II 

116TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 3884 

To require the Secretary of Transportation to support the efforts of State 

and local governments to provide for priority testing of certain transportation workers with respect to the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID– 

19) and require the owners and operators of equipment and facilities 

used by passenger or freight transportation employers to clean, disinfect, 

and sanitize that equipment and provide personal protective equipment 

to certain employees, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JUNE 3, 2020 

Mr. BLUMENTHAL (for himself, Ms. CANTWELL, and Mr. MARKEY) introduced 

the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee 

on Commerce, Science, and Transportation 

A BILL 

To require the Secretary of Transportation to support the 

efforts of State and local governments to provide for 

priority testing of certain transportation workers with 

respect to the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID–19) 

and require the owners and operators of equipment and 

facilities used by passenger or freight transportation employers to clean, disinfect, and sanitize that equipment 

and provide personal protective equipment to certain employees, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 


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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Essential Transpor3 tation Employee Safety Act of 2020’’. 

4 SEC. 2. DEFINITION OF SECRETARY. 

5 In this Act, the term ‘‘Secretary’’ means the Sec6 retary of Transportation. 

7 SEC. 3. PRIORITY TESTING FOR ESSENTIAL TRANSPOR8 TATION EMPLOYEES. 

9 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall— 

10 (1) adopt, for use by the Department of Trans11 portation in carrying out response efforts relating to, 

12 and operations during, the Coronavirus Disease 

13 2019 (COVID–19) pandemic, the categorization of 

14 certain transportation workers as ‘‘essential critical 

15 infrastructure workers’’ in accordance with the advi16 sory list published by the Cybersecurity and Infra17 structure Security Agency on May 19, 2020, entitled 

18 ‘‘Guidance on the Essential Critical Infrastructure 

19 Workforce: Ensuring Community and National Re20 silience in COVID-19 Response’’ (or a subsequent 

21 version of that advisory list); and 

22 (2) coordinate with the Director of the Centers 

23 for Disease Control and Prevention and the Admin24 istrator of the Federal Emergency Management 

25 Agency to support the efforts of State and local gov26 ernments to provide for priority testing of transporVerDate Sep 11 2014 17:45 Jun 20, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3884.IS S3884

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1 tation workers categorized as essential critical infra2 structure workers under paragraph (1) with respect 

3 to the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID–19). 

4 SEC. 4. REQUIREMENTS FOR OWNERS AND OPERATORS OF 

5 EQUIPMENT OR FACILITIES USED BY PAS6 SENGER OR FREIGHT TRANSPORTATION EM7 PLOYERS. 

8 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

9 (1) AT-RISK EMPLOYEE.—The term ‘‘at-risk 

10 employee’’ means an employee (including a Federal 

11 employee) or contractor of a passenger or freight 

12 transportation employer— 

13 (A) whose job responsibilities involve inter14 action with— 

15 (i) passengers; 

16 (ii) the public; or 

17 (iii) coworkers who interact with the 

18 public; 

19 (B) who handles items which are handled 

20 or will be handled by the public; or 

21 (C) who works in locations where social 

22 distancing and other preventative measures 

23 with respect to the Coronavirus Disease 2019 

24 (COVID–19) are not possible. 


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1 (2) PASSENGER OR FREIGHT TRANSPORTATION

2 EMPLOYER.—The term ‘‘passenger or freight trans3 portation employer’’ includes— 

4 (A) the owner, charterer, managing oper5 ator, master, or other individual in charge of a 

6 passenger vessel (as defined in section 2101 of 

7 title 46, United States Code); 

8 (B) an air carrier (as defined in section 

9 40102 of title 49, United States Code); 

10 (C) a rail carrier (as defined in section 

11 24102 of title 49, United States Code); 

12 (D) a rail carrier (as defined in section 

13 10102 of title 49, United States Code); 

14 (E) a commuter authority (as defined in 

15 section 24102 of title 49, United States Code); 

16 (F) a regional transportation authority (as 

17 defined in section 24102 of title 49, United 

18 States Code); 

19 (G) a provider of public transportation (as 

20 defined in section 5302 of title 49, United 

21 States Code); 

22 (H) a provider of motorcoach services (as 

23 defined in section 32702 of the Motorcoach En24 hanced Safety Act of 2012 (49 U.S.C. 31136 

25 note; Public Law 112–141)); 


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1 (I) a motor carrier that owns or operates 

2 more than 100 motor vehicles (as those terms 

3 are defined in section 390.5 of title 49, Code of 

4 Federal Regulations (or successor regulations)); 

5 (J) a sponsor, owner, or operator of a pub6 lic-use airport (as defined in section 47102 of 

7 title 49, United States Code); 

8 (K) an owner or operator of a vessel oper9 ating in commercial service (as defined in sec10 tion 2101 of title 46, United States Code); 

11 (L) a marine terminal operator (as defined 

12 in section 40102 of title 46, United States 

13 Code) and the relevant authority or operator of 

14 a port or harbor; and 

15 (M) the Transportation Security Adminis16 tration, exclusively with respect to Transpor17 tation Security Officers. 

18 (b) REQUIREMENTS.—For the purposes of respond19 ing to, or for purposes relating to operations during, the 

20 Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID–19) pandemic, the 

21 Secretary shall require— 

22 (1) the owners and operators of equipment or 

23 facilities used by passenger or freight transportation 

24 employers, as applicable— 


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1 (A) to clean, disinfect, and sanitize, in ac2 cordance with guidance issued by the Centers 

3 for Disease Control and Prevention, the equip4 ment and facilities, including, as applicable— 

5 (i) buses; 

6 (ii) commercial motor vehicles; 

7 (iii) freight locomotives; 

8 (iv) freight and passenger rail cars; 

9 (v) vessels; 

10 (vi) airports; 

11 (vii) vehicles used for the transpor12 tation of workers to job sites where inter13 action with the public will occur; 

14 (viii) aircraft, including the cockpit 

15 and the cabin; and 

16 (ix) other equipment and facilities; 

17 (B) to ensure that facilities, including en18 closed facilities, owned, operated, and used by 

19 passenger or freight transportation employers, 

20 including facilities used for employee training or 

21 the performance of indoor or outdoor mainte22 nance, repair, or overhaul work, are disinfected 

23 and sanitized frequently in accordance with 

24 guidance issued by the Centers for Disease 

25 Control and Prevention; 


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1 (C) to provide to at-risk employees— 

2 (i) masks or protective face coverings; 

3 (ii) gloves; 

4 (iii) hand sanitizer; 

5 (iv) sanitizing wipes with sufficient al6 cohol content; and 

7 (v) training on the proper use of per8 sonal protective equipment and sanitizing 

9 equipment; 

10 (D) to ensure that employees whose job re11 sponsibilities include the cleaning, disinfecting, 

12 or sanitizing described in subparagraphs (A) 

13 and (B) are provided— 

14 (i) masks or protective face coverings; 

15 (ii) gloves; 

16 (iii) hand sanitizer; and 

17 (iv) sanitizing wipes with sufficient al18 cohol content; 

19 (E) to establish guidelines, or adhere to 

20 any existing applicable guidelines, for notifying 

21 an employee of the owner or operator of a con22 firmed diagnosis of the Coronavirus Disease 

23 2019 (COVID–19) with respect to any other 

24 employee of the owner or operator with whom 

25 the notified employee had physical contact or a 


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1 physical interaction during the 48-hour period 

2 preceding the time at which the diagnosed em3 ployee developed symptoms; 

4 (F) to require that passengers wear masks 

5 or protective face coverings while in or using a 

6 passenger transportation carrier; and 

7 (G) to require each flight crew member to 

8 wear a mask or protective face covering while 

9 on board an aircraft and outside the flight 

10 deck; and 

11 (2) an air carrier to submit to the Adminis12 trator of the Federal Aviation Administration a pro13 posal to permit pilots to wear masks or protective 

14 face coverings in the flight deck, including a safety 

15 risk assessment with respect to that proposal. 

16 (c) MARKET UNAVAILABILITY OF NECESSARY

17 ITEMS.— 

18 (1) NOTICE OF MARKET UNAVAILABILITY.— 

19 (A) IN GENERAL.—If an owner or operator 

20 described in paragraph (1) of subsection (b) is 

21 unable to acquire 1 or more items necessary to 

22 comply with the requirements prescribed under 

23 that paragraph due to market unavailability of 

24 the items, the owner or operator shall— 


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1 (i) not later than 7 days after the 

2 date on which the owner or operator is un3 able to acquire each applicable item, sub4 mit to the Secretary a written notice ex5 plaining the efforts made and obstacles 

6 faced by the owner or operator to acquire 

7 that item; and 

8 (ii) continue making efforts to acquire 

9 that item until the item is acquired. 

10 (B) UPDATED NOTICE WITH RESPECT TO

11 THE SAME ITEM.—If an owner or operator is 

12 unable to acquire an item described in a notice 

13 submitted under subparagraph (A) by the date 

14 described in paragraph (4)(B)(ii) with respect 

15 to the notice, the owner or operator may submit 

16 an updated notice with respect to that item. 

17 (2) REASONABLE EFFORT DETERMINATION.— 

18 With respect to each notice submitted under para19 graph (1), the Secretary shall determine whether the 

20 owner or operator submitting the notice has made 

21 reasonable efforts to acquire the item described in 

22 the notice. 

23 (3) NOTICE OF COMPLIANCE.—Not later than 7 

24 days after the date on which an owner or operator 

25 acquires an item described in a notice submitted by 


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1 that owner or operator under paragraph (1) in a 

2 quantity sufficient to comply with the requirements 

3 prescribed under subsection (b)(1), the owner or op4 erator shall submit to the Secretary a written notice 

5 of compliance with those requirements. 

6 (4) LIST OF OWNERS AND OPERATORS MAKING

7 REASONABLE EFFORTS TO ACQUIRE UNAVAILABLE

8 ITEMS.— 

9 (A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall 

10 publish on a public website of the Department 

11 of Transportation a list that, with respect to 

12 each notice submitted to the Secretary under 

13 paragraph (1) for which the Secretary has 

14 made a positive determination under paragraph 

15 (2)— 

16 (i) identifies the owner or operator 

17 that submitted the notice; 

18 (ii) identifies the item that the owner 

19 or operator was unable to acquire; and 

20 (iii) describes the reasonable efforts 

21 made by the owner or operator to acquire 

22 that item. 

23 (B) REMOVAL FROM LIST.—The Secretary 

24 shall remove each entry on the list described in 

25 subparagraph (A) on the earlier of— 


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1 (i) the date on which the applicable 

2 owner or operator submits to the Secretary 

3 a notice of compliance under paragraph (3) 

4 with respect to the item that is the subject 

5 of the entry; and 

6 (ii) the date that is 90 days after the 

7 date on which the entry was added to the 

8 list. 

9 (d) PENALTIES.— 

10 (1) IN GENERAL.—Subject to paragraph (2), an 

11 owner or operator described in subsection (b)(1) that 

12 fails to perform the duties prescribed under that 

13 subsection is liable to the Federal Government for a 

14 civil penalty of $1,000 for each employee affected by 

15 each violation, to be distributed to those affected 

16 employees. 

17 (2) EXEMPTION.—An owner or operator identi18 fied on the list described in subsection (c)(4)(A) 

19 shall not be subject to the penalties described in 

20 paragraph (1) with respect to a failure to perform 

21 a duty prescribed under subsection (b)(1) during the 

22 time period in which the owner or operator is identi23 fied on that list if the failure is due to the market 

24 unavailability of the item for which the owner or op25 erator is included on that list. 


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1 SEC. 5. PROTECTION OF CERTAIN FEDERAL AVIATION AD2 MINISTRATION EMPLOYEES. 

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—For the duration of the national 

4 emergency declared by the President under the National 

5 Emergencies Act (50 U.S.C. 1601 et seq.) with respect 

6 to the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID–19), in order 

7 to maintain the safe and efficient operation of the air traf8 fic control system, the Administrator of the Federal Avia9 tion Administration shall— 

10 (1) provide any air traffic controller and airway 

11 transportation systems specialist of the Federal 

12 Aviation Administration with masks or protective 

13 face coverings, gloves, and hand sanitizer and wipes 

14 of sufficient alcohol content; 

15 (2) ensure that each air traffic control facility 

16 is cleaned, disinfected, and sanitized frequently in 

17 accordance with Centers for Disease Control and 

18 Prevention guidance; and 

19 (3) provide any employee of the Federal Avia20 tion Administration whose job responsibilities involve 

21 cleaning, disinfecting, and sanitizing a facility de22 scribed in paragraph (2) with masks or protective 

23 face coverings and gloves, and ensure that each con24 tractor of the Federal Aviation Administration pro25 vides any employee of the contractor with those ma26 terials. 


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1 (b) SOURCE OF EQUIPMENT.—The items described 

2 in subsection (a)(1) may be procured or provided under 

3 that subsection through any source available to the Ad4 ministrator of the Federal Aviation Administration. 

Æ 


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