II 

108TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 2297 

To improve intermodal shipping container transportation security. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

APRIL 7, 2004 

Mrs. HUTCHISON (for herself and Ms. SNOWE) introduced the following bill; 

which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, 

Science, and Transportation 

A BILL 

To improve intermodal shipping container transportation 

security. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Intermodal Shipping 

5 Container Security Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. NATIONAL TRANSPORTATION SECURITY STRATEGY. 

7 In carrying out section 114(f) of title 49, United 

8 States Code, the Under Secretary of Homeland Security 

9 for Border and Transportation Security shall take into ac10 count the National Maritime Transportation Security 
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1 Plan prepared under section 70103 of title 46, United 

2 States Code, by the Secretary of the department in which 

3 the Coast Guard is operating when the plan is prepared 

4 in order to ensure that the strategy for dealing with 

5 threats to transportation security developed under section 

6 114(f)(3) of title 49, United States Code, incorporates rel7 evant aspects of the National Maritime Transportation Se8 curity Plan and addresses all modes of commercial trans9 portation to, from, and within the United States. 

10 SEC. 3. COMPREHENSIVE STRATEGIC PLAN FOR INTER11 MODAL SHIPPING CONTAINER SECURITY. 

12 (a) STRATEGIC PLAN.— 

13 (1) IN GENERAL.—Within 180 days after the 

14 date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary of 

15 Homeland Security shall submit to the Senate Com16 mittee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation 

17 and the House of Representatives Committee on 

18 Transportation and Infrastructure a strategic plan 

19 for integrating security for all modes of transpor20 tation by which intermodal shipping containers ar21 rive, depart, or move in interstate commerce in the 

22 United States that— 

23 (A) takes into account the security-related 

24 authorities and missions of all Federal, State, 

25 and local law enforcement agencies that relate 
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1 to the movement of intermodal shipping con2 tainers via air, rail, maritime, or highway trans3 portation in the United States; and 

4 (B) establishes as a goal the creation of a 

5 comprehensive, integrated strategy for inter6 modal shipping container security that encom7 passes the authorities and missions of all those 

8 agencies and sets forth specific objectives, 

9 mechanisms, and a schedule for achieving that 

10 goal. 

11 (2) UPDATES.—The Secretary shall revise the 

12 plan from time to time. 

13 (b) IDENTIFICATION OF PROBLEM AREAS.—In devel14 oping the strategic plan required by subsection (a), the 

15 Secretary shall consult with all Federal, State, and local 

16 government agencies responsible for security matters that 

17 affect or relate to the movement of intermodal shipping 

18 containers via air, rail, maritime, or highway transpor19 tation in the United States in order to— 

20 (1) identify changes, including legislative, regu21 latory, jurisdictional, and organizational changes, 

22 necessary to improve coordination among those 

23 agencies; 

24 (2) reduce overlapping capabilities and respon25 sibilities; and 
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1 (3) streamline efforts to improve the security of 

2 such intermodal shipping containers. 

3 (c) ESTABLISHMENT OF STEERING GROUP.—The 

4 Secretary shall establish, organize, and provide support 

5 for an advisory committee, to be known as the Senior 

6 Steering Group, of senior representatives of the agencies 

7 described in subsection (c). The Group shall meet from 

8 time to time, at the call of the Secretary or upon its own 

9 motion, for the purpose of developing solutions to jurisdic10 tional and other conflicts among the represented agencies 

11 with respect to the security of intermodal shipping con12 tainers, improving coordination and information-sharing 

13 among the represented agencies, and addressing such 

14 other, related matters, as the Secretary may request. 

15 (d) ANNUAL REPORT.—The Secretary, after con16 sulting the Senior Steering Group, shall submit an annual 

17 report to the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, 

18 and Transportation and the House of Representatives 

19 Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure describ20 ing the activities of the Senior Steering Group and the 

21 Secretary under this section, describing the progress made 

22 during the year toward achieving the objectives of the 

23 plan, and including any recommendations, including legis24 lative recommendations, if appropriate for further im25 provements in dealing with security-issues related to inter-
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1 modal shipping containers and related transportation se2 curity issues. 

3 (e) BIENNIAL EXPERT CRITIQUE.— 

4 (1) EXPERT PANEL.—A panel of experts shall 

5 be convened once every 2 years by the Senate Com6 mittee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation 

7 and the House of Representatives Committee on 

8 Transportation and Infrastructure to review plans 

9 submitted by the Secretary under subsection (a). 

10 (2) MEMBERSHIP.—The panel shall consist 

11 of— 

12 (A) 4 individuals selected by the chairman 

13 and ranking member of the Senate Committee 

14 on Commerce, Science, and Transportation and 

15 by the chairman and ranking member of House 

16 of Representatives Committee on Transpor17 tation and Infrastructure, respectively; and 

18 (B) 1 individual selected by the 4 individ19 uals selected under subparagraph (A). 

20 (3) QUALIFICATIONS.—Individuals selected 

21 under paragraph (2) shall be chosen from among in22 dividuals with professional expertise and experience 

23 in security-related issues involving shipping or trans24 portation and without regard to political affiliation. 
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1 (4) COMPENSATION AND EXPENSES.—An indi2 vidual serving as a member of the panel shall not re3 ceive any compensation or other benefits from the 

4 Federal Government for serving on the panel or be 

5 considered a Federal employee as a result of such 

6 service. Panel members shall be reimbursed by the 

7 Committees for expenses, including travel and lodg8 ing, they incur while actively engaged in carrying 

9 out the functions of the panel. 

10 (5) FUNCTION.—The panel shall review plans 

11 submitted by the Secretary under subsection (a), 

12 evaluate the strategy set forth in the plan, and make 

13 such recommendations to the Secretary for modi14 fying or otherwise improving the strategy as may be 

15 appropriate. 

16 SEC. 4. SHIPPING CONTAINER INTEGRITY INITIATIVE. 

17 (a) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 701 of title 46, United 

18 States Code, is amended— 

19 (1) by redesignating section 70117 as section 

20 70118; and 

21 (2) by inserting after section 70116 the fol22 lowing: 
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1 ‘‘§ 70117. Enhanced container-related security meas2 ures. 

3 ‘‘(a) TRACKING INTERMODAL CONTAINER SHIP4 MENTS IN THE UNITED STATES.—The Secretary, in co5 operation with the Under Secretary of Border and Trans6 portation Security, shall develop a system to increase the 

7 number of intermodal shipping containers physically in8 spected (including noninstrusive inspection by scanning 

9 technology), monitored, and tracked within the United 

10 States. 

11 ‘‘(b) SMART BOX TECHNOLOGY.—Under regulations 

12 to be prescribed by the Secretary, beginning with calendar 

13 year 2007 no less than 50 percent of all ocean-borne ship14 ping containers entering the United States during any cal15 endar year shall incorporate ‘Smart Box’ or equivalent 

16 technology developed, approved, or certified by the Under 

17 Secretary of Homeland Security for Border and Transpor18 tation Security. Beginning with calendar year 2009, any 

19 such container that does not incorporate ‘Smart Box’ or 

20 equivalent technology may not enter the United States. 

21 ‘‘(c) DEVELOPMENT OF INTERNATIONAL STANDARD

22 FOR SMART CONTAINERS.—The Secretary shall— 

23 ‘‘(1) develop, and seek international acceptance 

24 of, a standard for ‘smart’ maritime shipping con25 tainers that incorporate technology for tracking the 

26 location and assessing the integrity of those con-
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1 tainers as they move through the intermodal trans2 portation system; and 

3 ‘‘(2) implement an integrated tracking and 

4 technology system for such containers.’’. 

5 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—The chapter anal6 ysis for chapter 701 of title 46, United States Code, is 

7 amended by striking the item relating to section 70117 

8 and inserting the following: 

‘‘70117. Enhanced container-related security measures. 

‘‘70118. Civil penalties.’’. 

9 SEC. 5. ADDITIONAL RECOMMENDATIONS. 

10 Within 180 days after the date of enactment of this 

11 Act, the Secretary of Homeland Security shall submit to 

12 the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Trans13 portation and the House of Representatives Committee on 

14 Transportation and Infrastructure a report that contains 

15 the following: 

16 (1) Recommendations about what analysis must 

17 be performed and the cost to develop and field a 

18 cargo container tracking and monitoring system 

19 within the United States which tracks all aviation, 

20 rail, maritime, and highway cargo containers 

21 equipped with smart container technology. 

22 (2) Recommendations on how the Department 

23 of Homeland Security could help support the deploy24 ment of such a system. 
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1 (3) Recommendations as to how current efforts 

2 by the Department of Homeland Security and other 

3 Federal agencies could be incorporated into the 

4 physical screening or inspection of aviation, rail, 

5 maritime, and highway cargo containers within the 

6 United States. 

7 (4) Recommendations about operating systems 

8 and standards for those operating systems, to sup9 port the tracking of aviation, rail, maritime, and 

10 highway cargo containers within the United States 

11 that would include the location of regional, State, 

12 and local operations centers. 

13 (5) A description of what contingency actions, 

14 measures, and mechanisms should be incorporated in 

15 the deployment of a nationwide aviation, rail, mari16 time, and highway cargo containers tracking and 

17 monitoring system which would allow the United 

18 States maximum flexibility in responding quickly 

19 and appropriately to increased terrorist threat levels 

20 at the local, State, or regional level. 

21 (6) A description of what contingency actions, 

22 measures, and mechanisms must be incorporated in 

23 the deployment of such a system which would allow 

24 for the quick reconstitution of the system in the 
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1 event of a catastrophic terrorist attack which af2 fected part of the system. 

3 (7) Recommendations on how to leverage exist4 ing information and operating systems within State 

5 or Federal agencies to assist in the fielding of the 

6 system. 

7 (8) Recommendations on co-locating local, 

8 State, and Federal agency personnel to streamline 

9 personnel requirements, minimize costs, and avoid 

10 redundancy. 

11 (9) An initial assessment of the availability of 

12 private sector resources which could be utilized, and 

13 incentive systems developed, to support the fielding 

14 of the system, and the maintenance and improve15 ment as technology or terrorist threat dictate. 

16 (10) Recommendations on how this system that 

17 is focused on the continental United States would be 

18 integrated into any existing or planned system, or 

19 process, which is designed to monitor the movement 

20 of cargo containers outside the continental United 

21 States. 

22 SEC. 6. IMPROVEMENTS TO CONTAINER TARGETING SYS23 TEMS. 

24 (a) IN GENERAL.—Within 90 days after the date of 

25 enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Homeland Security 
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1 shall submit a report to the Senate Committee on Com2 merce, Science, and Transportation and the House of Rep3 resentatives Committee on Transportation and Infrastruc4 ture that provides a preliminary plan for strengthening the 

5 Bureau of Customs and Border Protection’s container tar6 geting system. The plan shall identify the cost and feasi7 bility of requiring additional non-manifest documentation 

8 for each container, including purchase orders, shipper’s 

9 letters of instruction, commercial invoices, letters of credit, 

10 or certificates of origin. 

11 (b) REDUCTION OF MANIFEST REVISION WINDOW.— 

12 Within 60 days after the date of enactment of this Act, 

13 the Secretary of Homeland Security shall issue regulations 

14 under which the time period for revisions to a container 

15 cargo manifest submitted to the Bureau of Customs and 

16 Border Protection shall be reduced from 60 days to 45 

17 days after arrival at a United States port. 

18 (c) SUPPLY CHAIN INFORMATION.—Within 180 days 

19 after the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary of 

20 Homeland Security shall develop a system to share threat 

21 and vulnerability information with all of the industries in 

22 the supply chain that will allow ports, carriers, and ship23 pers to report on security lapses in the supply chain and 

24 have access to unclassified maritime threat and security 

25 information such as piracy incidents. 
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1 SEC. 7. INCREASE IN NUMBER OF CUSTOMS INSPECTORS 

2 ASSIGNED OVERSEAS. 

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Homeland Secu4 rity shall substantially increase the number of United 

5 States Customs Service inspectors assigned to duty out6 side the United States under the Container Security Ini7 tiative of the United States Customs Service with respon8 sibility for inspecting intermodal shipping containers being 

9 shipped to the United States. 

10 (b) STAFFING CRITERIA.—In carrying out subsection 

11 (a) the Secretary of Homeland Security shall determine 

12 the appropriate level for assignment and density of cus13 toms inspectors at selected international port facilities by 

14 a threat, vulnerability, and risk analysis which, at a min15 imum, considers— 

16 (1) the volume of containers shipped; 

17 (2) the ability of the host government to assist 

18 in both manning and providing equipment and re19 sources; 

20 (3) terrorist intelligence known of importer ven21 dors, suppliers or manufacturers; and 

22 (4) other criteria as determined in consult with 

23 experts in the shipping industry, terrorism, and 

24 shipping container security. 

25 (c) MINIMUM NUMBER.—The total number of cus26 toms inspectors assigned to international port facilities 
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1 shall not be less than the number determined as a result 

2 of the threat, vulnerability, and risk assessment analysis 

3 which is validated by the Administrator of the Transpor4 tation Security Administration within 180 days after the 

5 date of enactment of this Act. 

6 (d) PLAN.—The Secretary shall submit a plan to the 

7 Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transpor8 tation and the House of Representatives Committee on 

9 Transportation and Infrastructure, with timelines, for 

10 phasing inspectors into selected port facilities within 180 

11 days after the enactment of this Act. 

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