§563a Acquisition Justification and Reports

Summary

Before the Administration buys any security-related technology, the Administrator must decide if the purchase is justified by doing an analysis that follows the Department’s policies. The analysis must cover eight things, including: what threat scenarios and levels of risk the technology would address; how the proposal fits the Plan; a comparison of total lifecycle cost versus expected security benefits; a review of other options, including policy or procedure changes; an assessment of privacy and civil liberties with, when possible, input from privacy advocates; confirmation it follows the Department Privacy Officer’s fair information practice principles; a check for any major health or safety risks; and an estimate of benefits to commercial airline passengers. At least 30 days before awarding any contract over $30,000,000, the Administrator must send the analysis results and a statement that the security benefits justify the cost to the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation and to the House Committee on Homeland Security. If there is a known or suspected imminent threat, the Administrator may shorten the 30-day notice to 5 days and must immediately notify those committees about the threat.