And this. Remember Carlyle Group companies now have a lock on explosive detection equipment under the EG&G/Perkin-Elmer label.
http://federaltimes.com/index.php?S=860899 HOME - Subscribe - Manage Your Subscription - Contact Us - Advertise - About Us - Help HOME Information Technology Management Issues Homeland Security Procurement Postal News Business Report Career Info Personal Finance Spotlight Commentary Weekly Poll GSA Storefront Chat Published: April 15, 2002 Airport Security Costs Skyrocket By TIM KAUFFMAN The Transportation Department faces significant financial and logistical hurdles as it tries to meet congressional deadlines to screen all checked bags for explosives by the end of the year. "There's a lot more questions than answers at this point,"said Randall Walker, director of aviation for Clark County, Nev., which runs the McCarran International Airport in Las Vegas. Until recently, much concern about the government's move to assume responsibility for airport security has centered upon whether it could buy the equipment and hire and train security personnel in time for a Dec. 31 deadline set by Congress in the Aviation and Transportation Security Act of 2001. Now, funding and logistical challenges of installing perhaps 50,000 security personnel and thousands of luggage-scanning machines are emerging as the biggest hurdle in the way of the Transportation Department's fast-paced effort, which could cost upwards of $10 billion. The nation's 429 commercial airports that will come under the government's security program in November have not been told how to comply with the new security mandates. Bomb-detection systems must be installed at all airports by the end of the year to screen all luggage for bombs. But details are lacking. For instance, it is unclear how many machines each airport will receive, where the machines will be located, and who will pay for installation. "Our big worry is we're going to have these machines dropped on us in October and told to meet the December deadline,"said Stephen Van Beek, senior vice president of policy at the Airports Council International-North America, which represents the governing authorities of most U.S. and Canadian airports. Each airport has unique challenges based on layout, passenger traffic and available space. For instance, the Las Vegas airport is the seventh busiest in the country, but it is likely to need more bomb-detection devices than the busiest airport, Atlanta, because almost all of its passengers are either arriving or departing whereas most of Atlanta's passengers are connecting to other flights. Some relatively small airports may need many machines because their design requires many checkpoints. For instance, Kansas City International Airport has about one-third the passenger traffic of Las Vegas but has about as many security checkpoints because the airport lacks a central corridor to process passengers. In many cases, airports do not have the floor space and physical quarters to accommodate the additional personnel and baggage-screening machines. Some may have to close gates to free up space. The Las Vegas airport, for example, would have to close eight gates to accommodate the 60 explosive-detection systems it will need, Walker said. "There is no one-size-fits-all solution,"he said. Airports also are struggling to find work space for the additional personnel they soon will be receiving. The Transportation Department's Transportation Security Administration (TSA) originally estimated about 30,000 baggage screeners would be needed, based on the number of screeners used by private security firms before Sept. 11. Agency officials earlier this year raised that estimate to 40,000 and now are saying they may need at least 50,000 workers. Those additional personnel require more work space, more break rooms and more lockers at airports, airport officials say. The need for space raises another question: Who will pay for it? Airlines now rent space from airports for security checkpoints, offices and employee accommodations. Because the government is taking control of security from airlines, many airports say it should pick up the cost as well. "We have a running tab, and we're going to keep asking TSA for reimbursement,·said Joe McBride, spokesman for the Kansas City International Airport. The Transportation Security Administration has personnel at more than a dozen airports studying these issues, agency spokesman Paul Turk said. "We're working with the airports now, and we will continue working with the airports,"Turk said. "Things will be accomplished. We have deadlines to meet. We will meet them." Transportation on March 21 submitted a supplemental appropriations request for this year seeking $4.4 billion, spokesman Bill Mosely said. But the request does not include money to renovate airports to accommodate the bomb-detection machines, Mosely said. So far, TSA has committed to spending $175,000 per airport to install the machines. "That would work if you could parachute a machine into the lobby,"Van Beek said. "It would not work if you had to blast down buildings." Some airports have estimated their installation costs could run into the hundreds of millions of dollars. Las Vegas, for instance, has estimated installation costs in excess of $250 million, which does not include the cost of recouping lost space, Walker said. Airports could seek funds from the Airport Improvement Program, administered by the Federal Aviation Administration, Mosely said. But it remains unclear how much, if any, of the program's $3.3 billion fiscal 2002 appropriation and $3.4 billion requested for fiscal 2003 could be spent on those needs. Other funding sources could include airline and airport contributions, additional passenger fees or direct appropriations from Congress. Transportation's inspector general, Kenneth Mead, said funding remains a significant hurdle. "There is significant confusion over who will pay for what, in what amount and from what funding source," Mead said Feb. 5 in testimony before the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee. In that February hearing, Mead said the agency could need $5.6 billion or more this fiscal year to buy and install bomb-detection equipment and to hire, train and deploy a 40,000-person security work force. The agency's projected fiscal 2002 funding was between $2 billion and $2.4 billion. "It is increasingly clear that the cost of good security will be substantially greater than most had anticipated,"Mead said. Mead is scheduled to testify April 17 before the House Appropriations Committee on the Transportation Security Administration's budget needs for the remainder of this fiscal year and next. About half of the supplemental funding the agency is requesting for this year would be available immediately, while the rest would be reserved for future needs, Mosely said. "TSA is still assessing how much it's going to need for its various programs,"Mosely said. "How much exactly it will cost hasn't been worked up yet." TSA is expected to present a plan to Congress by May 18 detailing how it will deploy explosive detection systems at the nation's airports. The agency has been reviewing security at 15 major airports to determine how to integrate new security requirements at other facilities. ------ Posted by C. Jannuzi
