Airport Alert: Legislation Introduced in Senate and House to Better Protect Transportation Employees and Passengers from COVID-19
February 9, 2021
Yesterday Senators Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Maria Cantwell (D-WA), and Edward Markey (D-MA) introduced the Essential Transportation Employee Safety Act of 2021. This bill codifies the Executive Order mandating face mask usage in airports, on airplanes, as well as on other forms of public transportation for the duration of the pandemic. The text specifically requires:
The bill also directs owners and operators of transportation facilities, including airports, to provide personal protective equipment and sanitizing equipment to at-risk employees; to regularly clean, disinfect, and sanitize equipment and facilities per guidance issued by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC); and to establish or adhere to any existing guidelines for notifying an employee of a confirmed diagnosis of COVID-19 with whom the notified employee has had physical contact or interaction with during the 48 hours preceding the time at which the diagnosed employee developed symptoms. The definition of at-risk employees includes Transportation Security Officers.
While not defined as an at-risk employee, the bill requires the Federal Aviation Administration to provide air traffic controllers and airway transportation systems specialists with personal protective and sanitizing equipment and to ensure that each air traffic control facility is cleaned, disinfected and sanitized frequently following CDC guidance.
Finally, the bill directs the Department of Transportation (DOT), CDC, and the Federal Emergency Management Agency to help state and local governments provide for priority testing of transportation workers categorized as "essential critical infrastructure workers" with respect COVID–19.
For more details about the Essential Transportation Employee Safety Act, here is a summary of the introduced bill.
Separately, last Friday, House Aviation Subcommittee Chairman Rick Larsen (D-WA) and Rep. Don Beyer (D-VA) reintroduced the National Aviation Preparedness Plan Act. This legislation, originally introduced in the 116th Congress and supported by AAAE, requires DOT, in collaboration with the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), Department of Homeland Security (DHS), and other relevant federal agencies to develop a national aviation preparedness plan to tackle future communicable disease outbreaks, as first recommended by the Government Accountability Office in 2015 following the Ebola outbreak.
The bill also directs DOT to work with the airports, air carriers, labor unions representing frontline at-risk workers, and other key aviation stakeholders on a plan to:
AAAE will provide updates on these two pieces of legislation when they are considered by the Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee or the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee.
Yesterday Senators Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Maria Cantwell (D-WA), and Edward Markey (D-MA) introduced the Essential Transportation Employee Safety Act of 2021. This bill codifies the Executive Order mandating face mask usage in airports, on airplanes, as well as on other forms of public transportation for the duration of the pandemic. The text specifically requires:
- passengers to wear masks or protective face coverings while traveling, with an exception for reasonable modifications to accommodate the American for Disabilities Act, and
- employees to wear masks or face coverings when interacting with passengers, the public, or coworkers who interact with the public or when working in locations where social distancing and other preventative measures are not possible.
The bill also directs owners and operators of transportation facilities, including airports, to provide personal protective equipment and sanitizing equipment to at-risk employees; to regularly clean, disinfect, and sanitize equipment and facilities per guidance issued by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC); and to establish or adhere to any existing guidelines for notifying an employee of a confirmed diagnosis of COVID-19 with whom the notified employee has had physical contact or interaction with during the 48 hours preceding the time at which the diagnosed employee developed symptoms. The definition of at-risk employees includes Transportation Security Officers.
While not defined as an at-risk employee, the bill requires the Federal Aviation Administration to provide air traffic controllers and airway transportation systems specialists with personal protective and sanitizing equipment and to ensure that each air traffic control facility is cleaned, disinfected and sanitized frequently following CDC guidance.
Finally, the bill directs the Department of Transportation (DOT), CDC, and the Federal Emergency Management Agency to help state and local governments provide for priority testing of transportation workers categorized as "essential critical infrastructure workers" with respect COVID–19.
For more details about the Essential Transportation Employee Safety Act, here is a summary of the introduced bill.
Separately, last Friday, House Aviation Subcommittee Chairman Rick Larsen (D-WA) and Rep. Don Beyer (D-VA) reintroduced the National Aviation Preparedness Plan Act. This legislation, originally introduced in the 116th Congress and supported by AAAE, requires DOT, in collaboration with the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), Department of Homeland Security (DHS), and other relevant federal agencies to develop a national aviation preparedness plan to tackle future communicable disease outbreaks, as first recommended by the Government Accountability Office in 2015 following the Ebola outbreak.
The bill also directs DOT to work with the airports, air carriers, labor unions representing frontline at-risk workers, and other key aviation stakeholders on a plan to:
- Improve coordination between agencies, industries, and nations for screening, testing, quarantining, and contact tracing;
- Require that frontline employees are equipped with appropriate personal protective equipment;
- Ensure frontline employees are appropriately considered for access to necessary vaccines and therapeutics;
- Require aircraft, airports, and other enclosed facilities to be sanitized and have the appropriate protective infrastructure in accordance with public health guidelines; and
- Identify opportunities to develop and deploy emerging technologies and solutions to reduce communicable disease transmission.
AAAE will provide updates on these two pieces of legislation when they are considered by the Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee or the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee.
