Title II — Oversight

S. 697 · 113th Congress · Apr 10, 2013 · Lineage

II Oversight

Sec. 201 Enhanced oversight

Section 44920 of title 49, United States Code, as amended by section 109 of this Act, is further amended by adding at the end the following new subsection:

“(l) Enhanced oversight—Not later than 180 days after the date of the enactment of the Contract Screener Reform and Accountability Act, the Under Secretary shall develop and implement a system to be carried out, to the maximum extent practicable, by the contracting officer who oversees each respective private screening company providing screening services at an airport under this section, to enhance monitoring of performance of each such private screening company. The system shall, at a minimum, provide year-to-year information about performance by each such private screening company, and be in a format to provide for comparison with airports in the same category where screening services are provided by Federal Government personnel with respect to detection rates of threats and threat image tests, recertification pass rates, covert performance assessments, and evaluations used to assess screener performance on various elements that may affect security and a passenger’s overall travel experience.”

Sec. 202 Security breaches

Section 44920 of title 49, United States Code, as amended by section 201 of this Act, is further amended by adding at the end the following new subsection:

“(m) Security breaches

“(1) In general—A private screening company that provides screening services at an airport under this section shall report to the Under Secretary each security breach at that airport. Each such report shall include—

“(A) a detailed description of the security breach;

“(B) information regarding where the breach occurred;

“(C) information regarding law enforcement notification of and response to the breach; and

“(D) any corrective action taken in response to the breach.

“(2) Annual reports—The Under Secretary shall submit to the Committee on Homeland Security of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the Senate an annual report containing the information on security breaches required to be submitted to the Under Secretary pursuant to paragraph (1), including the definition of “security breach” used by the Under Secretary for purposes of this subsection. To the extent practicable, the report shall be submitted in unclassified form with a classified appendix if necessary.”

Sec. 203 Covert testing of contract screener performance

Section 44920 of title 49, United States Code, as amended by section 202 of this Act, is further amended by adding at the end the following new subsection:

“(n) Covert testing

“(1) In general—The Comptroller General of the United States shall conduct annual covert testing of airports where private screening companies provide screening services under this section. To the extent practicable, such covert testing shall be conducted at one airport with contract screener personnel within each airport category that was not the subject of covert testing by another Federal entity during the same year.

“(2) Report required—The Comptroller General shall submit to the Under Secretary and to the Committee on Homeland Security of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the Senate a report that contains the results of covert testing conducted under paragraph (1). To the extent practicable, each such report shall be submitted in unclassified form with a classified appendix if necessary.”

Sec. 204 Contracting prohibition for compromising covert security testing

Subsection (d) of section 44920 of title 49, United States Code, as amended by section 101 of this Act, is further amended—

(1)

in paragraph (1), by striking “and” at the end;

(2)

in paragraph (2), by striking the period at the end and inserting “; and”; and

(3)

by adding at the end the following new paragraph:

“(3) on or after the date of the enactment of the Contract Screener Reform and Accountability Act, neither the private screening company, nor its parent company, if applicable, has compromised any covert security testing by notifying individuals employed by the private screening company that the covert testing was occurring, or has otherwise been found to have knowingly compromised covert testing conducted pursuant to subsection (n) or any other covert testing conducted by the Inspector General of the Department of Homeland Security, the Comptroller General of the United States, or the Under Secretary.”

Sec. 205 Proper handling of sensitive security information

Section 44920 of title 49, United States Code, as amended by section 203 of this Act, is further amended by adding at the end the following new subsection:

“(o) Proper handling of sensitive security information—The Under Secretary shall require each private screening company that provides screening services at an airport under this section to provide all individuals employed by the private screening company with annual training for the proper handling of all sensitive information, including sensitive security information.”