Department Of Homeland Security
Transportation Security Administration
49 CFR Parts 1515, 1570, 1572
Coast Guard
33 CFR Parts 101, 103, 104, 105, 106,125; 46 CFR Parts 10, 12, 15
[Docket Nos. TSA–2006–24191; USCG–2006–24196]
RIN 1652–AA41
Transportation Worker Identification Credential (TWIC) Implementation in
the Maritime Sector; Hazardous
Materials Endorsement for a Commercial Driver’s License
Agency: Transportation Security
Administration; United States Coast Guard, DHS.
Action: Notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM).
Summary: This is a notice of proposed rulemaking by the
Department of Homeland Security, specifically by the Transportation
Security Administration and the United States Coast Guard. If
promulgated, this rule would implement the Transportation Worker
Identification Credential program in the maritime sector. Under this
program, merchant mariners holding an active License, Merchant Mariner
Document, or Certificate of Registry and workers who require unescorted
access to secure areas at maritime facilities or on vessels must undergo
a security threat assessment, and, if found to not pose a security
threat, obtain a Transportation Worker Identification Credential.
Persons without Transportation Worker Identification Credentials will
not be granted unescorted access to secure areas at affected maritime
facilities or on vessels.
Under this proposed rule, the Coast Guard seeks to amend its regulations
on vessel and facility security to require the use of the Transportation
Worker Identification Credential as an access control measure. It is
also proposing to amend its regulations covering merchant mariners to
incorporate the requirement to obtain a Transportation Worker
Identification Credential. In a separate rulemaking action published
elsewhere in this edition of the Federal Register, the Coast Guard also
is proposing to consolidate existing licensing and documentation
regulations to minimize duplicative or redundant identification or
background check requirements.
The Transportation Security Administration proposes amending its
security threat assessment standards that currently apply to commercial
drivers authorized to transport hazardous materials in commerce to also
apply to merchant mariners and workers who require unescorted access to
secure areas on vessels and at port facilities. These proposed
amendments also relate to the notification an employer receives when an
employee who holds a hazardous materials endorsement or a Transportation
Worker Identification Credential is determined to pose a security
threat. The Transportation Security Administration also is proposing
regulations dealing with the enrollment of port workers into the
Transportation Worker Identification Credential program.
In addition, the Transportation Security Administration is proposing a
fee, as authorized under the Department of Homeland Security
Appropriations Act of 2004, to pay for the costs related to the issuance
of the Transportation Worker Identification Credentials under this rule.
This rulemaking would enhance the security of ports by requiring
background checks on persons and establishing a biometric access control
system to prevent those who pose a security threat from gaining
unescorted access to secure areas of ports. This rulemaking implements
the Maritime Transportation Security Act of 2002, which requires that
credentialed merchant mariners and workers with unescorted access to
secured areas of vessels and facilities be subject to a security threat
assessment and receive a biometric credential needed to access secured
areas.
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