II 

Calendar No. 163 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 720 

[Report No. 114–92] 

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 

JULY 23, 2015 

Reported by Mr. THUNE, with an amendment 

[Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed in italic] 

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, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Gerardo Hernandez 

5 Airport Security Act of 2015’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

2 In this Act: 

3 (1) ASSISTANT SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Assist4 ant Secretary’’ means the Assistant Secretary of 

5 Homeland Security (Transportation Security) of the 

6 Department of Homeland Security. 

7 (2) ADMINISTRATION.—The term ‘‘Administra8 tion’’ means the Transportation Security Adminis9 tration. 

10 SEC. 3. SECURITY INCIDENT RESPONSE AT AIRPORTS. 

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

12 consultation with the Administrator of the Federal Emer13 gency Management Agency, conduct outreach to all air14 ports in the United States at which the Administration 

15 performs, or oversees the implementation and performance 

16 of, security measures, and provide technical assistance as 

17 necessary, to verify such airports have in place individual18 ized working plans for responding to security incidents in19 side the perimeter of the airport, including active shooters, 

20 acts of terrorism, and incidents that target passenger21 screening checkpoints. 

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

23 may not be limited to, the following: 

24 (1) A strategy for evacuating and providing 

25 care to persons inside the perimeter of the airport, 


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1 with consideration given to the needs of persons with 

2 disabilities. 

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

4 including identification of staging areas for non-air5 port-specific law enforcement and fire response. 

6 (3) A schedule for regular testing of commu7 nications equipment used to receive emergency calls. 

8 (4) An evaluation of how emergency calls placed 

9 by persons inside the perimeter of the airport will 

10 reach airport police in an expeditious manner. 

11 (5) A practiced method and plan to commu12 nicate with travelers and all other persons inside the 

13 perimeter of the airport. 

14 (6) To the extent practicable, a projected max15 imum timeframe for law enforcement response. 

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

17 be conducted by the airport, the Administration, 

18 other stakeholders such as airport and airline ten19 ants, and any relevant law enforcement, airport po20 lice, fire, and medical personnel. 

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

22 exercise reports to identify and determine how to im23 prove security incident response capabilities. 

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

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


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1 Secretary shall report to the Committee on Homeland Se2 curity of the House of Representatives and the Committee 

3 on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the Senate 

4 on the findings from its outreach to airports under sub5 section (a), including an analysis of the level of prepared6 ness such airports have to respond to security incidents, 

7 including active shooters, acts of terrorism, and incidents 

8 that target passenger-screening checkpoints. 

9 SEC. 4. DISSEMINATING INFORMATION ON BEST PRAC10 TICES. 

11 The Assistant Secretary shall— 

12 (1) identify best practices that exist across air13 ports for security incident planning, management, 

14 and training; and 

15 (2) establish a mechanism through which to 

16 share such best practices with other airport opera17 tors nationwide. 

18 SEC. 5. CERTIFICATION. 

19 Not later than 90 days after the date of enactment 

20 of this Act, and annually thereafter, the Assistant Sec21 retary shall certify in writing to the Committee on Home22 land Security of the House of Representatives and the 

23 Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of 

24 the Senate that all screening personnel have participated 

25 in practical training exercises for active shooter scenarios. 


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1 SEC. 6. REIMBURSABLE AGREEMENTS. 

2 Not later than 90 days after the enactment of this 

3 Act, the Assistant Secretary shall provide to the Com4 mittee on Homeland Security of the House of Representa5 tives and the Committee on Commerce, Science, and 

6 Transportation of the Senate an analysis of how the Ad7 ministration can use cost savings achieved through effi8 ciencies to increase over the next 5 fiscal years the funding 

9 available for checkpoint screening law enforcement sup10 port reimbursable agreements. 

11 SEC. 7. NO ADDITIONAL AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIA12 TIONS. 

13 No additional funds are authorized to be appro14 priated to carry out this Act, and this Act shall be carried 

15 out using amounts otherwise available for such purpose. 

16 SEC. 8. INTEROPERABILITY REVIEW. 

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

18 date of enactment of this Act, the Assistant Secretary 

19 shall, in consultation with the Assistant Secretary of the 

20 Office of Cybersecurity and Communications, conduct a 

21 review of the interoperable communications capabilities of 

22 the law enforcement, fire, and medical personnel respon23 sible for responding to a security incident, including active 

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

25 passenger-screening checkpoints, at all airports in the 

26 United States at which the Administration performs, or 


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1 oversees the implementation and performance of, security 

2 measures. 

3 (b) REPORT.—Not later than 30 days after the com4 pletion of the review, the Assistant Secretary shall report 

5 the findings of the review to the Committee on Homeland 

6 Security of the House of Representatives and the Com7 mittee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the 

8 Senate. 

9 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

10 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Gerardo Hernandez Air11 port Security Act of 2015’’. 

12 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

13 In this Act: 

14 (1) ASSISTANT SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Assist15 ant Secretary’’ means the Assistant Secretary of 

16 Homeland Security (Transportation Security) of the 

17 Department of Homeland Security. 

18 (2) ADMINISTRATION.—The term ‘‘Administra19 tion’’ means the Transportation Security Administra20 tion. 

21 SEC. 3. SECURITY INCIDENT RESPONSE AT AIRPORTS. 

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

23 consultation with other Federal agencies as appropriate, 

24 conduct outreach to all airports in the United States at 

25 which the Administration performs, or oversees the impleVerDate Sep 11 2014 23:50 Jul 23, 2015 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H720.RS H720

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1 mentation and performance of, security measures, and pro2 vide technical assistance as necessary, to verify such air3 ports have in place individualized working plans for re4 sponding to security incidents inside the perimeter of the 

5 airport, including active shooters, acts of terrorism, and in6 cidents that target passenger-screening checkpoints. 

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

8 may not be limited to, the following: 

9 (1) A strategy for evacuating and providing care 

10 to persons inside the perimeter of the airport, with 

11 consideration given to the needs of persons with dis12 abilities. 

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

14 including identification of staging areas for non-air15 port-specific law enforcement and fire response. 

16 (3) A schedule for regular testing of communica17 tions equipment used to receive emergency calls. 

18 (4) An evaluation of how emergency calls placed 

19 by persons inside the perimeter of the airport will 

20 reach airport police in an expeditious manner. 

21 (5) A practiced method and plan to commu22 nicate with travelers and all other persons inside the 

23 perimeter of the airport. 

24 (6) To the extent practicable, a projected max25 imum timeframe for law enforcement response to acVerDate Sep 11 2014 23:50 Jul 23, 2015 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H720.RS H720

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1 tive shooters, acts of terrorism, and incidents that tar2 get passenger security-screening checkpoints. 

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

4 be conducted by the airport, the Administration, other 

5 stakeholders such as airport and airline tenants, and 

6 any relevant law enforcement, airport police, fire, 

7 and medical personnel. 

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

9 exercise reports to identify and determine how to im10 prove security incident response capabilities. 

11 (9) A strategy, where feasible, for providing air12 port law enforcement with access to airport security 

13 video surveillance systems at category X airports 

14 where those systems were purchased and installed 

15 using Administration funds. 

16 (c) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—Not later than 180 days 

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

18 Secretary shall report to the Committee on Homeland Secu19 rity of the House of Representatives and the Committee on 

20 Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the Senate on 

21 the findings from its outreach to airports under subsection 

22 (a), including an analysis of the level of preparedness such 

23 airports have to respond to security incidents, including ac24 tive shooters, acts of terrorism, and incidents that target 

25 passenger-screening checkpoints. 


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1 SEC. 4. DISSEMINATING INFORMATION ON BEST PRAC2 TICES. 

3 The Assistant Secretary shall— 

4 (1) identify best practices that exist across air5 ports for security incident planning, management, 

6 and training; and 

7 (2) establish a mechanism through which to 

8 share such best practices with other airport operators 

9 nationwide. 

10 SEC. 5. CERTIFICATION. 

11 Not later than 90 days after the date of enactment of 

12 this Act, and annually thereafter, the Assistant Secretary 

13 shall certify in writing to the Committee on Homeland Se14 curity of the House of Representatives and the Committee 

15 on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the Senate 

16 that all screening personnel have participated in practical 

17 training exercises for active shooter scenarios. 

18 SEC. 6. REIMBURSABLE AGREEMENTS. 

19 Not later than 90 days after the enactment of this Act, 

20 the Assistant Secretary shall provide to the Committee on 

21 Homeland Security of the House of Representatives and the 

22 Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of 

23 the Senate an analysis of how the Administration can use 

24 cost savings achieved through efficiencies to increase over 

25 the next 5 fiscal years the funding available for checkpoint 


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1 screening law enforcement support reimbursable agree2 ments. 

3 SEC. 7. SECURITY INCIDENT RESPONSE FOR SURFACE 

4 TRANSPORTATION SYSTEMS. 

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

6 consultation with the Secretary of Transportation, and 

7 other relevant agencies, conduct outreach to all passenger 

8 transportation agencies and providers with high-risk facili9 ties, as identified by the Assistant Secretary, to verify such 

10 agencies and providers have in place plans to respond to 

11 active shooters, acts of terrorism, or other security-related 

12 incidents that target passengers. 

13 (b) TYPES OF PLANS.—As applicable, such plans may 

14 include, but may not be limited to, the following: 

15 (1) A strategy for evacuating and providing care 

16 to individuals, with consideration given to the needs 

17 of persons with disabilities. 

18 (2) A plan for establishing a unified command. 

19 (3) A plan for frontline employees to receive ac20 tive shooter training. 

21 (4) A schedule for regular testing of communica22 tions equipment used to receive emergency calls. 

23 (5) An evaluation of how emergency calls placed 

24 by individuals using the transportation system will 

25 reach police in an expeditious manner. 


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1 (6) A practiced method and plan to commu2 nicate with individuals using the transportation sys3 tem. 

4 (c) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—Not later than 180 days 

5 after the date of enactment of this Act, the Assistant Sec6 retary shall report to the Committee on Homeland Security 

7 of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Com8 merce, Science, and Transportation of the Senate on the 

9 findings from its outreach to the agencies and providers 

10 under subsection (a), including an analysis of the level of 

11 preparedness such transportation systems have to respond 

12 to security incidents. 

13 (d) DISSEMINATION OF BEST PRACTICES.—The Assist14 ant Secretary shall identify best practices for security inci15 dent planning, management, and training and establish a 

16 mechanism through which to share such practices with pas17 senger transportation agencies nationwide. 

18 SEC. 8. NO ADDITIONAL AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIA19 TIONS. 

20 No additional funds are authorized to be appropriated 

21 to carry out this Act, and this Act shall be carried out using 

22 amounts otherwise available for such purpose. 

23 SEC. 9. INTEROPERABILITY REVIEW. 

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

25 date of enactment of this Act, the Assistant Secretary shall, 


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1 in consultation with the Assistant Secretary of the Office 

2 of Cybersecurity and Communications, conduct a review of 

3 the interoperable communications capabilities of the law 

4 enforcement, fire, and medical personnel responsible for re5 sponding to a security incident, including active shooter 

6 events, acts of terrorism, and incidents that target pas7 senger-screening checkpoints, at all airports in the United 

8 States at which the Administration performs, or oversees 

9 the implementation and performance of, security measures. 

10 (b) REPORT.—Not later than 30 days after the comple11 tion of the review, the Assistant Secretary shall report the 

12 findings of the review to the Committee on Homeland Secu13 rity of the House of Representatives and the Committee on 

14 Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the Senate. 


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Calendar No. 163 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 720 

[Report No. 114–92] 

AN ACT 

To improve intergovernmental planning for and 

mestic airports, and for other purposes. communication during security incidents at doJULY 23, 2015 

Reported with an amendment 


Emcdonald on DSK67QTVN1PROD with BILLS