 visors who have been trained and certified at a 17 Federal Law Enforcement Training Center to 18 administer comparable on-site training and cer- 19 tification to private security screeners at an air- 20 port that is participating in the screening part- 21 nership program. 22 ‘‘(B) AUTHORIZED TRAINERS.—If a pri- 23 vate screening company elects to conduct on- 24 site training and certification in accordance 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:06 Apr 28, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1184.IS S1184 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 6 •S 1184 IS with subparagraph (A), such training shall be 1 conducted by— 2 ‘‘(i) a Federal employer or contractor 3 who is authorized to train and certify secu- 4 rity screeners; or 5 ‘‘(ii) an employee of a private screen- 6 ing company who has successfully com- 7 pleted security supervisor training at a 8 Federal Law Enforcement Training Cen- 9 ter. 10 ‘‘(C) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing 11 in this paragraph may be construed to require 12 security screeners employed by a private screen- 13 ing company who have received on-site training 14 and certification in accordance with subpara- 15 graph (A) to receive any additional training at 16 a Federal Law Enforcement Training Center. 17 ‘‘(4) PART-TIME POSITIONS.—None of the 18 standards required to be a qualified private screen- 19 ing company may be construed to prohibit a private 20 screening company from employing screeners for 21 part-time positions. 22 ‘‘(5) CALCULATION OF FEDERAL COSTS.—For 23 purpose of the comparison of costs required under 24 paragraph (1)(C), the Administrator shall incor- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:06 Apr 28, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1184.IS S1184 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 7 •S 1184 IS porate a cost estimate that reflects the total cost to 1 the Federal Government, including all costs incurred 2 by all Federal agencies and not only by the Trans- 3 portation Security Administration, of providing 4 screening services at an airport.’’; 5 (4) by striking subsection (i) (as added by sec- 6 tion 1946(a)(7) of the TSA Modernization Act (divi- 7 sion K of Public Law 115–254)); and 8 (5) by striking subsection (i) (as added by sec- 9 tion 1991(d)(17)(B) of the TSA Modernization Act 10 (division K of Public Law 115–254)) and inserting 11 the following: 12 ‘‘(i) CONSIDERATION OF RECOMMENDATIONS BY 13 PRIVATE SCREENING COMPANIES FOR IMPROVING AVIA- 14 TION SECURITY.— 15 ‘‘(1) RECOMMENDATIONS.—The Administrator 16 shall request each qualified private screening com- 17 pany that enters into a contract with the Transpor- 18 tation Security Administration under this section to 19 provide screening services at an airport to submit to 20 the Administrator an annual report that includes 21 recommendations for— 22 ‘‘(A) new approaches to prioritize and 23 streamline requirements for aviation security; 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:06 Apr 28, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1184.IS S1184 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 8 •S 1184 IS ‘‘(B) new or more efficient processes for 1 the screening of all passengers and property at 2 the airport under section 44901; 3 ‘‘(C) processes and procedures that would 4 enhance the screening of passengers and prop- 5 erty at the airport; or 6 ‘‘(D) screening processes and procedures 7 that would better enable the Administrator and 8 the private screening company to respond to 9 threats and emerging threats to aviation secu- 10 rity. 11 ‘‘(2) TESTING.—The Administrator shall con- 12 duct a field demonstration at an airport of each rec- 13 ommendation submitted under paragraph (1) to de- 14 termine the effectiveness of the approach, process, or 15 procedure recommended, unless the Administrator 16 determines that conducting such a demonstration 17 would compromise aviation security. 18 ‘‘(3) CONSIDERATION OF ADOPTION.— 19 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—After conducting a 20 field demonstration under paragraph (2) with 21 respect to a recommendation submitted under 22 paragraph (1) by a private screening company, 23 the Administrator— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:06 Apr 28, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1184.IS S1184 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 9 •S 1184 IS ‘‘(i) shall consider adopting the rec- 1 ommendation; and 2 ‘‘(ii) may adopt the recommendation 3 at all or some airports. 4 ‘‘(B) REPORT.—If the Administrator does 5 not adopt a recommendation submitted under 6 paragraph (1) by a private screening company, 7 the Administrator shall submit a report to Con- 8 gress and the private screening company that 9 includes— 10 ‘‘(i) a description of the specific rea- 11 sons the Administrator chose not to adopt 12 the recommendation; and 13 ‘‘(ii) recommendations for how the 14 private screening company could improve 15 the approach, process, or procedure rec- 16 ommended. 17 ‘‘(j) RESTRICTIONS ON RELOCATION PAYMENTS.— 18 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—A security screener em- 19 ployed by the Transportation Security Administra- 20 tion who accepts an offer of employment from a pri- 21 vate screening company under this section may not 22 receive any amount of relocation compensation from 23 the Transportation Security Administration. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:06 Apr 28, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1184.IS S1184 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 10 •S 1184 IS ‘‘(2) COORDINATION AND DISCLOSURES.—The 1 Administrator shall— 2 ‘‘(A) coordinate with the selected qualified 3 private screening company regarding the terms 4 of the airport transition; and 5 ‘‘(B) publicly disclose compensation and 6 relocation or transfer benefits made available to 7 security screeners that remain employees of the 8 Transportation Security Administration after 9 transferring to an airport that is not partici- 10 pating in the screening partnership program. 11 ‘‘(3) STANDARD HIRING PROCESS.—Any secu- 12 rity screener employed by a private screening com- 13 pany under this section who is a former employee of 14 the Transportation Security Administration shall be 15 subject to the standard hiring process for security 16 screeners employed by the Transportation Security 17 Administration if he or she seeks to transition back 18 to such employment.’’. 19 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—Section 44920 of 20 title 49, United States Code, is amended— 21 (1) in subsection (a), by inserting ‘‘(referred to 22 in this section as the ‘Administrator’)’’ after ‘‘of the 23 Transportation Security Administration’’; and 24 (2) in subsection (g)— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:06 Apr 28, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1184.IS S1184 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 11 •S 1184 IS (A) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘Sec- 1 retary of Homeland Security’’ and inserting 2 ‘‘Administrator’’; and 3 (B) in paragraph (2)(A), by striking ‘‘Sec- 4 retary of Homeland Security or the Sec- 5 retary’s’’ and inserting ‘‘Administrator or the 6 Administrator’s’’. 7 (c) FEDERAL LAW ENFORCEMENT TRAINING CEN- 8 TER.—Section 884(c) of the Homeland Security Act of 9 2002 (6 U.S.C. 464(c)) is amended— 10 (1) in paragraph (9), by striking ‘‘and’’ at the 11 end; 12 (2) in paragraph (10), by striking the period at 13 the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 14 (3) by adding at the end the following: 15 ‘‘(11) create and maintain a FLETC training 16 program to certify private security screening super- 17 visors to administer on-site security screening train- 18 ing and certification for the participants in the 19 Screening Partnership Program in accordance with 20 section 44920(d)(3) of title 49, United States 21 Code.’’. 22 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:06 Apr 28, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S1184.IS S1184 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS