National Aviation Preparedness Plan Act of 2022

Floor Speech

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Ms. NORTON. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 884) to direct the Secretary of Transportation to establish a national aviation preparedness plan for communicable disease outbreaks, and for other purposes, as amended.

The Clerk read the title of the bill.

The text of the bill is as follows: H.R. 884

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

This Act may be cited as the ``National Aviation Preparedness Plan Act of 2022''. SEC. 2. NATIONAL AVIATION PREPAREDNESS PLAN.

(a) In General.--Not later than 2 years after the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Transportation, in coordination with the Secretary of Health and Human Services, the Secretary of Homeland Security, and the heads of such other Federal departments or agencies as the Secretary of Transportation considers appropriate, shall develop a national aviation preparedness plan for communicable disease outbreaks.

(b) Contents of Plan.--The plan developed under subsection (a) shall, at a minimum--

(1) provide airports and air carriers with an adaptable and scalable framework with which to align the individual plans, including the emergency response plans, of such airports and air carriers and provide guidance as to each individual plan;

(2) improve coordination among airports, air carriers, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, other appropriate Federal entities, and State and local governments and health agencies with respect to preparing for and responding to communicable disease outbreaks;

(3) to the extent practicable, improve coordination among relevant international entities;

(4) create a process to identify appropriate personal protective equipment, if any, for covered employees to reduce the likelihood of exposure to a covered communicable disease, and thereafter issue recommendations for the equipage of such employees;

(5) create a process to identify appropriate techniques, strategies, and protective infrastructure, if any, for the cleaning, disinfecting, and sanitization of aircraft and enclosed facilities owned, operated, or used by an air carrier or airport, and thereafter issue recommendations pertaining to such techniques, strategies, and protective infrastructure;

(6) identify and assign Federal agency roles in the deployment of emerging and existing technologies and solutions to reduce covered communicable diseases in the aviation ecosystem;

(7) clearly delineate the responsibilities of the sponsors and operators of airports, air carriers, and Federal agencies in responding to a covered communicable disease;

(8) incorporate, as appropriate, the recommendations made by the Comptroller General of the United States to the Secretary of Transportation contained in the report titled ``Air Travel and Communicable Diseases: Comprehensive Federal Plan Needed for U.S. Aviation System's Preparedness'', issued in December 2015 (GAO-16-127);

(9) consider the latest peer-reviewed scientific studies that address communicable disease with respect to air transportation; and

(10) consider funding constraints.

(c) Consultation.--When developing the plan under subsection (a), the Secretary of Transportation shall consult with aviation industry and labor stakeholders, including representatives of--

(1) air carriers, which shall include domestic air carriers consisting of major air carriers, low-cost carriers, regional air carriers and cargo carriers;

(2) airport operators, including with respect to large hub, medium hub, small hub, and nonhub commercial service airports;

(3) labor organizations that represent airline pilots, flight attendants, air carrier airport customer service representatives, and air carrier maintenance, repair, and overhaul workers;

(4) the labor organization certified under section 7111 of title 5, United States Code, as the exclusive bargaining representative of air traffic controllers of the Federal Aviation Administration;

(5) the labor organization certified under such section as the exclusive bargaining representative of airway transportation systems specialists and aviation safety inspectors of the Federal Aviation Administration;

(6) trade associations representing air carriers and airports;

(7) aircraft manufacturing companies;

(8) general aviation; and

(9) such other stakeholders as the Secretary considers appropriate.

(d) Report.--Not later than 30 days after the plan is developed under subsection (a), the Secretary shall submit to the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the Senate a report that includes such plan.

(e) Review of Plan.--Not later than 1 year after the date on which a report is submitted under subsection (d), and again not later than 5 years thereafter, the Secretary shall review the plan included in such report and, after consultation with aviation industry and labor stakeholders, make changes by rule as the Secretary considers appropriate.

(f) GAO Study.--Not later than 18 months after the date of enactment of this Act, the Comptroller General shall conduct and submit to the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the Senate a study assessing the national aviation preparedness plan developed under subsection (a), including--

(1) whether such plan--

(A) is responsive to any previous recommendations relating to aviation preparedness with respect to an outbreak of a covered communicable disease or global health emergency made by the Comptroller General; and

(B) meets the obligations of the United States under international conventions and treaties; and

(2) the extent to which the United States aviation system is prepared to respond to an outbreak of a covered communicable disease.

(g) Definitions.--In this section:

(1) Covered employee.--The term ``covered employee'' means--

(A) an individual whose job duties require interaction with air carrier passengers on a regular and continuing basis and who is an employee of--

(i) an air carrier;

(ii) an air carrier contractor;

(iii) an airport; or

(iv) the Federal Government; or

(B) an air traffic controller or systems safety specialist of the Federal Aviation Administration.

(2) Covered communicable disease.--The term ``covered communicable disease'' means a communicable disease that has the potential to cause a future epidemic or pandemic of infectious disease that would constitute a public health emergency of international concern as declared, after the date of enactment of this Act, by the Secretary of Health and Human Services under section 319 of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 247d).

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Ms. NORTON. 884, as amended.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of the National Aviation Preparedness Plan Act of 2022, legislation sponsored by the gentleman from Washington (Mr. Larsen).

If there is one lesson of the coronavirus pandemic, it is that we were not prepared for a pandemic and must be prepared for the next one.

While a number of mitigation efforts were eventually implemented in aviation, they should not have taken almost a year to put in place. In fact, in 2015, the Government Accountability Office issued a recommendation to develop a national aviation preparedness plan for communicable disease outbreaks.

The Government Accountability Office has since found that had the Department of Transportation implemented such a plan, it ``could have improved coordination between public health and aviation sectors during COVID-19 to address issues like passenger screening.''

H.R. 884 seeks to resolve this oversight by requiring the Department of Transportation, in collaboration with the Department of Health and Human Services and the Department of Homeland Security, to develop a national aviation preparedness plan.

That plan, at a minimum, would lay out the responsibilities of airports, airlines, and government entities in responding to future pandemics, improve coordination among stakeholders, and identify appropriate equipment to protect frontline aviation employees, among other things.

This means we could establish the necessary procedures and methodologies to combat pandemics prior to their onset and eliminate the confusion surrounding who should take action.

Fortunately, we have come a long way since the start of the pandemic. Vaccines are widely available, daily COVID hospitalizations and death rates have decreased, and air travel is returning to prepandemic levels.

But we could have done better. This bill, which received overwhelming bipartisan support in committee, will ensure the lessons learned from the current pandemic are not forgotten during the next one.

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Ms. NORTON. Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support this legislation, and I yield back the balance of my time.

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