Editorial: Feds Get Earful On TWIC Security Proposals

Regardless of the weather outside on June 6 in St. Louis, the weather inside where Coast Guard and Transportation Security Administration (TSA) representatives listened to industry comments about security proposals hedged on stormy. A sense of aggravation was in the air.

The meeting was one of four to elicit comments on the Transportation Worker Identification Card (TWIC). The other three meetings were held at major coastal cities, but none on the Gulf of Mexico. Stakeholders there thought a meeting would have been helpful. They want a longer comment period. Some river-industry spokesmen believe the proposals were written in blue-water fashion. If that is true, it is, unfortunately, typical. Too often, promulgated rules and regulations are based on blue-water operations. (It happened with drug testing.)

TWIC sounds good, doesn’t it? Shouldn’t transportation workers be secure? But the devil is in details, some yet to be worked out. TWIC is the talk of the town. Industry representatives familiar with the proposal as it appeared in the Federal Register have opinions, many of which were vented at the four meetings, while federal officials, it is said, merely listened.

The aggravation can be linked to the cost factors. Directly linked to costs is the time it takes to get documents for workers whose employers can’t operate efficiently without them. If present workers can’t pass the test, what can the employer do? One stakeholder pointed out that “there is no provision for new employees to work while awaiting a TWIC.” This imposes two negative results. People who are looking for work may have to wait 30–60 days for a TWIC; employers who need them to replace other workers also have to wait. The result is lost production. There is concern that entire vessels will be considered security areas, meaning that everyone on the boat will have to have a TWIC.

Are the financial burdens surmountable? Industry complaints are valid and practical. The procedure for obtaining Coast Guard licensing documents already is almost intolerable, say some observers; some vessels are tied up now because operators cannot find crews.

Potential employees may not be willing to pay the user fees and travel expenses to obtain documents. The program is expected to cover 750,000 workers. TWICs are expected to cost $139 unless a worker already has had a complete background check, and then the fee could drop to $105. Travel expenses only add to the burden. One who attended the meeting said the plan calls for numerous Coast Guard offices along the Great Lakes but none in Paducah, which is now considered the towboat capital of the world. One observer believes potential employees simply will not apply if the companies don’t foot these bills. The health of the industry is a concern.

Bill Arnold, AEP River Operations, Chesterfield, Mo., and Midwest regional chairman for the American Waterways Operators, estimates it will cost the towing industry $40 million to comply with the program, just for vessels alone. There is also a requirement to purchase and maintain biometric readers for each vessel and facility. One cost estimate is upwards of $10,000 per reader. Arnold said having readers on every vessel isn’t necessary because crews spend weeks at a time together in very close quarters, and the opportunity for an unidentified individual to go overlooked is virtually impossible. Many vessels do not have Internet or satellite service to access more accurate information for TWIC holders. (It is expected to cost the Coast Guard and TSA $400 million the first year.)

From a general security standpoint, what happens when a background check reveals that a worker was arrested for DWI when he was 16 years old? The program involves FBI checks, which, we’re told, catch everything. If the “discovery” is sufficient to relieve the worker of his/her job or keep a prospective employee from being hired, is the permanent record stamped “damaged cargo”? Will that person be able to find other work? And what happens of they catch a “baddie”?

If river industry operators are antsy about this security proposal, they have good reason. Decade after decade new rules and regulations promulgated by the Coast Guard have put the squeeze on the industry. The new Coast Guard licensing rules didn’t help. Hurricane Katrina’s visit didn’t help. The outcome on the Water Resources Development Act is still up in the air, and now they have new security requirements to contend with.

The TWIC proposal is still in the making. Yet it is illegal for either the Coast Guard or TSA to present anything other than what is in the Federal Register. So while there is potential for change, those changes are not obvious? The whole matter is akin to passing legislation in Congress and not knowing all the details until it is signed into law. Elements of the program are still being designed—TWIC cards, for instance.

We don’t think anyone disputes the need for security, but how much is enough? The cost factor may do us in.

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