Ensuring Health Safety in the Skies Act of 2020

116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION S. 3681 AN ACT To require a joint task force on air travel during and after the COVID–19 Public Health 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 2 † S 3681 ES SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 1 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Ensuring Health Safe- 2 ty in the Skies Act of 2020’’. 3 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 4 In this Act: 5 (1) ADVISORY COMMITTEE.—The term ‘‘Advi- 6 sory Committee’’ means the Joint Federal Advisory 7 Committee established under section 4. 8 (2) AIR TRAVEL.—The term ‘‘air travel’’ in- 9 cludes international air travel. 10 (3) COVID–19 PUBLIC HEALTH EMERGENCY.— 11 The term ‘‘COVID–19 public health emergency’’ 12 means the public health emergency first declared on 13 January 31, 2020, by the Secretary of Health and 14 Human Services under section 319 of the Public 15 Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 247d) with respect to 16 COVID–19 and includes any renewal of such dec- 17 laration pursuant to such section 319. 18 (4) JOINT TASK FORCE.—The term ‘‘Joint 19 Task Force’’ means the Joint Task Force on Air 20 Travel During and After the COVID–19 Public 21 Health Emergency established under section 3(a). 22 3 † S 3681 ES SEC. 3. JOINT TASK FORCE ON AIR TRAVEL DURING AND 1 AFTER THE COVID–19 PUBLIC HEALTH EMER- 2 GENCY. 3 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 30 days after the 4 date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Transpor- 5 tation, the Secretary of Homeland Security, and the Sec- 6 retary of Health and Human Services shall establish the 7 Joint Task Force on Air Travel During and After the 8 COVID–19 Public Health Emergency. 9 (b) DUTIES.— 10 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Joint Task Force shall 11 develop recommended requirements, plans, and 12 guidelines to address the health, safety, security, and 13 logistical issues relating to— 14 (A) the continuation of air travel during 15 the COVID–19 public health emergency; and 16 (B) the resumption of full operations at 17 airports and increased passenger air travel after 18 the COVID–19 public health emergency. 19 (2) RECOMMENDATIONS.—The recommenda- 20 tions developed under paragraph (1), with respect to 21 the applicable periods described in paragraph (3), 22 shall include— 23 (A) modifying airport, air carrier, security 24 (including passenger security screening), and 25 other operations related to passenger air travel, 26 4 † S 3681 ES including passenger queuing, boarding, 1 deplaning, and baggage handling procedures, as 2 a result of— 3 (i) current and anticipated changes to 4 passenger air travel during and after the 5 COVID–19 public health emergency; and 6 (ii) anticipated changes to passenger 7 air travel resulting from any seasonal re- 8 currence of the coronavirus; 9 (B) mitigating the public health and eco- 10 nomic impacts of the COVID–19 public health 11 emergency and any seasonal recurrence of the 12 coronavirus on airports and passenger air travel 13 (including through the use of personal protec- 14 tive equipment, the implementation of strategies 15 to promote overall passenger and employee safe- 16 ty, and the accommodation of social distancing 17 as feasible and necessary); 18 (C) addressing privacy and civil liberty 19 issues that may arise from passenger health 20 screenings, contact-tracing, or other processes 21 used to monitor the health of individuals en- 22 gaged in air travel; and 23 (D) operating procedures to manage future 24 public health crises that can be anticipated, to 25 5 † S 3681 ES the extent such public health crises may impact 1 air travel. 2 (3) APPLICABLE PERIODS.—For purposes of 3 paragraph (2), the applicable periods described in 4 this paragraph are the following periods: 5 (A) The period beginning on the date of 6 the first meeting of the Joint Task Force and 7 ending on the last day of the COVID–19 public 8 health emergency. 9 (B) The 1-year period beginning on the 10 day after the end of the period described in 11 subparagraph (A). 12 (c) ACTIVITIES OF THE JOINT TASK FORCE.— 13 (1) IN GENERAL.—In developing the rec- 14 ommended requirements, plans, and guidelines 15 under subsection (b), and prior to including such 16 recommendations in the final report required under 17 section 5(b), the Joint Task Force shall— 18 (A) conduct cost-benefit evaluations re- 19 garding such recommendations, including costs 20 impacting air operations and impacts on air 21 travel; 22 (B) consider funding constraints; 23 (C) use risk-based decision-making; and 24 6 † S 3681 ES (D) consult with the Advisory Committee 1 established in section 4(a) and consider any 2 consensus policy recommendations of the Advi- 3 sory Committee submitted under section 4(b). 4 (2) INTERNATIONAL CONSULTATION.—The 5 Joint Task Force shall consult, as practicable, with 6 relevant international entities and operators, includ- 7 ing the International Civil Aviation Organization, to 8 harmonize (to the extent possible) recommended re- 9 quirements, plans, and guidelines for air travel dur- 10 ing and after the COVID–19 public health emer- 11 gency. 12 (d) MEMBERSHIP.— 13 (1) CHAIR.—The Secretary of Transportation 14 (or the Secretary’s designee) shall serve as Chair of 15 the Joint Task Force. 16 (2) VICE-CHAIR.—The Secretary of Health and 17 Human Services (or the Secretary’s designee) shall 18 serve as Vice-Chair of the Joint Task Force. 19 (3) OTHER MEMBERS.—In addition to the 20 Chair and Vice-Chair, the members of the Joint 21 Task Force shall include representatives of the fol- 22 lowing: 23 (A) The Department of Transportation. 24 7 † S 3681 ES (B) The Department of Homeland Secu- 1 rity. 2 (C) The Department of Health and 3 Human Services. 4 (D) The Federal Aviation Administration. 5 (E) The Transportation Security Adminis- 6 tration. 7 (F) U.S. Customs and Border Protection. 8 (G) The Centers for Disease Control and 9 Prevention. 10 (H) The Occupational Safety and Health 11 Administration. 12 (I) The National Institute for Occupational 13 Safety and Health. 14 (J) The Pipeline and Hazardous Materials 15 Safety Administration. 16 (K) The Department of State. 17 (L) The Environmental Protection Agency. 18 SEC. 4. JOINT FEDERAL ADVISORY COMMITTEE. 19 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—Not later than 15 days after 20 the date on which the Joint Task Force is established 21 under section 3(a), the Secretary of Transportation, in 22 consultation with the Secretary of Homeland Security and 23 the Secretary of Health and Human Services, shall estab- 24 8 † S 3681 ES lish a Joint Federal Advisory Committee to advise the 1 Joint Task Force. 2 (b) DUTIES OF THE ADVISORY COMMITTEE.—The 3 Advisory Committee shall develop and submit consensus 4 policy recommendations to the Joint Task Force for the 5 Joint Task Force to consider when developing rec- 6 ommendations under section 3(b). 7 (c) MEMBERSHIP.—The members of the Advisory 8 Committee shall include representatives of the following: 9 (1) Airport operators designated by the Sec- 10 retary of Transportation in consultation with the 11 Secretary of Homeland Security. 12 (2) Air carriers designated by the Secretary of 13 Transportation. 14 (3) Aircraft and aviation manufacturers des- 15 ignated by the Secretary of Transportation. 16 (4) Labor organizations representing— 17 (A) aviation industry workers (including 18 pilots, flight attendants, engineers, mainte- 19 nance, mechanics, air traffic controllers, and 20 safety inspectors) designated by the Secretary 21 of Transportation; and 22 (B) security screening personnel des- 23 ignated by the Secretary of Homeland Security. 24 9 † S 3681 ES (5) Public health experts designated by the Sec- 1 retary of Health and Human Services. 2 (6) Organizations representing airline pas- 3 sengers designated by the Secretary of Transpor- 4 tation. 5 (7) Privacy and civil liberty organizations des- 6 ignated by the Secretary of Homeland Security. 7 (8) Manufacturers and integrators of passenger 8 screening and identity verification technologies des- 9 ignated by the Secretary of Homeland Security. 10 (9) Trade associations representing air carriers 11 (including major passenger air carriers, low-cost 12 passenger air carriers, regional passenger air car- 13 riers, cargo air carriers, and foreign passenger air 14 carriers) designated by the Secretary of Transpor- 15 tation in consultation with the Secretary of Home- 16 land Security. 17 (10) Trade associations representing airport op- 18 erators (including large hub, medium hub, small 19 hub, nonhub primary, and nonprimary commercial 20 service airports) designated by the Secretary of 21 Transportation in consultation with the Secretary of 22 Homeland Security. 23 (d) VACANCIES.—Any vacancy in the membership of 24 the Advisory Committee shall not affect its responsibilities 25 10 † S 3681 ES but shall be filled in the same manner as the original ap- 1 pointment and in accordance with the Federal Advisory 2 Committee Act (5 U.S.C. App). 3 (e) PROHIBITION ON COMPENSATION.—The members 4 of the Advisory Committee shall not receive any compensa- 5 tion from the Federal Government by reason of their serv- 6 ice on the Advisory Committee. 7 (f) PUBLICATION.—Not later than 14 days after the 8 date on which the Advisory Committee submits policy rec- 9 ommendations to the Joint Task Force pursuant to sub- 10 section (b), the Secretary of Transportation shall publish 11 such policy recommendations on a publicly accessible 12 website. 13 SEC. 5. BRIEFINGS AND REPORTS. 14 (a) PRELIMINARY BRIEFINGS.—As soon as prac- 15 ticable, but not later than 6 months after the date on 16 which the Joint Task Force is established under section 17 3(a), the Joint Task Force shall begin providing prelimi- 18 nary briefings to Congress on the status of the develop- 19 ment of the recommended requirements, plan, and guide- 20 lines under section 3(b). The preliminary briefings shall 21 include interim versions, if any, of the recommendations 22 of the Joint Task Force. 23 (b) FINAL REPORT.— 24 11 † S 3681 ES (1) DEADLINE.—As soon as practicable, but 1 not later than 18 months after the date of enact- 2 ment of this Act, the Joint Task Force shall submit 3 a final report to Congress. 4 (2) CONTENT.—The final report shall include 5 the following: 6 (A) All of the recommended requirements, 7 plans, and guidelines developed by the Joint 8 Task Force under section 3(b), and a descrip- 9 tion of any action taken by the Federal Govern- 10 ment as a result of such recommendations. 11 (B) Consensus policy recommendations 12 submitted by the Advisory Committee under 13 section 4(b), and an explanation (including data 14 and risk analysis) of any action by the Joint 15 Task Force in response to such recommenda- 16 tions. 17 SEC. 6. TERMINATION. 18 The Joint Task Force and the Advisory Committee 19 shall terminate 30 days after the date on which the Joint 20 12 † S 3681 ES Task Force submits the final report required under sec- 1 tion 5(b). 2 Passed the Senate September 30 (legislative day, September 29), 2020. Attest: Secretary. 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION S. 3681 AN ACT To require a joint task force on air travel during and after the COVID–19 Public Health Emer- gency, and for other purposes.