N.Y.-N.J. port authority lobbies for TWIC dollars

The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey is asking the Department of Homeland Security to abandon its attempt to divert money intended to help five ports participate in a technology pilot program for the Transportation Worker Identification Credential.

The biometric ID cards are being issued to dockworkers and other enrollees, but automated scanning of the cards is being deferred while machines to read the cards in the marine environment are perfected. Terminals at the Port of New York-New Jersey volunteered to use prototype systems to check workers and other personnel who require unescorted access to port facilities in advance of the full national compliance date.

DHS required the ports to contribute 25 percent to the project as is normal for maritime security grants, but port complaints that the pilot is designed to assist DHS led Congress to fill the void and fund the $6.1 million local portion. The DHS appropriation for 2008 specifically states that Congress doesn't believe ports should pay for the pilot because it may not have direct benefit to the participating ports.

The Transportation Security Administration has asked Congress for permission to shift those funds to other purposes -- namely its administrative costs to manage the pilot program after not requesting enough money in its budget.

We are concerned that through reprogramming the funds, the department is now planning to reduce the scope of the pilot and/or require a de facto cost share in order to accommodate a funding shortfall elsewhere within DHS, Port Commerce Director Richard Larrabee wrote Homeland Secretary Michael Chertoff in a letter dated July 22.

The TWIC program has been plagued by delays in more than seven years of development. Ports, marine terminals and other companies with waterfront business have geared up for the program by helping to cover enrollment costs for workers, setting up procedures and personnel to check the cards, and planning IT systems to handle the card-reading infrastructure. The federal and state governments have spent hundreds of millions of dollars developing the program and producing cards. That money will be wasted if the TWIC program is scaled back, Larrabee said.

The port official also said the TSA appears to be weakening the demonstration program by proposing less rigorous testing. Originally, the agency planned to use lab and environmental testing to develop benchmarks that suppliers would have to meet in order for equipment to be selected for field testing. Readers are required to withstand the harsh weather and environmental conditions of ports while also ensuring they can handle large flows of personnel without disrupting operations. The revised pilot plans call for limited operational testing without pre-certification, which the port authority said could result in fewer readers being tested and wasted resources from deploying readers that might fail in the rugged marine environment.

Overall, the department's current approach calls into question the value of a national pilot program and transfers some of the financial and operational risk from the federal government to those port authorities that have volunteered to participate in the pilot. The port authority is hopeful this issue can be resolved, as we strongly believe the TWIC program is a crucial link in homeland security and port security efforts, the letter stated.

Last week, the chairman and ranking member of the House Homeland Security Committee urged fellow appropriators to deny DHS's request to transfer the money for other purposes. The American Association of Port Authorities has also petitioned Congress and DHS to prevent the TWIC reprogramming.