MTSA was landmark legislation that mandated a quantum leap in security preparedness for America’s maritime ports. Prior to the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, federal attention at ports tended to focus on navigation and safety issues, such as dredging channels and environmental protection. While the terrorist attacks initially focused the nation’s attention on the vulnerability of its aviation system, it did not take long for attention to fall on the nation’s ports as well. Besides being gateways through which dangerous materials could enter the country, ports represent attractive targets for other reasons: they are often large and sprawling, accessible by water and land, close to crowded metropolitan centers, and interwoven with highways, roads, factories, and businesses. Security is made more difficult by the many stakeholders, public and private, involved in port operations. These stakeholders include local, state, and federal agencies; multiple law enforcement jurisdictions; transportation and trade companies; and factories and other businesses. Passed in November 2002, MTSA imposed an ambitious schedule of requirements on a number of federal agencies. MTSA called for a comprehensive security framework—one that included planning, personnel security, and careful monitoring of vessels and cargo. (See table 2 for examples of key MTSA activities.) MTSA tasked the Secretary of DHS, and the Secretary in turn has tasked the Coast Guard, with lead responsibility for the majority of its requirements. Timetables were often daunting. For example, one of the Coast Guard’s responsibilities was to develop six interim final rules implementing MTSA’s operational provisions in sufficient time to receive public comment and to issue a final rule by November 25, 2003. Adding to the difficulty has been the need to implement MTSA against the backdrop of the most extensive federal reorganization in over a half- century. Most of the agencies with MTSA responsibilities were reorganized into the Department of Homeland Security in March 2003, less than 5 months after MTSA enactment. Among the 22 agencies in the new department were some relatively new organizations, such as TSA. Other more longstanding agencies, including the Coast Guard, U.S. Customs Service, and Immigration and Naturalization Service, were transferred from a variety of executive departments. This vast recombination of organizational cultures introduced new chains of command and reporting responsibilities. MTSA implementation also involved coordination with other executive agencies, including the Departments of State, Transportation, and Justice. Since the passage of MTSA in 2002 the responsible agencies—primarily the Coast Guard, TSA, and BCBP in DHS, along with MARAD in the Department of Transportation—have made strides in implementing the act’s security provisions. MTSA called for actions in 46 key areas we identified. Thus far, we have received information from the responsible agencies on 43 of these areas. Of the 43 areas, work is done in 2 (issuing interim rules and developing training for maritime security personnel), and under way in 40 others. These agencies also reported that cooperation and coordination has been extensive throughout the course of their activities. A major achievement has been the Coast Guard’s publication on July 1, 2003, of six interim rules on the provisions where it had lead responsibility. The rules set requirements for many of the provisions delegated to the Coast Guard under MTSA. The rules, which included sections on national maritime security initiatives, area maritime security, vessel security, facility security, outer continental shelf facility security, and automatic identification systems, were published approximately 8 months after MTSA was enacted. Doing so kept the Coast Guard on schedule for meeting MTSA’s requirement to receive public comment and issue the final rules by the end of November 2003. The rules provided a comprehensive description of industry-related maritime security requirements and the cost-benefit assessments of the entire set of rules. The Coast Guard plans to publish the final rules before November 25, 2003, after receiving and acting on comments to the interim rules. Another Coast Guard accomplishment was the establishment of Maritime Safety and Security Teams called for under MTSA. These teams, which can be rapidly deployed where needed, are designed to provide antiterrorism protection for strategic shipping, high-interest vessels, and critical infrastructure. The Coast Guard has already deployed four teams—in Seattle and Galveston and near Norfolk and Los Angeles. The Coast Guard will deploy teams in New York City and near Jacksonville this year, and six more teams have been requested in the president’s budget in 2004. These are to be located in San Diego, Honolulu, Boston, San Francisco, New Orleans, and Miami. Other agencies in DHS have also made progress in their implementation of MTSA provisions. Responding to MTSA’s requirement for the development of biometric transportation security identification cards that would allow only authorized persons access to secure areas of vessels or facilities, TSA is currently testing several different technology credentialing systems on sample cards. The agency will begin testing prototypes of the entire security card process, including conducting background checks, collecting biometric information on workers, verifying cardholders’ identities, and issuing cards in early 2004. TSA plans to start issuing about 5 to 6 million new cards per year in the middle of 2004. Developing all of the policies and programs to make this system work is still under way and will continue to pose challenges to continued progress. Another DHS agency, BCBP, was delegated the responsibility for issuing regulations for electronic transmission of cargo information to BCBP by October 1, 2003; BCBP published its proposed rule on July 23, 2003. BCBP was waiting for comments on the proposed rule, and BCBP officials told us that they expect to publish the rule on time. MARAD has also made progress in its requirements. Among the provisions for which MARAD is responsible are developing standards and curricula for the training of maritime security personnel. MARAD submitted a Report to Congress, dated May 2003, containing the standards and curriculum called for by MTSA in the form of model course frameworks for seven categories of maritime security professionals. As an extension of the MTSA project, MARAD also produced three model maritime security courses for the International Maritime Organization (IMO). An IMO validation team has reviewed drafts of these courses, which found little need for change. Agency officials told us that cooperation and coordination on MTSA implementation has been strong. Coast Guard officials said that they had developed channels of communication with other relevant agencies, and they said these other agencies were supportive in implementing provisions for which they did not have primary responsibility. In the work we have conducted at ports since the September 11th attacks, we have noted an increasing level of cooperation and coordination at the port level. However, ensuring smooth coordination as the many aspects of MTSA implementation continue is a considerable challenge. Additional work will be needed to determine the extent to which this spirit of cooperation continues to be translated into effective actions at the level where programs must be implemented. While progress is being made, our preliminary work has identified five areas that merit attention and further oversight. Three relate primarily to security issues: (1) the limited number of ports that will be covered by the vessel identification system, (2) questions about the scope and quality of port security assessments, and (3) the Coast Guard’s plans not to individually approve security plans for foreign vessels. The remaining two relate primarily to operational and efficiency matters: (1) potential duplication of maritime intelligence efforts and (2) inconsistency with Port Security Grant Program requirements. The main security-related issue involves the implementation of a vessel identification system. MTSA called for the development of an automatic identification system. Coast Guard implementation calls for a system that would allow port officials and other vessels to determine the identity and position of vessels entering or operating within the harbor area. Such a system would provide an “early warning” of an unidentified vessel or a vessel that was in a location where it should not be. To implement the system effectively, however, requires considerable land-based equipment and other infrastructure that is not currently available in many ports. As a result, for the foreseeable future, the system will be available in less than half of the 25 busiest U.S. ports. The identification system, called the Automatic Identification System (AIS), uses a device aboard a vessel to transmit a unique identifying signal to a receiver located at the port and to other ships in the area. This information gives port officials and other vessels nearly instantaneous information about a vessel’s identity, position, speed, and course. MTSA requires that vessels in certain categories install tracking equipment between January 1, 2003, and December 31, 2004, with the specific date dependent on the type of vessel and when it was built. The only ports with the necessary infrastructure to use AIS are those that have waterways controlled by Vessel Traffic Service (VTS) systems. Similar to air traffic control systems, VTS uses radar, closed circuit television, radiophones, and other technology to allow monitoring and management of vessel traffic from a central shore-based location. The Coast Guard currently plans to install AIS receiving equipment at the 10 locations with VTS systems. More than half of the 25 busiest ports, such as Philadelphia, Baltimore, Miami, Charleston, Tampa, and Honolulu, do not have VTS systems; hence, AIS will be inoperable at these locations for the foreseeable future. When AIS will be operable at these other ports depends heavily on how soon the Coast Guard can put an extensive amount of shore-based infrastructure in place. For the present, the Coast Guard is requiring AIS equipment only for (1) vessels on international voyages and (2) vessels navigating waterways under VTS control. Some of these international ships will be calling on ports that will not have AIS equipment. In such cases, the transmitters aboard the vessels will be of no use for the ports, because they will not have equipment to receive the signals. Cost is a major factor in the full implementation of AIS. Expanding coverage will require substantial additional investment, both public and private.