Aviation security agency challenged by explosive-detection deadline

The Transportation Security Administration must find new ways to screen checked baggage for explosives, or it will miss a key deadline in the 2001 Aviation and Transportation Security Act, Transportation Inspector General Kenneth Mead told a House panel on Wednesday.

The agency will not be able to install enough explosive-detection machines in the nation's airports to meet a Dec. 31 deadline for screening all checked baggage, Mead told members of the House Transportation Appropriations Subcommittee. The bulky machines are too large to put in airport lobbies, and installation in the baggage handling areas at airports could require extensive reconstruction, Mead said. "I don't think all that construction can be done by the end of the year." The installation challenge has led Transportation officials to consider other options for meeting the deadline, including using machines and trace explosives technology together to screen baggage. "Frankly, I think that the only way they're going to meet this Dec. 31 [deadline] is some combination of explosive-detection machines and tracing," Mead said. TSA's strategy for meeting the deadline carries added importance because the agency will need new funds to buy the machines. Mead estimates the total cost of the explosive-detection equipment could reach $2.5 billion, while installation could cost an additional $2.3 billion. The agency must decide whether the machines are necessary before Congress will pay for them, said Subcommittee Chairman Harold Rogers, R-Ky. "Before we embark on buying $6 billion worth of these enormous machines that fill up the entire lobbies of airports, not to mention requiring the reconstruction of every airport in the country to accommodate this, we need to know if there are alternatives that are cheaper, quicker or less intrusive," he said. Rogers and Mead discussed possible alternatives to the machines, including installing explosion-proof baggage containers on airplanes. Prototype explosion-proof containers are heavier and more expensive than current devices, but they still cost much less than explosive-detection machines. "It's a lot cheaper than some of the other things we are talking about," said Mead. Mead said the TSA would need supplemental funds to cover its operating expenses in fiscal 2002, adding to the fiscal challenges faced by the department. Aviation security, Amtrak, highway projects and Coast Guard modernization projects are all placing a strain on the Transportation Department's budget, said Rep. Martin Olav Sabo, D-Minn. "I've been on this subcommittee 24 years. I have never had a session where I feel this overwhelmed by potential funding problems for the subcommittee," Sabo said.