[Federal Register Volume 79, Number 250 (Wednesday, December 31, 2014)]
[Notices]
[Pages 78895-78897]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2014-30639]
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DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY
Transportation Security Administration
[Docket No. TSA-2014-0001]
RIN 1652-ZA19
TSA Pre[check][supreg] Application Program; Expansion of
Enrollment Options
AGENCY: Transportation Security Administration, DHS.
ACTION: Notice; request for comments.
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SUMMARY: The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) recently
announced its intent to expand enrollment options for the TSA
Pre[check][supreg] Application Program. The purpose of this Notice is
to solicit comments from the traveling public concerning their overall
views on the TSA Pre[check][supreg] Application Program and on TSA
efforts to improve and/or expand enrollment.
ADDRESSES: You may submit comments, identified by the TSA docket number
to this Notice, to the Federal Docket Management System (FDMS), a
government-wide, electronic docket management system, using any one of
the following methods:
Electronically: You may submit comments through the Federal
eRulemaking portal at http://www.regulations.gov. Follow the online
instructions for submitting comments.
Mail, in Person, or Fax: Address, hand-deliver, or fax your written
comments to the Docket Management Facility, U.S. Department of
Transportation, 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE., West Building Ground Floor,
Room W12-140, Washington, DC 20590-0001; fax (202) 493-2251. The
Department of Transportation (DOT), which maintains and processes TSA's
official regulatory dockets, will scan the submission and post it to
FDMS. See SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION for format and other information
about comment submissions.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Transportation Security
Administration, 601 South 12th Street, Arlington, VA 20598-6014; email:
[email protected].
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Comments Invited
TSA invites interested persons to submit written comments, data, or
views. See ADDRESSES above for information on where to submit comments.
With each comment, please identify the docket number at the
beginning of your comments. TSA encourages commenters to provide their
names and addresses. You may submit comments and material
electronically, in person, by mail, or fax as provided under ADDRESSES,
but please submit your comments and material by only one means. If you
submit comments by mail or delivery, submit them in an unbound format,
no larger than 8.5 by 11 inches, suitable for copying and electronic
filing.
If you would like TSA to acknowledge receipt of comments submitted
by mail, include with your comments a self-addressed, stamped postcard
on which the docket number appears. We will stamp the date on the
postcard and mail it to you.
TSA will file all comments to our docket address, as well as items
sent to the address or email under FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT, in
the public docket, except for comments containing confidential
information and sensitive security information (SSI). Should you wish
your personally identifiable information redacted prior to filing in
the docket, please so state. TSA will
[[Page 78896]]
consider all comments that are in the docket on or before the closing
date for comments and will consider comments filed late to the extent
practicable. The docket is available for public inspection before and
after the comment closing date.
Reviewing Comments in the Docket
Please be aware that anyone is able to search the electronic form
of all comments in any of our dockets by the name of the individual who
submitted the comment (or signed the comment, if an association,
business, labor union, etc., submitted the comment). You may review the
applicable Privacy Act Statement published in the Federal Register on
April 11, 2000 (65 FR 19477) and modified on January 17, 2008 (73 FR
3316).
You may review TSA's electronic public docket on the Internet at
http://www.regulations.gov. In addition, DOT's Docket Management
Facility provides a physical facility, staff, equipment, and assistance
to the public. To obtain assistance or to review comments in TSA's
public docket, you may visit this facility between 9:00 a.m. and 5:00
p.m., Monday through Friday, excluding legal holidays, or call (202)
366-9826. This docket operations facility is located in the West
Building Ground Floor, Room W12-140 at 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE.,
Washington, DC 20590.
Availability of This Document
You may obtain an electronic copy of this document using the
Internet by--
(1) Searching the electronic Federal Docket Management System
(FDMS) Web page at http://www.regulations.gov;
(2) Accessing the Government Printing Office's Web page at http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/browse/collection.action?collectionCode=FR to view
the daily published Federal Register edition; or accessing the ``Search
the Federal Register by Citation'' in the ``Related Resources'' column
on the left, if you need to do a Simple or Advanced search for
information, such as a type of document that crosses multiple agencies
or dates; or
(3) Visiting TSA's Security Regulations Web page at http://www.tsa.gov and accessing the link for ``Stakeholders'' at the top of
the page, then the link ``Research Center'' in the left column.
In addition, copies are available by writing or calling the
individual in the FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT section. Make sure to
identify the docket number of this rulemaking.
DATES: Comments and related material must be received on or before
January 30, 2015.
Discussion
In December 2013, TSA introduced the TSA Pre[check][supreg]
Application Program,\1\ a voluntary passenger prescreening initiative
for low risk passengers who are eligible to receive expedited screening
at participating U.S. airport security checkpoints.\2\ This Program
permits any member of the public to apply directly to TSA for
eligibility by providing biographic and biometric information that TSA
uses to conduct a comprehensive security threat assessment.\3\ TSA
issues a ``known traveler number'' to applicants who TSA deems a low
risk to transportation security based on the results of the security
threat assessment. As of December 5, 2014, 734,761 individuals have
enrolled with TSA and been approved for the TSA Pre[check][supreg]
Application Program.
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\1\ See, ``TSA Announces New Application Process for TSA
Pre[check]TM, More Options to Apply for Expedited
Screening; First Application Center to Open in Indianapolis,''
http://www.tsa.gov/press/releases/2013/12/03/tsa-announces-new-application-process-tsa-precheck-more-options-apply. See also:
Privacy Impact Assessment for the TSA Pre[check]TM
Application Program, DHS/TSA/PIA-041, (Sept. 4, 2013), www.dhs.gov/sites/default/files/publications/privacy-pia-tsa-precheck-09042013.pdf; Notice of Privacy Act system of records, Privacy Act
of 1974; Department of Homeland Security/Transportation Security
Administration-DHS/TSA-021 TSA Pre[check]TM, 78 FR 55274
(Sept. 10, 2013); and Notice, TSA Pre[check]TM
Application Program Fee, 78 FR 72922 (Dec. 4, 2013).
\2\ Passengers who are eligible for expedited screening through
a dedicated lane typically receive more limited physical screening,
e.g., will be able to leave on their shoes, light outerwear, and
belt; keep their laptop in its case; and keep their 3-1-1 compliant
liquids/gels bag in a carry-on. The first travelers eligible for TSA
Pre[check][supreg] screening included members of U.S. Customs and
Border Protection (CBP) trusted traveler programs, and other groups
such as government employees with security clearances for whom TSA
had conducted a threat assessment.
\3\ This threat assessment includes vetting the applicant's
voluntarily submitted biographic and biometric information against
law enforcement, immigration, and intelligence databases, including
a criminal history check conducted by the Federal Bureau of
Investigation using the applicant's fingerprints. See Privacy Impact
Assessment for the TSA Pre[check]TM Application Program,
DHS/TSA/PIA-041, (Sept. 4, 2013), www.dhs.gov/sites/default/files/publications/privacy-pia-tsa-precheck-09042013.pdf; Notice of
Privacy Act system of records, Privacy Act of 1974; Department of
Homeland Security/Transportation Security Administration-DHS/TSA-021
TSA Pre[check]TM, 78 FR 55274 (Sept. 10, 2013); and
Notice, TSA Pre[check]TM Application Program Fee, 78 FR
72922 (Dec. 4, 2013).
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TSA has established a total of 328 enrollment centers across the
country for applicants to use to apply for the Program. Of these, 33
are located at airports and 295 are located off airport property. Many
of the 295 enrollment centers were first established several years ago
to meet the needs for other TSA programs, such as enrolling port
workers applying for a Transportation Worker Identification Credential
needed for access to maritime facilities, and commercial truck drivers
applying for a Hazardous Materials Endorsement. TSA leveraged these
enrollment centers when the TSA Pre[check][supreg] Application Program
launched to quickly provide enrollment sites for interested individuals
across the country.
The TSA Pre[check][supreg] Application Program is a risk-based
approach to aviation screening that allows TSA to focus its limited
resources on unknown and perhaps high-risk travelers, while improving
the travel experience for most air travelers. The overwhelming majority
of air passengers are `low risk' travelers, but it is not possible for
TSA to confirm that on an individual basis without more information.
This program improves security by directly providing TSA with the
information necessary to achieve a high level of confidence on the
relative risk each individual may present. For this reason, TSA seeks
new methods to expand the program at a greater pace than the current
rate.
In September, TSA Administrator John Pistole announced that TSA is
developing a private sector application initiative as an additional
option for travelers to apply to TSA's Pre[check][supreg] Application
Program. Under this initiative, TSA plans to expand enrollment options
for the TSA Pre[check][supreg] Application Program by seeking proposals
from the private sector to market, enroll, and pre-screen
applicants.\4\ TSA is seeking proposals for enrollment and prescreening
from the private sector that would include, at a minimum, options to
collect biographic and biometric (e.g., fingerprints or iris scans)
information, to validate identity, and to perform a criminal history
records check to ensure that applicants do not have convictions for
criminal offenses that would disqualify them from the TSA
Pre[check][supreg] Application Program (please refer to the list of
current disqualifiers available at www.tsa.gov/tsa-precheck/eligibility-requirements). These options may include the use of
commercial and other publicly available data to conduct identity
verification and prescreening of applicants.
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\4\ See the solicitation notice for the TSA Pre[check][supreg]
Application Program Expansion Initiative in FedBizOpps.gov at
https://www.fbo.gov/index?s=opportunity&mode=form&id=7f7ef8721d3465271d42053408e50119&tab=core&_cview=0.
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For successfully enrolled and pre-screened applicants, TSA would
conduct a security threat assessment and make a final eligibility
determination for the TSA Pre[check][supreg] Application Program. By
leveraging private-sector best practices in business operations,
marketing, and algorithm optimization, TSA hopes to provide a better
travel experience for an increased number of trusted travelers.\5\
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\5\ See ``TSA Pre[check]TM Private Sector Vetting
Initiative,'' http://www.tsa.gov/press/news/2014/09/26/tsa-precheck-private-sector-vetting-initiative.
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We believe input from the traveling public can be useful in a
variety of areas to enhance enrollment, including:
Identification of convenient locations for enrollment
centers;
Preferred marketing and communications techniques to reach
a higher percentage of travelers;
Potential uses of private sector capabilities for
marketing, enrollment, and prescreening of applicants;
Data sources and methods to enhance the verification of an
applicant's identity, including the use of commercially-available data;
Ideas to remove barriers to the existing application
process and/or ways to streamline the application process; and
Other factors to improve the program overall.
Commenters must be cognizant of the fact that, while TSA will
review and consider all comments received, TSA may not implement all
comments. TSA, like most Government agencies, is subject to a variety
of laws that may restrict our ability to significantly restructure the
program. TSA is required by law to collect fees for all vetting and
credentialing programs \6\ and thus, we cannot eliminate the fee for
conducting security threat assessments on applicants to determine their
risk status. We must collect personal information from applicants in
order to conduct security threat assessments, and thus must adhere to
all laws that require the protection of and regulate the use of that
information. Most importantly, TSA will not implement any new measure,
process, or standard that diminishes security or prevents TSA from
using its discretion to make final eligibility determinations for the
TSA Pre[check][supreg] Application Program.
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\6\ See 6 U.S.C. 469.
Dated: December 23, 2014.
Kenneth C. Fletcher,
Chief Risk Officer, Office of the Chief Risk Officer.
[FR Doc. 2014-30639 Filed 12-30-14; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 9110-05-P