Expanding Private Airport Security Screening Act

I 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 3213 To amend title 49, United States Code, to allow airport operators to enter into contracts with qualified private screening companies to carry out the screening of passengers and property at airports, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES MAY 13, 2021 Mr. PERRY introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Homeland Security A BILL To amend title 49, United States Code, to allow airport operators to enter into contracts with qualified private screening companies to carry out the screening of pas- sengers and property 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 ‘‘Expanding Private Air- 4 port Security Screening Act’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:46 Jun 14, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3213.IH H3213 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 3213 IH SEC. 2. QUALIFIED PRIVATE SCREENING COMPANY SERV- 1 ICES. 2 Section 44920 of title 49, United States Code, is 3 amended to read as follows: 4 ‘‘§ 44920. Screening partnership program 5 ‘‘(a) SCREENING PARTNERSHIP PROGRAM CON- 6 TRACTS.— 7 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—An airport operator may 8 enter into a contract with a qualified private screen- 9 ing company on the list maintained under subsection 10 (b) to carry out the screening of passengers and 11 property at the airport under section 44901. 12 ‘‘(2) NOTIFICATION.—Not less than 7 days 13 after entering into a contract with a qualified private 14 screening company under paragraph (1), an airport 15 operator shall notify the Administrator of the Trans- 16 portation Security Administration. 17 ‘‘(b) PUBLIC LIST OF QUALIFIED PRIVATE SCREEN- 18 ING COMPANIES.— 19 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator shall 20 maintain a publicly available list of qualified private 21 screening companies that meet the requirements of 22 paragraph (3). 23 ‘‘(2) APPLICATION.—To be included in the list 24 maintained under paragraph (1), a qualified private 25 screening company shall submit an application to 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:46 Jun 14, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3213.IH H3213 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 3213 IH the Administrator in such form, in such manner, 1 and containing such information as the Adminis- 2 trator may require. 3 ‘‘(3) REQUIREMENTS.—A qualified private 4 screening company is eligible to be included in the 5 list maintained under paragraph (1) if the com- 6 pany— 7 ‘‘(A) only employs individuals to provide 8 such services who meet all the requirements of 9 this chapter applicable to Federal Government 10 personnel who perform passenger and property 11 security screening services at airports under 12 this chapter; 13 ‘‘(B) demonstrates capability of providing 14 passenger and property screening services and 15 protection at the same level provided by Federal 16 Government personnel under this chapter; and 17 ‘‘(C) is owned and controlled by a citizen 18 of the United States, to the extent that the Ad- 19 ministrator determines that there are private 20 screening companies owned and controlled by 21 such citizens. 22 ‘‘(c) TRANSITION PLAN.—Not later than 30 days 23 after the date on which an airport operator provides the 24 notification required under subsection (a)(2), the airport 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:46 Jun 14, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3213.IH H3213 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 3213 IH operator shall create a plan to transition the provision of 1 passenger and property screening services at such airport 2 to the applicable qualified private screening company. 3 ‘‘(d) SUPERVISION OF SCREENING PERSONNEL.— 4 The Administrator shall— 5 ‘‘(1) provide Federal Government supervisors to 6 oversee all screening at each airport at which pas- 7 senger and property screening services are provided 8 under this section and provide Federal Government 9 law enforcement officers at the airport pursuant to 10 this chapter; and 11 ‘‘(2) undertake covert testing and remedial 12 training support for employees of qualified private 13 screening companies providing passenger and prop- 14 erty screening services at airports. 15 ‘‘(e) OPERATOR OF AIRPORT.— 16 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other 17 provision of law, an operator of an airport shall not 18 be liable for any claims for damages filed in State 19 or Federal court (including a claim for compen- 20 satory, punitive, contributory, or indemnity dam- 21 ages) related to an act of negligence, gross neg- 22 ligence, or intentional wrongdoing by— 23 ‘‘(A) a qualified private screening company 24 or any of its employees in any case in which the 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:46 Jun 14, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3213.IH H3213 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 3213 IH qualified private screening company is acting 1 under a contract entered into with the airport 2 operator; or 3 ‘‘(B) employees of the Federal Government 4 providing supervision of screening personnel at 5 the airport. 6 ‘‘(2) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in 7 this subsection shall relieve any airport operator 8 from liability for its own acts or omissions related to 9 its security responsibilities, nor except as may be 10 provided by the Support Anti-Terrorism by Fos- 11 tering Effective Technologies Act of 2002 shall it re- 12 lieve any qualified private screening company or its 13 employees from any liability related to its own acts 14 of negligence, gross negligence, or intentional wrong- 15 doing. 16 ‘‘(f) REPORT TO CONGRESS.— 17 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator shall 18 submit an annual report to the Committee on Com- 19 merce, Science, and Transportation of the Senate 20 and the Committee on Homeland Security of the 21 House of Representatives that contains— 22 ‘‘(A) a comparison of the mean average 23 screening performance of qualified private 24 screening companies under contract pursuant to 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:46 Jun 14, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3213.IH H3213 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 3213 IH this section and the mean average screening 1 performance of all airports using Federal Gov- 2 ernment passenger and property screening serv- 3 ices; 4 ‘‘(B) a comparison of the mean cost of 5 providing passenger and property screening 6 services with Federal Government personnel 7 and the mean cost of contracting with a quali- 8 fied private screening company for such services 9 under this section delineated by airport cat- 10 egory; and 11 ‘‘(C) a comparison of the cost to each air- 12 port operator of contracting with a qualified 13 private screening company to provide passenger 14 and property screening services under this sec- 15 tion to the estimated cost to the Federal Gov- 16 ernment to provide passenger and property se- 17 curity screening services at such airport. 18 ‘‘(2) COST ESTIMATES.—Any estimate of cost 19 to the Federal Government provided pursuant to 20 paragraph (1) shall reflect the total cost to the Fed- 21 eral Government, including all costs incurred by all 22 Federal agencies of providing passenger and prop- 23 erty screening services at an airport. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:46 Jun 14, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3213.IH H3213 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 3213 IH ‘‘(3) PUBLICATION.—Not later than 7 days 1 after the date on which the Administrator submits 2 a report required under paragraph (1), the Adminis- 3 trator shall publish such report on a website of the 4 Transportation Security Administration.’’. 5 SEC. 3. PROVIDING EFFECTIVE COST COMPARISONS TO 6 AIRPORT OPERATORS. 7 Section 1947 of the FAA Reauthorization Act of 8 2018 (49 U.S.C. 44901 note) is amended— 9 (1) in paragraph (1) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the 10 end; 11 (2) in paragraph (2)(B)(iii) by striking the pe- 12 riod at the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 13 (3) by adding at the end the following: 14 ‘‘(3) in the case of an airport operator that con- 15 tracts with a qualified private screening company to 16 provide passenger and property screening services at 17 such airport, a comparison of the cost of such con- 18 tract and an estimate of the cost to such airport op- 19 erator of providing passenger and property screening 20 services with Federal Government personnel.’’. 21 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:46 Jun 14, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H3213.IH H3213 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS