49 U.S.C. § 40119
Section 40119 · Security and research and development activities
Amended 1 time on record
Applied in 8 court decisions — leading case 135 S. Ct. 913 - Department of Homeland Security v. MacLean (2015)
Most recently applied in 135 S. Ct. 913 - Department of Homeland Security v. MacLean (January 2015)
How often courts cite this section
Court decisions citing this, by year.Markers show enactment, consequential amendments, and circuit splits over this section — watch for a citation surge after a change or a disagreement. The dip in the last several years is a data-coverage gap, not a real trend — our corpus holds fewer opinions from the most recent years, so recent citations are undercounted.
Notwithstanding the establishment of a Department of Homeland Security, the Secretary of Transportation, in accordance with section 552(b)(3)(B) of title 5, shall prescribe regulations prohibiting disclosure of information obtained or developed in ensuring security under this title if the Secretary of Transportation decides disclosing the information would—
be an unwarranted invasion of personal privacy;
reveal a trade secret or privileged or confidential commercial or financial information; or
be detrimental to transportation safety.
Paragraph (1) shall not be construed to authorize information to be withheld from a committee of Congress authorized to have such information.
Nothing in paragraph (1) shall be construed to authorize the designation of information as sensitive security information (as such term is defined in section 15.5 of title 49, Code of Federal Regulations) to—
conceal a violation of law, inefficiency, or administrative error;
prevent embarrassment to a person, organization, or agency;
restrain competition; or
prevent or delay the release of information that does not require protection in the interest of transportation security, including basic scientific research information not clearly related to transportation security.
Section 552a of title 5 shall not apply to disclosures that the Administrator may make from the systems of records of the Federal Aviation Administration to any Federal law enforcement, intelligence, protective service, immigration, or national security official in order to assist the official receiving the information in the performance of official duties.
Except as otherwise provided by law, a duty or power under this section may not be transferred to another department, agency, or instrumentality of the Federal Government.
Editorial notes U.S. Code · Office of the Law Revision Counsel
Editorial Notes
Prior Provisions
A prior section 40119, Pub. L. 103–272, § 1(e), July 5, 1994, 108 Stat. 1117; Pub. L. 107–71, title I, § 101(e), Nov. 19, 2001, 115 Stat. 603; Pub. L. 107–296, title XVI, § 1601(a), Nov. 25, 2002, 116 Stat. 2312; Pub. L. 111–83, title V, § 561(c)(2), Oct. 28, 2009, 123 Stat. 2182; Pub. L. 112–95, title VIII, § 801, Feb. 14, 2012, 126 Stat. 118, related to research and development activities to protect passengers and property against acts of criminal violence, aircraft piracy, and terrorism and to ensure security and regulations prohibiting disclosure of information obtained or developed in ensuring security under this title, prior to repeal by Pub. L. 115–254, div. K, title I, § 1991(c)(3), Oct. 5, 2018, 132 Stat. 3627.
Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries
Effective Date
Pub. L. 118–63, title II, § 223(b), May 16, 2024, 138 Stat. 1061, provided that: “The amendments made by this section [enacting this section] shall be effective as of October 5, 2018, and all authority restored to the Secretary [of Transportation] and the FAA [Federal Aviation Administration] under this section shall be treated as if such authority had never been repealed by the FAA Reauthorization Act of 2018 (Public Law 115–254) [see Prior Provisions note above].”