II 

108TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 165

To improve air cargo security. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JANUARY 15, 2003

Mrs. HUTCHISON (for herself and Mrs. FEINSTEIN) introduced the following 

bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, 

Science, and Transportation 

A BILL

To improve air cargo 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 ‘‘Air Cargo Security 

5 Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. INSPECTION OF CARGO CARRIED ABOARD PAS7 SENGER AIRCRAFT. 

8 Section 44901(f) of title 49, United States Code, is 

9 amended to read as follows: 

10 ‘‘(f) CARGO.—
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1 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Under Secretary of 

2 Transportation for Security shall establish systems 

3 to screen, inspect, or otherwise ensure the security 

4 of all cargo that is to be transported in—

5 ‘‘(A) passenger aircraft operated by an air 

6 carrier or foreign air carrier in air transpor7 tation or intrastate air transportation; or 

8 ‘‘(B) all-cargo aircraft in air transpor9 tation and intrastate air transportation. 

10 ‘‘(2) STRATEGIC PLAN.—The Under Secretary 

11 shall develop a strategic plan to carry out paragraph 

12 (1).’’. 

13 SEC. 3. AIR CARGO SHIPPING. 

14 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subchapter I of chapter 449 of 

15 title 49, United States Code, is amended by adding at the 

16 end the following: 

17 ‘‘§ 44922. Regular inspections of air cargo shipping 

18 facilities 

19 ‘‘The Under Secretary of Transportation for Security 

20 shall establish a system for the regular inspection of ship21 ping facilities for shipments of cargo transported in air 

22 transportation or intrastate air transportation to ensure 

23 that appropriate security controls, systems, and protocols 

24 are observed, and shall enter into arrangements with the 

25 civil aviation authorities, or other appropriate officials, of 
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1 foreign countries to ensure that inspections are conducted 

2 on a regular basis at shipping facilities for cargo trans3 ported in air transportation to the United States.’’. 

4 (b) ADDITIONAL INSPECTORS.—The Under Secretary 

5 may increase the number of inspectors as necessary to im6 plement the requirements of title 49, United States Code, 

7 as amended by this subtitle. 

8 (c) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—The chapter anal9 ysis for chapter 449 of title 49, United States Code, is 

10 amended by adding at the end the following:

‘‘44922. Regular inspections of air cargo shipping facilities.’’.

11 SEC. 4. CARGO CARRIED ABOARD PASSENGER AIRCRAFT. 

12 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subchapter I of chapter 449 of 

13 title 49, United States Code, is further amended by adding 

14 at the end the following: 

15 ‘‘§ 44923. Air cargo security 

16 ‘‘(a) DATABASE.—The Under Secretary of Transpor17 tation for Security shall establish an industry-wide pilot 

18 program database of known shippers of cargo that is to 

19 be transported in passenger aircraft operated by an air 

20 carrier or foreign air carrier in air transportation or intra21 state air transportation. The Under Secretary shall use 

22 the results of the pilot program to improve the known 

23 shipper program. 

24 ‘‘(b) INDIRECT AIR CARRIERS.—
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1 ‘‘(1) RANDOM INSPECTIONS.—The Under Sec2 retary shall conduct random audits, investigations, 

3 and inspections of indirect air carrier facilities to de4 termine if the indirect air carriers are meeting the 

5 security requirements of this title. 

6 ‘‘(2) ENSURING COMPLIANCE.—The Under Sec7 retary may take such actions as may be appropriate 

8 to promote and ensure compliance with the security 

9 standards established under this title. 

10 ‘‘(3) NOTICE OF FAILURES.—The Under Sec11 retary shall notify the Secretary of Transportation 

12 of any indirect air carrier that fails to meet security 

13 standards established under this title. 

14 ‘‘(4) SUSPENSION OR REVOCATION OF CERTIFI15 CATE.—The Secretary, as appropriate, shall suspend 

16 or revoke any certificate or authority issued under 

17 chapter 411 to an indirect air carrier immediately 

18 upon the recommendation of the Under Secretary. 

19 Any indirect air carrier whose certificate is sus20 pended or revoked under this subparagraph may ap21 peal the suspension or revocation in accordance with 

22 procedures established under this title for the appeal 

23 of suspensions and revocations. 

24 ‘‘(5) INDIRECT AIR CARRIER.—In this sub25 section, the term ‘indirect air carrier’ has the mean-
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1 ing given that term in part 1548 of title 49, Code 

2 of Federal Regulations. 

3 ‘‘(c) CONSIDERATION OF COMMUNITY NEEDS.—In 

4 implementing air cargo security requirements under this 

5 title, the Under Secretary may take into consideration the 

6 extraordinary air transportation needs of small or isolated 

7 communities and unique operational characteristics of car8 riers that serve those communities.’’. 

9 (b) ASSESSMENT OF INDIRECT AIR CARRIER PRO10 GRAM.—The Under Secretary of Transportation for Secu11 rity shall assess the security aspects of the indirect air 

12 carrier program under part 1548 of title 49, Code of Fed13 eral Regulations, and report the result of the assessment, 

14 together with any recommendations for necessary modi15 fications of the program to the Senate Committee on Com16 merce, Science, and Transportation and the House of Rep17 resentatives Committee on Transportation and Infrastruc18 ture within 45 days after the date of enactment of this 

19 Act. The Under Secretary may submit the report and rec20 ommendations in classified form. 

21 (c) REPORT TO CONGRESS ON RANDOM AUDITS.—

22 The Under Secretary of Transportation for Security shall 

23 report to the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, 

24 and Transportation and the House of Representatives 

25 Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure on ran-
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1 dom screening, audits, and investigations of air cargo se2 curity programs based on threat assessments and other 

3 relevant information. The report may be submitted in clas4 sified form. 

5 (d) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

6 are authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary of 

7 Transportation such sums as may be necessary to carry 

8 out this section. 

9 (e) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—The chapter anal10 ysis for chapter 449 of title 49, United States Code, as 

11 amended by section 3, is amended by adding at the end 

12 the following:

‘‘44923. Air cargo security.’’.

13 SEC. 5. TRAINING PROGRAM FOR CARGO HANDLERS. 

14 The Under Secretary of Transportation for Security 

15 shall establish a training program for any persons that 

16 handle air cargo to ensure that the cargo is properly han17 dled and safe-guarded from security breaches. 

18 SEC. 6. CARGO CARRIED ABOARD ALL-CARGO AIRCRAFT. 

19 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Under Secretary of Trans20 portation for Security shall establish a program requiring 

21 that air carriers operating all-cargo aircraft have an ap22 proved plan for the security of their air operations area, 

23 the cargo placed aboard such aircraft, and persons having 

24 access to their aircraft on the ground or in flight. 
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1 (b) PLAN REQUIREMENTS.—The plan shall include 

2 provisions for—

3 (1) security of each carrier’s air operations 

4 areas and cargo acceptance areas at the airports 

5 served; 

6 (2) background security checks for all employ7 ees with access to the air operations area; 

8 (3) appropriate training for all employees and 

9 contractors with security responsibilities; 

10 (4) appropriate screening of all flight crews and 

11 persons transported aboard all-cargo aircraft; 

12 (5) security procedures for cargo placed on all13 cargo aircraft as provided in section 44901(f)(1)(B) 

14 of title 49, United States Code; and 

15 (6) additional measures deemed necessary and 

16 appropriate by the Under Secretary. 

17 (c) CONFIDENTIAL INDUSTRY REVIEW AND COM18 MENT.—

19 (1) CIRCULATION OF PROPOSED PROGRAM.—

20 The Under Secretary shall—

21 (A) propose a program under subsection 

22 (a) within 90 days after the date of enactment 

23 of this Act; and 

24 (B) distribute the proposed program, on a 

25 confidential basis, to those air carriers and 
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1 other employers to which the program will 

2 apply. 

3 (2) COMMENT PERIOD.—Any person to which 

4 the proposed program is distributed under para5 graph (1) may provide comments on the proposed 

6 program to the Under Secretary not more than 60 

7 days after it was received. 

8 (3) FINAL PROGRAM.—The Under Secretary of 

9 Transportation shall issue a final program under 

10 subsection (a) not later than 45 days after the last 

11 date on which comments may be provided under 

12 paragraph (2). The final program shall contain time 

13 frames for the plans to be implemented by each air 

14 carrier or employer to which it applies. 

15 (4) SUSPENSION OF PROCEDURAL NORMS.—

16 Neither chapter 5 of title 5, United States Code, nor 

17 the Federal Advisory Committee Act (5 U.S.C. 

18 App.) shall apply to the program required by this 

19 section.

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