Flight Training Security Program

<RULE> DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY <SUBAGY>Transportation Security Administration</SUBAGY> <CFR>49 CFR Parts 1500, 1503, 1515, 1540, 1542, 1544, 1546, 1548, 1549, 1550, 1552, 1554, 1570, and 1572</CFR> <DEPDOC>[Docket No. TSA-2004-19147; Amendment No. 1552-1]</DEPDOC> <RIN>RIN 1652-AA35</RIN> <SUBJECT>Flight Training Security Program</SUBJECT> <HD SOURCE="HED">AGENCY:</HD> Transportation Security Administration, DHS. <HD SOURCE="HED">ACTION:</HD> Final rule. <SUM> <HD SOURCE="HED">SUMMARY:</HD> The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) is finalizing the 2004 interim final rule (IFR) that established the Flight Training Security Program (FTSP) (formerly known as the Alien Flight Student Program). The FTSP implements a statutory requirement under the Aviation and Transportation Security Act, as amended by the Vision 100-Century of Aviation Reauthorization Act, to prevent flight schools from providing flight training to any individuals who are not U.S. citizens or nationals, and who have not been vetted by the Federal Government to determine whether the flight training candidate is a security threat. The rule also requires security awareness training for certain flight training provider employees. In finalizing this rule, TSA addresses the comments on the IFR, recommendations from the Aviation Security Advisory Committee, and additional comments received during a reopened comment period. TSA also is eliminating years of programmatic guidance and clarifications by codifying current and relevant information into the regulatory text. Where possible, TSA is modifying the program to make it more effective and less burdensome. Finally, TSA is making other technical modifications to its regulations to consolidate in one location the agency's inspection authority. </SUM> <EFFDATE> <HD SOURCE="HED">DATES:</HD> <E T="03">Effective Date:</E> This rule is effective July 30, 2024. <E T="03">Compliance Date:</E> Flight training providers and individuals subject to the requirements of this rule must comply with these sections by July 30, 2024. Until this date, all regulated entities must continue to comply with the requirements in the IFR. </EFFDATE> <FURINF> <HD SOURCE="HED">FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:</HD> <E T="03">Technical questions:</E> D. Julean Thorpe, Enrollment Services and Vetting Programs, Vetting Programs Division, TSA; telephone: (571) 227-1932; email: <E T="03">FTSP.help@tsa.dhs.gov.</E> <E T="03">Legal questions:</E> David M.G. Ross, Office of Chief Counsel, TSA; telephone: (571) 227-2465; email: <E T="03">TSA-OCC-R&SS@tsa.dhs.gov.</E> </FURINF> <SUPLINF> <HD SOURCE="HED">SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:</HD> <HD SOURCE="HD1">Availability of Rulemaking Document</HD> You can find an electronic copy of this rulemaking using the internet by accessing the Government Publishing Office's web page at <E T="03">https://www.govinfo.gov/app/collection/FR/</E> to view the daily published <E T="04">Federal Register</E> edition or accessing the Office of the Federal Register's web page at <E T="03">https://www.federalregister.gov.</E> Copies are also available by contacting the individual identified for “General Questions” in the <E T="02">FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT</E> section. Make sure to identify the docket number of this rulemaking. <HD SOURCE="HD1">Small Entity Inquiries</HD> The Small Business Regulatory Enforcement Fairness Act (SBREFA) of 1996 requires TSA to comply with small entity requests for information and advice about compliance with statutes and regulations within TSA's jurisdiction. Any small entity that has a question regarding this document may contact the person listed in the <E T="02">FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT</E> section. Persons can obtain further information regarding SBREFA on the Small Business Administration's web page at <E T="03">https://advocacy.sba.gov/resources/reference-library/sbrefa/.</E> <HD SOURCE="HD1">Abbreviations and Terms Used in This Document</HD> <EXTRACT> <FP SOURCE="FP-1">AFSP—Alien Flight Student Program</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP-1">ADIS—Arrival and Departure Information System</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP-1">ASAC—Aviation Security Advisory Committee</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP-1">ATSA—Aviation and Transportation Security Act</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP-1">ATS—Automated Targeting System</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP-1">CBP—U.S. Customs and Border Protection</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP-1">CFI—Certified Flight Instructor</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP-1">CFR—Code of Federal Regulations</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP-1">CHRC—Criminal History Records Check</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP-1">CTCEU—Counterterrorism and Criminal Exploitation Unit</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP-1">DHS—Department of Homeland Security</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP-1">DoD—Department of Defense</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP-1">DOJ—Department of Justice</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP-1">DOS—Department of State</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP-1">E.O.—Executive Order</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP-1">FAA—Federal Aviation Administration</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP-1">FBI—Federal Bureau of Investigation</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP-1">FR—Final Rule</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP-1">FTSP—Flight Training Security Program</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP-1">GAO—Government Accountability Office</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP-1">HME—Hazardous Materials Endorsement</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP-1">IACRA—Integrated Airman Certification and Rating Application</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP-1">ICE—U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP-1">IDENT—Automated Biometrics Identification System</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP-1">IFR—Interim Final Rule</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP-1">NARA—National Archives and Records Administration</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP-1">OMB—Office of Management and Budget</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP-1">PIA—Privacy Impact Assessment</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP-1">PRA—Paperwork Reduction Act</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP-1">RFA—Regulatory Flexibility Act</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP-1">RIA—Regulatory Impact Analysis</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP-1">SAVE—Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP-1">SENTRI—Secure Electronic Network for Travelers Rapid Inspection</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP-1">SEVIS—Student and Exchange Visitor Information System</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP-1">SEVP—Student and Exchange Visitor Program</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP-1">SORN—System of Records Notice</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP-1">STA—Security Threat Assessment</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP-1">TSA—Transportation Security Administration</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP-1">TWIC—Transportation Worker Identification Credential</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP-1">U.S.—United States</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP-1">U.S.C.—United States Code</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP-1">USCIS—U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services</FP> </EXTRACT> <HD SOURCE="HD1">Table of Contents</HD> <EXTRACT> <FP SOURCE="FP-2">I. Overview</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">A. Purpose of This Rulemaking</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">B. Statutory and Rulemaking History</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">1. Introduction</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">2. Imposing Fees for the FTSP</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">3. Evolution of Flight Training Security</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">4. Aviation Security Advisory Committee's Recommendations</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">5. Reopening of Comment Period</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">C. Organization of Final Rule</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">D. Regulatory Relief</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">1. Reducing Frequency of Security Awareness Training</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">2. Electronic Recordkeeping and FTSP Portal</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">3. Time-Based STAs</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">E. Summary of Other Modifications</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP-2">II. Summary of Regulatory Requirements</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">A. Who is required to comply?</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">1. Flight Training Providers</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">2. Lessors of Flight Training Equipment</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">3. Candidates</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">B. What must flight training providers do in order to comply?</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">1. Determine Whether an Individual Is a Candidate for Flight Training</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">a. Verify Whether an Individual Is a U.S. Citizen or U.S. National (§ 1552.7(a)(1))</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">b. Verify Status of Foreign Military Pilots Endorsed by the Department of Defense (§ 1552.7(a)(2))</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">c. Determine Whether an Individual Providing “Side Seat” Support Is a Candidate (§ 1552.3)</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">2. Determine Whether the Candidate Is Required To Be Vetted Before Receiving Flight Training</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">a. Activities Considered Flight Training Events (§ 1552.3)</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">b. Activities Considered Recurrent Training (§ 1552.3)</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">c. Activities That Do Not Require Notification</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2"> 3. Notify TSA of Flight Training Events for Candidates (§ 1552.51) </FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">a. Information To Be Included in Notification of a Flight Training Event (§ 1552.51(a))</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">b. Candidate Photograph (§ 1552.51(d))</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">c. Notification of an Update or Cancellation (§ 1552.51(g))</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">d. Expedited Processing (§ 1552.51(f))</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">4. Deny Flight Training to Candidates Determined To Be a Security Threat and Notify TSA if They Become Aware of a Threat (§§ 1552.3, 1552.7(b), (c), and (d), and 1552.31(e))</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">5. Designate a Security Coordinator (§ 1552.9)</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">6. Provide Security Awareness Training to Employees (§ 1552.13)</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">7. Maintain Records (§ 1552.15)</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">C. What must a candidate do in order to comply with the rule and receive flight training?</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">1. Submit Information Sufficient for TSA To Conduct a Security Threat Assessment (§ 1552.31)</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">2. Pay Fee for the Security Threat Assessment</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">a. Fees (§ 1552.39)</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">b. Reduced Fee for Comparable STAs (§ 1552.37)</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">D. How does TSA determine whet ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ Preview showing 10k of 360k characters. Full document text is stored and available for version comparison. ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━