The Regulatory Subcommittee (RSC) MTSA II (TG) has been charged with the responsibility to address the following tasks from AMSC Facility Security Work Group (FSWG) Task Statement Action Sheet.

FSWG TASK: Working Group to address issues and opportunities related to security at facilities within Houston-Galveston-Texas City-Freeport region, including the impactions for other stakeholder actives and overall operations within the port complexes.

FSWG Short Term Tasks:

1.    Identify security-related issues that adversely impact facility access and vessel support leading to restrictions on shore access for mariners, excess vessel movements, and other negative impacts for vessels and facilities with the region.

2.    Identify and document best practices being used by facilities that reduce or eliminate these restrictions/impacts.

3.    Develop and implement a plan to begin outreach to individual facilities, stakeholder groups and the marine community to address issue and drive improvements in each of these areas.

4.    Monitor pending regulatory requirements for their impact on the industry and develop plans to enhance a coordinated implementation and issues resolution within the region.

5.    As needed, communicate lessons learned and/or recommendations to the FMSC and AMSC and, as requested, provide additional assistance related to proposed regulatory or policy changes

6.    Provide a preliminary report to the FMSC by September 15, 2010.

Objective - Develop line items to be incorporated into recommendations for the upcoming Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) for MTSA II regulations.

 By completing this objective, the RSC MTSA II TG will meet the FSWG Task and the FSWG Short Term Tasks 4 above.

Overview

The Maritime Transportation Security Act (MTSA) of 2002 (P.L. 107-295) was enacted by the U.S. Congress on November 25, 2002.  The law is the U.S. implementation of the International Ship and Port Facility Security Code (ISPS).  Regulations to support MTSA went into effect 12/31/2003 and enforcement began 4/1/2004. 

MTSA is now under review to incorporate the many changes added to the regulations since 2003.  These include TWIC regulations, new Navigation and Vessel Inspection Circulars (NVIC) and Policy Advisory Council (PSC) decisions.