TWIC pilot ports penalized for assisting program, Coscia complains
The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey has asked the Department of Homeland Security to waive a matching contribution that ports are required to make as part of a pilot program to test biometric card readers for the Transportation Worker Identification Credential, Chairman Anthony Coscia testified Thursday.
The Transportation Security Administration is implementing the program in two phases. Enrollment and issuance of a common ID card allowing port workers unescorted access to secure areas will start at the Port of Wilmington, Del., on Oct. 16 and 11 other ports in November, the agency announced this week. Card applicants must undergo a background check that covers criminal history, immigration status and terrorist watch lists.
The agency is continuing to test card readers in parallel with the enrollment process. Technology tests will take place at the ports of Los Angeles-Long Beach, New York-New Jersey, Brownsville, Texas, and a cruise terminal in Annapolis, Md.
Participating ports have agreed to use a portion of their federal port security grants to get the pilot program off the ground, but Coscia complained that the grant funds require a 25 percent local cash match for any project.
“We would suggest that the cost to the participants to plan, manage and implement this program already represents a significant contribution, even without an obligation for a cash match. Therefore, mandating a 25 percent cash match for purchase of infrastructure and equipment required for participation in the pilot project will place an undue burden on us, and will only serve to reduce the amount of resources we will have at our disposal to ensure that a complete implementation of TWIC is a success,” he said at a hearing called by the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee to review progress on implementing the SAFE Port Act one year after passage.
Coscia said the port authority made its request in a letter to Homeland Secretary Michael Chertoff, and TWIC Program Director Maurine Fanguy said it merits further review.
She noted that about 5,000 workers will be enrolled for TWIC in Wilmington and nearly one million workers nationwide will be issued cards by the end of next year.
The Coast Guard plans to buy handheld card readers during the current fiscal year to randomly check individual TWIC cardholders during vessel and facility inspections, and randomly check individuals once enforcement begins, said Rear Adm. David Pekoske, assistant commandant for operations. After the enrollment process is in high gear, the Coast Guard will provide 90 days notice prior to the start of enforcement.
Pekoske said the Coast Guard is also developing a provision that will allow newly hired employees to work on the waterfront while they await issuance of a TWIC card.
Meanwhile, several Senate and House leaders of committees with jurisdiction over maritime matters have requested their investigative arm review the Coast Guard’s administrative law system for deciding non-criminal cases against mariners after concerns were raised this summer that the system was rigged in favor of the agency.
A Baltimore Sun investigation last summer revealed that of more than 6,300 charges filed by Coast Guard investigators for violations of maritime regulations since 1999, mariners have only prevailed in 14 cases — three of which the sea service is trying to reverse on appeal. A former administrative law judge and internal memos indicated that the chief judge used his power to make sure the Coast Guard always came out on top.
The lawmakers said questions about the integrity of the Coast Guard’s legal system have implications for the TWIC program because administrative law judges will rule on appeals from transportation worker in the ports who are denied TWIC cards.