§ 44935. Employment standards and training
(a)
Employment Standards.—
The Under Secretary of Transportation for Security shall prescribe standards for the employment and continued employment of, and contracting for, air carrier personnel and, as appropriate, airport security personnel. The standards shall include—
(b)
Review and Recommendations.—
In coordination with air carriers, airport operators, and other interested persons, the Under Secretary shall review issues related to human performance in the aviation security system to maximize that performance. When the review is completed, the Under Secretary shall recommend guidelines and prescribe appropriate changes in existing procedures to improve that performance.
(c)
Security Program Training, Standards, and Qualifications.—
(1)
The Under Secretary—
(2)
The Under Secretary may authorize reimbursement for travel, transportation, and subsistence expenses for security training of non-United States Government domestic and foreign individuals whose services will contribute significantly to carrying out civil aviation security programs. To the extent practicable, air travel reimbursed under this paragraph shall be on air carriers.
(d)
Education and Training Standards for Security Coordinators, Supervisory Personnel, and Pilots.—
(e)
Security Screeners.—
(1)
Training program.—
The Under Secretary of Transportation for Security shall establish a program for the hiring and training of security screening personnel.
(2)
Hiring.—
(A)
Qualifications.—
Within 30 days after the date of enactment of the Aviation and Transportation Security Act, the Under Secretary shall establish qualification standards for individuals to be hired by the United States as security screening personnel. Notwithstanding any provision of law, those standards shall require, at a minimum, an individual—
(i)
to have a satisfactory or better score on a Federal security screening personnel selection examination;
(B)
Background checks.—
The Under Secretary shall require that an individual to be hired as a security screener undergo an employment investigation (including a criminal history record check) under section
44936
(a)(1).
(C)
Disqualification of individuals who present national security risks.—
The Under Secretary, in consultation with the heads of other appropriate Federal agencies, shall establish procedures, in addition to any background check conducted under section
44936, to ensure that no individual who presents a threat to national security is employed as a security screener.
(3)
Examination; review of existing rules.—
The Under Secretary shall develop a security screening personnel examination for use in determining the qualification of individuals seeking employment as security screening personnel. The Under Secretary shall also review, and revise as necessary, any standard, rule, or regulation governing the employment of individuals as security screening personnel.
(f)
Employment Standards for Screening Personnel.—
(1)
Screener requirements.—
Notwithstanding any provision of law, an individual may not be deployed as a security screener unless that individual meets the following requirements:
(A)
The individual shall possess a high school diploma, a general equivalency diploma, or experience that the Under Secretary has determined to be sufficient for the individual to perform the duties of the position.
(B)
The individual shall possess basic aptitudes and physical abilities, including color perception, visual and aural acuity, physical coordination, and motor skills, to the following standards:
(i)
Screeners operating screening equipment shall be able to distinguish on the screening equipment monitor the appropriate imaging standard specified by the Under Secretary.
(ii)
Screeners operating any screening equipment shall be able to distinguish each color displayed on every type of screening equipment and explain what each color signifies.
(iii)
Screeners shall be able to hear and respond to the spoken voice and to audible alarms generated by screening equipment in an active checkpoint environment.
(C)
The individual shall be able to read, speak, and write English well enough to—
(ii)
read English language identification media, credentials, airline tickets, and labels on items normally encountered in the screening process;
(2)
Veterans preference.—
The Under Secretary shall provide a preference for the hiring of an individual as a security screener if the individual is a member or former member of the armed forces and if the individual is entitled, under statute, to retired, retirement, or retainer pay on account of service as a member of the armed forces.
(3)
Exceptions.—
An individual who has not completed the training required by this section may be deployed during the on-the-job portion of training to perform functions if that individual—
(4)
Remedial training.—
No individual employed as a security screener may perform a screening function after that individual has failed an operational test related to that function until that individual has successfully completed the remedial training specified in the security program.
(5)
Annual proficiency review.—
The Under Secretary shall provide that an annual evaluation of each individual assigned screening duties is conducted and documented. An individual employed as a security screener may not continue to be employed in that capacity unless the evaluation demonstrates that the individual—
(g)
Training.—
(1)
Use of other agencies.—
The Under Secretary may enter into a memorandum of understanding or other arrangement with any other Federal agency or department with appropriate law enforcement responsibilities, to provide personnel, resources, or other forms of assistance in the training of security screening personnel.
(2)
Training plan.—
Within 60 days after the date of enactment of the Aviation and Transportation Security Act, the Under Secretary shall develop a plan for the training of security screening personnel. The plan shall require, at a minimum, that a security screener—
(3)
Equipment-specific training.—
An individual employed as a security screener may not use any security screening device or equipment in the scope of that individual’s employment unless the individual has been trained on that device or equipment and has successfully completed a test on the use of the device or equipment.
(h)
Technological Training.—
(1)
In general.—
The Under Secretary shall require training to ensure that screeners are proficient in using the most up-to-date new technology and to ensure their proficiency in recognizing new threats and weapons.
(2)
Periodic assessments.—
The Under Secretary shall make periodic assessments to determine if there are dual use items and inform security screening personnel of the existence of such items.
(i)
[2] Limitation on Right To Strike.—An individual that screens passengers or property, or both, at an airport under this section may not participate in a strike, or assert the right to strike, against the person (including a governmental entity) employing such individual to perform such screening.
(j)
Uniforms.—
The Under Secretary shall require any individual who screens passengers and property pursuant to section
44901 to be attired while on duty in a uniform approved by the Under Secretary.
(i)
[2] Accessibility of Computer-Based Training Facilities.—The Under Secretary shall work with air carriers and airports to ensure that computer-based training facilities intended for use by security screeners at an airport regularly serving an air carrier holding a certificate issued by the Secretary of Transportation are conveniently located for that airport and easily accessible.
[1] So in original. Probably should be section “101(a)(22)”.
[2] So in original. Two subsecs. (i) have been enacted.