1.This Act may be cited as the
Surface Transportation and Mass
Transit Security Act of 2011
.
2.Assistant
Secretary definedSection 1301
of the Implementing Recommendations of the 9/11 Commission Act of 2007 (6
U.S.C. 1111) is amended—
(1)by redesignating
paragraphs (2) through (6) as paragraphs (3) through (7), respectively;
and
(2)by inserting after
paragraph (1) the following:
(2)The term
Assistant Secretary
means the Assistant Secretary of Homeland
Security (Transportation Security
Administration).
.
3.Surface
transportation security inspection program
(a)Surface
Transportation Security Inspection OfficeSection 1304 of the
Implementing Recommendations of the 9/11 Commission Act of 2007 (6 U.S.C. 1113)
is amended—
(1)by redesignating
subsections (c) through (j) as subsections (b) through (i), respectively;
and
(2)by striking
subsections (a) and (b) and inserting the following:
(a)Surface
Transportation Security Inspection office
(1)The
Assistant Secretary shall establish an office to be known as the Surface
Transportation Security Inspection Office (in this section referred to as the
Office
).
(2)The
Assistant Secretary shall use the Office to train, employ, and utilize surface
transportation security inspectors to—
(A)assist surface
transportation carriers, operators, owners, entities, and facilities to enhance
their security against terrorist attacks and other security threats; and
(B)assist the
Assistant Secretary in enforcing applicable surface transportation security
regulations and directives.
(3)
(A)The
head of the Office shall be the Director, who shall—
(i)oversee and
coordinate the activities of the Office, including all officers and any
corresponding surface transportation modes in which the Office carries out such
activities, and the surface transportation security inspectors who assist in
such activities; and
(ii)act as the
primary point of contact between the Office and other entities that support the
Department’s surface transportation security mission to ensure efficient and
appropriate use of surface transportation security inspectors and maintain
strong working relationships with surface transportation security
stakeholders.
(B)There shall be a Deputy Director of the Office, who
shall—
(i)assist the
Director in carrying out the responsibilities of the Director under this
subsection; and
(ii)serve as acting
Director in the absence of the Director and during any vacancy in the office of
Director.
(4)
(A)The Director and Deputy Director shall be responsible on
a full-time basis for the duties and responsibilities described in this
subsection.
(B)The
position of Director shall be considered a position in the Senior Executive
Service as defined in section 2101a of title 5, United States Code, and the
position of Deputy Director shall be considered a position classified at grade
GS–15 of the General Schedule.
(5)No
person shall serve as an officer under paragraph (3) while serving in any other
position in the Federal Government.
(6)
(A)The
Assistant Secretary shall establish primary and secondary field offices in the
United States for surface transportation security inspectors carrying out their
duties under this section.
(B)The
locations for, and designation as primary
or
secondary
of, such field offices shall be determined in a manner
that is consistent with the Department’s risk-based approach to carrying out
its homeland security mission.
(C)
(i)Each primary field office shall be led by a chief surface
transportation security inspector, who has significant experience with surface
transportation systems, facilities, and operations and shall report directly to
the Director.
(ii)Each secondary field office shall be led by a senior
surface transportation security inspector, who shall report directly to the
chief surface transportation security inspector of a geographically appropriate
primary field office, as determined by the Director.
(D)Not
later than 18 months after the date of enactment of the
Surface Transportation and Mass Transit
Security Act of 2011, field offices shall be staffed with—
(i)not fewer than 7
surface transportation security inspectors, including one chief surface
transportation security inspector, at every primary field office; and
(ii)not fewer than 5
surface transportation security inspectors, including one senior surface
transportation security inspector, at every secondary field
office.
.
(b)Section 1304(e) of such Act, as redesignated by
subsection (a) of this section, is amended to read as follows:
(e)Number of
inspectors; training
(1)Subject
to the availability of appropriations, the Secretary shall maintain not fewer
than 100 more surface transportation security inspectors than the number of
such inspectors employed at the end of fiscal year 2010.
(2)The
Director shall provide initial and recurrent training to each surface
transportation inspector that includes counterterrorism training, audit
training, inspections training, and training on emergency preparedness and
response.
.
(c)Section
1304(f) of such Act, as redesignated by subsection (a) of this section, is
amended by striking 114(t)
and inserting
114(s)
.
(d)Section
1304(h), as redesignated by subsection (a) of this section, is amended by
striking 2008
and inserting 2011
.
(e)Section
1304(i) of such Act, as redesignated by subsection (a) of this section, is
amended to read as follows:
(i)
(1)Not later than 180 days after the date of enactment of
the Surface Transportation and Mass Transit
Security Act of 2011, the Assistant Secretary shall submit to the
appropriate congressional committees a plan for expanding the duties,
operations, and training of surface transportation security inspector workforce
to enhance the Transportation Security Administration’s surface transportation
security mission.
(2)The
plan shall include—
(A)an analysis of how
surface transportation security inspectors could be used to conduct oversight
activities with respect to surface transportation security projects funded by
relevant grant programs administered by the Department;
(B)an evaluation of
whether the capacity of the Office to take an active role in the Department’s
surface transportation security operations would be enhanced if all or some of
the surface transportation security inspector workforce were law enforcement
officers;
(C)an analysis of
best practices for training surface transportation security inspectors,
including identifying skills that could be transferable among inspectors of
different modes of transportation to enhance flexibility;
(D)a requirement that
the Office evaluate its Surface Transportation Security Inspection training
program annually for the purpose of incorporating the identified best
practices, as appropriate, and determining whether the provided training is
effective; and
(E)any other
potential functions relating to surface transportation security the Secretary
determines
appropriate.
.
(f)Authorization of
appropriationsSection 1304 of such Act (6 U.S.C. 1113) is
amended by adding at the end the following:
(j)Authorization of
appropriationsThere are authorized to be appropriated such sums
as may be necessary to the Assistant Secretary to carry out this section for
fiscal years 2012 and
2013.
.
(g)Section 1304(b) of such Act, as redesignated by
subsection (a) of this section, is amended by striking subsection
(e)
and inserting subsection (d)
.
4.Visible
intermodal prevention and response teams (VIPR teams)Section 1303 of the Implementing
Recommendations of the 9/11 Commission Act of 2007 (6 U.S.C. 1112) is
amended—
(1)in subsection (a)
by striking Administrator of the Transportation Security
Administration,
and inserting Assistant
Secretary,
;
(2)in subsection
(a)(2) by inserting according to risk,
after
determine
;
(3)in subsection
(a)(4) by striking team,
and inserting team as to
specific locations and times within their facilities at which VIPR teams should
be deployed to maximize the effectiveness of such deployment and other
matters,
; and
(4)by striking
subsection (b) and inserting the following:
(b)Not later than one year after enactment of the
Surface Transportation and Mass Transit
Security Act of 2011, the Assistant Secretary shall develop and
implement a system of qualitative performance measures and objectives by which
to assess the roles, activities, and effectiveness of VIPR team operations on
an ongoing basis, including a mechanism through which the transportation
entities listed in subsection (a)(4) shall submit feedback from surface
transportation operators received by the Assistant Secretary on VIPR team
operations involving their systems or facilities.
(c)Not
later than one year after the date of enactment of the
Surface Transportation and Mass Transit
Security Act of 2011, the Assistant Secretary shall establish
risk-based criteria to evaluate all proposals for VIPR deployments and, from
the date of establishment, shall begin utilizing the criteria for such
purposes.
(d)Not
later than one year after the date of enactment of the
Surface Transportation and Mass Transit
Security Act of 2011, the Assistant Secretary shall develop and
implement a plan for ensuring the interoperability of communications among all
participating VIPR team components as designated under subsection (a)(1) and
between VIPR teams and any relevant transportation entities listed in
subsection (a)(4) whose systems or facilities are involved in VIPR team
operations, including an analysis of the costs and resources required to carry
out the plan.
(e)The Assistant Secretary shall submit on an annual basis,
together with the annual budget request, a report on VIPR team operations for
the previous year that includes information on lessons learned from operations
in the previous year and plans for program enhancements for the forthcoming
year.
.
5.Surface
transportation security stakeholder participation
(a)Title XIII of the Implementing Recommendations of the
9/11 Commission Act of 2007 (6 U.S.C. 1111 et seq.) is amended by adding at the
end the following:
1311.Surface
Transportation Security Advisory Committee
(a)
(1)The Assistant Secretary shall establish in the
Transportation Security Administration an advisory committee, to be known as
the Surface Transportation Security Advisory Committee (in this section
referred to as the Advisory Committee
), to assist the Assistant
Secretary with issues pertaining to surface transportation security.
(2)
(A)The Advisory Committee shall develop recommendations for
improvements to surface transportation security.
(B)Recommendations
of working groupsRecommendations agreed upon by the working
groups established under this section shall be approved by the Advisory
Committee for transmission to the Assistant Secretary.
(C)The Advisory Committee shall periodically submit to the
Assistant Secretary—
(i)reports on matters
identified by the Assistant Secretary; and
(ii)reports on other
matters identified by a majority of the members of the Advisory
Committee.
(D)The Advisory Committee shall submit to the Assistant
Secretary an annual report providing information on the activities, findings,
and recommendations of the Advisory Committee, including its working groups,
for the preceding year.
(3)The
Assistant Secretary shall require the Advisory Committee to meet at least
semiannually and may convene additional meetings as necessary.
(4)Advisory Committee Members shall serve at their own
expense and receive no salary, reimbursement for travel expenses, or other
compensation from the Federal Government.
(b)
(1)Not later than 180 days after the date of enactment of
this section, the Assistant Secretary shall appoint the Advisory Committee,
which shall consist of individuals representing not more than 27 member
organizations. Each organization shall be represented by one individual (or the
individual’s designee) and shall include representatives from public
transportation agencies, passenger rail agencies or operators, railroad
carriers, motor carriers, owners or operators of highways, over-the-road bus
operators and terminal owners and operators, pipeline operators, privacy
organizations, labor organizations representing employees of such entities, and
the surface transportation security technology industry.
(2)Members
shall be appointed by the Assistant Secretary and the Assistant Secretary shall
have the discretion to review the participation of any Advisory Committee
member and remove for cause at any time.
(c)The Federal Advisory Committee Act (5 U.S.C. App.) shall
not apply to the Advisory Committee under this section.
(d)Passenger
carrier security working group
(1)The Assistant Secretary shall establish within the
Advisory Committee a passenger carrier security working group to provide
recommendations for successful implementation of initiatives relating to
passenger rail, over-the-road bus, and public transportation security proposed
by the Transportation Security Administration in accordance with statutory
requirements, including relevant grant programs and security training
provisions.
(2)The
working group shall meet at least quarterly and submit information, including
recommendations, regarding the Transportation Security Administration’s
initiatives relating to passenger rail, over-the-road bus, and public
transportation security, including grant, training, inspection, or other
relevant programs authorized in titles XIII and XIV, and subtitle C of title XV
of this Act.
(3)The
working group shall be appointed by the Assistant Secretary and composed of
members from the Advisory Committee with expertise in public transportation,
over-the-road bus, or passenger rail systems and operations, and shall be
co-chaired by a Government and industry official.
(4)The working group shall prepare and submit
reports to the Assistant Secretary in accordance with this paragraph that
provide recommendations as described in paragraphs (1) and (2), for inclusion
in the annual report.
(e)Freight rail
security working group
(1)The Assistant Secretary shall establish within the
Advisory Committee a freight rail security working group to provide
recommendations for successful implementation of initiatives relating to
freight rail security proposed by the Transportation Security Administration in
accordance with statutory requirements, including relevant grant programs and
security training provisions.
(2)The
working group shall meet at least quarterly and submit information, including
recommendations, regarding freight rail security to the Advisory Committee for
inclusion in the annual report. The submissions shall include recommendations
to improve the Transportation Security Administration’s initiatives relating to
freight rail security, including grant, training, inspection, or other relevant
programs authorized in titles XIII and XV of this Act.
(3)The
working group shall include members from the Advisory Committee with expertise
in freight rail systems and operations, and shall be co-chaired by a Government
and industry official.
(4)The working group shall prepare and submit
reports to the Assistant Secretary in accordance with this paragraph that
provide recommendations as described in paragraphs (1) and (2), for inclusion
in the annual
report
.
(b)The table of contents set forth in section 1(b) of the
Implementing Recommendations of the 9/11 Commission Act of 2007 (Public Law
110–53) is amended by inserting after the item relating to section 1310 the
following new item:
Sec. 1311. Surface Transportation Security Advisory
Committee.
.
6.Human capital
plan for surface transportation security personnel
(a)Not later than one year after the date of enactment of
this Act, the Assistant Secretary shall submit to the appropriate congressional
committees a human capital plan for hiring, initial and recurrent training,
managing, and compensating surface transportation security personnel, including
surface transportation security inspectors.
(b)In
developing the human capital plan, the Assistant Secretary shall consult with
the Chief Human Capital Officer of the Department of Homeland Security, the
Director of the Surface Transportation Security Inspection Office, the
Inspector General of the Department of Homeland Security, and the Comptroller
General.
(c)Prior
to submission, the human capital plan shall be reviewed and approved by the
Chief Human Capital Officer of the Department of Homeland Security.
(d)Not later than 180 days after the date of enactment of this
Act, the Chief Human Capital Officer of the Department of Homeland Security
shall conduct a workforce study of the Transportation Security Inspection
Program to assess full-time equivalent personnel requirements for
transportation security inspectors. The workforce study shall evaluate the
extent to which the Assistant Secretary has—
(1)addressed
recommendations issued by the Comptroller General of the United States and the
Inspector General of the Department of Homeland Security regarding the
management of the transportation security inspector workforce; and
(2)established
projections for full-time equivalent personnel requirements to execute
responsibilities, including training and security assessments, with respect to
public transportation agencies, rail carriers, and intercity bus
carriers.
7.Surface
transportation security training
(a)Not later than 30 days after the date of enactment of this
Act, the Secretary shall submit a report to the appropriate congressional
committees on the status of the Department’s implementation of sections 1408,
1517, and 1534 of the Implementing Recommendations of the 9/11 Commission Act
of 2007 (6 U.S.C. 1137, 1167, and 1184), including detailed timeframes for
development and issuance of the transportation security training regulations
required under such sections.
(b)Not later than one year after the date of enactment of
this Act, the Assistant Secretary shall identify criteria and establish a
process for approving and maintaining a list of approved private third-party
providers of security training with whom surface transportation entities may
enter into contracts, as needed, for the purpose of satisfying security
training requirements of the Department of Homeland Security, including
requirements developed under sections 1408, 1517, and 1534 of the Implementing
Recommendations of the 9/11 Commission Act of 2007 (6 U.S.C. 1137, 1167, and
1184), in accordance with section 103 of this Act.
8.Findings; sense
of Congress
(a)Congress
finds the following:
(1)According to the
Worldwide Incidents Tracking System maintained by the National Counter
Terrorism Center, from January 2004 to July 2008, 530 terrorist attacks were
waged worldwide against mass transit systems, resulting in over 2,000 deaths
and over 9,000 injuries.
(2)Rail and mass
transit systems are an attractive target for terrorists and terrorist
organizations as evidenced by the March 2004 attack on the Madrid, Spain
system, the July 2005 attack on the London, England system, the July 2006 and
November 2008 attacks on the Mumbai, India system, and the March 2010 attack on
the Moscow, Russia system.
(3)In 2009, United
States law enforcement entities uncovered and disrupted a major plot by an al
Qaeda terrorist to attack the New York City subway system.
(4)Each weekday
11,300,000 passengers depend on our Nation’s mass transit systems as a means of
transportation.
(b)It is the sense of Congress that—
(1)our Nation’s rail
and mass transit systems are critical infrastructure that facilitate our
Nation’s economy, and the Department of Homeland Security has a critical role
to play to help protect this critical infrastructure against terrorist attack
and other security threats;
(2)the Transportation
Security Grant Program, as administered by the Department of Homeland Security,
provides critical resources to transit agencies in high-risk areas for
operational security enhancements and on-the-ground efforts to reduce the
consequences of a terrorist attack; and
(3)funding for the
Transportation Security Grant Program should be restored from the fiscal year
2011 reductions to ensure that transit agencies in high-risk areas have
adequate resources to protect their systems and passengers from terrorist
threats.
9.Transportation
security grant program
(a)It is the sense of Congress that grants under the
Transportation Security Grant Program, as administered by the Department of
Homeland Security, should be provided to high-risk surface transportation
systems in a manner that supports regional security cooperation.
(b)Not
later than 180 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the Inspector
General of the Department of Homeland Security shall submit to the appropriate
congressional committees report on the roles and responsibilities of the
Transportation Security Administration, the Federal Emergency Management Agency
and any other relevant component of the Department of Homeland Security in
administering security assistance grants under section 1406 of the Implementing
Recommendations of the 9/11 Commission Act of 2007 (6 U.S.C. 1135).
(c)The
report shall—
(1)describe the roles
and responsibilities of the Transportation Security Administration and Federal
Emergency Management Agency, at different stages of the grant process,
including the allocation stage, the award stage, and the distribution
stage;
(2)identify areas in
which relevant components of the Department, including the Transportation
Security Administration and Federal Emergency Management Agency, may better
integrate or coordinate their activities in order to streamline the grant
administration process and improve the efficiency of the project approval
process for grantees;
(3)assess the current
state of public transportation and passenger rail security expertise possessed
by relevant personnel involved in the grant administration or project approval
processes carried out by relevant components of the Department, including the
Transportation Security Administration and Federal Emergency Management Agency;
and
(4)include
recommendations for how each relevant component of the Department, including
the Transportation Security Administration, may further clarify, coordinate, or
maximize its roles and responsibilities in administering grant funds and
approving grant projects under such section 1406.
10.Passenger rail
security demonstration project
(a)The Assistant Secretary, in consultation with the Under
Secretary for Science and Technology of the Department of Homeland Security,
may conduct a demonstration project in a passenger rail system to test and
assess the feasibility and effectiveness of technologies to strengthen the
security of passenger rail systems against terrorist attacks involving the use
of improvised explosive devices.
(b)Any demonstration project under this section shall
test and assess technologies, such as canines and commercially available
technologies, to—
(1)detect improvised
explosive devices on station platforms, through the use of foreign object
detection programs in conjunction with cameras; and
(2)defeat improvised
explosive devices left on rail tracks.
(c)Not later than 180 days after completion of the
demonstration project under this section, the Assistant Secretary shall submit
a report to the appropriate congressional committees on the results of the
demonstration project.
11.Explosives
detection canine teamsSection
1307 of the Implementing Recommendations of the 9/11 Commission Act of 2007 (6
U.S.C. 1116) is amended—
(1)in subsection
(b)—
(A)in paragraph
(1)(A), by striking 2010
and inserting 2011
;
and
(B)by adding at the
end the following new paragraph:
(3)
(A)The Assistant Secretary shall increase the number of
canine teams certified by the Transportation Security Administration for the
purpose of passenger rail and public transportation security activities to not
less than 200 canine teams by the end of fiscal year 2011.
(B)The Assistant Secretary shall expand the use of canine
teams to enhance passenger rail and public transportation security by entering
into cooperative agreements with passenger rail and public transportation
agencies eligible for security assistance under section 1406 of this Act for
the purpose of deploying and maintaining canine teams to such agencies for use
in passenger rail or public transportation security activities and providing
for assistance in an amount not less than $75,000 for each canine team
deployed, to be adjusted by the Assistant Secretary for inflation.
(C)Authorization of
appropriationsThere are authorized to be appropriated to the
Assistant Secretary such sums as may be necessary to carry out this paragraph
for fiscal years 2012 and
2013.
;
(2)in subsection
(d)—
(A)in paragraph (1)
by striking use
and inserting the following: deploy in a
risk-based manner
;
(B)in paragraph (3),
by striking and
;
(C)in paragraph (4),
by striking the period at the end and inserting the following: ;
and
; and
(D)by adding at the
end the following new paragraph:
(5)expand the use of
canine teams trained to detect vapor wave trails in passenger rail and public
transportation security environments, as the Secretary, in consultation with
the Assistant Secretary, determines
appropriate.
;
(3)in subsection (e),
by striking , if appropriate,
and inserting , to the
extent practicable,
; and
(4)by striking
subsection (f) and inserting the following new subsection (f):
(f)Not
later than one year after the date of the enactment of the
Surface Transportation and Mass Transit
Security Act of 2011, the Comptroller General of the United
States shall submit to the appropriate congressional committees a report
on—
(1)utilization of
explosives detection canine teams to strengthen security in passenger rail and
public transportation environments;
(2)the capacity of
the national explosive detection canine team program as a whole; and
(3)how the Assistant
Secretary could better support State and local passenger rail and public
transportation entities in maintaining certified canine teams for the life of
the canine, including by providing financial
assistance.
.
12.Mass transit and
other surface transportation security awareness program
(a)Subtitle C of title
XV of the Implementing Recommendations of the 9/11 Commission Act of 2007 (6
U.S.C. 1181 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the following:
1543.Surface
transportation security awareness program
(a)Congress
finds the following:
(1)According to the
Federal Highway Administration, the Nation’s highway transportation system
includes approximately 4 million miles of roadways, 600,000 bridges, and 50
tunnels of more than 500 meters in length, supports 86 percent of all personal
travel and 80 percent of the Nation’s freight, and serves as a key component in
national defense mobility.
(2)The United States
highway system is inherently vulnerable to terrorist attack because of its
inherent openness, where vehicles and their operators can move freely and
virtually without restriction.
(3)The Transportation
Security Administration’s voluntary surface and mass transportation security
awareness program, known as the First Observer Program, leverages the skills
and experience of transportation professionals, including truck drivers, and
empowers them to act as first observers
in reporting suspicious
activities to Federal security authorities.
(4)The Transportation
Security Administration credits the First Observer Program with helping to
disrupt the hijacking of an inter-state bus traveling from Richmond, Virginia,
to Durham, North Carolina, and a potential terrorist plot involving the
purchase and transport of suspiciously large quantities of hazardous
chemicals.
(b)Requirement To
carry out First Observer ProgramThe Secretary shall carry out a First
Observer Program, under which mass transit and other surface transportation
professionals and related stakeholders may report to the Assistant Secretary
suspicious activities or security threats that may be related to a potential
transportation security incident or act of terrorism.
(c)Under the First Observer Program the Assistant
Secretary shall—
(1)maintain a call
center, on a 24-hour basis, to which a surface transportation professionals or
related stakeholder can report suspicious activities or security threats that
may be related to a potential transportation security incident or act of
terrorism;
(2)evaluate reports
received from surface transportation professionals and transmit information, as
appropriate, to relevant State, local, tribal law enforcement and private
sector partners;
(3)disburse voluntary
guidance to private sector partners, including motor coach operators, school
bus operators, trucking companies, parking facility operators, professional
athletic venue operators, port operators, indirect air carriers, on how to
identify and report a suspicious activity or security threat that may be
related to a potential transportation security incident or act of terrorism;
and
(4)publicize the
security awareness program to private sector partners and encourage surface
transportation professionals or related stakeholder to participate in the
program.
(d)Not
later than one-year after enactment of the Surface Transportation and Mass Transit Security Act of
2011, the Assistant Secretary shall submit to the appropriate
congressional committees information on the Assistant Secretary’s activities
under this section including information on the extent to which private sector
partners participated in the program, the number reports received at the call
center, the disposition of those reports, and the impact of the program on the
Assistant Secretary’s efforts to secure surface transportation modes.
(e)Authorization of
appropriationsThere are authorized to be appropriated to the
Secretary $5,000,000 annually for the necessary expenses of the First Observer
Program.
.
(b)The table of
contents set forth in section 1(b) of the Implementing Recommendations of the
9/11 Commission Act of 2007 is amended by inserting after the item relating to
section 1542 the following new item:
Sec. 1543. Surface transportation security awareness
program.
.
13.In this Act:
(1)Appropriate
congressional committeesThe term appropriate
congressional committees
means the Committee on Homeland Security of
the House of Representatives and any committee of the House of Representatives
or the Senate having legislative jurisdiction under the rules of the House of
Representatives or Senate, respectively, over the matter concerned.
(2)The term Assistant Secretary
means the
Assistant Secretary of Homeland Security (Transportation Security
Administration).
(3)The
term Secretary
means the Secretary of Homeland Security.