Healthy Air Travel Act

I 118TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 3679 To direct the Administrator of the Federal Aviation administration to develop an interagency task force to develop and implement a strategy to identify and advance research on communicable diseases in air travel, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES MAY 25, 2023 Mrs. CHERFILUS-MCCORMICK (for herself, Mr. JOHNSON of Georgia, Mr. FITZPATRICK, Mrs. CHAVEZ-DEREMER, Mr. BACON, Ms. NORTON, Mr. CARSON, and Ms. TITUS) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology A BILL To direct the Administrator of the Federal Aviation adminis- tration to develop an interagency task force to develop and implement a strategy to identify and advance re- search on communicable diseases in air travel, 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 ‘‘Healthy Air Travel 4 Act’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:00 Jun 20, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3679.IH H3679 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 2 •HR 3679 IH SEC. 2. INTERAGENCY TASK FORCE ON COMMUNICABLE 1 DISEASES IN AIR TRAVEL. 2 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days after the 3 date of enactment of this Act, the Administrator of the 4 Federal Aviation Administration, in coordination with the 5 Secretary of Health and Human Services and the Sec- 6 retary of Homeland Security, shall establish an inter- 7 agency task force to develop and implement a strategy to 8 identify and advance research on communicable diseases 9 in air travel. 10 (b) MEMBERSHIP.—The Administrator of the Fed- 11 eral Aviation Administration, in coordination with the Sec- 12 retary of Health and Human Services and the Secretary 13 of Homeland Security, shall select members of the task 14 force established pursuant to subsection (a) from the Fed- 15 eral Aviation Administration, the Department of Home- 16 land Security, and the Department of Health and Human 17 Services and such other Federal departments or agencies 18 as the Administrator of the Federal Aviation Administra- 19 tion considers appropriate. 20 (c) CONSULTATION.— 21 (1) IN GENERAL.—When developing a strategy 22 under subsection (a), the task force established pur- 23 suant to such subsection shall consult with aviation 24 industry, health experts, and labor stakeholders, in- 25 cluding representatives of— 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:00 Jun 20, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3679.IH H3679 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 3 •HR 3679 IH (A) air carriers, which shall include domes- 1 tic air carriers consisting of major air carriers, 2 low-cost carriers, regional air carriers and cargo 3 carriers; 4 (B) airport operators, including with re- 5 spect to large hub, medium hub, small hub, and 6 nonhub commercial service airports; 7 (C) labor organizations that represent air- 8 line pilots, flight attendants, air carrier airport 9 customer service representatives, and air carrier 10 maintenance, repair, and overhaul workers; 11 (D) the labor organization certified under 12 section 7111 of title 5, United States Code, as 13 the exclusive bargaining representative of air 14 traffic controllers of the Federal Aviation Ad- 15 ministration; 16 (E) the labor organization certified under 17 such section as the exclusive bargaining rep- 18 resentative of airway transportation systems 19 specialists and aviation safety inspectors of the 20 Federal Aviation Administration; 21 (F) trade associations representing air car- 22 riers and airports; 23 (G) aircraft manufacturing companies; 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:00 Jun 20, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3679.IH H3679 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 4 •HR 3679 IH (H) public health and infectious disease ex- 1 perts and researchers; 2 (I) scientists and engineers familiar with 3 air travel; 4 (J) general aviation; and 5 (K) such other stakeholders as the Admin- 6 istrator of the Federal Aviation Administration 7 considers appropriate. 8 (2) BALANCE OF INPUT.—The Administrator of 9 the Federal Aviation Administration shall ensure 10 input from stakeholders under paragraph (1) is bal- 11 anced between labor stakeholders and airline, air- 12 port, and manufacturer stakeholders. 13 (d) REQUIREMENTS ON AGENCIES.—The task force 14 established pursuant to subsection (a) shall— 15 (1) determine the resources needed by each de- 16 partment, agency, or administration of the Federal 17 Government; 18 (2) identify the responsibilities of each such de- 19 partment, agency, or administration; and 20 (3) catalog all interagency agreements related 21 to this section for Congress. 22 (e) CONTENTS OF STRATEGY.—The task force estab- 23 lished under subsection (a) shall develop a strategy that, 24 at a minimum— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:00 Jun 20, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3679.IH H3679 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 5 •HR 3679 IH (1) provides a holistic look at what is known 1 about communicable diseases in air transportation; 2 (2) identifies any areas of needed research; 3 (3) gives researchers access to relevant data, in- 4 cluding deidentified health data, and to the extent 5 practicable, gives researchers access to aircraft and 6 airports; 7 (4) incorporates, as appropriate, the consider- 8 ations made by the Comptroller General of the 9 United States to the Secretary of Transportation 10 contained in the report titled ‘‘Air Travel and Com- 11 municable Diseases: Federal Leadership Needed to 12 Advance Research’’, issued in July 2022 (GAO–22– 13 104579); 14 (5) considers the latest peer-reviewed scientific 15 studies that address communicable disease with re- 16 spect to air transportation; and 17 (6) considers funding constraints. 18 (f) REPORT.—The task force established pursuant to 19 subsection (A) shall submit to the Committee on Trans- 20 portation and Infrastructure of the House of Representa- 21 tives and the Committee on Commerce, Science, and 22 Transportation of the Senate a report on the contents of 23 the strategy developed under subsection (d) and that iden- 24 tifies what authorities, if any, the task force considers are 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:00 Jun 20, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3679.IH H3679 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 6 •HR 3679 IH needed by either the task force or the membership agen- 1 cies of the task force to help ensure implementation of 2 the strategy developed under subsection (d). 3 (g) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 4 (1) AIR TRANSPORTATION.—The term ‘‘air 5 transportation’’ means the movement of passengers 6 and airline crew through airports, onto and off air- 7 craft, and in the aircraft cabin. 8 (2) COMMUNICABLE DISEASE.—The term ‘‘com- 9 municable disease’’ means a communicable disease 10 that has the potential to cause a future epidemic or 11 pandemic of infectious disease that would constitute 12 a public health emergency of international concern 13 as declared, after the date of enactment of this Act, 14 by the Secretary of Health and Human Services 15 under section 319 of the Public Health Service Act 16 (42 U.S.C. 247d). 17 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:00 Jun 20, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H3679.IH H3679 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB