49 U.S.C. § 44940 — Security service fee
submitted 25 years ago by Pub. L. 107-71 to r/title-49-TRANSPORTATION · 1,282 words · no verdicts yet
The TSA must charge airline passengers a security fee to help pay for screening, air marshals, and related security costs. The fee is $5.60 per one-way trip, capped at $11.20 round trip, collected by the airline and passed to the government. Part of the money each year goes to fund security operations, and starting in 2014 a set amount each year instead goes to the U.S. Treasury's general fund.
(a) General authority. The TSA Administrator must charge a uniform fee on passengers flying on airlines out of U.S. airports, to pay for: screening staff and law enforcement salaries and benefits (A); training and equipment for that staff (B); background checks on covered personnel (C); the Federal air marshals program (D); civil aviation security research (E); Federal Security Managers (F); deploying federal law enforcement under section 44903(h) (G); security-related airport construction (H); and pilot and flight attendant training (I). The Administrator alone decides the dollar amount of these costs, and that decision cannot be challenged in court. "Federal law enforcement personnel" includes state and local officers deputized under section 44922.
(b) Fee schedule. The fees must reasonably match what it actually costs the TSA to provide these services.
(c) Fee limit. The fee is $5.60 per one-way trip, capped at $11.20 for a round trip (a trip that returns to, or stops over at, its starting point). Starting October 1, 2027, the fee money collected each year is credited back to fund TSA's aviation security work and stays available until spent.
(d) Imposing the fee. The Administrator can set this fee just by publishing notice in the Federal Register, skipping the usual rulemaking procedures, and start collecting right away. A fee change applies only to tickets sold after the change is published. If an airline fails to collect the fee from a passenger, the airline itself must pay it. The Administrator may later adjust how the fee is imposed or collected, again just by publishing notice. Fee money (other than under subsection (i)) can only be spent if Congress has already approved that spending in an appropriations law or under section 44923.
(e) Administering the fee. All fees are payable to the Administrator. The airline that sells the ticket collects the fee and must remit it by the last day of each month, covering the fees from the prior month. The Administrator can require airlines to provide information to verify collection was accurate and on time. The fee does not count as part of the taxable ticket price under the tax code. Airlines may not keep any portion of the fee to cover their own costs of collecting it, except for interest earned between collecting and remitting it.
(f) Where the money goes. Fee money is credited to the account that funds the security activities it pays for, can only be spent on those activities, and stays available until spent.
(g) Refunds. The Administrator may refund a fee paid by mistake or overpaid.
(h) Exemptions. The Administrator may exempt a passenger from the fee for any part of a trip where they don't receive screening under section 44901.
(i) Deposits to the general fund. Starting in fiscal year 2014, after money is set aside under section 44923(h), the next dollars collected from the fee — up to specific yearly amounts — go instead to the U.S. Treasury's general fund rather than to TSA security spending. The Secretary of Homeland Security must set the fee high enough to collect at least that amount. Subsections (b) and (f) don't apply to these general-fund deposits. The set amounts are: $1,320,000,000 for 2018; $1,360,000,000 for 2019; $1,400,000,000 for 2020; $1,440,000,000 for 2021; $1,480,000,000 for 2022; $1,520,000,000 for 2023; $760,000,000 for 2024; $1,600,000,000 for 2025; $1,640,000,000 for 2026; and $1,680,000,000 for 2027.
The Administrator of the Transportation Security Administration shall impose a uniform fee, on passengers of air carriers and foreign air carriers in air transportation and intrastate air transportation originating at airports in the United States, to pay for the following costs of providing civil aviation security services:
Salary, benefits, overtime, retirement and other costs of screening personnel, their supervisors and managers, and Federal law enforcement personnel deployed at airport security screening locations under section 44901.
The costs of training personnel described in subparagraph (A), and the acquisition, operation, and maintenance of equipment used by such personnel.
The costs of performing background investigations of personnel described in subparagraphs (A), (D), (F), and (G).
The costs of the Federal air marshals program.
The costs of performing civil aviation security research and development under this title.
The costs of Federal Security Managers under section 44903.
The costs of deploying Federal law enforcement personnel pursuant to section 44903(h).
The costs of security-related capital improvements at airports.
The costs of training pilots and flight attendants under sections 44918 and 44921.
The amount of the costs under paragraph (1) shall be determined by the Administrator of the Transportation Security Administration and shall not be subject to judicial review.
For purposes of paragraph (1)(A), the term “Federal law enforcement personnel” includes State and local law enforcement officers who are deputized under section 44922.
In imposing fees under subsection (a), the Administrator of the Transportation Security Administration shall ensure that the fees are reasonably related to the Transportation Security Administration’s costs of providing services rendered.
Fees imposed under subsection (a)(1) shall be $5.60 per one-way trip in air transportation or intrastate air transportation that originates at an airport in the United States, except that the fee imposed per round trip shall not exceed $11.20.
In this subsection, the term “round trip” means a trip on an air travel itinerary that terminates or has a stopover at the origin point (or co-terminal).
Beginning on October 1, 2027, fees collected under subsection (a)(1) for any fiscal year shall be credited as offsetting collections to appropriations made for aviation security measures carried out by the Transportation Security Administration, to remain available until expended.
Notwithstanding section 9701 of title 31 and the procedural requirements of section 553 of title 5, the Administrator of the Transportation Security Administration shall impose the fee under subsection (a)(1) through the publication of notice of such fee in the Federal Register and begin collection of the fee as soon as possible.
A fee imposed under subsection (a)(1) through the procedures under paragraph (1) of this subsection shall apply only to tickets sold after the date on which such fee is imposed. If a fee imposed under subsection (a)(1) through the procedures under paragraph (1) of this subsection on transportation of a passenger of a carrier described in subsection (a)(1) is not collected from the passenger, the amount of the fee shall be paid by the carrier.
After imposing a fee in accordance with paragraph (1), the Administrator of the Transportation Security Administration may modify, from time to time through publication of notice in the Federal Register, the imposition or collection of such fee, or both.
No fee may be collected under this section, other than subsection (i), except to the extent that the expenditure of the fee to pay the costs of activities and services for which the fee is imposed is provided for in advance in an appropriations Act or in section 44923.
All fees imposed and amounts collected under this section are payable to the Administrator of the Transportation Security Administration.
A fee imposed under subsection (a)(1) shall be collected by the air carrier or foreign air carrier that sells a ticket for transportation described in subsection (a)(1).
A fee collected under this section shall be remitted on the last day of each calendar month by the carrier collecting the fee. The amount to be remitted shall be for the calendar month preceding the calendar month in which the remittance is made.
The Administrator of the Transportation Security Administration may require the provision of such information as the Administrator of the Transportation Security Administration decides is necessary to verify that fees have been collected and remitted at the proper times and in the proper amounts.
For purposes of section 4261 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 (26 U.S.C. 4261), a fee imposed under this section shall not be considered to be part of the amount paid for taxable transportation.
No portion of the fee collected under this section may be retained by the air carrier or foreign air carrier for the costs of collecting, handling, or remitting the fee except for interest accruing to the carrier after collection and before remittance.
Notwithstanding section 3302 of title 31, any fee collected under this section—
shall be credited as offsetting collections to the account that finances the activities and services for which the fee is imposed;
shall be available for expenditure only to pay the costs of activities and services for which the fee is imposed; and
shall remain available until expended.
The Administrator of the Transportation Security Administration may refund any fee paid by mistake or any amount paid in excess of that required.
The Administrator of the Transportation Security Administration may exempt from the passenger fee imposed under subsection (a)(1) any passenger enplaning at an airport in the United States that does not receive screening services under section 44901 for that segment of the trip for which the passenger does not receive screening.
Beginning in fiscal year 2014, out of fees received in a fiscal year under subsection (a)(1), after amounts are made available in the fiscal year under section 44923(h), the next funds derived from such fees in the fiscal year, in the amount specified for the fiscal year in paragraph (4), shall be credited as offsetting receipts and deposited in the general fund of the Treasury.
The Secretary of Homeland Security shall impose the fee authorized by subsection (a)(1) so as to collect in a fiscal year at least the amount specified in paragraph (4) for the fiscal year for making deposits under paragraph (1).
Subsections (b) and (f) shall not apply to amounts to be used for making deposits under this subsection.
For purposes of paragraphs (1) and (2), the fiscal year amounts are as follows:
$1,320,000,000 for fiscal year 2018.
$1,360,000,000 for fiscal year 2019.
$1,400,000,000 for fiscal year 2020.
$1,440,000,000 for fiscal year 2021.
$1,480,000,000 for fiscal year 2022.
$1,520,000,000 for fiscal year 2023.
$760,000,000 for fiscal year 2024.
$1,600,000,000 for fiscal year 2025.
1 $1,640,000,000 for fiscal year 2026.
1 $1,680,000,000 for fiscal year 2027.
Source credit: (Added Pub. L. 107–71, title I, § 118(a), Nov. 19, 2001, 115 Stat. 625; amended Pub. L. 108–7, div. I, title III, § 351(b), Feb. 20, 2003, 117 Stat. 420; Pub. L. 108–176, title VI, § 605(b)(1), (2), Dec. 12, 2003, 117 Stat. 2568; Pub. L. 110–53, title XVI, § 1601, Aug. 3, 2007, 121 Stat. 477; Pub. L. 110–161, div. E, title V, § 540, Dec. 26, 2007, 121 Stat. 2079; Pub. L. 113–67, div. A, title VI, § 601(a)(1), (2), (b), (c), Dec. 26, 2013, 127 Stat. 1187; Pub. L. 113–294, § 1(a), Dec. 19, 2014, 128 Stat. 4009; Pub. L. 114–41, title III, § 3001, July 31, 2015, 129 Stat. 460; Pub. L. 115–123, div. C, title II, § 30202, Feb. 9, 2018, 132 Stat. 126; Pub. L. 115–254, div. K, title I, §§ 1940, 1991(d)(31), Oct. 5, 2018, 132 Stat. 3582, 3639; Pub. L. 118–47, div. G, title I, § 108(a), Mar. 23, 2024, 138 Stat. 857.)
- 2001Enacted · Pub. L. 107-71 · 115 Stat. 625
- 2003Amended · Pub. L. 108-7 · 117 Stat. 420
- 2003Amended · Pub. L. 108-176 · 117 Stat. 2568
- 2007Amended · Pub. L. 110-53 · 121 Stat. 477
- 2007Amended · Pub. L. 110-161 · 121 Stat. 2079
- 2013Amended · Pub. L. 113-67 · 127 Stat. 1187
- 2014Amended · Pub. L. 113-294 · 128 Stat. 4009
- 2015Amended · Pub. L. 114-41 · 129 Stat. 460
- 2018Amended · Pub. L. 115-123 · 132 Stat. 126
- 2018Amended · Pub. L. 115-254 · 132 Stat. 3582, 3639
- 2024Amended · Pub. L. 118-47 · 138 Stat. 857
A history note hasn’t been published yet. The record shows enactment by Pub. L. 107-71 on 2001-11-19.
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