Napolitano Says DHS Will Not Meet Deadline to Screen All Freight Entering U.S. Ports

This story appears in the Dec. 7 print edition of Transport Topics.

The Department of Homeland Security has made progress in screening cargo entering U.S. ports, but the agency has no plan in place to meet a 2012 congressional deadline that 100% of all containers be checked for possible nuclear devices, according to a new government report.

The Government Accountability Office report, outlined in written testimony at a Dec. 2 Senate Commerce Committee hearing, noted that because DHS does not believe the screening deadline can be met, it recently granted a blanket deadline extension until 2014 for all foreign ports.

Janet Napolitano, DHS secretary, told the committee the agency faces serious logistical, financial and technological challenges at many ports. As a result, those challenges make 100% scanning rates “unworkable, without seriously hindering the flow of shipments or redesigning the ports themselves,” she said.

Napolitano added that, in addition to screening, DHS personnel monitor the flow of container traffic using a “multi-layered, risk-based approach” to flag potentially dangerous shipments.

“One-hundred percent screening does not equate with 100% security,” Napolitano said.

Napolitano also told the committee that agency scanner equipment too often registers “false positives” in flagging potential nuclear materials, which slows down the speed of shipments.

The agency does not have an adequate number of trained screening personnel, and encounters “trade issues” with foreign countries sometimes offended that their cargo leaving their ports is screened by U.S. personnel, she said.

The GAO said a pilot project at several foreign ports, known as the Freight Scanning Initiative, has shown that it is not feasible for DHS personnel to scan 100% of U.S.-bound cargo containers from 600 foreign ports.

The test project results so far have revealed that, on average, 54% to 84% of containers have been screened at three low-volume ports. At two larger ports, DHS personnel have been able to sustain only a 5% scanning rate, the GAO said.

Despite the challenges, Napolitano said that the agency has been able to maintain a screening rate of about 98% for air cargo at U.S. airports.

In related testimony, Napolitano told the committee that she has not yet decided whether to extend the Dec. 31 “REAL ID” deadline that would require domestic air travelers to present secure state driver’s licenses to board planes.

Officials in 18 states have said they intend to ignore the law and have passed resolutions banning its implementation, claiming they can’t afford the “unfunded federal mandate.”

Napolitano answered a question from Sen. Tom Udall (D-N.M.) on the REAL ID deadline. Udall has expressed concern that, if the deadline is enforced, it could cause serious disruptions of New Year’s Day travel.

Napolitano said she hopes that Congress will approve by year-end a new scaled-down version of the post-9/11 inspired law, known as “PASS ID.”

The less costly and burdensome PASS ID legislation has been supported by Napolitano and the National Governors Association, a strong opponent of the REAL ID.

Napolitano said the PASS ID bill “solves the governors’ problems with REAL ID.”

However, Udall said he doesn’t believe the bill will pass the Senate by the end of the year because the Senate is immersed in health-care reform.