House Passes HR 2200

Yesterday, the House passed HR 2200, the Transportation Security Administration Authorization Act by a vote of 397 to 25. This is the first time that an authorization bill for the TSA has passed in the House since the TSA was founded in 2001. Amendments to HR 2200 A number of amendments were made to the bill during the House deliberations. Only two of the amendments included any language that will have any potential affect on the chemical industry. Both the Thompson amendment (Amdt 1) and the Castor amendment (Amdt 7) passed by voice votes. The provisions of the Thompson amendment that might end up affecting the chemical community deal with requiring the Federal Government to complete a variety of studies and report back to Congress on the results. Section 312(b) requires the DHS IG to look into the feasibility of establishing a Deputy Assistant Secretary for Surface Transportation Security. Section 406(a) requires the Comptroller General to look at the roles of DHS and DOT in the area of pipeline security. The Castor amendment added §403(r) to the ‘Safe Trucker Act of 2009’ portion of the bill. That section would prohibit states from requiring their own separate background checks for hazmat drivers required to have a TWIC. Going Forward The bill will go the Senate where it will be assigned to the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Oversight Committee. Senators Lieberman and Collins have stated that they want to see authorization bills for DHS this year, so it is likely that this bill will see quick action in the Senate. It is certainly possible that the bill could be passed and on the President’s desk before the August recess.