[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 52 (Tuesday, March 17, 2020)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 15059-15060]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-05606]


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DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY

U.S. Customs and Border Protection

19 CFR Chapter I

Transportation Security Administration

49 CFR Chapter XII


Notification of Arrival Restrictions Applicable to Flights 
Carrying Persons Who Have Recently Traveled From or Were Otherwise 
Present Within the Countries of the Schengen Area

AGENCY: U.S. Customs and Border Protection and U.S. Transportation 
Security Administration, Department of Homeland Security.

ACTION: Notification of arrival restrictions.

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SUMMARY: This document announces the decision of the Secretary of 
Homeland Security (DHS) to direct all flights to the United States 
carrying persons who have recently traveled from, or were otherwise 
present within, the countries of the Schengen Area to arrive at one of 
the United States airports where the United States Government is 
focusing public health resources. There are twenty-six countries in the 
Schengen Area: Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, 
Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Italy, Latvia, 
Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Norway, 
Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, and Switzerland. 
This document also modifies two notifications regarding decisions of 
the Secretary of DHS: To direct all flights to the United States 
carrying persons who have recently traveled from, or were otherwise 
present within, the People's Republic of China (excluding the Special 
Regions of Hong Kong and Macau) to arrive at one of the United States 
airports where the United States Government is focusing public health 
resources (effective February 2, 2020); and to direct all flights to 
the United States carrying persons who have recently traveled from, or 
were otherwise present within, the Islamic Republic of Iran to arrive 
at one of the United States airports where the United States Government 
is focusing public health resources (effective March 2, 2020). This 
document also adds two additional airports to the list of airports 
where flights subject to the arrival restrictions are permitted to 
land--Boston Logan International Airport (BOS) and Miami International 
Airport (MIA).

DATES: Flights departing after 11:59 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time on 
Friday, March 13, 2020, and covered by the arrival restrictions 
regarding the countries of the Schengen Area are required to land at 
one of the airports identified in this document. These arrival 
restrictions will continue until cancelled or modified by the Secretary 
of DHS and notification is published in the Federal Register of such 
cancellation or modification.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Matthew S. Davies, Office of Field 
Operations, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) at 202-325-2073.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

    Coronaviruses are a large family of viruses that are common in many 
different species of animals, including camels, cattle, cats, and bats. 
While it is rare, animal coronaviruses can infect people, and then 
spread between people (human-to-human) such as with Middle East 
Respiratory Syndrome and Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome. The United 
States Government is closely monitoring an outbreak of respiratory 
illness caused by human-to-human transmission of a novel (new) 
coronavirus (which has since been renamed ``SARS-CoV-2'' and causes the 
disease COVID-19), first identified in Wuhan City, Hubei Province, 
People's Republic of China.
    The potential for widespread transmission of this virus by infected 
individuals seeking to enter the United States threatens the security 
of our transportation system and infrastructure, and the national 
security. Noting recent pronouncements by the World Health Organization 
(WHO) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) for the 
novel coronavirus outbreak to assist in preventing the introduction, 
transmission, and spread of this communicable disease globally and in 
the United States, including the categorization by WHO of COVID-19 as a 
pandemic on March 11, 2020, DHS, in coordination with CDC and other 
Federal, state and local agencies charged with protecting the American 
public, is implementing enhanced protocols to ensure that all travelers 
seeking to enter the United States with recent travel from, or who were 
otherwise recently present within, any of the countries of the Schengen 
Area are provided appropriate public health services.
    The enhanced arrival protocols concerning travelers with recent 
travel from, or who were otherwise recently present within, the 
People's Republic of China, excluding the Special Administrative 
Regions of Hong Kong and Macau, identified in the documents published 
at 85 FR 6044 on February 4, 2020 and 85 FR 7214 on February 7, 2020, 
also remain in place in this notice, except that flights are permitted 
to land at two additional airports. The enhanced arrival protocols 
concerning travelers with recent travel from, or who were otherwise 
present within, the Islamic Republic of Iran, identified in the 
document published at 85 FR 12731 on March 4, 2020, also remain in 
place in this notice except that flights are permitted to land at two 
additional airports.
    Enhanced traveler arrival protocols are part of a layered approach 
used with other public health measures already in place to detect 
arriving travelers who are exhibiting overt signs of illness. Related 
measures include reporting ill travelers identified by carriers during 
travel to appropriate public health officials for evaluation, and 
referring ill travelers arriving at a U.S. port of entry by CBP to 
appropriate public health officials in order to slow and prevent the 
introduction into, and transmission and spread of, communicable disease 
in the United States.
    To ensure that travelers with recent presence in the countries of 
the Schengen Area are screened appropriately, DHS directs that all 
flights to the United States carrying persons who have recently 
traveled from, or were otherwise present within, the countries of the 
Schengen Area arrive at airports where enhanced public health services 
and protocols have been implemented. Although DHS will continue to work 
with carriers to ensure that they identify potential persons who 
traveled from, or who have otherwise recently been present within, the 
affected areas prior to boarding, carriers shall comply with the 
requirements of this document in all cases, including when such persons 
are identified after boarding but prior to takeoff.
    On Friday, January 31, 2020, DHS posted a document on the Federal 
Register public inspection page,

[[Page 15060]]

announcing the DHS Secretary's decision that arrival restrictions 
regarding the People's Republic of China (excluding the Special 
Administrative Regions of Hong Kong and Macau) would go into effect at 
5 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time on Sunday, February 2, 2020, at seven 
airports. The document announcing this decision was published in the 
Federal Register on February 4, 2020 at 85 FR 6044. On Friday, February 
7, 2020, DHS published a document adding two airports to the list of 
airports where flights subject to the arrival restrictions are 
permitted to land and describing when the arrival restrictions would 
include those airports. See 85 FR 7214. With this document, DHS is 
adding the following two additional airports to the list of airports 
where flights subject to the arrival restrictions are permitted to 
land: Boston Logan International Airport (BOS), and Miami International 
Airport (MIA).
    As with actions related to the People's Republic of China and the 
Islamic Republic of Iran, DHS anticipates that airlines will be able to 
fully support implementation of these arrival restrictions.

Notification of Arrival Restrictions Applicable to All Flights Carrying 
Persons Who Have Recently Traveled From or Were Otherwise Present 
Within the Countries of the Schengen Area

    Pursuant to 19 U.S.C. 1433(c), 19 CFR 122.32, 49 U.S.C. 114, and 49 
CFR 1544.305 and 1546.105, DHS has the authority to limit the locations 
where all flights entering the U.S. from abroad may land. Under this 
authority and effective for flights departing after 11:59 p.m. ET on 
Friday March 13, 2020, I hereby direct all operators of aircraft to 
ensure that all flights carrying persons who have recently traveled 
from, or were otherwise present within, any of the countries of the 
Schengen Area only land at one of the following airports:

     John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK), New York;
     Chicago O'Hare International Airport (ORD), Illinois;
     San Francisco International Airport (SFO), California;
     Seattle-Tacoma International Airport (SEA), Washington;
     Daniel K. Inouye International Airport (HNL), Hawaii;
     Los Angeles International Airport, (LAX), California;
     Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport (ATL), 
Georgia;
     Washington-Dulles International Airport (IAD), Virginia;
     Newark Liberty International Airport (EWR), New Jersey;
     Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport (DFW), Texas;
     Detroit Metropolitan Airport (DTW), Michigan;
     Boston Logan International Airport (BOS), Massachusetts; 
and
     Miami International Airport (MIA), Florida.

    This direction considers a person to have recently traveled from, 
or otherwise been present within, a country of the Schengen Area if 
that person departed from, or was otherwise present within, a country 
of the Schengen Area within 14 days of the date of the person's entry 
or attempted entry into the United States. The Schengen Area consists 
of the following countries: Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, 
Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Italy, 
Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, 
Norway, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, and 
Switzerland.
    For purposes of this document, crew and flights carrying only cargo 
(i.e., no passengers or non-crew) are excluded from the applicable 
measures set forth in this notice.
    This direction is subject to any changes to the airport landing 
destination that may be required for aircraft and/or airspace safety, 
as directed by the Federal Aviation Administration.
    This list of affected airports may be modified by the Secretary of 
Homeland Security, in consultation with the Secretary of Health and 
Human Services and the Secretary of Transportation. This list of 
affected airports may be modified by an updated publication in the 
Federal Register or by posting an advisory to follow at www.cbp.gov. 
The restrictions will remain in effect until superseded, modified, or 
revoked by publication in the Federal Register.
    For purposes of this Federal Register document, ``United States'' 
means the States of the United States, the District of Columbia, and 
territories and possessions of the United States (including Puerto 
Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, American Samoa, the Commonwealth of the 
Northern Mariana Islands, and Guam).

Chad F. Wolf,
Acting Secretary, U.S. Department of Homeland Security.
[FR Doc. 2020-05606 Filed 3-13-20; 1:30 pm]
 BILLING CODE 9111-14-P; 9110-05-P