I 

115TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 4561 

To provide for third party testing of transportation security screening 

technology, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

DECEMBER 6, 2017 

Mr. BILIRAKIS (for himself, Mr. MCCAUL, Mr. KATKO, and Mr. DUNN) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Homeland Security 

A BILL 

To provide for third party testing of transportation security 

screening technology, 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, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Security Assessment 

5 Feasibility for Equipment Testing and Evaluation of Ca6 pabilities for our Homeland Act’’ or the ‘‘SAFE TECH 

7 Act’’. 

8 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

9 In this Act: 


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1 (1) ADMINISTRATION.—The term ‘‘Administra2 tion’’ means the Transportation Security Adminis3 tration. 

4 (2) ADMINISTRATOR.—The term ‘‘Adminis5 trator’’ means the Administrator of the Transpor6 tation Security Administration. 

7 SEC. 3. THIRD PARTY TESTING OF SECURITY SCREENING 

8 TECHNOLOGY. 

9 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than one year after the 

10 date of the enactment of this Act, the Administrator, in 

11 consultation with the Under Secretary for Science and 

12 Technology of the Department of Homeland Security, 

13 shall develop a program to enable a vendor of transpor14 tation security screening technology to obtain testing, in15 cluding as an alternative to the Administration’s testing 

16 process under paragraph (9) of section 114(f) of title 49, 

17 United States Code, by an appropriate third party, as de18 termined by the Administrator, in consultation with the 

19 Under Secretary, of such technology before procurement 

20 or development of such technology. 

21 (b) DETECTION TESTING.— 

22 (1) IN GENERAL.—The third party testing pro23 gram authorized under subsection (a) shall include 

24 detection testing to evaluate the performance of a 

25 security screening technology relating to the probVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:48 Dec 12, 2017 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4561.IH H4561

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1 ability of detection, the probability of false alarm, 

2 and other indicators that such technology is able to 

3 meet the Administration’s mission needs for detec4 tion of— 

5 (A) explosives; and 

6 (B) prohibited items. 

7 (2) COORDINATION WITH FINAL PROCESSES.— 

8 To the extent practicable, and without compromising 

9 the integrity of the Administration’s testing process 

10 under paragraph (9) of section 114(f) of title 49, 

11 United States Code, or the Department of Home12 land Security’s oversight of such testing process, or 

13 increasing costs to the Administration, the Adminis14 trator shall coordinate the third party detection test15 ing under paragraph (1) with any associated subse16 quent final Government Department of Homeland 

17 Security testing. 

18 (3) INTERNATIONAL PARTNERSHIPS.—To the 

19 extent practicable and permissible under law, and in 

20 accordance with national security interests of the 

21 United States, the Administrator shall— 

22 (A) share with appropriate international 

23 partners detection testing information and 

24 standards; and 


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1 (B) coordinate with such appropriate inter2 national partners to align such testing informa3 tion and standards to maximize the capability 

4 to detect explosives and other threats. 

5 (c) ALTERNATIVE TESTING FACTORS.—Third party 

6 testing under subsection (a) may include as an alternative, 

7 at the discretion of the Administrator, the testing at the 

8 TSA Systems Integration Facility of the Administration, 

9 including testing for— 

10 (1) health and safety factors; 

11 (2) operator interface; 

12 (3) human factors; 

13 (4) environmental factors; 

14 (5) throughput; 

15 (6) reliability, maintainability, and availability 

16 factors; and 

17 (7) interoperability. 

18 (d) TESTING FRAMEWORK.— 

19 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator, in con20 sultation with the Under Secretary for Science and 

21 Technology of the Department of Homeland Secu22 rity, shall— 

23 (A) establish a framework for the third 

24 party testing under this section to determine if 

25 the security screening technology that is the 


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1 subject of such testing satisfies the Administra2 tion’s requirements before such technology may 

3 enter or re-enter, as applicable, operational test4 ing at an airport or other transportation facil5 ity; and 

6 (B) use phased implementation to allow 

7 the Administration and the third party con8 cerned to establish best practices. 

9 (e) PRIORITIZATION OF THIRD PARTY TESTING.— 

10 The Administrator may prioritize, when appropriate, the 

11 field testing of security screening technology and equip12 ment by third parties. 

13 SEC. 4. RECIPROCAL RECOGNITION OF SECURITY STAND14 ARDS. 

15 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator, in coordina16 tion with the European Civil Aviation Conference, shall 

17 continue development of a validation process for the recip18 rocal recognition of security validation processes for rec19 ognition of security screening technologies or certification 

20 authorities for deployment. 

21 (b) REQUIREMENT.—The validation process under 

22 subsection (a) shall ensure that the certification process 

23 of each participating international security partner or recVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:48 Dec 12, 2017 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4561.IH H4561

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1 ognized certification authority complies with Administra2 tion standards. 

Æ 


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