U.S. officials will seek comment on a proposal to develop an identification card for truckers and other port workers that will cost cardholders upward of $139 each for a five-year period.
On Wednesday, May 10, the Transportation Security Administration and the U.S. Coast Guard began implementing the Transportation Worker Identification Credential by approving proposed regulations for a biometric-based identification credential for port workers. More extensive program information will be published in the Federal Register in upcoming days; after that, the public will have 45 days to comment. Four public meetings will be scheduled for collecting comments.
“TWIC is designed to ensure that individuals posing a security threat do not gain access to our nation’s ports,” TSA Assistant Secretary Kip Hawley says. “Today’s proposed rulemaking represents a significant milestone toward putting TWIC on the fast track.”
The program is expected to reach 750,000 workers and be funded through user fees. TSA anticipates workers would pay about $139 to receive a TWIC. Workers with current, comparable background checks would pay about $105 for the credential.
The rulemakings follow a Department of Homeland Security announcement last week that the department will begin conducting name-based background checks on about 400,000 U.S. port workers. These checks are meant to keep ports safe while the TWIC rollout is expedited.
The TWIC rule proposes the following:
TSA conducted a prototype test of the credential last year and issued more than 4,000 TWICs to workers at 26 sites in six states.
