SoCal ports seek to bolster slow TWIC registration

SoCal ports seek to bolster slow TWIC registration The ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles will meet today with government, labor and industry officials in an effort to develop plans to bolster sagging local enrollment in the federal Transportation Worker Identification Credential program.
   The first four months of local TWIC enrollment have seen less than 20 percent of the estimated 100,000 Southern California workers that will need to obtain a TWIC identification card have show up at one of two local registration centers, according to the Transportation Security Administration.
   By Sept. 25, all individuals requiring unescorted access to the ports and port facilities will be required to have a TWIC identification card. While a port-wide access system utilizing the cards is likely to be more than a year away, workers must still have the card and display it.
   A major impediment for many TWIC applicants appears to be the location of the two local TWIC registration centers. The two locations have been criticized by applicants as inconveniently located and in the case of truck drivers, offering no parking for big rigs.
   With a Sept. 25 enrollment deadline looming, port, TSA, industry and labor officials meeting today plan to establish several mobile TWIC enrollment units that can be located at various high-frequency locations for area workers, such as union halls and terminal.
   'We want to be able to make it as convenient as possible for workers and employers,' Maurine Fanguy, head of the TSA's TWIC program told the Daily Breeze. 'We still have a way to go on this.'
   Officials are also reportedly considering adding a third permanent registration location somewhere within the port-area.
   The TWIC program was established by Congress in 2002 through the Maritime Transportation Security Act. The program requires that workers seeking access to the ports receive a thorough federal background check, be cleared by the Department of Homeland Security and display the TWIC card when entering port facilities.
   The DHS, through the TSA and the United States Coast Guard, announced the implementation of the TWIC program in January 2007 and in mid-October, 2007, began a phased enrollment at different locations throughout the nation. To date more than 85 ports have begun enrollment of workers in the plan and the TSA expects to have all 147 ports included in the program begin enrollment by the end of September.
   The DHS originally estimated that more than 1 million workers were expected to apply for TWIC by the end of 2008. However, USCG estimates suggest that the actual number of workers who will need to have a TWIC card could be as high as 1.5 million.
   According to current TSA tallies, about 185,000 workers across the nation have already registered for the TWIC credential with another 250,000 maintaining a pre-enrollment status.