Maritime Commons is sharing an update from the Office of Port and Facility Compliance in order to keep our readers informed of the latest developments regarding the TWIC Reader Final Rule.

• The President of the United States signed into law Aug. 2, 2018, the Transportation Worker Identification Credential Accountability Act of 2018 (HR.5729). This prohibits the Coast Guard from implementing the rule requiring electronic inspections of Transportation Worker Identification Credentials until after the Department of Homeland Security has submitted an assessment of the TWIC program to Congress.

• Additionally, the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia issued a court order July 24, 2018, delaying the TWIC Reader Final Rule implementation at Certain Dangerous Cargo transfer and non-transfer facilities until further order of the Court, in response to a lawsuit brought by industry groups.

• The Coast Guard received 13 comments before the TWIC Reader Rule Notice of Proposed Rulemaking comment period closed July 23, 2018. The Coast Guard values public participation in the rulemaking process and looks forward to engaging further with industry. To view the comments, please visit regulations.gov, USCG-2017-0711.

The Office of Port and Facility Compliance will provide additional information regarding the impacts of this law, the current lawsuit, and the Notice of Proposed Rulemaking in the near future.

This blog is not a replacement or substitute for the formal posting of regulations and updates or existing processes for receiving formal feedback of the same. Links provided on this blog will direct the reader to official source documents, such as the Federal Register, Homeport and the Code of Federal Regulations. These documents remain the official source for regulatory information published by the Coast Guard.