TSA Issues Rule on Port, Maritime Info Secrecy

The Transportation Security Administration has issued a rule extending new secrecy to some kinds of port and maritime information. The rule, published May 18, 2004, extends to maritime transportation facilities the cloak of heavy TSA secrecy that heretofore applied mainly only to air transport. Still unclear at this point is whether the new rule may restrict access to information used by environmental reporters.

While the non-classified "Sensitive Security Information" category administered by TSA seems intended to apply mainly to security plans which shipping companies and terminals are required to file under certain federal laws, the scope of information covered by the new "interim" rule remains unclear. For example, TSA can restrict access to information not merely because of security concerns, but also to protect privacy or confidential business information.

Environmental reporters may need access to all kinds of port and maritime information -- on anything from the environmental and safety impacts of petrochemical terminals, to channel dredging and spoil disposal, to the impacts of oil spills.

-- "Protection of Sensitive Security Information; Interim final rule; request for comments," Transportation Security Administration, Federal Register, May 18, 2004, pp. 28066-28086 [Docket No. TSA-2003-15569; Amendment No. 1520-1]

-- "Sensitive Security Information (SSI) and Transportation Security: Background and Controversies," Congressional Research Service, RS21727, February 5, 2004, by Mitchel A. Sollenberger