Senate passes port security bill

Senate passes port security bill The Senate voted unanimously Thursday in favor of a port security bill that will install radiation detectors at additional U.S. ports to screen incoming containers for nuclear weapons or “dirty bombs.”
   There is also money for a pilot program to install detectors to screen cargo at three foreign ports, before it is loaded on ships bound for the United States. But the Senate rejected a proposal to require all U.S.-bound cargo to be screened at overseas ports. The bill however does require inspections of suspicious cargo at foreign ports.
   The bill will require ports to verify the identities of drivers who bring and pick up cargo at the docks and check the names against a terrorist watch list. Another provision will set up a national tracking system for vehicles carrying hazardous materials.
   The bill was the subject of intense debate this week, and the Senate rejected several provisions offered by Democrats.
   However several amendments were approved — including one that adds $1.2 billion for rail security, with much going to Penn Station in New York. Another lifts a ceiling on the number of federal screeners at U.S. airports, now at 45,000.
   The port security bill now goes to a conference committee where Senators will try to work out differences with a port security plan passed by the House in May.
   Trade associations involved in international trade and transportation praised the Senate for passing the bill.
   Kurt Nagle, president and chief executive of the American Association of Port Authorities, said the legislation was “an important new bill that promises to enhance port and cargo security at home, strengthen the federal Port Security Grant program to help U.S. ports thwart terrorism at their marine facilities, and reduce the potential for terrorists or weapons to reach our shores via maritime commerce.”
   In a statement, the AAPA said it was “especially supportive of the portions of the two bills that authorize $400 million a year for the Port Security Grant program.”
   The security grant program “has been woefully underfunded since its inception, providing only about one-fifth of eligible port facility security investments identified in six rounds of grant applications,” Nagle said.
   “Compared to the more than $24 billion that airports have received since 9/11 in federal security assistance, seaports — which handle 99 percent of our country’s overseas freight volumes — appear to be a poor stepchild,” he said.
   AAPA also said it supports a provision for a deadline to implement the federal Transportation Worker Identity Credential (TWIC) and its mandate for three pilot projects to test the TWIC biometric card readers at maritime facilities.
   “AAPA is concerned that biometric card readers — devices that confirm the identity of card holders, such as through a fingerprint scan — have not been extensively tested in the maritime environment,” a statement issued by the association said.
   “Without proper planning and evaluation, significant problems could occur with the devices, slowing down cargo movement and putting additional financial burdens on ports and their facility operators,” it added.
   “We commend the Senate for including provisions in the bill that expand research and development of scanning technology, but that require a thorough evaluation of this technology before deployment,” said Paul Kelly, senior vice president for the Retail Industry Leaders Association, in a statement. “The Senate rightly turned back efforts to amend the bill with provisions that would have prematurely embraced solutions based on technologies that are still unproven. Supply chain security would not be enhanced by setting an unrealistic timetable for mandating systems that are still in the development phase.”