[Federal Register Volume 73, Number 49 (Wednesday, March 12, 2008)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 13155-13156]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E8-4901]


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DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY

Transportation Security Administration

49 CFR Part 1572

[Docket Nos. TSA-2006-24191; TSA Amendment No. 1572-8]
RIN 1652-AA41


Title: Transportation Worker Identification Credential (TWIC) 
Implementation in the Maritime Sector; Hazardous Materials Endorsement 
for a Commercial Driver's License; Correction

AGENCY: Transportation Security Administration, DHS.

ACTION: Correcting amendments.

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SUMMARY: This amendment clarifies that E-2 Visa (Treaty Investor) 
holders are eligible for a Transportation Worker Identification 
Credential (TWIC), and corrects an error in the final rule published on 
January 25, 2007 72 FR 4392. The amendment adds the E-2 Visa as one of 
the permissible visa categories for TWIC applicants. Holders of E-2 
Visas were explicitly listed as eligible to hold a TWIC in the preamble 
of the rule, and therefore, this revision carries out the intent of the 
rule.

DATES: Effective on March 12, 2008.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Christine Beyer, Office of Chief 
Counsel, TSA-2, Transportation Security Administration, 601 South 12th 
Street, Arlington, VA 22202-4220; telephone (571) 227-2657; facsimile 
(571) 227-1380; e-mail [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

    On January 25, 2007, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), 
through TSA and the United States Coast Guard (Coast Guard), issued a 
final rule to further secure the Nation's ports and modes of 
transportation. The rule implemented the Maritime Transportation 
Security Act of 2002 and the Security and Accountability for Every Port 
Act of 2006. Those statutes establish requirements regarding the 
promulgation of regulations that require credentialed merchant mariners 
and workers with unescorted access to secure areas of vessels and 
facilities to undergo a security threat assessment and receive a 
biometric credential, known as a Transportation Worker Identification 
Credential (TWIC). Subsequently, TSA corrected and amended the final 
rule on February 7, 2007 (72 FR 5632); March 26, 2007 (72 FR 14049); 
March 30, 2007 (72 FR 15195); and September 28, 2007 (72 FR 55043).
    In the January 2007 final rule, TSA applied its security threat 
assessment standards that already applied to commercial drivers 
authorized to transport hazardous materials in commerce to merchant 
mariners and workers who require unescorted access to secure areas on 
vessels and at maritime facilities. Also, TSA amended the qualification 
standards by changing the list of crimes that disqualify an individual 
from holding a TWIC or a hazardous materials endorsement (HME), and 
expanded the immigration standards to permit additional lawful 
nonimmigrants to apply for and hold a TWIC or HME.
    In selecting the immigration status and visa categories that are 
eligible for a TWIC, TSA focused on the professionals and specialized 
workers who are employed prevalently in the maritime industry to work 
on vessels or other equipment unique to the maritime industry. In the 
final rule, TSA stated that an alien holding one of the following visa 
categories would be eligible to apply for a TWIC: (1) H-1B Special 
Occupations; (2) H-1B1 Free Trade Agreement; (3) E-1 Treaty Trader; (4) 
E-2 Treaty Investor; (5) E-3 Australian in Specialty Occupation; (6) L-
1 Intra Company Executive Transfer; (7) O-1 Extraordinary Ability; or 
(8) TN North American Free Trade Agreement. See 72 FR 3551. However, we 
inadvertently omitted the E-2 Treaty Investor visa category from the 
immigration standards in the rule text at 49 CFR 1572.105. With this 
correcting amendment, we revise Sec.  1572.105 to add the E-2 Treaty 
Investor as an eligible category for TWIC. This addition requires 
renumbering paragraph (a)(7) and making conforming editorial changes. 
Former subparagraph (a)(7)(x) is revised so that it correctly applies 
to all of paragraph (a)(7), not just (a)(7)(i)-(viii).

List of Subjects in 49 CFR Part 1572

    Appeals, Commercial drivers license, Criminal history background 
checks, Explosives, Facilities, Hazardous materials, Incorporation by 
reference, Maritime security, Motor carriers, Motor vehicle carriers, 
Ports, Seamen, Security

[[Page 13156]]

measures, Security threat assessment, Vessels, Waivers.

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Accordingly, 49 CFR part 1572 is corrected by making the following 
correcting amendment:

PART 1572--CREDENTIALING AND SECURITY THREAT ASSESSMENTS

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1. The authority citation for part 1572 continues to read as follows:

    Authority: 46 U.S.C. 70105; 49 U.S.C. 114, 5103a, 40113, and 
46105; 18 U.S.C. 842, 845; 6 U.S.C. 469.49 U.S.C.


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2. In Sec.  1572.105, amend paragraph (a) as follows:
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a. Revise paragraph (a)(7)(ix).
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b. Redesignate paragraph (a)(7)(x) as paragraph (xi) and revise.
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c. Add new paragraph (a)(7)(x).


Sec.  1572.105  Immigration status.

    (a) * * *
    (7) * * *
    (ix) TN North American Free Trade Agreement;
    (x) E-2 Treaty Investor; or
    (xi) Another authorization that confers legal status, when TSA 
determines that the legal status is comparable to the legal status set 
out in paragraph (a)(7) of this section.
* * * * *

    Issued in Arlington, Virginia, on March 6, 2008.
Mardi Ruth Thompson,
Deputy Chief Counsel for Regulations, Transportation Security 
Administration.
 [FR Doc. E8-4901 Filed 3-11-08; 8:45 am]
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