TSA Releases Port Workers Screening Plan

he Transportation Security Administration made public its plan for screening and credentialing hundreds of thousands of workers in and around the nation’s ports last week, saying its Transportation Worker Identification Credential would cost nearly $150 per person, but truckers licensed to haul hazardous materials would receive a discount.

The background checks TSA plans to conduct in conjunction with the TWIC program “will use the procedures and standards established by TSA for commercial motor vehicle drivers licensed to transport hazardous materials within the United States,” the agency said in the May 22 Federal Register.

Under the existing hazmat program, workers are denied a card if they have been convicted of a felony within the past seven years, are found to be a security risk, or are not a U.S. citizen or a legal resident alien, TSA said.