No-Hassle Flying Act of 2012
PL 112-218 (S.3542), enacted 12/20/2012

126 STAT. 1593 
PUBLIC LAW 112–218—DEC. 20, 2012 
Public Law 112–218 
112th Congress 
An Act 
To authorize the Assistant Secretary of Homeland Security (Transportation Security 
Administration) to modify screening requirements for checked baggage arriving 
from preclearance airports, and for other purposes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of 
the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘No-Hassle Flying Act of 2012’’. 
SEC. 2. PRECLEARANCE AIRPORTS. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Section 44901(d) of title 49, United States 
Code, is amended by adding at the end the following new paragraph: 
‘‘(4) PRECLEARANCE AIRPORTS.— 
‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—For a flight or flight segment origi-
nating at an airport outside the United States and traveling 
to the United States with respect to which checked baggage 
has been screened in accordance with an aviation security 
preclearance agreement between the United States and 
the country in which such airport is located, the Assistant 
Secretary (Transportation Security Administration) may, 
in coordination with U.S. Customs and Border Protection, 
determine whether such baggage must be re-screened in 
the United States by an explosives detection system before 
such baggage continues on any additional flight or flight 
segment. 
‘‘(B) AVIATION
SECURITY
PRECLEARANCE
AGREEMENT 
DEFINED.—In this paragraph, the term ‘aviation security 
preclearance agreement’ means an agreement that delin-
eates and implements security standards and protocols that 
are determined by the Assistant Secretary, in coordination 
with U.S. Customs and Border Protection, to be comparable 
to those of the United States and therefore sufficiently 
effective to enable passengers to deplane into sterile areas 
of airports in the United States. 
‘‘(C) REPORT.—The Assistant Secretary shall submit 
to the Committee on Homeland Security of the House of 
Representatives, the Committee on Commerce, Science, and 
Transportation of the Senate, and the Committee on Home-
land Security and Governmental Affairs of the Senate an 
annual report on the re-screening of baggage under this 
paragraph. Each such report shall include the following 
for the year covered by the report: 
‘‘(i) A list of airports outside the United States 
from which a flight or flight segment traveled to the 
No-Hassle Flying 
Act of 2012. 
49 USC 40101 
note. 
Dec. 20, 2012 
[S. 3542] 
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126 STAT. 1594 
PUBLIC LAW 112–218—DEC. 20, 2012 
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY—S. 3542 (H.R. 6028): 
CONGRESSIONAL RECORD, Vol. 158 (2012): 
Nov. 29, considered and passed Senate. 
Dec. 12, considered and passed House. 
United States for which the Assistant Secretary deter-
mined, in accordance with the authority under 
subparagraph (A), that checked baggage was not 
required to be re-screened in the United States by 
an explosive detection system before such baggage 
continued on an additional flight or flight segment. 
‘‘(ii) The amount of Federal savings generated from 
the exercise of such authority.’’. 
(b) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—Section 44901 of title 49, 
United States Code, is amended by striking ‘‘explosive’’ each place 
it appears and inserting ‘‘explosives’’. 
Approved December 20, 2012. 
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