Security screening opt-out program

§ 44920

TITLE 49—TRANSPORTATION

each airport participating in the pilot program
under this section and provide Federal Government law enforcement officers at the airport
pursuant to this chapter.
(f) QUALIFIED PRIVATE SCREENING COMPANY.—A
private screening company is qualified to provide screening services at an airport participating in the pilot program under this section if the
company will only employ individuals to provide
such services who meet all the requirements of
this chapter applicable to Federal Government
personnel who perform screening services at airports under this chapter and will provide compensation and other benefits to such individuals
that are not less than the level of compensation
and other benefits provided to such Federal Government personnel in accordance with this chapter.
(g) STANDARDS FOR PRIVATE SCREENING COMPANIES.—The Under Secretary may enter into a
contract with a private screening company to
provide screening at an airport participating in
the pilot program under this section only if the
Under Secretary determines and certifies to
Congress that the private screening company is
owned and controlled by a citizen of the United
States, to the extent that the Under Secretary
determines that there are private screening
companies owned and controlled by such citizens.
(h) TERMINATION OF CONTRACTS.—The Under
Secretary may terminate any contract entered
into with a private screening company to provide screening services at an airport under the
pilot program if the Under Secretary finds that
the company has failed repeatedly to comply
with any standard, regulation, directive, order,
law, or contract applicable to the hiring or
training of personnel to provide such services or
to the provision of screening at the airport.
(i) ELECTION.—If a contract is in effect with respect to screening at an airport under the pilot
program on the last day of the 3-year period beginning on the date of enactment of this section,
the operator of the airport may elect to continue to have such screening carried out by the
screening personnel of a qualified private
screening company under a contract entered
into with the Under Secretary under section
44920 or by Federal Government personnel in accordance with this chapter.
(Added Pub. L. 107–71, title I, § 108(a), Nov. 19,
2001, 115 Stat. 611.)
REFERENCES IN TEXT
The date of enactment of this section, referred to in
subsecs. (b) and (i), is the date of enactment of Pub. L.
107–71, which was approved Nov. 19, 2001.
TRANSFER OF FUNCTIONS
For transfer of functions, personnel, assets, and liabilities of the Transportation Security Administration of the Department of Transportation, including
the functions of the Secretary of Transportation, and
of the Under Secretary of Transportation for Security,
relating thereto, to the Secretary of Homeland Security, and for treatment of related references, see sections 203(2), 551(d), 552(d), and 557 of Title 6, Domestic
Security, and the Department of Homeland Security
Reorganization Plan of November 25, 2002, as modified,
set out as a note under section 542 of Title 6.

Page 1170

§ 44920. Security screening opt-out program
(a) IN GENERAL.—On or after the last day of
the 2-year period beginning on the date on which
the Under Secretary transmits to Congress the
certification required by section 110(c) of the
Aviation and Transportation Security Act, an
operator of an airport may submit to the Under
Secretary an application to have the screening
of passengers and property at the airport under
section 44901 to be carried out by the screening
personnel of a qualified private screening company under a contract entered into with the
Under Secretary.
(b) APPROVAL OF APPLICATIONS.—
(1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 120 days
after the date of receipt of an application submitted by an airport operator under subsection (a), the Under Secretary shall approve
or deny the application.
(2) STANDARDS.—The Under Secretary shall
approve an application submitted by an airport operator under subsection (a) if the Under
Secretary determines that the approval would
not compromise security or detrimentally affect the cost-efficiency or the effectiveness of
the screening of passengers or property at the
airport.
(3) REPORTS ON DENIALS OF APPLICATIONS.—
(A) IN GENERAL.—If the Under Secretary
denies an application submitted by an airport operator under subsection (a), the
Under Secretary shall provide to the airport
operator, not later than 60 days following
the date of the denial, a written report that
sets forth—
(i) the findings that served as the basis
for the denial;
(ii) the results of any cost or security
analysis conducted in considering the application; and
(iii) recommendations on how the airport operator can address the reasons for
the denial.
(B) SUBMISSION TO CONGRESS.—The Under
Secretary shall submit to the Committee on
Commerce, Science, and Transportation of
the Senate and the Committee on Homeland
Security of the House of Representatives a
copy of any report provided to an airport operator under subparagraph (A).
(c) QUALIFIED PRIVATE SCREENING COMPANY.—
A private screening company is qualified to provide screening services at an airport under this
section if the company will only employ individuals to provide such services who meet all the
requirements of this chapter applicable to Federal Government personnel who perform screening services at airports under this chapter and
will provide compensation and other benefits to
such individuals that are not less than the level
of compensation and other benefits provided to
such Federal Government personnel in accordance with this chapter.
(d) STANDARDS FOR PRIVATE SCREENING COMPANIES.—
(1) IN GENERAL.—The Under Secretary may
enter into a contract with a private screening
company to provide screening at an airport
under this section only if the Under Secretary
determines and certifies to Congress that—

Page 1171

§ 44921

TITLE 49—TRANSPORTATION

(A) the level of screening services and protection provided at the airport under the
contract will be equal to or greater than the
level that would be provided at the airport
by Federal Government personnel under this
chapter; and
(B) the private screening company is
owned and controlled by a citizen of the
United States, to the extent that the Under
Secretary determines that there are private
screening companies owned and controlled
by such citizens.
(2) WAIVERS.—The Under Secretary may
waive the requirement of paragraph (1)(B) for
any company that is a United States subsidiary with 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 the submission of the
application. The Under Secretary has complete discretion to reject any application from
a private screening company to provide
screening services at an airport that requires
a waiver under this paragraph.
(e) SUPERVISION OF SCREENED PERSONNEL.—
The Under Secretary shall provide Federal Government supervisors to oversee all screening at
each airport at which screening services are provided under this section and provide Federal
Government law enforcement officers at the airport pursuant to this chapter.
(f) TERMINATION OF CONTRACTS.—The Under
Secretary may terminate any contract entered
into with a private screening company to provide screening services at an airport under this
section if the Under Secretary finds that the
company has failed repeatedly to comply with
any standard, regulation, directive, order, law,
or contract applicable to the hiring or training
of personnel to provide such services or to the
provision of screening at the airport.
(g) OPERATOR OF AIRPORT.—Notwithstanding
any other provision of law, an operator of an airport shall not be liable for any claims for damages filed in State or Federal court (including a
claim for compensatory, punitive, contributory,
or indemnity damages) relating to—
(1) such airport operator’s decision to submit an application to the Secretary of Homeland Security under subsection (a) or section
44919 or such airport operator’s decision not to
submit an application; and
(2) any act of negligence, gross negligence,
or intentional wrongdoing by—
(A) a qualified private screening company
or any of its employees in any case in which
the qualified private screening company is
acting under a contract entered into with
the Secretary of Homeland Security or the
Secretary’s designee; or
(B) employees of the Federal Government
providing passenger and property security
screening services at the airport.
(3) Nothing in this section shall relieve any
airport operator from liability for its own acts
or omissions related to its security responsibilities, nor except as may be provided by
the Support Anti-Terrorism by Fostering Effective Technologies Act of 2002 shall it relieve

any qualified private screening company or its
employees from any liability related to its
own acts of negligence, gross negligence, or intentional wrongdoing.
(h) RECOMMENDATIONS OF AIRPORT OPERATOR.—
As part of any submission of an application for
a private screening company to provide screening services at an airport, the airport operator
shall provide to the Under Secretary a recommendation as to which company would best
serve the security screening and passenger needs
of the airport, along with a statement explaining the basis of the operator’s recommendation.
(Added Pub. L. 107–71, title I, § 108(a), Nov. 19,
2001, 115 Stat. 612; amended Pub. L. 109–90, title
V, § 547, Oct. 18, 2005, 119 Stat. 2089; Pub. L.
112–95, title VIII, § 830(a)–(c), Feb. 14, 2012, 126
Stat. 135.)
REFERENCES IN TEXT
Section 110(c) of the Aviation and Transportation Security Act, referred to in subsec. (a), is section 110(c) of
Pub. L. 107–71, which is set out as a note under section
44901 of this title.
The Support Anti-Terrorism by Fostering Effective
Technologies Act of 2002, referred to in subsec. (g)(3), is
subtitle G (§§ 861–865) of title VIII of Pub. L. 107–296,
Nov. 25, 2002, 116 Stat. 2238, also known as the SAFETY
Act, which is classified generally to part G (§ 441 et
seq.) of subchapter VIII of chapter 1 of Title 6, Domestic Security. For complete classification of this Act to
the Code, see Short Title note set out under section 101
of Title 6 and Tables.
AMENDMENTS
2012—Subsec. (b). Pub. L. 112–95, § 830(a), amended subsec. (b) generally. Prior to amendment, text read as follows: ‘‘The Under Secretary may approve any application submitted under subsection (a).’’
Subsec. (d). Pub. L. 112–95, § 830(b), designated existing provisions as par. (1), inserted heading, redesignated former pars. (1) and (2) as subpars. (A) and (B), respectively, of par. (1), realigned margins, and added
par. (2).
Subsec. (h). Pub. L. 112–95, § 830(c), added subsec. (h).
2005—Subsec. (g). Pub. L. 109–90 added subsec. (g).
TRANSFER OF FUNCTIONS
For transfer of functions, personnel, assets, and liabilities of the Transportation Security Administration of the Department of Transportation, including
the functions of the Secretary of Transportation, and
of the Under Secretary of Transportation for Security,
relating thereto, to the Secretary of Homeland Security, and for treatment of related references, see sections 203(2), 551(d), 552(d), and 557 of Title 6, Domestic
Security, and the Department of Homeland Security
Reorganization Plan of November 25, 2002, as modified,
set out as a note under section 542 of Title 6.

§ 44921. Federal flight deck officer program
(a) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Under Secretary of
Transportation for Security shall establish a
program to deputize volunteer pilots of air carriers providing air transportation or intrastate
air transportation as Federal law enforcement
officers to defend the flight decks of aircraft of
such air carriers against acts of criminal violence or air piracy. Such officers shall be known
as ‘‘Federal flight deck officers’’.
(b) PROCEDURAL REQUIREMENTS.—
(1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 3 months
after the date of enactment of this section, the
Under Secretary shall establish procedural re-