MIDDLE Act of 2020

II 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION S. 4293 To promote airline passenger safety during the COVID–19 public health emergency. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES JULY 23, 2020 Mr. MERKLEY introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation A BILL To promote airline passenger safety during the COVID– 19 public health emergency. 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 ‘‘Maintaining Important 4 Distance During Lengthy Epidemics Act of 2020’’ or the 5 ‘‘MIDDLE Act of 2020’’. 6 SEC. 2. PROMOTING AIRLINE PASSENGER SAFETY DURING 7 THE COVID–19 PUBLIC HEALTH EMERGENCY. 8 (a) IN GENERAL.—Pursuant to the Rehabilitation 9 Act of 1973 (29 U.S.C. 701 et seq.), the Americans with 10 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:01 Aug 09, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4293.IS S4293 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •S 4293 IS Disabilities Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 12101 et seq.), and 1 section 41705 of title 49, United States Code (commonly 2 referred to as the ‘‘Air Carrier Access Act’’), during the 3 period beginning on the date that is 14 days after the date 4 of the enactment of this Act and ending on the last day 5 of the emergency period described in section 6 1135(g)(1)(B) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 7 1320b–5(g)(1)(B)), an air carrier (as defined in section 8 40102 of title 49, United States Code) shall be prohibited 9 from doing any of the following: 10 (1) Permit adjacent seats to be filled on a pas- 11 senger aircraft. 12 (2) Pass along the cost of any seat switch un- 13 dertaken by an air carrier in order to comply the 14 prohibition under paragraph (1). 15 (3) Permit a passenger or crewmember to board 16 a passenger aircraft if the passenger or crewmember 17 is not wearing a mask. 18 (b) EXCEPTIONS.—Not later than 14 days after the 19 date of the enactment of this Act, taking into account any 20 Federal health guidance from the Department of Health 21 and Human Services (including guidance related to the 22 COVID–19 public health emergency), the Administrator 23 of the Federal Aviation Administration shall, in consulta- 24 tion with the Secretary of Health and Human Services 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:01 Aug 09, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4293.IS S4293 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •S 4293 IS (acting through the Director of the Centers for Disease 1 Control and Prevention), issue guidance that provides for 2 appropriate exceptions to the prohibitions under para- 3 graphs (1) and (3) of subsection (a). 4 (c) NONDISCRIMINATION.—In carrying out the provi- 5 sions of this section, an air carrier may not discriminate 6 against any person on the basis of race, color, religion, 7 genetic information, national origin, age, disability, or sex 8 (including sexual orientation and gender identity). 9 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:01 Aug 09, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S4293.IS S4293 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS