HR-3584 : Still Just a Bill

Transportation Security Administration Reform and Improvement Act of 2015

This bill directs the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) to operate a trusted passenger screening TSA PreCheck program that provides expedited screening for low-risk passengers and their accessible property.

The TSA must:

• publish PreCheck application enrollment standards,
• partner with the private sector to collect biographic and biometric identification information via secure mobile enrollment platforms, and
• ensure that any enrollment expansion using a private sector risk assessment instead of a fingerprint-based criminal history records check is equivalent to the fingerprint-based check conducted through the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).

The TSA must also:

• develop and implement a process for approving private sector marketing of the program,
• coordinate with the heads of appropriate Department of Homeland Security (DHS) components to leverage DHS-held data and technologies to verify the citizenship of individuals enrolling in the program,
• ensure that TSA PreCheck screening lanes are available to enrolled individuals during peak and high-volume travel times at airports, and
• initiate an assessment of security vulnerabilities in the vetting process for the program.

The TSA shall:

• conduct a pilot project to establish a secure, automated, biometric-based system at airports to verify the identity of TSA PreCheck passengers; and
• establish a secure, automated system at all large hub airports for verifying travel and identity documents of non-PreCheck passengers.

The TSA shall permit access to expedited airport security screening at airport security checkpoints only to a passenger who:

• submits voluntarily his or her biographic and biometric information for a security risk assessment and has an approved PreCheck program application, or who is a participant in another DHS-trusted or -registered traveler program;
• is traveling as air transportation security or a member of the Armed Forces, including any accompanying family member; and
• is a member of a population designated by the TSA as known and low-risk and who may be issued a unique, known traveler number.

This bill amends the Homeland Security Act of 2002 to direct TSA to develop and implement a preventive maintenance validation process for security-related technology deployed at airports.

The TSA shall request from the Director of National Intelligence access to additional data from the Terrorist Identities Datamart Environment data and any or other terrorism-related information to improve the credential vetting program for individuals with unescorted access to sensitive areas of airports.

The TSA shall:

• issue guidance for Transportation Security Inspectors to review annually airport badging office procedures for applicants seeking access to sensitive airport areas, and
• review the denial of credentials because of issues associated with determining an applicants's lawful status in order to identify airports with specific weaknesses and coordinate with them to address those weaknesses.

The TSA may coordinate with the FBI Director to conduct a pilot program of the Rap Back Service to determine if a similar service can be implemented fully. (The FBI Rap Back Service provides authorized agencies with notification of criminal, and, in limited cases, civil activity of individuals that occurs after the initial processing and retention of criminal or civil transactions.)

The TSA shall establish a pilot program to evaluate the effectiveness of privately-operated explosives detection canine teams.

The Government Accountability Office shall report to Congress on the efficiency and effectiveness of TSA's Surface Transportation Security Inspectors Program.

The DHS Inspector General shall analyze the data and methods DHS uses to identify law enforcement officers and criminal investigators among DHS Office of Inspection employees.

The TSA shall:

• certify to Congress those employees who are classified as criminal investigators and receiving premium pay and other related benefits, and
• reclassify criminal investigator positions as noncriminal investigator or non-law enforcement positions if the individuals in them do not spend on average at least 50% of their time performing criminal investigative duties.