Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Security Assessment 
Feasibility for Equipment Testing and Evaluation of Capa-
bilities 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 Administra-
tion. 
(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 one year after the 
date of the enactment of this Act, the Administrator, in con-
sultation with the Under Secretary for Science and Tech-
nology of the Department of Homeland Security, shall de-
velop a program to enable a vendor of transportation secu-
rity screening technology to obtain testing, including 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 determined by the 
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Administrator, in consultation with the 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 se-
curity screening technology relating to the probability 
of detection, the probability of false alarm, and other 
indicators that such technology is able to meet the Ad-
ministration’s mission needs for detection 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 Homeland Secu-
rity’s oversight of such testing process, or increasing 
costs to the Administration, the Administrator shall 
coordinate the third party detection testing under 
paragraph (1) with any associated subsequent final 
Department of Homeland Security testing. 
(3) INTERNATIONAL PARTNERSHIPS.—To the ex-
tent practicable and permissible under law, and in 
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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. 
(d) TESTING FRAMEWORK.—The Administrator, in 
consultation with the Under Secretary for Science and 
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Technology of the Department of Homeland Security, 
shall— 
(1) establish a framework for the third party 
testing under this section to determine if the security 
screening technology that is the subject of such testing 
satisfies the Administration’s requirements before such 
technology may enter or re-enter, as applicable, oper-
ational 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 equipment 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 respect 
to an entity that is a United States subsidiary of a 
parent company that has implemented a foreign own-
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ership, control, or influence mitigation plan that has 
been approved by the Defense Security Service of the 
Department of Defense prior to seeking to engage 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 en-
tity providing third party testing under this section 
does not have a contractual, business, or other pecu-
niary interest (exclusive of any such testing) in— 
(A) the security screening technology subject 
to such testing; or the 
(B) vendor of such technology. 
SEC. 4. RECIPROCAL RECOGNITION OF SECURITY STAND-
ARDS. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator, in coordination 
with the European Civil Aviation Conference, shall con-
tinue development of a validation process for the reciprocal 
recognition of security validation processes for recognition 
of security screening technologies or certification authorities 
for deployment. 
(b) REQUIREMENT.—The validation process under 
subsection (a) shall ensure that the certification process of 
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