Travel Facilitation and Safety Act of 2015

Travel Facilitation and Safety Act of 2015

This bill authorizes the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to enter into cost-sharing agreements with airport authorities in foreign countries at which preclearance operations will be established or maintained if certain circumstances apply.

Any cost-sharing agreement may provide for an airport authority's payment to the CBP of its initial preclearance operations costs.

The Immigration and Nationality Act is amended with respect to reimbursements to the Department of Justice received from commercial aircraft or vessel owners, operators, or agents, or from any airport or seaport authority, for expenses incurred for immigration inspection services they have requested. Such reimbursements may be collected in advance of those services, and shall be credited as offsetting collections to the currently applicable CBP appropriation, account, or fund.

The Farm Security and Rural Investment Act of 2002 is amended to make the same disposition for reimbursements to the Department of Agriculture for preclearance of animals or articles at locations outside the United States for movement into the United States.

The bill expresses the sense of Congress that each visa waiver program country should seek to participate in the U.S. preclearance program.

DHS may select preclearance locations and enter into agreements with foreign governments or airports to conduct a collaborative demonstration program at those locations to test emerging biometric technologies.

The Office of the Director of National Intelligence shall develop a process to share information derived from the Terrorist Identities Datamart Environment database and the Terrorist Screening Database with countries participating in the visa waiver program.