H.R. 5840 — Introduced in House

I 118th CONGRESS 1st Session H. R. 5840 IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES September 29, 2023Mr. Graves of Louisiana (for himself, Mr. Smith of Washington, Ms. Titus, Mr. Green of Tennessee, Mr. Carbajal, and Mr. Guest) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Homeland Security A BILL To require the Transportation Security Administration to streamline the enrollment processes for individuals applying for a Transportation Security Administration security threat assessment for certain programs, including the Transportation Worker Identification Credential and Hazardous Materials Endorsement Threat Assessment programs of the Administration, and for other purposes. 1. Short title This Act may be cited as the Transportation Security Screening Modernization Act. 2. Streamlining of applications for certain security threat assessment programs of the Transportation Security Administration (a) Streamlining (1) In general Not later than two years after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Administrator of the Transportation Security Administration (in this section referred to as the TSA) shall take such actions as are necessary, including issuance of an interim final rule if needed, to streamline the procedures for individuals applying for or renewing enrollment in more than one TSA security threat assessment program, in particular, the TWIC and HAZMAT Endorsement programs, and any other credentialing programs as determined by the Administrator, by— (A) permitting an individual to enroll at any TSA authorized enrollment center once for a threat assessment program endorsement and use the application, including associated biometric and biographic data, as well as information generated by TSA’s vetting, for one of such programs to enroll in any other of such programs; (B) permitting an individual to visit any TSA authorized enrollment center and enroll in more than one TSA security threat assessment program at the same time for a fee that is less than the cumulative fee that would otherwise be incurred for each such program separately; (C) permitting an individual to undergo a streamlined and expeditious renewal process; (D) aligning the expiration of an individual’s successful, valid eligibility determination with the expiration of that individual’s eligibility to participate in subsequent TSA security threat assessment programs to which the individual applies; (E) providing to States the expiration dates for each individual’s TSA security threat assessment to ensure a commercial driver’s license of an individual who holds a HAZMAT Endorsement does not indicate the individual is authorized to transport hazardous materials after the expiration date of the enrollment of the individual in the HAZMAT Endorsement security threat assessment program if such commercial driver’s license has an expiration date that is different from the expiration date of such enrollment; and (F) enrolling an individual in a subsequent TSA security threat assessment program at the minimum cost necessary for the TSA to cover printing costs and costs associated with the collection of any additional biometric and biographic data in accordance with paragraph (3). (2) State requirements for streamlining Not later than six months after the date of the enactment of this Act, the States shall carry out the responsibilities of the States pursuant to section 5103a of title 49, United States Code. (3) Special rule If an individual under this subsection is at different times applying for or renewing enrollment in more than one TSA security threat assessment program, such individual may be required to revisit a TSA authorized enrollment center for the collection of additional data, such as biometrics, necessary for any such program that were not so collected in connection with any other such program. (b) Publication The Administrator of the TSA shall post on a publicly available website of the TSA information relating to the streamlining of the enrollment processes for individuals applying for more than one TSA security threat assessment program described in subsection (a). (c) Expedited rulemaking Notwithstanding sections 551 to 559 of title 5, United States Code, nothing in this section shall require notice and comment rulemaking, and to the extent it is necessary to add additional requirements for which limited rulemaking may be advisable, the Administrator of the TSA shall implement such requirements through publication of an interim final rule. (d) Briefing Not later than 180 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Administrator of the TSA shall brief Congress on progress made toward the implementation of this section. (e) Definitions In this section: (1) TWIC The term TWIC means the Transportation Worker Identification Credential authorized under section 70105 of title 46, United States Code. (2) HAZMAT Endorsement The term HAZMAT Endorsement means the Hazardous Materials Endorsement Threat Assessment program authorized under section 5103a of title 49, United States Code.