[Senate Report 117-220]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]


                                                      Calendar No. 576
117th Congress    }                                     {       Report
                                 SENATE
 2d Session       }                                     {      117-220
_______________________________________________________________________

                                     



                 NON-INTRUSIVE INSPECTION EXPANSION ACT

                               __________

                              R E P O R T

                                 of the

                   COMMITTEE ON HOMELAND SECURITY AND

                          GOVERNMENTAL AFFAIRS

                          UNITED STATES SENATE

                              to accompany

                                S. 4572

             TO REQUIRE U.S. CUSTOMS AND BORDER PROTECTION
             TO EXPAND THE USE OF NON-INTRUSIVE INSPECTION
                     SYSTEMS AT LAND PORTS OF ENTRY







[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]







                December 5, 2022.--Ordered to be printed  
                
                             _________
                              
                 U.S. GOVERNMENT PUBLISHING OFFICE
                 
39-010                   WASHINGTON : 2022
                
                
                
                
                
                
                
                
                
                
                
                
                
                
                
                
                
                
                
                
                
                
                
                
                
        COMMITTEE ON HOMELAND SECURITY AND GOVERNMENTAL AFFAIRS

                   GARY C. PETERS, Michigan, Chairman
THOMAS R. CARPER, Delaware           ROB PORTMAN, Ohio
MAGGIE HASSAN, New Hampshire         RON JOHNSON, Wisconsin
KYRSTEN SINEMA, Arizona              RAND PAUL, Kentucky
JACKY ROSEN, Nevada                  JAMES LANKFORD, Oklahoma
ALEX PADILLA, California             MITT ROMNEY, Utah
JON OSSOFF, Georgia                  RICK SCOTT, Florida
                                     JOSH HAWLEY, Missouri

                   David M. Weinberg, Staff Director
                    Zachary I. Schram, Chief Counsel
         Christopher J. Mulkins, Director of Homeland Security
                    Sarah C. Pierce, Senior Counsel
               Katie A. Conley, Professional Staff Member
                Pamela Thiessen, Minority Staff Director
            Sam J. Mulopulos, Minority Deputy Staff Director
       Jeremy H. Hayes, Minority Senior Professional Staff Member
                     Laura W. Kilbride, Chief Clerk
















                                                      Calendar No. 576
117th Congress    }                                     {       Report
                                 SENATE
 2d Session       }                                     {      117-220

======================================================================



 
                 NON-INTRUSIVE INSPECTION EXPANSION ACT

                                _______
                                

                December 5, 2022.--Ordered to be printed

                                _______
                                

 Mr. Peters, from the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental 
                    Affairs, submitted the following

                              R E P O R T

                         [To accompany S. 4572]

      [Including cost estimate of the Congressional Budget Office]

    The Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental 
Affairs, to which was referred the bill (S. 4572) to require 
U.S. Customs and Border Protection to expand the use of non-
intrusive inspection systems at land ports of entry, having 
considered the same, reports favorably thereon with amendments 
and recommends that the bill, as amended, do pass.

                                CONTENTS

                                                                     Page
  I. Purpose and Summary..............................................  1
 II. Background and Need for the Legislation..........................  2
III. Legislative History..............................................  3
 IV. Section-by-Section Analysis of the Bill, as Reported.............  4
  V. Evaluation of Regulatory Impact..................................  5
 VI. Congressional Budget Office Cost Estimate........................  5
VII. Changes in Existing Law Made by the Bill, as Reported............  7

                         I. PURPOSE AND SUMMARY

    S. 4572, the Non-Intrusive Inspection Expansion Act, 
requires the increased utilization of non-intrusive inspection 
(NII) systems at land ports of entry into the United States. It 
directs the Department of Homeland Security's (DHS) U.S. 
Customs and Border Protection (CBP) to utilize NII acquired 
from previous Congressional appropriations to scan not fewer 
than 40% of passenger vehicles and 90% of commercial vehicles, 
cumulatively, at land ports of entry by the end of fiscal year 
2024. It further requires CBP to increase the scanning rate in 
subsequent fiscal years according to CBP's projected 
benchmarks. The bill also directs CBP to brief Congressional 
committees after the first half of fiscal year 2024 on progress 
towards meeting the required benchmarks. If the required 
scanning levels are not met, the bill also requires CBP to 
submit a report to Congressional committees analyzing the 
causes for not meeting them, identifying resource gaps and 
challenges, and detailing steps that will be taken to reach 
compliance for the subsequent fiscal year.
    Additionally, the bill includes a Sense of Congress 
emphasizing Congressional intent on the importance of using NII 
to support CBP's detection and interdiction efforts and to use 
past and future appropriations expeditiously to develop the 
capacity to reach 100% scanning rate for passenger and 
commercial vehicles at land ports of entry. The bill requires 
the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) to conduct a 
review of CBP's use of NII for border security, including how 
CBP assesses the effectiveness of its systems, and to submit 
this report to Congressional committees. The bill also requires 
the Commissioner of CBP to report to Congress on the 
feasibility of CBP using NII to scan 10% of all southbound 
vehicles exiting the U.S. at land ports of entry by the end of 
fiscal year 2024.

              II. BACKGROUND AND NEED FOR THE LEGISLATION

    CBP uses NII to scan vehicles and cargo entering the U.S. 
at land ports of entry to detect the presence of contraband or 
unclaimed goods without physically opening or unloading them, 
increasing CBP's ability to efficiently and effectively 
facilitate trade and travel.\1\ In fiscal year 2021, using over 
350 large-scale NII systems at land and sea ports of entry, CBP 
performed approximately 7.8 million examinations of vehicles 
and cargo using NII, which led to the interdiction of more than 
189,000 pounds of narcotics.\2\ In addition to enhancing CBP's 
ability to interdict illicit goods, NII utilization results in 
operational efficiencies and saves both CBP and industry money. 
According to CBP, examinations conducted using NII systems can 
be done in 8 minutes, compared to 120 minutes for physical 
examinations. Additionally, using NII has contributed to $1 
billion in savings in annual operational costs and has saved 
industry $5.8 billion to $17.5 billion in costs from delays.\3\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \1\Department of Homeland Security, U.S. Customs and Border 
Protection, CBP Trade and Travel Report Fiscal Year 2021 (April 2022) 
(www.cbp.gov/sites/default/files/assets/documents/2022-Apr/
FINAL%20FY2021_%20Trade%20and%20Travel%20Report%20%28508%20 
Compliant%29%20%28April%202022%29_0.pdf).
    \2\Id. at 23.
    \3\Id. at 22.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    In support of CBP's utilization of NII, Congress 
appropriated over $500 million for NII at land ports of entry 
in fiscal year 2019.\4\ According to CBP's fiscal year 2023 
budget request, CBP will continue to deploy NII acquired with 
funds from fiscal year 2019 and subsequent appropriations 
through fiscal year 2023.\5\ Prior to the full deployment of 
these systems, CBP reported a 1% scanning rate of passenger 
vehicles and a 15% scanning rate of commercial vehicles.\6\ 
When this NII is fully deployed and operational, CBP has 
publicly reported it projects to achieve 40% scanning for 
passenger vehicles and 90% scanning of commercial vehicles.\7\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \4\Pub. L. No. 116-6 (2019).
    \5\Department of Homeland Security, U.S. Customs and Border 
Protection, Budget Overview Fiscal Year 2023 Congressional 
Justification (March, 27, 2022) (www.dhs.gov/sites/default/files/2022-
03/U.S.%20Customs%20and%20Border%20Protection_Remediated.pdf).
    \6\Department of Homeland Security, U.S. Customs and Border 
Protection, CBP Trade and Travel Report Fiscal Year 2021 (April 2022) 
(www.cbp.gov/sites/default/files/assets/documents/2022-Apr/
FINAL%20FY2021_%20Trade%20and%20Travel%20Report%20%28508%20Compliant 
%29%20%28April%202022%29_0.pdf).
    \7\Id.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    The Securing America's Ports Act in 2021 required DHS to 
submit to Congress a plan for achieving 100% scanning rates at 
land ports of entry.\8\ Similarly, the SAFE Ports Act of 2006 
required 100% of containers entering the United States at sea 
ports of entry be screened and 100% of high-risk containers be 
scanned or searched before leaving the sea port. While the 
Securing America's Ports Act encourages DHS to increase 
scanning rates, the Act does not contain requirements that DHS 
achieve a certain percentage of vehicle and cargo scanning at 
land ports of entry.\9\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \8\Pub. L. No. 109-347 (2006).
    \9\Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, 
Report of the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs 
United States Senate to accompany H.R. 5273, (September 9, 2020) (S. 
Rept. 116-267).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    S. 4572 addresses this gap by setting forth a benchmark to 
ensure accountability for the timely deployment and full 
utilization of NII funded in fiscal year 2019 and after. In 
addition to establishing initial benchmarks to achieve by the 
end of fiscal year 2024, the bill requires CBP to continue to 
work to achieve incremental benchmarks beyond 2024, such as 
those identified in the plan developed in accordance with the 
Securing America's Ports Act. The bill also requires that CBP 
brief Congressional committees on its progress toward meeting 
the required benchmarks and submit a report. To ensure further 
accountability for NII utilization, the bill also requires GAO 
to conduct a review of CBP's use of the NII systems, including 
how CBP assesses their effectiveness. Finally, the bill also 
requires CBP to report to Congressional committees on the 
feasibility of scanning 10% of all southbound vehicles exiting 
the U.S. at land ports of entry along the southwest border.

                        III. LEGISLATIVE HISTORY

    Senator Peters (D-MI) introduced S. 4572, the Non-Intrusive 
Inspection Expansion Act, on July 20, 2022, with Senator Cornyn 
(R-TX). The bill was referred to the Senate Committee on 
Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs. Senator Hassan (D-
NH) later joined as a cosponsor on August 2, 2022.
    The Committee considered S. 4572 at a business meeting on 
August 3, 2022. During the business meeting, Senator Hassan 
offered an amendment that would express the Sense of Congress 
that NII systems be used for outbound detection and require CBP 
to report to Congressional committees on the feasibility of 
using NII systems to scan 10% of all southbound vehicles 
exiting through land ports of entry by the end of fiscal year 
2024. Senator Scott also offered a modified amendment that 
would require GAO to conduct a review and report to 
Congressional committees on CBP's use of NII systems, including 
how CBP assesses their effectiveness. The Committee ordered the 
bill reported favorably with amendments en bloc by voice vote. 
Senators present for the vote were: Peters, Hassan, Sinema, 
Rosen, Padilla, Ossoff, Lankford, Romney, Scott, and Hawley.

        IV. SECTION-BY-SECTION ANALYSIS OF THE BILL, AS REPORTED

Section 1. Short title

    This section designates the name of the bill as the ``Non-
Intrusive Inspection Expansion Act.''

Section 2. Sense of Congress

    This section expresses the Sense of Congress on the 
importance of NII as a tool to increase CBP's ability to detect 
and interdict illicit and unclaimed goods, while securely and 
efficiently facilitating the flow of trade and travel into the 
United States and land ports of entry. It expresses that it is 
in the interest of U.S. trade and border security to develop 
the capacity to increase the NII scanning rate to 100%. This 
section also emphasizes the Congressional intent that CBP 
should work to actively implement existing plans and past and 
future Congressional appropriations to increase the rate of 
scanning.

Section 3. Use of Non-Intrusive Inspection systems at land ports of 
        entry

    Subsection (a) requires that, not later than September 30, 
2024, using systems acquired through previous appropriations, 
CBP use NII to scan not fewer than 40%, cumulatively, of 
passenger vehicles and 90%, cumulatively, of commercial 
vehicles, entering the U.S. through land ports of entry.
    Subsection (b) requires that following fiscal year 2024, 
CBP use NII to reach its next projected benchmarks for 
incremental scanning to increase scanning beyond 40% of 
passenger and 90% of commercial vehicles entering the United 
States at land ports of entry.
    Subsection (c) requires GAO to conduct a review of CBP's 
use of NII for border security. The review is required to 
include an identification of the number, types, and location of 
systems deployed by CBP, examination of how CBP assesses the 
effectiveness of NII, and examination of how CBP uses the 
systems in conjunction with other border security resources and 
assets to detect and interdict drug smuggling and trafficking 
at the southwest border of the United States. It also requires 
GAO to report the review's findings to the Committee on 
Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs in the Senate and 
the Committee on Homeland Security in the House of 
Representatives within 2 years of the enactment of the bill.

Section 4. Briefing

    This section requires CBP to brief the Committee on 
Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs in the Senate and 
the Committee on Homeland Security in the House of 
Representatives not later than May 30, 2024 on progress made 
during the first half of fiscal year 2024 toward achieving the 
40% and 90% scanning benchmarks.

Section 5. Report

    This section requires CBP to submit a report to the 
Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs in the 
Senate and the Committee on Homeland Security in the House of 
Representatives, not later than 120 days after the end of 
fiscal year 2024, if the requirements described in section 3(a) 
are not met. The report is required to analyze the causes for 
not meeting the requirements, identify any resource gaps and 
challenges, and detail steps that will be taken to ensure 
compliance with requirements in the subsequent fiscal year.

Section 6. Report on feasibility of using Non-Intrusive Inspection 
        systems for southbound inspections

    Subsection (a) expresses the Sense of Congress that NII 
should be used to detect and interdict illicit and dangerous 
goods and unclaimed money that flow out of the United States to 
supply and fund transnational drug cartels.
    Subsection (b) requires CBP submit a report to the 
Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs in the 
Senate and the Committee on Homeland Security in the House of 
Representatives, not later than 270 days after enactment of the 
bill, on the feasibility of using NII to scan 10% of all 
southbound vehicles exiting the United States through land 
ports of entry at the southwest border by the end of fiscal 
year 2024.

                   V. EVALUATION OF REGULATORY IMPACT

    Pursuant to the requirements of paragraph 11(b) of rule 
XXVI of the Standing Rules of the Senate, the Committee has 
considered the regulatory impact of this bill and determined 
that the bill will have no regulatory impact within the meaning 
of the rules. The Committee agrees with the Congressional 
Budget Office's statement that the bill contains no 
intergovernmental or private-sector mandates as defined in the 
Unfunded Mandates Reform Act (UMRA) and would impose no costs 
on state, local, or tribal governments.

             VI. CONGRESSIONAL BUDGET OFFICE COST ESTIMATE

                                     U.S. Congress,
                               Congressional Budget Office,
                                  Washington, DC, November 9, 2022.
Hon. Gary C. Peters,
Chairman, Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs,
U.S. Senate, Washington, DC.
    Dear Mr. Chairman: The Congressional Budget Office has 
prepared the enclosed cost estimate for S. 4572, the Non-
Intrusive Inspection Expansion Act.
    If you wish further details on this estimate, we will be 
pleased to provide them. The CBO staff contact is Jeremy Crimm.
            Sincerely,
                                         Phillip L. Swagel,
                                                          Director.
    Enclosure.

    
    

    S. 4572 would require U.S. Customs and Border Protection 
(CBP) to increase its use of non-intrusive inspection (NII) 
systems at land ports of entry. Beginning in 2024, the bill 
would require CBP to use NII systems to inspect 40 percent of 
passenger vehicles and 90 percent of commercial vehicles 
entering the United States. NII systems, such as large-scale X-
ray and Gamma-ray systems and handheld scanners, are used to 
quickly examine vehicles for weapons, narcotics, and other 
materials that pose nuclear and radiological threats.
    The bill also would require CBP and the Government 
Accountability Office to submit various reports to the Congress 
about the use of NII at the U.S. border.
    CBP indicated that many land ports of entry would require 
capital improvements, such as roadwork and new facilities, 
before large-scale NII could be installed. Based on the costs 
and timelines of similar projects, CBO estimates that such 
improvements would take two years to complete and cost $98 
million over the 2023-2027 period.
    In addition to those improvements, CBP would need to 
install new large-scale NII systems. CBP indicated that it 
would install additional NII systems at the locations with the 
largest vehicle volume if S. 4572 was enacted, with multiple 
systems per site. Based on feedback from CBP, CBO expects that 
the agency would need to install an additional 70 large-scale 
NII systems to comply with the bill's requirements.
    Using information from CBP, CBO estimates that the agency 
would install an average of 14 systems annually, beginning in 
2025, and that each large-scale NII system would cost roughly 
$9 million, including procurement, installation, and system 
integration. In addition, CBO estimates that it would cost $1 
million annually to maintain each system. Thus, CBO estimates 
that through 2027, the procurement and maintenance costs would 
total $363 million. Additional systems would continue to be 
installed and maintained after 2027 at a cost of $373 million.
    In total, CBO estimates that enacting S. 4572 would cost 
$462 million over the 2023-2027 period and an additional $426 
million over the 2028 2032 period ($53 million for facility 
capital improvements and $373 million for system installation 
and maintenance). Such spending would be subject to the 
availability of appropriated funds.
    The costs of the legislation, detailed in Table 1, fall 
within budget function 750 (administration of justice).

                TABLE 1.--ESTIMATED INCREASES IN SPENDING SUBJECT TO APPROPRIATION UNDER S. 4572
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                  By fiscal year, millions of dollars--
                                                       ---------------------------------------------------------
                                                          2023     2024     2025     2026      2027    2023-2027
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Estimated Authorization...............................       50       51      119      155        170        544
Estimated Outlays.....................................        3       13       91      176        179        462
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    S. 4572 contains no intergovernmental or private-sector 
mandates as defined in the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act and 
would not affect the budgets of state, local, or tribal 
governments.
    The CBO staff contact for this estimate is Jeremy Crimm. 
The estimate was reviewed by Leo Lex, Deputy Director of Budget 
Analysis.

       VII. CHANGES IN EXISTING LAW MADE BY THE BILL, AS REPORTED

    This legislation would make no change in existing law, 
within the meaning of clauses (a) and (b) of subparagraph 12 of 
rule XXVI of the Standing Rules of the Senate, because this 
legislation would not repeal or amend any provision of current 
law.

                                  [all]