115TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 5766 

AN ACT 

To improve the security of public areas of transportation 

facilities, 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 ‘‘Securing Public Areas 

3 of Transportation Facilities Act of 2018’’. 

4 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

5 In this Act: 

6 (1) PUBLIC AND PRIVATE SECTOR STAKE7 HOLDERS.—The term ‘‘public and private sector 

8 stakeholders’’ has the meaning given such term in 

9 section 114(u)(1)(C) of title 49, United States Code. 

10 (2) SURFACE TRANSPORTATION ASSET.—The 

11 term ‘‘surface transportation asset’’ includes facili12 ties, equipment, or systems used to provide transpor13 tation services by— 

14 (A) a public transportation agency (as 

15 such term is defined in section 1402(5) of the 

16 Implementing Recommendations of the 9/11 

17 Commission Act of 2007 (Public Law 110–53; 

18 6 U.S.C. 1131(5))); 

19 (B) a railroad carrier (as such term is de20 fined in section 20102(3) of title 49, United 

21 States Code); 

22 (C) an owner or operator of— 

23 (i) an entity offering scheduled, fixed24 route transportation services by over-the 

25 road bus (as such term is defined in sec26 tion 1501(4) of the Implementing Rec-
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1 ommendations of the 9/11 Commission Act 

2 of 2007 (Public Law 110–53; 6 U.S.C. 

3 1151(4))); or 

4 (ii) a bus terminal; or 

5 (D) other transportation facilities, equip6 ment, or systems, as determined by the Sec7 retary. 

8 SEC. 3. PUBLIC AREA SECURITY WORKING GROUP. 

9 (a) WORKING GROUP.—The Secretary of Homeland 

10 Security shall establish a working group to promote col11 laborative engagement between the Department of Home12 land Security and public and private sector stakeholders 

13 to develop non-binding recommendations for enhancing se14 curity in public areas of transportation facilities (including 

15 facilities that are surface transportation assets), including 

16 recommendations regarding the following topics: 

17 (1) Information sharing and interoperable com18 munication capabilities among the Department of 

19 Homeland Security and public and private stake20 holders with respect to terrorist or other threats. 

21 (2) Coordinated incident response procedures. 

22 (3) The prevention of terrorist attacks and 

23 other incidents through strategic planning, security 

24 training, exercises and drills, law enforcement pa-
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1 trols, worker vetting, and suspicious activity report2 ing. 

3 (4) Infrastructure protection through effective 

4 construction design barriers and installation of ad5 vanced surveillance and other security technologies. 

6 (b) ANNUAL REPORT.—Not later than 1 year after 

7 the establishment of the working group under subsection 

8 (a) and annually thereafter for 5 years, the Secretary of 

9 Homeland Security shall report to the Committee on 

10 Homeland Security of the House of Representatives and 

11 the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation 

12 of the Senate on the working group’s organization, partici13 pation, activities, findings, and non-binding recommenda14 tions for the immediately preceding 12-month period. The 

15 Secretary may publish a public version of such report that 

16 describes the working group’s activities and such related 

17 matters as would be informative to the public, consistent 

18 with section 552(b) of title 5, United States Code. 

19 (c) INAPPLICABILITY OF THE FEDERAL ADVISORY

20 COMMITTEE ACT.—The Federal Advisory Committee Act 

21 (5 U.S.C. App.) shall not apply to the working group es22 tablished under subsection (a) or any subsidiary thereof. 

23 SEC. 4. TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE. 

24 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Homeland Secu25 rity shall— 
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1 (1) inform owners and operators of surface 

2 transportation assets about the availability of tech3 nical assistance, including vulnerability assessment 

4 tools and cybersecurity guidelines, to help protect 

5 and enhance the resilience of public areas of such 

6 assets; and 

7 (2) subject to the availability of appropriations, 

8 provide such technical assistance to requesting own9 ers and operators of surface transportation assets. 

10 (b) BEST PRACTICES.—Not later than 1 year after 

11 the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of 

12 Homeland Security shall publish on the Department of 

13 Homeland Security’s website and widely disseminate, as 

14 appropriate, best practices for protecting and enhancing 

15 the resilience of public areas of transportation facilities 

16 (including facilities that are surface transportation as17 sets), including associated frameworks or templates for 

18 implementation. Such best practices shall be updated peri19 odically. 

20 SEC. 5. REVIEW. 

21 (a) REVIEW.—Not later than 1 year after the date 

22 of the enactment of this Act, the Administrator of the 

23 Transportation Security Administration shall submit to 

24 the Committee on Homeland Security of the House of 

25 Representatives and the Committee on Commerce, 
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1 Science, and Transportation of the Senate a report that 

2 includes a review of regulations, directives, policies, and 

3 procedures issued by the Administrator regarding the 

4 transportation of a firearm and ammunition, and, as ap5 propriate, information on plans to modify any such regula6 tion, directive, policy, or procedure based on such review. 

7 (b) CONSULTATION.—In preparing the report re8 quired under subsection (a), the Administrator of the 

9 Transportation Security Administration shall consult with 

10 the Aviation Security Advisory Committee (established 

11 pursuant to section 44946 of title 49, United States Code) 

12 and appropriate public and private sector stakeholders. 

Passed the House of Representatives June 25, 2018. 

Attest: 

Clerk. 

115TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 5766 

AN ACT 

To improve the security of public areas of 

transportation facilities, and for other purposes.