AGC has learned that new regulations implementing the Maritime Security Transportation Act (MTSA) require contractors working in the many marine and other facilities that the MTSA covers will need to get a Transportation Worker Identification Credential (TWIC) for most, if not all, of the employees sent into such facilities by April 15, 2009.

The MTSA regulates more than 3,100 facilities, including more than 300 U.S. ports and many refineries and petrochemical facilities. While there is no list of regulated facilities, the Captain of the Port (COTP) for each "zone" (as they are called) can determine whether a particular facility is regulated by MTSA.

A TWIC card looks like most other photo ID cards, but it contains a numeric code associated with the holder's fingerprints, and it has special features that make it easy to tell if someone has tampered with the card. It is valid for five years from the date of issue.

AGC already has heard from members that refinery and petrochemical plant owners are planning to require all workers at their facilities to hold a TWIC. If such a facility is regulated by the MTSA, the owner has the right to establish and apply such a rule even to construction workers sent into the facility for only a short period, for example, to pave a section of road.

Owners and operators are encouraged but not required to tell their contractors whether the contractors' employees will need TWICs. Therefore, it is extremely important for contractors to ask owners whether construction workers will need cards to perform work.

While there is much helpful information on the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) and U.S. Coast Guard websites, it is also important to note that most of the posted documents list a final enforcement date of September 25, 2008. This date is incorrect! The Department of Homeland Security has moved the final enforcement date for all COTP zones to April 15, 2009.

While all 38 zones have to implement the TWIC program by April 15, TSA will set enforcement dates for each zone individually. The Transportation Security Agency (TSA) recently has updated its "compliance framework," which gives specific dates for a dozen zones and tentative compliance dates for the remaining zones. The zones with hard TWIC compliance dates are:

• October 15, 2008 - Northern New England, Boston, and Southeastern New England
• November 28, 2008 - Corpus Christi, TX, and North Carolina; Cape Fear River.
• December 1, 2008 - Long Island Sound, New York; Charleston, South Carolina; Savannah, Georgia; Jacksonville, Florida. The compliance date for the Captain of the Port Zones Buffalo, Detroit, Lake Michigan, Sault Ste. Marie and Duluth has been moved to this date from Oct. 31.
• December 30, 2008 - Baltimore, Maryland; Delaware Bay; Mobile. Alabama; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; Ohio Valley; Lower Mississippi River; San Diego, California.
• January 13, 2009 - Hampton Roads, Va.; Morgan City and New Orleans, La.; Upper Mississippi River; and Miami, Key West and St. Petersburg, Fla.
• Feb. 12, 2009 - Honolulu, Hawaii; Prince William Sound, Alaska, Southeast Alaska and Western Alaska.
• Feb. 28, 2009 - Portland, Oregon; Puget Sound, Washing; and San Francisco Bay, California.
• March 23, 2009 - New York.
• April 14, 2009 - Houston-Galveston, Texas, Los Angeles-Long Beach, Calif., San Juan, Puerto Rico, and Guam. Port Arthur, Texas also now has a compliance date of April 14, extended until from the original compliance date of Nov. 28, 2008, due to Hurricane Ike.

On Oct. 21, the government facility that houses the TWIC system experienced a building-wide power outage, damaging the part of the system that facilitates card activation. Workers nationwide will not be able to activate their cards until the week of Nov. 10. At that time, workers at some ports will be able to activate their cards. Activation for all other ports will be available nationwide later in November.

As a result of rescheduling activations, the compliance date for workers located in the Captain of the Port Zones Buffalo, Detroit, Lake Michigan, Sault Ste. Marie and Duluth has been moved to Dec. 1, 2008.

The TWIC website, run by the Transportation Security Administration, offers a list ports, list alphabetically and by city and state, and their compliance date, if known.

Despite the extension, workers who will need a TWIC should enroll as soon as possible. AGC has heard of construction workers waiting more than two months to receive their TWICs.

The application fee for a TWIC is $132.50 per person. Contractors also must allow for time that their employees will require to pre-apply online, to complete the application process, to pick up the application, and, if necessary, to pursue an appeal or waiver (if the applicant is initially denied a card). The TWIC is presumed to belong to the employee, regardless of who pays for it. Therefore, if a contractor pays for its employee's TWIC and the employee leaves, the TWIC remains in the employee's possession and is still valid for the full five years. There is no rule stating who must pay for the cost of a TWIC.

AGC highly recommends the Transportation Worker Identification Credential Program: Small Entity Guide for Applicants, which is a downloadable document that contains all the basic information about enrollment, costs, eligibility, waivers, a list of phone numbers and websites for additional help, application procedures, documents needed to make an application, etc., all compiled in an easy-to-understand format. It is in the public domain, which means it can be copied and distributed freely.