Guest Post by Captain Mark O'Malley, Chief, Office of Port & Facilities Activities (CG-544)
One of the Coast Guard's main missions is that of Maritime Security. On April 15, 2009, a major milestone was reached in protecting America's borders and furthering the Department of Homeland Security's (DHS) vital safeguarding of our Nation's ports, critical infrastructure, and cargo supply chain. As of April 15, 2009, the national Transportation Worker Identification Credential (TWIC) compliance date, all personnel requiring unescorted access to secure areas of the Maritime Transportation Security Act (MTSA) regulated facilities, vessels, and Outer Continental Shelf facilities, as well as all mariners holding Coast Guard issued credentials, must hold a TWIC.
The TWIC is a biometric-based identification credential which will help ensure all personnel requiring unescorted access to secure areas of MTSA regulated facilities and vessels, and all mariners holding Coast Guard issued credentials, are vetted and do not pose a potential security threat to the maritime transportation system. The TWIC program was established in the MTSA of 2002 and the Security and Accountability for Every (SAFE) Port Act of 2006. The joint implementation of the TWIC program by the Coast Guard and the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) fulfills the mandate of the MTSA, the SAFE Port Act of 2006, and most importantly, furthers DHS' multi-layered approach to the safeguarding our Nation's ports and critical maritime infrastructure by ensuring only vetted individuals have unescorted access to secure areas. As of 15 April, over 1,100,000 individuals have enrolled and TWIC is now required for unescorted access to approximately 3,200 regulated facilities, 10,000 regulated vessels, and 50 regulated OCS facilities.
Another main mission of the Coast Guard is that of Maritime Mobility. Working closely with port officials and the maritime industry, the CG and TSA have approached TWIC implementation with a steadfast commitment to protecting the maritime transportation system while facilitating commerce. To date, there have been no major disruptions to commerce or port operations. CG personnel have conducted extensive outreach and worked closely with industry members in advance of the compliance date to facilitate compliance and ensure success.
Coast Guard personnel will conduct visual TWIC verification as part of existing annual compliance exams and security spot checks. The Coast Guard will continue using a scalable enforcement approach to ensure compliance with the TWIC regulations and, as always, considers issues of non-compliance on a case by case basis.
CG-5442 has awarded a contract to provide up to 300 hand-held TWIC readers to the field. When fully deployed, the readers will provide an additional layer of security to help protect the marine transportation system.
The Coast Guard, with assistance from TSA, is in the process of developing a follow on rule to propose the use of biometric readers aboard regulated vessels and facilities. An Advanced Notice of Proposed Rulemaking was published in the Federal Register on March 27, 2009.
The TWIC program is a complex endeavor. Over the past several years, Coast Guard personnel have laid the groundwork for TWIC implementation and compliance as one element to improve access control and identification standards within the existing MTSA framework. Although more work is ahead, the efforts to date have been tremendous and worthy of thanks. We have accomplished important milestones, strengthened working relationships with public and industry stakeholders, and held a steadfast commitment to protecting the maritime transportation system while facilitating commerce. The process has not been trouble free. Inevitably, we will continue to encounter additional challenges, as happens in any major endeavor of this complexity. As we have in the past, we will address each of these in turn, to the best of our ability, in keeping with the best public interest.
