WASHINGTON - The U.S. Coast Guard and the Transportation Security Administration (TSA), today announced the Transportation Worker Identification Credential (TWIC) program compliance date for owners and operators of facilities located within Captain of the Port Zones Buffalo, Duluth, Detroit, Lake Michigan and Sault Ste. Marie will be Oct. 31, 2008. 

These port compliance dates are in addition to the Oct. 15, 2008 compliance date previously announced for Captain of the Port Zones Boston, Northern New England and Southeastern New England.

Additional ports will be announced in the coming weeks, and the Coast Guard will provide at least 90 days notice prior to enforcement. Compliance will be phased in by Captain of the Port Zone between Oct. 15, 2008 and April 15, 2009, after which all ports must be in compliance and all credentialed mariners must be in possession of a TWIC. A framework showing expected future compliance dates by COTP Zone has been posted on the U.S. Coast Guard's Homeport Website, http://homeport.uscg.mil/twic.  

Workers are encouraged to enroll as soon as possible and are able to pre-enroll for TWIC online at www.tsa.gov/twic. Pre-enrolling speeds up the process by allowing workers to provide biographic information and schedule a time to complete the application process in person. This eliminates waiting at enrollment centers and reduces the time it takes to enroll. 

TWIC was established in the Maritime Transportation Security Act and the Security and Accountability For Every Port Act to serve as an identification program for all Coast Guard credentialed mariners and personnel requiring unescorted access to secure areas within a port. The program is progressing steadily and has opened more than 130 fixed enrollment centers and dozens of mobile sites nationwide.  More than 350,000 workers have enrolled to date and thousands more are processed each week.

Additional information can be found at http://homeport.uscg.mil/twic and www.tsa.gov/twic.  

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