[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 52 (Tuesday, March 17, 2020)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 15059-15060]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-05606]
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DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY
U.S. Customs and Border Protection
19 CFR Chapter I
Transportation Security Administration
49 CFR Chapter XII
Notification of Arrival Restrictions Applicable to Flights
Carrying Persons Who Have Recently Traveled From or Were Otherwise
Present Within the Countries of the Schengen Area
AGENCY: U.S. Customs and Border Protection and U.S. Transportation
Security Administration, Department of Homeland Security.
ACTION: Notification of arrival restrictions.
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SUMMARY: This document announces the decision of the Secretary of
Homeland Security (DHS) to direct all flights to the United States
carrying persons who have recently traveled from, or were otherwise
present within, the countries of the Schengen Area to arrive at one of
the United States airports where the United States Government is
focusing public health resources. There are twenty-six countries in the
Schengen Area: Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia,
Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Italy, Latvia,
Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Norway,
Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, and Switzerland.
This document also modifies two notifications regarding decisions of
the Secretary of DHS: To direct all flights to the United States
carrying persons who have recently traveled from, or were otherwise
present within, the People's Republic of China (excluding the Special
Regions of Hong Kong and Macau) to arrive at one of the United States
airports where the United States Government is focusing public health
resources (effective February 2, 2020); and to direct all flights to
the United States carrying persons who have recently traveled from, or
were otherwise present within, the Islamic Republic of Iran to arrive
at one of the United States airports where the United States Government
is focusing public health resources (effective March 2, 2020). This
document also adds two additional airports to the list of airports
where flights subject to the arrival restrictions are permitted to
land--Boston Logan International Airport (BOS) and Miami International
Airport (MIA).
DATES: Flights departing after 11:59 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time on
Friday, March 13, 2020, and covered by the arrival restrictions
regarding the countries of the Schengen Area are required to land at
one of the airports identified in this document. These arrival
restrictions will continue until cancelled or modified by the Secretary
of DHS and notification is published in the Federal Register of such
cancellation or modification.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Matthew S. Davies, Office of Field
Operations, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) at 202-325-2073.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background
Coronaviruses are a large family of viruses that are common in many
different species of animals, including camels, cattle, cats, and bats.
While it is rare, animal coronaviruses can infect people, and then
spread between people (human-to-human) such as with Middle East
Respiratory Syndrome and Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome. The United
States Government is closely monitoring an outbreak of respiratory
illness caused by human-to-human transmission of a novel (new)
coronavirus (which has since been renamed ``SARS-CoV-2'' and causes the
disease COVID-19), first identified in Wuhan City, Hubei Province,
People's Republic of China.
The potential for widespread transmission of this virus by infected
individuals seeking to enter the United States threatens the security
of our transportation system and infrastructure, and the national
security. Noting recent pronouncements by the World Health Organization
(WHO) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) for the
novel coronavirus outbreak to assist in preventing the introduction,
transmission, and spread of this communicable disease globally and in
the United States, including the categorization by WHO of COVID-19 as a
pandemic on March 11, 2020, DHS, in coordination with CDC and other
Federal, state and local agencies charged with protecting the American
public, is implementing enhanced protocols to ensure that all travelers
seeking to enter the United States with recent travel from, or who were
otherwise recently present within, any of the countries of the Schengen
Area are provided appropriate public health services.
The enhanced arrival protocols concerning travelers with recent
travel from, or who were otherwise recently present within, the
People's Republic of China, excluding the Special Administrative
Regions of Hong Kong and Macau, identified in the documents published
at 85 FR 6044 on February 4, 2020 and 85 FR 7214 on February 7, 2020,
also remain in place in this notice, except that flights are permitted
to land at two additional airports. The enhanced arrival protocols
concerning travelers with recent travel from, or who were otherwise
present within, the Islamic Republic of Iran, identified in the
document published at 85 FR 12731 on March 4, 2020, also remain in
place in this notice except that flights are permitted to land at two
additional airports.
Enhanced traveler arrival protocols are part of a layered approach
used with other public health measures already in place to detect
arriving travelers who are exhibiting overt signs of illness. Related
measures include reporting ill travelers identified by carriers during
travel to appropriate public health officials for evaluation, and
referring ill travelers arriving at a U.S. port of entry by CBP to
appropriate public health officials in order to slow and prevent the
introduction into, and transmission and spread of, communicable disease
in the United States.
To ensure that travelers with recent presence in the countries of
the Schengen Area are screened appropriately, DHS directs that all
flights to the United States carrying persons who have recently
traveled from, or were otherwise present within, the countries of the
Schengen Area arrive at airports where enhanced public health services
and protocols have been implemented. Although DHS will continue to work
with carriers to ensure that they identify potential persons who
traveled from, or who have otherwise recently been present within, the
affected areas prior to boarding, carriers shall comply with the
requirements of this document in all cases, including when such persons
are identified after boarding but prior to takeoff.
On Friday, January 31, 2020, DHS posted a document on the Federal
Register public inspection page,
[[Page 15060]]
announcing the DHS Secretary's decision that arrival restrictions
regarding the People's Republic of China (excluding the Special
Administrative Regions of Hong Kong and Macau) would go into effect at
5 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time on Sunday, February 2, 2020, at seven
airports. The document announcing this decision was published in the
Federal Register on February 4, 2020 at 85 FR 6044. On Friday, February
7, 2020, DHS published a document adding two airports to the list of
airports where flights subject to the arrival restrictions are
permitted to land and describing when the arrival restrictions would
include those airports. See 85 FR 7214. With this document, DHS is
adding the following two additional airports to the list of airports
where flights subject to the arrival restrictions are permitted to
land: Boston Logan International Airport (BOS), and Miami International
Airport (MIA).
As with actions related to the People's Republic of China and the
Islamic Republic of Iran, DHS anticipates that airlines will be able to
fully support implementation of these arrival restrictions.
Notification of Arrival Restrictions Applicable to All Flights Carrying
Persons Who Have Recently Traveled From or Were Otherwise Present
Within the Countries of the Schengen Area
Pursuant to 19 U.S.C. 1433(c), 19 CFR 122.32, 49 U.S.C. 114, and 49
CFR 1544.305 and 1546.105, DHS has the authority to limit the locations
where all flights entering the U.S. from abroad may land. Under this
authority and effective for flights departing after 11:59 p.m. ET on
Friday March 13, 2020, I hereby direct all operators of aircraft to
ensure that all flights carrying persons who have recently traveled
from, or were otherwise present within, any of the countries of the
Schengen Area only land at one of the following airports:
John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK), New York;
Chicago O'Hare International Airport (ORD), Illinois;
San Francisco International Airport (SFO), California;
Seattle-Tacoma International Airport (SEA), Washington;
Daniel K. Inouye International Airport (HNL), Hawaii;
Los Angeles International Airport, (LAX), California;
Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport (ATL),
Georgia;
Washington-Dulles International Airport (IAD), Virginia;
Newark Liberty International Airport (EWR), New Jersey;
Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport (DFW), Texas;
Detroit Metropolitan Airport (DTW), Michigan;
Boston Logan International Airport (BOS), Massachusetts;
and
Miami International Airport (MIA), Florida.
This direction considers a person to have recently traveled from,
or otherwise been present within, a country of the Schengen Area if
that person departed from, or was otherwise present within, a country
of the Schengen Area within 14 days of the date of the person's entry
or attempted entry into the United States. The Schengen Area consists
of the following countries: Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark,
Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Italy,
Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands,
Norway, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, and
Switzerland.
For purposes of this document, crew and flights carrying only cargo
(i.e., no passengers or non-crew) are excluded from the applicable
measures set forth in this notice.
This direction is subject to any changes to the airport landing
destination that may be required for aircraft and/or airspace safety,
as directed by the Federal Aviation Administration.
This list of affected airports may be modified by the Secretary of
Homeland Security, in consultation with the Secretary of Health and
Human Services and the Secretary of Transportation. This list of
affected airports may be modified by an updated publication in the
Federal Register or by posting an advisory to follow at www.cbp.gov.
The restrictions will remain in effect until superseded, modified, or
revoked by publication in the Federal Register.
For purposes of this Federal Register document, ``United States''
means the States of the United States, the District of Columbia, and
territories and possessions of the United States (including Puerto
Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, American Samoa, the Commonwealth of the
Northern Mariana Islands, and Guam).
Chad F. Wolf,
Acting Secretary, U.S. Department of Homeland Security.
[FR Doc. 2020-05606 Filed 3-13-20; 1:30 pm]
BILLING CODE 9111-14-P; 9110-05-P