TSA moving closer to TWIC being the go-to ID card

[kscarbel2]

Land Line (OOIDA)  /  September 29, 2016

A legal interpretation issued by The Transportation Safety Administration moves the industry one step closer to having the Transportation Worker Identification Credential (TWIC) a universal access card for high-security facilities.

TSA is providing notice it has issued a legal interpretation of the phrase “field of transportation” in reference to the statute that requires the agency to charge fees to recover the cost of its vetting services.

The notice was published on Regulations.gov, on Wednesday, Sept. 28. The interpretation clarifies which individuals TSA may collect and retain fees from for providing background checks and other vetting services, including the TWIC program. The clarification specifically addresses questions TSA said it received from employers and employees in the chemical industry as to whether they fall within the scope of “field of transportation” in TSA’s vetting services.

“This interpretation states that the ‘field of transportation’ under 6 U.S.C. 469(a) includes an individual, activity, entity, facility, owner, or operator that is subject to regulation by TSA, DOT, or the U.S. Coast Guard, and individuals applying for trusted traveler programs,” the notice states.

Doug Morris, OOIDA security operations director said the legal definition is one more step in the move toward making TWIC a universal access card.

“Originally the TWIC was only supposed to be for maritime and port facilities,” he said. “Now, it opens it up for basically anybody involved in transportation to get a TWIC card.”
 
According to the supplementary information published in the notice, both federal agencies and industry stakeholders had approached TSA at various times over the last decade, asking whether their employees could enroll for security vetting and pay TSA for the service. More recently, the agency says it received inquiries from other industries “concerning the delineation of where transportation begins and ends” and that the answer was “not so apparent” prior to issuing the clarification.

[Red Horse]

Hah-I've shown my TWIC card every now and then to a TSA "officer" and I might as well have shown him my Sears credit card-no clue what he was looking at.

[blackdog2]

Been ask by the Coast Guard several times at different ports, Been to the Groton CT sub base had to get out of the cab while in inspection line to let things air -out 6- of them didn't like that well they went through the cab under the truck OK pull up go inside get your paper work back I said they didn't look in side the dump body new search every thing stop for a while ya they got a little gizmo plug card in and check your thumb print some terminals are having a hard time finding qualified truckers to achieve that goal we wont mention !!!!        The cost is 175.00 but if you have a hazmat endorsement it is a little cheaper and last 2-years and takes 4-6 weeks after applying

Edited September 30, 2016 by blackdog2