After receiving comments from industry following the publication last year of a final rule governing the implementation of smart card readers for access control at secure areas of the nation’s ports, the Coast Guard is considering delaying implementation of the guidance, a service official said on Monday.
The feedback from industry included “concerns with the rule [and] confusion about how its applied,” Rear Adm. Todd Sokalzuk, commander of the Coast Guard’s Eleventh District, told a field hearing late Monday afternoon of the House Homeland Security Committee at the Port of Los Angeles. So we are taking a look at that; considering a possible delay in the rule and we’re working through the rulemaking process on looking at the ultimate implementation of that rule.”
In Aug. 2016, the Coast Guard published the final rule for implementing electronic reader requirements for the Transportation Worker Identification Credential (TWIC), a biometric-enabled smart card used by workers in U.S. maritime ports to gain access to secure areas. The final rule was originally supposed to be published in 2013. It is slated to go into effect in Aug. 2018.
For the most part today, the TWIC cards are essentially flash passes used to gain access to secure areas although every cardholder goes through an extensive background check before being issued a credential.
“There’s no other standard anti-terrorism background check that’s being done,” Sokalzuk told the panel.
The TWIC cards do feature security features such as hologram, watermark digital photograph, PIN, federal agency smart credential number, and an expiration date to help security guards authenticate the cards and verify the identities of card users. In some cases, fixed and handheld readers are used to authenticate access to certain port areas.
The readers help prevent the use of revoked and forged credentials.
The final rule mandates that a biometric be stored in the TWIC cards.
When the rule was published last summer, the Coast Guard estimated it would cost about $158 million over 10 years to buy, install and integrate TWIC readers into access control systems.
Monday’s hearing was held to examine physical and cyber security at U.S. ports.