When Congress returns to session next month, it will likely send the White House a homeland security appropriations bill for fiscal 2008 that includes significantly more money for homeland security grants. Among the grants that would benefit is the port security grant program at the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), which could be fully funded for the first time.

Justin Russell, director of port security for General Dynamics Information Technology, told HSToday that states and urban areas have begun to use their port security grant money more wisely than they have in the past.

"Look at the SeaHawk program in Charleston [S.C.] developed by the Department of Justice," Russell remarked. "That's a great example where the systems that we see at the local and state level are interoperating with the federal resources. They are coming together and making a truly secure operational environment for us to maintain a secure maritime transportation system."

In the first several rounds of port security funding, state and local authorities and organizations largely spent their money on piecemeal security measures such as lights, cameras and fencing, Russell noted.

"Especially in some of the larger port authorities, we are starting to see more of a focus on starting look at those initial systems and starting to understand the fact that in order for this to be a sustainable system, they are going to have to look at a total integrated approach. They are starting to look at systems integration rather than the piecemeal portions of the security systems," Russell declared.

"I think that is a trend that will continue. That's a favorable trend because an integrated solution at local seaports will help with interoperability and integration into the regional and nationwide approaches to maritime security," he added.

Port authorities still are very dependent on the DHS port security grants to fund security improvements at their seaports, Russell noted. And not all state and local communities have been spending funding wisely.

Russell criticized the state of Florida, for example, as making duplicative investments in the Florida Unified Port Access Credential (FUPAC), an initiative to create verified seaport worker identification cards. The DHS Transportation Worker Identification Credential (TWIC) has the same goal as a nationwide initiative, and Russell believes Florida wasted time and money with the FUPAC program.

"When we look at the state initiatives that are coming in, what need to happen is that the states, the Department of Homeland Security and the federal government need to come together and have a check of this is where we are going and this is where we have to be," Russell argued. "They need to say, 'Let's work together instead of putting out two parallel systems that are going to cost industry more money and time and added procedure for those people responsible for getting the flow of commerce in and out of seaports.'

"Every time a trucker has to go and register for a new credential, that's time off the road. That time off the road is hindering our ability to maintain free commerce," he concluded.