IIB 
115TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 4561 
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 
JANUARY 10, 2018 
Received; read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, 
and Transportation 
AN ACT 
To provide for third party testing of transportation security 
screening technology, and for other purposes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
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SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Security Assessment 
Feasibility for Equipment Testing and Evaluation of Ca-
pabilities for our Homeland Act’’ or the ‘‘SAFE TECH 
Act’’. 
SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 
In this Act: 
(1) ADMINISTRATION.—The term ‘‘Administra-
tion’’ means the Transportation Security Adminis-
tration. 
(2) ADMINISTRATOR.—The term ‘‘Adminis-
trator’’ means the Administrator of the Transpor-
tation Security Administration. 
SEC. 3. THIRD PARTY TESTING OF SECURITY SCREENING 
TECHNOLOGY. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year after the 
date of the enactment of this Act, the Administrator, in 
consultation with the Under Secretary for Science and 
Technology of the Department of Homeland Security, 
shall develop a program to enable a vendor of transpor-
tation security screening technology to obtain testing, in-
cluding as an alternative to the Administration’s testing 
process under paragraph (9) of section 114(f) of title 49, 
United States Code, by an appropriate third party, as de-
termined by the Administrator, in consultation with the 
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Under Secretary, of such technology before procurement 
or development of such technology. 
(b) DETECTION TESTING.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—The third party testing pro-
gram authorized under subsection (a) shall include 
detection testing to evaluate the performance of a 
security screening technology relating to the prob-
ability of detection, the probability of false alarm, 
and other indicators that such technology is able to 
meet the Administration’s mission needs for detec-
tion of— 
(A) explosives; and 
(B) prohibited items. 
(2) COORDINATION WITH FINAL PROCESSES.— 
To the extent practicable, and without compromising 
the integrity of the Administration’s testing process 
under paragraph (9) of section 114(f) of title 49, 
United States Code, or the Department of Home-
land Security’s oversight of such testing process, or 
increasing costs to the Administration, the Adminis-
trator shall coordinate the third party detection test-
ing under paragraph (1) with any associated subse-
quent final Department of Homeland Security test-
ing. 
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(3) INTERNATIONAL
PARTNERSHIPS.—To the 
extent practicable and permissible under law, and in 
accordance with national security interests of the 
United States, the Administrator shall— 
(A) share with appropriate international 
partners detection testing information and 
standards; and 
(B) coordinate with such appropriate inter-
national partners to align such testing informa-
tion and standards to maximize the capability 
to detect explosives and other threats. 
(c) ALTERNATIVE TESTING FACTORS.—Third party 
testing under subsection (a) may include as an alternative, 
at the discretion of the Administrator, the testing at the 
TSA Systems Integration Facility of the Administration, 
including testing for— 
(1) health and safety factors; 
(2) operator interface; 
(3) human factors; 
(4) environmental factors; 
(5) throughput; 
(6) reliability, maintainability, and availability 
factors; and 
(7) interoperability. 
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(d) TESTING FRAMEWORK.—The Administrator, in 
consultation with the Under Secretary for Science and 
Technology of the Department of Homeland Security, 
shall— 
(1) establish a framework for the third party 
testing under this section to determine if the secu-
rity screening technology that is the subject of such 
testing satisfies the Administration’s requirements 
before such technology may enter or re-enter, as ap-
plicable, operational testing at an airport or other 
transportation facility; and 
(2) use phased implementation to allow the Ad-
ministration and the third party concerned to estab-
lish best practices. 
(e) PRIORITIZATION OF THIRD PARTY TESTING.— 
The Administrator may prioritize, when appropriate, the 
field testing of security screening technology and equip-
ment by third parties. 
(f) ELIGIBLE ENTITIES.— 
(1) UNITED
STATES
OWNERSHIP.—An entity 
providing third party testing under the program de-
veloped pursuant to subsection (a) shall be owned 
and controlled by a citizen of the United States. 
(2) WAIVER.—The Administrator may waive 
the requirement specified in paragraph (1) with re-
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spect to an entity that is a United States subsidiary 
of a parent company that has implemented a foreign 
ownership, control, or influence mitigation plan that 
has been approved by the Defense Security Service 
of the Department of Defense prior to seeking to en-
gage in third party testing. The Administrator has 
complete discretion to reject any proposal from a 
company to provide testing under subsection (a) that 
requires a waiver under this paragraph. 
(3) CONFLICTS OF INTEREST.—The Adminis-
trator shall ensure, to the extent possible, that an 
entity providing third party testing under this sec-
tion does not have a contractual, business, or other 
pecuniary interest (exclusive of any such testing) 
in— 
(A) the security screening technology sub-
ject to such testing; or the 
(B) vendor of such technology. 
SEC. 4. RECIPROCAL RECOGNITION OF SECURITY STAND-
ARDS. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator, in coordina-
tion with the European Civil Aviation Conference, shall 
continue development of a validation process for the recip-
rocal recognition of security validation processes for rec-
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ognition of security screening technologies or certification 
authorities for deployment. 
(b) REQUIREMENT.—The validation process under 
subsection (a) shall ensure that the certification process 
of each participating international security partner or rec-
ognized certification authority complies with Administra-
tion standards. 
SEC. 5. GAO REVIEW. 
Not later than 2 years after the date of the enact-
ment of this Act, the Comptroller General of the United 
States shall submit to the Committee on Homeland Secu-
rity of the House of Representatives and the Committee 
on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the Senate 
a study on the third party testing program developed 
under this Act. Such study shall include a review of the 
following: 
(1) Any efficiencies or gains in effectiveness 
achieved in the Administration’s operations as a re-
sult of such program. 
(2) The degree to which the Administration 
conducts timely and regular oversight of entities en-
gaged in such testing. 
(3) The effect of such program on the fol-
lowing: 
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(A) The introduction of innovative detec-
tion technologies into security screening oper-
ations. 
(B) The availability of testing for tech-
nologies developed by small to medium sized 
businesses. 
(C) Any vulnerabilities associated with 
such program including with respect to the fol-
lowing: 
(i) National security. 
(ii) Conflicts of interest between enti-
ties carrying out such testing and entities 
with such technologies to be tested. 
(iii) Waste, fraud, and abuse. 
Passed the House of Representatives January 9, 
2018. 
Attest: 
KAREN L. HAAS, 
Clerk. 
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