I

106TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION S. 2440

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

OCTOBER 4, 2000

Referred to the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure

AN ACT

To amend title 49, United States Code, to improve airport

security.

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 ‘‘Airport Security Im5 provement Act of 2000’’.
2

S 2440 RFH

1 SEC. 2. CRIMINAL HISTORY RECORD CHECKS.

2 (a) EXPANSION OF FAA ELECTRONIC PILOT PRO3 GRAM.—Within 12 months after the date of enactment of

4 this Act, the Administrator of the Federal Aviation Ad5 ministration shall, in consultation with the Office of Per6 sonnel Management and the Federal Bureau of Investiga7 tion, develop the pilot program for individual criminal his8 tory record checks, known as the electronic fingerprint

9 transmission pilot project, into an aviation industry-wide

10 program.

11 (b) APPLICATION OF EXPANDED PROGRAM.—Begin12 ning 1 year after the date of enactment of this Act, the

13 Administrator shall utilize the program described in sub14 section (a) to carry out section 44936 of title 49, United

15 States Code, for individuals described in subsection

16 (a)(1)(A), (a)(1)(B)(i), or (a)(1)(B)(ii) of that section. If

17 the Administrator determines that the program is not suf18 ficiently operational 1 year after the date of enactment

19 of this Act to permit its utilization in accordance with sub20 section (a), the Administrator shall notify the Senate

21 Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation

22 and the House of Representatives Committee on Trans23 portation and Infrastructure of the determination.

24 (c) CHANGES IN EXISTING REQUIREMENTS.—Sec25 tion 44936(a)(1) of title 49, United States Code is

26 amended—
3

S 2440 RFH

1 (1) by striking ‘‘conducted, as the Adminis2 trator decides is necessary to ensure air transpor3 tation security, of’’ in subparagraph (A) and insert4 ing ‘‘conducted of’’; and

5 (2) by striking ‘‘subparagraph (C))’’ in sub6 paragraph (B) and inserting ‘‘subparagraph (D))’’;

7 (3) by redesignating subparagraphs (C) and

8 (D) as subparagraphs (D) and (E);

9 (4) by inserting after subparagraph (B) the fol10 lowing:

11 ‘‘(C) A criminal history record check shall

12 be conducted for every individual who applies

13 for a position described in subparagraph (A) or

14 in subparagraph (B)(i) or (ii) after the date of

15 enactment of the Airport Security Improvement

16 Act of 2000. For the 12-month period begin17 ning on the date of enactment of that Act, an

18 individual described in the preceding sentence

19 may be employed in such a position before the

20 check is completed if the individual is subject to

21 supervision except in a case described in clause

22 (i), (ii), (iii), (iv), or (v) of subparagraph (D).

23 After that 12-month period, such an individual

24 may not be so employed until the check is com25 pleted.’’;
4

S 2440 RFH

1 (5) by striking ‘‘subparagraph (C),’’ in sub2 paragraph (E), as redesignated, and inserting ‘‘sub3 paragraph (D),’’; and

4 (6) by striking ‘‘as a screener’’ in subparagraph

5 (E), as redesignated, and inserting ‘‘in the position

6 for which the individual applied’’.

7 (d) LIST OF OFFENSES BARRING EMPLOYMENT.—

8 Section 44936(b)(1)(B) of title 49, United States Code,

9 is amended—

10 (1) by inserting ‘‘(or found not guilty by reason

11 of insanity)’’ after ‘‘convicted’’;

12 (2) by inserting ‘‘or felony unarmed’’ after

13 ‘‘armed’’ in clause (xi);

14 (3) by striking ‘‘or’’ after the semicolon in

15 clause (xii);

16 (4) by redesignating clause (xiii) as clause (xv)

17 and inserting after clause (xii) the following:

18 ‘‘(xiii) felony involving a threat;

19 ‘‘(xiv) a felony involving—

20 ‘‘(I) willful destruction of prop21 erty;

22 ‘‘(II) importation or manufacture

23 of a controlled substance;

24 ‘‘(III) burglary;

25 ‘‘(IV) theft;
5

S 2440 RFH

1 ‘‘(V) dishonesty, fraud, or mis2 representation;

3 ‘‘(VI) possession or distribution

4 of stolen property;

5 ‘‘(VII) aggravated assault; or

6 ‘‘(VIII) bribery; or’’; and

7 (5) by striking ‘‘clauses (i)–(xii) of this para8 graph.’’ in clause (xv), as redesignated, and insert9 ing ‘‘clauses (i) through (xiv) of this subpara10 graph.’’.

11 SEC. 3. IMPROVED TRAINING.

12 (a) COMPLETION OF RULEMAKING ON CERTIFI13 CATION OF AVIATION SCREENING COMPANIES.—

14 (1) INTERIM RULE.—No later than 30 days

15 after the date of enactment of this Act, the Adminis16 trator of the Federal Aviation Administration shall

17 issue as an interim final rule the proposed rule on

18 Certification of Screening Companies published in

19 the Federal Register for January 5, 2000. For pur20 poses of the interim final rule, the analyses and doc21 umentation prepared for the proposed rules are

22 deemed to meet the requirements of chapter 5 of

23 title 5, United States Code, applicable to rulemaking

24 and any other procedural requirement imposed by

25 law on rulemaking.
6

S 2440 RFH

1 (2) FINAL RULE.—No later than May 31,

2 2001, the Administrator shall issue a final rule on

3 the Certification of Screening Companies, after tak4 ing into account any comments received on the pro5 posed rule issued as an interim final rule under

6 paragraph (1).

7 (b) MINIMUM INSTRUCTIONAL STANDARDS FOR

8 SCREENERS.—Section 44935 of title 49, United States

9 Code, is amended by adding at the end thereof the fol10 lowing:

11 ‘‘(e) TRAINING STANDARDS FOR SCREENERS.—

12 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator shall

13 prescribe minimum standards for training security

14 screeners that include at least 40 hours of classroom

15 instruction before an individual is qualified to pro16 vide security screening services under section 44901

17 of this title.

18 ‘‘(2) CLASSROOM EQUIVALENCY.—The success19 ful completion of a program certified by the Admin20 istrator as a program that will train individuals to

21 a level of proficiency meets the classroom instruction

22 requirement of paragraph (1).

23 ‘‘(3) ON-THE-JOB TRAINING.—In addition to

24 the requirements of paragraph (1), before an indi25 vidual may exercise independent judgment as a secu-
7

S 2440 RFH

1 rity screener under section 44901 of this title the in2 dividual shall—

3 ‘‘(A) complete 40 hours of on-the-job train4 ing; and

5 ‘‘(B) successfully complete an on-the-job

6 training examination prescribed by the Admin7 istrator.’’.

8 (c) COMPUTER-BASED TRAINING FACILITIES.—Sec9 tion 4935 of title 49, United States Code, as amended by

10 subsection (b) is further amended by adding at the end

11 thereof the following:

12 ‘‘(f) ACCESSIBILITY OF COMPUTER-BASED TRAINING

13 FACILITIES.—The Administrator shall work with air car14 riers and airports to ensure that computer-based training

15 facilities intended for use by security screeners at an air16 port regularly serving an air carrier holding a certificate

17 issued by the Secretary be conveniently located for that

18 airport and easily accessible.’’.

19 SEC. 4. IMPROVING SECURED-AREA ACCESS CONTROL.

20 Section 44903 of title 49, United States Code, is

21 amended—

22 (1) by redesignating subsections (e) and (f) as

23 subsections (f) and (g); and

24 (2) by inserting after subsection (d) thereof the

25 following:
8

S 2440 RFH

1 ‘‘(e) IMPROVEMENT OF SECURED-AREA ACCESS

2 CONTROL.—

3 ‘‘(1) ENFORCEMENT.—

4 ‘‘(A) ADMINISTRATOR TO PUBLISH SANC5 TIONS.—The Administrator shall publish in the

6 Federal Register a list of sanctions for use as

7 guidelines in the discipline of employees for in8 fractions of airport access control requirements.

9 The guidelines shall incorporate a progressive

10 disciplinary approach that relates proposed

11 sanctions to the severity or recurring nature of

12 the infraction, and shall include, but are not

13 limited to, measures such as remedial training,

14 suspension from security-related duties, suspen15 sion from all duties without pay, and termi16 nation of employment.

17 ‘‘(B) USE OF SANCTIONS.—Each airport,

18 air carrier, and security screening company

19 shall include the list of sanctions published by

20 the Administrator in its security program. The

21 security program shall include a process for

22 taking prompt disciplinary action against an

23 employee who commits an infraction of airport

24 access control requirements.
9

S 2440 RFH

1 ‘‘(2) IMPROVEMENTS.—The Administrator

2 shall—

3 ‘‘(A) work with airport operators and air

4 carriers to implement and strengthen existing

5 controls to eliminate access control weaknesses

6 by September 30, 2000;

7 ‘‘(B) require airport operators and air car8 riers to develop and implement comprehensive

9 and recurring training programs that teach em10 ployees their role in airport security, the impor11 tance of their participation, how their perform12 ance will be evaluated, and what action will be

13 taken if they fail to perform;

14 ‘‘(C) require airport operators and air

15 carriers—

16 ‘‘(i) to develop and implement pro17 grams that foster and reward compliance

18 with access control requirements, and dis19 courage and penalize noncompliance in ac20 cordance with guidelines issued by the Ad21 ministrator to measure employee compli22 ance; and

23 (ii) to enforce individual compliance

24 requirements under Administration over25 sight;
10

S 2440 RFH

1 ‘‘(D) assess and test for compliance with

2 access control requirements, report findings,

3 and assess penalties or take other appropriate

4 enforcement actions when noncompliance is

5 found;

6 ‘‘(E) improve and better administer the

7 Administration security database to ensure its

8 efficiency, reliability, and usefulness for identi9 fication of systemic problems and allocation of

10 resources;

11 ‘‘(F) improve the execution of the Adminis12 tration’s quality control program by September

13 30, 2000; and

14 ‘‘(G) require airport operators and air car15 riers to strengthen access control points in se16 cured areas (including air traffic control oper17 ations areas) to ensure the security of pas18 sengers and aircraft by September 30, 2000.’’.

19 SEC. 5. PHYSICAL SECURITY FOR ATC FACILITIES.

20 In order to ensure physical security at Federal Avia21 tion Administration facilities that house air traffic control

22 systems, the Administrator shall—

23 (1) correct identified physical security

24 weaknesses at inspected facilities so these air

25 traffic control facilities can be granted physical
11

S 2440 RFH

1 security accreditation as expeditiously as pos2 sible, but no later than April 30, 2001; and

3 (2) ensure that annual or triennial follow4 up inspections are conducted, deficiencies are

5 promptly corrected, and accreditation is kept

6 current for all air traffic control facilities.

7 SEC. 6. EXPLOSIVES DETECTION EQUIPMENT.

8 The Administrator of the Federal Aviation Adminis9 tration shall immediately begin to increase gradually the

10 random selection factor embedded in the Administration’s

11 Commuter-Assisted Passenger Prescreening System at

12 airports where bulk explosive detection equipment is being

13 used.

14 SEC. 7. TECHNICAL AMENDMENT TO TITLE 49.

15 Section 106(p)(2) is amended by striking ‘‘15’’ and

16 inserting ‘‘18’’.

Passed the Senate October 3 (legislative day, September 22), 2000.

Attest: GARY SISCO,

Secretary.