AIR CARRIER AND AIRPORT SECURITY PERSONNEL.

SEC. 105. AIR CARRIER AND AIRPORT SECURITY PERSONNEL. (a) In General.—Section 316 of the Federal Aviation Act of 1958 (49 U.S.C. App. 1357) is amended by adding at the end the following new subsections: “(g) Air Carrier and Airport Security Personnel.— “(1) Employment investigations.— 104 STAT. 3072 “(A) In general.—In order to ensure the security of aircraft and their passengers, crew, and cargo, the Administrator shall issue regulations to require individuals employed in, and individuals applying for, positions described in subparagraph (B) to be subjected to such employment investigations, including criminal history record check, as the Administrator determines necessary to ensure air transportation security. “(B) Individuals subject to employment investigations.—An individual shall be subject to an employment investigation under subparagraph (A) if such individual is employed in, or is applying for, a position in which such individual has unescorted access, or may authorize others to have unescorted access, to air carrier or foreign air carrier aircraft, or to secured areas (designated by the Administrator) of United States airports serving air carriers or foreign air carriers. “(C) Requirements of air carriers and airport operators.—Any air carrier, foreign air carrier, or airport operator who employs an individual in a position described in subparagraph (B), or authorizes or contracts for the services of such individual, shall take such actions as may be necessary to ensure that any employment investigation required by the Administrator under subparagraph (A) is performed. “(2) Criminal history records check.— “(A) In general.—If, as part of an employment investigation under paragraph (1)(A), the Administrator requires an identification and criminal history record check of an individual in a position described in paragraph (1)(B) to be conducted by the Attorney General, the Administrator (after consultation with the Attorney General) shall designate persons to obtain and transmit fingerprints to the Attorney General. The costs of any such check shall be paid by the employer of such individual. The Attorney General may for the purposes of this subsection make available the results of any such check to persons designated by the Administrator, after consultation with the Attorney General. “(B) Regulations.— For purposes of administering this subsection, the Administrator shall prescribe regulations to— “(i) implement procedures for taking fingerprints; and “(ii) establish requirements for use of information received from the Attorney General under this subsection in order to limit the dissemination of such information and ensure that such information is used solely for the purposes of this subsection. “(C) Correction of check information.—An individual who, as part of an employment investigation under paragraph (1)(A), is subject to an identification and criminal history records check shall be provided a copy of any record received from the Attorney General and shall have the right to complete and correct the information contained in such check before any final employment decision is made on account of such check. 104 STAT. 3073 “(3) Employment restrictions.— “(A) In general.— Except as provided in subparagraph (B), an air carrier, foreign air carrier, or airport operator shall not employ, or authorize or contract for the services of, any individual in a position described in paragraph (1)(B), if— “(i) such individual has not been subject to an employment investigation required under paragraph (1)(A); or “(ii) the results of such investigation establish that such individual in the 10-year period ending on the date of such investigation has been convicted in any jurisdiction of a crime set forth in section 902 (b), (c), (h), (i), (j), (k), (1), (m), (n), (q), or (r); a crime set forth in section 32 of title 18, United States Code; murder; assault with intent to murder; espionage; sedition; treason; rape; kidnapping; unlawful possession, sale, distribution, or manufacture of an explosive or weapon; extortion; armed robbery; distribution of, or intent to distribute, a controlled substance; or conspiracy to commit any of the aforementioned criminal acts. The Administrator may specify other factors which the Administrator determines to be sufficient to make an individual ineligible for employment in a position described in paragraph (1)(B). “(B) Exception.—It shall not be a violation of subparagraph (A) for an air carrier, foreign air carrier, or airport operator to employ, or authorize or contract for employment of, an individual in a position described in paragraph (1)(B) who has not been subject to an employment investigation required by paragraph (1)(A), if the employment of such individual is carried out pursuant to a plan approved by the Administrator which provides alternate security arrangements. “(4) Limitation on statutory construction.—Nothing in this subsection shall be construed as requiring investigations or record checks where such investigations or record checks are prohibited by applicable laws of a foreign government. “(5) Fees and charges.—The Administrator and the Attorney General shall establish reasonable fees and charges to cover expenses incurred in carrying out this subsection. The amount of fees collected under this paragraph shall be credited to the accounts in the Treasury from which such expenses were incurred and shall be available to the Administrator and the Attorney General for paying expenses for which such fees are collected. “(h) Employment Standards.—Not later than 270 days after the date of the enactment of this subsection, the Administrator shall prescribe standards for the hiring, continued employment, and contracting of air carrier and, as appropriate, airport security personnel. Such standards shall include— “(1) minimum training requirements for new employees; “(2) retraining requirements; “(3) minimum staffing levels; “(4) minimum language skills; and “(5) minimum education levels for employees, as appropriate. 104 STAT. 3074 “(i) Human Factors.—The Administrator, in coordination with air carriers, airport operators, and other interested persons shall review issues relating to human performance in the aviation security system with the goal of maximizing such performance. Upon completion of the review, the Administrator shall recommend guidelines and prescribe appropriate changes to existing procedures to improve such performance. “(j) Training of Air Carrier and Airport Security Personnel.— Not later than 180 days after the date of the enactment of this subsection, the Administrator shall prescribe standards for the education and training of— “(1) ground security coordinators; “(2) security supervisory personnel; and “(3) airline pilots as in-flight security coordinators. Such standards shall include initial training, retraining, and continuing education requirements and methods by which the performance of ground security coordinators and security supervisory personnel shall be measured annually. “(k) Foreign Air Carrier Security Programs.— “(1) Continuation of existing approval requirement.—The Administrator shall continue in effect the requirement of section 129.25 of title 14, Code of Federal Regulations, that foreign air carriers must adopt and use a security program approved by the Administrator. “(2) Level of protection.—The Administrator may approve a security program of a foreign air carrier under the requirement referred to in paragraph (1) only if the Administrator finds that the security program provides passengers of the foreign air carrier with a similar level of protection as such passengers would receive under the security programs of air carriers serving the same airports. The Administrator shall require foreign air carriers to employ procedures equivalent to those required of air carriers serving the same airport if the Administrator determines that such procedures are necessary to afford a similar level of protection as is afforded passengers of the air carriers serving the same airport. “(3) Review of existing programs.—Not later than 1 year after the date of the enactment of this subsection, the Administrator shall take such action as may be necessary to ensure that a security program of a foreign air carrier approved by the Administrator before such date of enactment meets the requirement of paragraph (2). “(4) Annual report.— The Administrator shall submit to Congress as part of the annual report required by section 315(a) an assessment of the steps being taken, and the progress being made, in ensuring that foreign air carrier security programs for airports outside the United States— “(A) at which the Administrator determines that a Foreign Security Liaison Officer is necessary for air transportation security, and “(B) for which extraordinary security measures are in place, are in compliance with this subsection.”. (b) Conforming Amendment.— The portion of the table of contents contained in the first section of the Federal Aviation Act of 1958 which appears under the side heading: 104 STAT. 3075 “Sec. 316. Air transportation security.”. is amended by adding at the end thereof the following: “(g) Air carrier and airport security personnel. “(h) Employment standards. “(i) Human factors. “(j) Training of air carrier and airport security personnel. “(k) Foreign air carrier security programs. (c) Regulations.—Not later than 180 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration shall issue regulations implementing subsection (k)(2) of the Federal Aviation Act of 1958 (49 U.S.C. 1357), as inserted by subsection (a) of this section.