IIB 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 720 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

FEBRUARY 11, 2015 

Received 

FEBRUARY 12, 2015 

Read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and 

Transportation 

AN ACT 

To improve intergovernmental planning for and communication during security incidents at domestic airports, 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 ‘‘Gerardo Hernandez 

3 Airport Security Act of 2015’’. 

4 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

5 In this Act: 

6 (1) ASSISTANT SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Assist7 ant Secretary’’ means the Assistant Secretary of 

8 Homeland Security (Transportation Security) of the 

9 Department of Homeland Security. 

10 (2) ADMINISTRATION.—The term ‘‘Administra11 tion’’ means the Transportation Security Adminis12 tration. 

13 SEC. 3. SECURITY INCIDENT RESPONSE AT AIRPORTS. 

14 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Assistant Secretary shall, in 

15 consultation with the Administrator of the Federal Emer16 gency Management Agency, conduct outreach to all air17 ports in the United States at which the Administration 

18 performs, or oversees the implementation and performance 

19 of, security measures, and provide technical assistance as 

20 necessary, to verify such airports have in place individual21 ized working plans for responding to security incidents in22 side the perimeter of the airport, including active shooters, 

23 acts of terrorism, and incidents that target passenger24 screening checkpoints. 

25 (b) TYPES OF PLANS.—Such plans may include, but 

26 may not be limited to, the following: 


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1 (1) A strategy for evacuating and providing 

2 care to persons inside the perimeter of the airport, 

3 with consideration given to the needs of persons with 

4 disabilities. 

5 (2) A plan for establishing a unified command, 

6 including identification of staging areas for non-air7 port-specific law enforcement and fire response. 

8 (3) A schedule for regular testing of commu9 nications equipment used to receive emergency calls. 

10 (4) An evaluation of how emergency calls placed 

11 by persons inside the perimeter of the airport will 

12 reach airport police in an expeditious manner. 

13 (5) A practiced method and plan to commu14 nicate with travelers and all other persons inside the 

15 perimeter of the airport. 

16 (6) To the extent practicable, a projected max17 imum timeframe for law enforcement response. 

18 (7) A schedule of joint exercises and training to 

19 be conducted by the airport, the Administration, 

20 other stakeholders such as airport and airline ten21 ants, and any relevant law enforcement, airport po22 lice, fire, and medical personnel. 

23 (8) A schedule for producing after-action joint 

24 exercise reports to identify and determine how to im25 prove security incident response capabilities. 


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1 (c) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—Not later than 90 days 

2 after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Assistant 

3 Secretary shall report to the Committee on Homeland Se4 curity of the House of Representatives and the Committee 

5 on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the Senate 

6 on the findings from its outreach to airports under sub7 section (a), including an analysis of the level of prepared8 ness such airports have to respond to security incidents, 

9 including active shooters, acts of terrorism, and incidents 

10 that target passenger-screening checkpoints. 

11 SEC. 4. DISSEMINATING INFORMATION ON BEST PRAC12 TICES. 

13 The Assistant Secretary shall— 

14 (1) identify best practices that exist across air15 ports for security incident planning, management, 

16 and training; and 

17 (2) establish a mechanism through which to 

18 share such best practices with other airport opera19 tors nationwide. 

20 SEC. 5. CERTIFICATION. 

21 Not later than 90 days after the date of enactment 

22 of this Act, and annually thereafter, the Assistant Sec23 retary shall certify in writing to the Committee on Home24 land Security of the House of Representatives and the 

25 Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of 


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1 the Senate that all screening personnel have participated 

2 in practical training exercises for active shooter scenarios. 

3 SEC. 6. REIMBURSABLE AGREEMENTS. 

4 Not later than 90 days after the enactment of this 

5 Act, the Assistant Secretary shall provide to the Com6 mittee on Homeland Security of the House of Representa7 tives and the Committee on Commerce, Science, and 

8 Transportation of the Senate an analysis of how the Ad9 ministration can use cost savings achieved through effi10 ciencies to increase over the next 5 fiscal years the funding 

11 available for checkpoint screening law enforcement sup12 port reimbursable agreements. 

13 SEC. 7. NO ADDITIONAL AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIA14 TIONS. 

15 No additional funds are authorized to be appro16 priated to carry out this Act, and this Act shall be carried 

17 out using amounts otherwise available for such purpose. 

18 SEC. 8. INTEROPERABILITY REVIEW. 

19 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 90 days after the 

20 date of enactment of this Act, the Assistant Secretary 

21 shall, in consultation with the Assistant Secretary of the 

22 Office of Cybersecurity and Communications, conduct a 

23 review of the interoperable communications capabilities of 

24 the law enforcement, fire, and medical personnel respon25 sible for responding to a security incident, including active 


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1 shooter events, acts of terrorism, and incidents that target 

2 passenger-screening checkpoints, at all airports in the 

3 United States at which the Administration performs, or 

4 oversees the implementation and performance of, security 

5 measures. 

6 (b) REPORT.—Not later than 30 days after the com7 pletion of the review, the Assistant Secretary shall report 

8 the findings of the review to the Committee on Homeland 

9 Security of the House of Representatives and the Com10 mittee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the 

11 Senate. 

Passed the House of Representatives February 10, 

2015. 

Attest: KAREN L. HAAS, 

Clerk. 


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