Bill Summary
The Air Travel Public Health Emergency Protection Act is a bill that aims to protect the safety of air passengers and the public during a public health emergency. It gives authority to states to implement guidelines and restrictions on passenger air travel in order to prevent the spread of communicable diseases, such as COVID-19. This includes the ability to test potential air passengers for symptoms of the relevant disease before boarding and denying boarding if necessary. The bill also amends existing laws to allow states to enforce these restrictions and waives any conflicting grant requirements for airports. Overall, the purpose of this bill is to address the negative consequences of air travel during a public health emergency and promote the health and safety of the public.
Possible Impacts
1. The legislation could affect people by allowing states to implement and enforce reasonable restrictions on air passengers during a public health emergency. This could potentially result in delays or denied boarding for individuals who are exhibiting symptoms of a communicable disease, affecting their travel plans.
2. People who are planning to travel during a public health emergency may have to undergo additional screenings, such as temperature checks, before boarding a plane. This could potentially lead to longer wait times at airports and may cause inconvenience for travelers.
3. The legislation could also affect people by placing the burden of implementing and enforcing these public health measures on airlines. This could potentially result in increased costs for airlines, which may be passed on to passengers through higher ticket prices.
[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 7128 Introduced in House (IH)]
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116th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. R. 7128
To ensure the safety of air passengers and the public by authorizing
States to implement reasonable guidelines and restrictions on passenger
air travel, to amend title 49, United States Code, and for other
purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
June 8, 2020
Mr. Case introduced the following bill; which was referred to the
Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To ensure the safety of air passengers and the public by authorizing
States to implement reasonable guidelines and restrictions on passenger
air travel, to amend title 49, United States Code, and for other
purposes.
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 ``Air Travel Public Health Emergency
Protection Act''.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
Congress finds the following:
(1) Passenger air travel is or can be a major vector in the
spread of certain communicable diseases such as COVID-19.
(2) Air passengers who have been infected by such
communicable diseases, especially during a declared national
public health emergency, present a serious public health risk
not only to their fellow passengers but to all who come in
contact with them at their destinations and upon their return.
(3) Further, such air passengers present a serious negative
economic consequence to the airlines on which they fly and to
the destinations at which they arrive, especially destinations
reliant on the travel and tourism industry, as they destroy
public confidence in the health and safety of air travel and of
such destinations.
(4) The best mechanism to address these negative
consequences during a declared national public health emergency
is for potential air passengers to be tested for symptoms of
the relevant communicable disease before boarding airlines and
to be denied boarding if such symptoms are indicated.
(5) The Federal Aviation Administration has taken the
position that it does not have existing statutory authority to
impose a public health-related requirement on passenger
airlines that they test all potential air passengers for
symptoms of the relevant communicable disease before boarding
airlines and deny boarding if such symptoms are indicated, and
further that individual States are not authorized to impose
such requirements in the exercise of their police power to
protect the public health and foster economic and social
stability.
(6) As a result, some States, in furtherance of those
goals, have been required to adopt far more risky and less
effective methods which consume scarce resources, including a
post-arrival self-policing quarantine which is widely
disregarded.
SEC. 3. PURPOSE.
The purpose of this Act shall be to authorize any State to impose
reasonable public health-protective conditions on the boarding of any
passenger on a passenger airline at the point of origin of a direct
flight to such State during a public health emergency.
SEC. 4. PUBLIC HEALTH ACCOMMODATIONS.
(a) In General.--The Administrator of the Federal Aviation
Administration shall allow States, territories of the United States,
and Indian Tribes to implement reasonable guidelines and restrictions
to ensure the public health and safety of air passengers and the
public.
(b) Amendments to Title 49.--Title 49 of the United States Code is
amended--
(1) in section 40103--
(A) in subsection (a)(2) by striking ``A citizen''
and inserting ``Except as provided in subsection (f), a
citizen''; and
(B) by adding at the end the following:
``(f) Public Health Emergency Exception.--During a public health
emergency, the Administrator shall allow States, territories of the
United States, and Indian Tribes to implement and enforce reasonable
restrictions on air passengers at the point of origin of a direct
flight to such State, territory, or Indian Tribe jurisdiction in
accordance with requirements and restrictions determined by the State,
territory, or Indian Tribe at the point of destination which may
include, a temperature or other rapid check for any communicable
disease which is the subject of the public health emergency, and which
requirements and restrictions may include denial of boarding if such
intended passenger is indicated for such disease. Such reasonable
restrictions shall be implemented at the expense of the air carrier as
determined necessary by a State, territory, or Indian Tribe.
``(g) Definitions.--For purposes of this section, the following
definitions apply:
``(1) Public health emergency.--The term `public health
emergency' means a declaration under section 319(a) of the
Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 247d(a)) related to a
communicable disease.
``(2) Reasonable restriction.--The term `reasonable
restriction' means any good faith restriction or condition
imposed or implemented on intended passengers prior to boarding
a plane by a State, territory of the United States, or Indian
Tribe to prevent the spread of a communicable disease during a
public health emergency.''; and
(2) in section 47107 by adding at the end the following:
``(x) Waiver of Requirements.--
``(1) In general.--Notwithstanding the requirements of this
section, during a public health emergency, the Secretary shall
waive any grant assurance that conflicts with a reasonable
restriction implemented by a State, territory, or Indian Tribe
as set forth in section 40103(f) without an airport owner or
operator submitting a request for such a waiver.
``(2) Definitions.--For purposes of this subsection, the
following definitions apply:
``(A) Public health emergency.--The term `public
health emergency' means a declaration under section
319(a) of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C.
247d(a)) related to a communicable disease.
``(B) Reasonable restriction.--The term `reasonable
restriction' means any good faith restriction or
condition imposed or implemented on intended passengers
prior to boarding a plane by a State, territory of the
United States, or Indian Tribe to prevent the spread of
a communicable disease during a public health
emergency.''.
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