View all text of Subchapter II [§ 44931 - § 44948]
§ 44940. Security service fee
(a)General Authority.—
(1)Passenger fees.—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:
(A) 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.
(B) The costs of training personnel described in subparagraph (A), and the acquisition, operation, and maintenance of equipment used by such personnel.
(C) The costs of performing background investigations of personnel described in subparagraphs (A), (D), (F), and (G).
(D) The costs of the Federal air marshals program.
(E) The costs of performing civil aviation security research and development under this title.
(F) The costs of Federal Security Managers under section 44903.
(G) The costs of deploying Federal law enforcement personnel pursuant to section 44903(h).
(H) The costs of security-related capital improvements at airports.
(I) The costs of training pilots and flight attendants under sections 44918 and 44921.
(2)Determination of costs.—
(A)In general.—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.
(B)Definition of federal law enforcement personnel.—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.
(b)Schedule of Fees.—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.
(c)Limitation on Fee.—
(1)Amount.—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.
(2)Definition of round trip.—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).
(3)Offsetting collections.—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.
(d)Imposition of Fee.—
(1)In general.—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.
(2)Special rules passenger fees.—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.
(3)Subsequent modification of fee.—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.
(4)Limitation on collection.—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.
(e)Administration of Fees.—
(1)Fees payable to administrator.—All fees imposed and amounts collected under this section are payable to the Administrator of the Transportation Security Administration.
(2)Fees collected by air carrier.—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).
(3)Due date for remittance.—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.
(4)Information.—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.
(5)Fee not subject to tax.—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.
(6)Cost of collecting fee.—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.
(f)Receipts Credited as Offsetting Collections.—Notwithstanding section 3302 of title 31, any fee collected under this section—
(1) shall be credited as offsetting collections to the account that finances the activities and services for which the fee is imposed;
(2) shall be available for expenditure only to pay the costs of activities and services for which the fee is imposed; and
(3) shall remain available until expended.
(g)Refunds.—The Administrator of the Transportation Security Administration may refund any fee paid by mistake or any amount paid in excess of that required.
(h)Exemptions.—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.
(i)Deposit of Receipts in General Fund.—
(1)In general.—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.
(2)Fee levels.—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).
(3)Relationship to other provisions.—Subsections (b) and (f) shall not apply to amounts to be used for making deposits under this subsection.
(4)Fiscal year amounts.—For purposes of paragraphs (1) and (2), the fiscal year amounts are as follows:
(A) $1,320,000,000 for fiscal year 2018.
(B) $1,360,000,000 for fiscal year 2019.
(C) $1,400,000,000 for fiscal year 2020.
(D) $1,440,000,000 for fiscal year 2021.
(E) $1,480,000,000 for fiscal year 2022.
(F) $1,520,000,000 for fiscal year 2023.
(G) $760,000,000 for fiscal year 2024.
(H) $1,600,000,000 for fiscal year 2025.
(M)1
1 So in original.
$1,640,000,000 for fiscal year 2026.(N)1 $1,680,000,000 for fiscal year 2027.
(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.)