Description:
As ordered reported by the House Committee on Homeland Security on June 11, 2014
H.R. 4802 would direct the Assistant Secretary of Homeland Security, acting through the Transportation Security Administration (TSA), to undertake a variety of activities aimed at enhancing security at airports where TSA performs or oversees security-related activities. The bill would require TSA to verify that all such airports have plans in place for responding to security threats and to provide technical assistance as necessary to improve such plans. H.R. 4802 also would require TSA to disseminate information on best practices for addressing security threats and ensure that all screening personnel have received training in how to handle potential shooting threats. Finally, H.R. 4802 would require the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS’s) Office of Cybersecurity and Communications to report to the Congress on the capacity of law enforcement, fire, and medical response teams to communicate and respond to security threats at airports.
Based on information from DHS, CBO estimates that implementing H.R. 4802 would cost about $2.5 million in 2015, assuming appropriation of the necessary amounts. Of that amount, CBO assumes the department would spend about $1.5 million to provide additional technical assistance to airports and about $1 million to evaluate the interoperability of communication systems used by emergency response teams. H.R. 4802 would not affect direct spending or revenues; therefore, pay-as-you-go procedures do not apply.
H.R. 4802 contains no intergovernmental or private-sector mandates as defined in the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act and would impose no costs on state, local, or tribal governments.
