Interpol Encourages DHS to Use STLD Database 
At a May 2 hearing before the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Terrorism, Technology and Homeland Security, Interpol Secretary General Ronald K. Noble warned that countries that do not proide their border control officers with direct access to Interpol's database on Stolen and Lost Travel Documents (STLD) are exposing their citizens to the danger of terrorism. "The decision therefore by U.S. Department of Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff to give U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers access to Interpol’s database by the end of 2007 is one which should be welcomed as a significant step forward in enhancing border security," said Secretary General Noble. Interpol’s technology enables law enforcement anywhere in the world to instantly run a check against the SLTD database. The database is accessed by U.S. officials when investigating a suspicious travel document, but it is not regularly used by U.S. border officials, Noble said. With a single swipe, a border control officer can verify if a document is reported stolen or lost nationally and internationally. For more information, visit Interpol's Web site at
www.interpol.int.
GAO Reports on Redundant Background Checks by DHS
After 9/11, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has taken steps to ensure transportation workers are screened and do not pose a security risk. However, the number of DHS background check programs has raised concerns that such workers may be subject to redundant background check programs. The Security and Accountability for Every Port Act of 2006 required the Government Accountability Office (GAO) to conduct a study of those programs similar to the one required of truck drivers to obtain a hazardous material endorsement (HME). For this study, GAO examined DHS background check programs to identify (1) potential redundancies and inconsistencies, if any, connected with these programs, and (2) actions, if any, DHS is taking or planning to coordinate its background check programs. To address these objectives, GAO examined selected background check programs, interviewed DHS officials and private stakeholders, and reviewed relevant documents. As a result, GAO recommends that DHS ensure that its coordination plan (1) includes implementation steps, time frames, and budget requirements, (2) discusses potential costs/benefits of program standardization, and (3) explore options for coordinating and aligning background checks within DHS and other federal agencies. DHS generally agreed with GAO’s findings and recommendations. The full report is available on GAO's Web site at
www.gao.gov/cgi-bin/getrpt?GAO-07-756. For more information, contact Robert Goldenkoff at (202) 512-2757 or
GoldenkoffR@gao.gov.
FMCSA Requests Comments on Demonstration Project on NAFTA Trucking Provisions
The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) announces the initiation of a project to demonstrate the ability of Mexico-based motor carriers to operate safely in the United States beyond the commercial zones along the U.S.-Mexico border. The project is part of FMCSA’s implementation of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) cross-border trucking provisions. The demonstration project will allow up to 100 Mexico-domiciled motor carriers to operate throughout the U.S. for one year. Up to 100 U.S.-domiciled motor carriers will be granted reciprocal rights to operate in Mexico for the same period. Participating Mexican carriers and drivers will be required to comply with all applicable U.S. laws and regulations. The safety of the participating carriers will be tracked closely by FMCSA and its state partners, a joint U.S.-Mexico monitoring group, and an evaluation panel independent of the Department of Transportation. The resulting data will be considered carefully before further decisions are made concerning the implementation of the NAFTA trucking provisions. Comments must be received by May 31, 2007. View the May 1
Federal Register Notice for more information and submission details.
Resolution Supporting Goals of Motorcycle Safety Awareness Month Submitted
Congressman Michael C. Burgess (R-Texas) submitted a resolution (H. Res.339) supporting the goals of Motorcycle Safety Awareness Month.
H. Res. 339, which was referred to the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, resolved that the House (1) recognizes the contribution motorcycles make to the transportation mix, (2) encourages all road users to be more aware of motorcycles and motorcyclists' safety, and (3) supports the goals of Motorcycle Safety Awareness Month.
Extension to Temporary Provision for Emission Test Procedures for ATVs
In a rule published Nov. 8, 2002, EPA promulgated new emission standards for recreational vehicles beginning in model year 2006, including newly regulated all-terrain vehicles (ATVs). In that rulemaking, a temporary provision was included allowing manufacturers to certify ATVs over a steady-state, engine-based, duty cycle for emissions prior to the 2009 model year in lieu of the transient, chassis-based, Federal Test Procedure, which was effective for 2006 and later model years. In a new rulemaking published in the April 26, 2007
Federal Register, the EPA is proposing to extend the availability of this temporary provision for in some cases up to an additional six model years, after which the chassis-based Federal Test Procedure would become the only available test cycle. This will allow manufacturers additional time to certify to the previously promulgated Federal Test Procedure-based emission standards using either contract facilities or by obtaining in-house capability. Written comments must be received by May 29, 2007. Request for a public hearing must be received by May 11, 2007. If we receive a request for a public hearing, we will publish information related to the timing and location of the hearing and the timing of a new deadline for public comments. More details are available in the April 26
Federal Register notice.
Data Privacy and Integrity Advisory Committee to Meet
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Data Privacy and Integrity Advisory Committee will meet on May 7 from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. in the Town Hall at Transportation Security Administration, 601 South 12th Street, Arlington, VA 22202. The Committee will discuss its recommendations on Notice of Proposed Rule Making (NPRM) and the Real ID Act. The committee will hear a subcommittee report and deliberate on those findings. Oral comments will not be solicited from the public during the meeting. Those interested in submitting written comments can do so per methods described in the
Federal Register Notice.
Notice of Publication of Privacy Impact Assessments
The Privacy Office of the Department of Homeland Security is making available five Privacy Impact Assessments on various programs and systems in the Department. These assessments were approved and published on the Privacy Office’s Web site at
www.dhs.gov/privacy, under the link for “Privacy Impact Assessments" between March 1, 2007 and March 31, 2007. The Privacy Impact Assessments will be available on the DHS Web site until July 2, 2007, after which they may be obtained by contacting the DHS Privacy Office. View the
Federal Register Notice for more information.
Social Security Account Number Protection Act Introduced
Senator Byron Dorgan (D-North Dakota) introduced a bill to the Committee on Finance on April 25, 2007 to provide additional security and privacy protection for social security account numbers. The legislation, called the "Social Security Account Number Protection Act (S. 1208) would restrict the ability of companies to sell or purchase Social Security Numbers. More information on the bill will be made available online at
http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d110:s1208:.
NHTSA Seeks Public Comment on Proposed Drinking and Driving Survey
Pursuant to the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has posted a request for public comment on the proposed 2008 National Survey of Drinking and Driving Attitudes and Behavior. NHTSA proposes to conduct the survey by telephone among a national probability sample of 6,000 adults (age 16 and older). Participation by respondents would be voluntary. Survey topics would include frequency of drinking and driving and of riding with a driver who has been drinking, ways to prevent drinking and driving, enforcement of drinking and driving laws, and understanding of Blood Alcohol Concentration (BAC) levels and legal limits. Comments must be received on or before June 26, 2007. More details are available in the April 27
Federal Register Notice.
Senate Judiciary Committee Approves Two Data Privacy Bills
On May 3, the Senate Judiciary Committee approved two bills that would help protect personal information and prevent identity theft.
S.495 is a bill to prevent and mitigate identity theft, ensure privacy, provide notice of security breaches, and enhance criminal penalties, law enforcement assistance, and other protections against security breaches, fraudulent access, and misuse of personally identifiable information.
S.239 is a bill to require federal agencies, and persons engaged in interstate commerce, in possession of data containing sensitive personally identifiable information, to disclose any breach of such information.
S.1202, a bill to require agencies and persons in possession of computerized data containing sensitive personal information, to disclose security breaches where such breach poses a significant risk of identity theft, was rejected.
GAO Publishes Report on Lessons Learned About Data Breach Notification
Recent highly publicized data breaches, including a May 2006 breach at the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), have heightened awareness of the importance of protecting computer equipment containing personally identifiable information and responding effectively to a breach that poses privacy risks. The Government Accountability Office (GAO) released a report in April entitled "Lessons Learned About Data Breach Notification" to address this issue. GAO's objective was to identify lessons learned from these data breaches regarding effectively notifying government officials and affected individuals about data breaches. After interviewing officials at the VA and other agencies regarding their responses to data breaches and their progress in implementing standardized data breach notification procedures, the GAO is recommending that the Director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) develop guidance for agencies on when to offer credit monitoring and when to contract for an alternative form of monitoring, such as data breach monitoring, to assist individuals at risk of identity theft. In written comments on a draft of this report, OMB and VA concurred with GAO’s recommendation. The full report is available on the GAO Web site at
www.gao.gov/cgi-bin/getrpt?GAO-07-657. For more information, contact
Linda Koontz at (202) 512-6240.
EPA Proposes to Amend Transportation Conformity Rule
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is proposing to amend the transportation conformity rule to make it consistent with Clean Air Act section 176(c) as amended by the Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy for Users (SAFETEA-LU). The Clean Air Act requires federally supported transportation plans, transportation improvement programs, and projects to be consistent with (“conform to”) the purpose of the state air quality implementation plan. To make the transportation conformity rule consistent with SAFETEA-LU’s revisions to the Clean Air Act, this proposal would change the regulations to reflect that the statute now provides more time for state and local governments to meet conformity requirements, provides a one-year grace period before the consequences of not meeting certain conformity requirements apply, allows the option of shortening the timeframe conformity determinations, and streamlines other provisions. EPA is also including other proposals not related to SAFETEA-LU, such as a proposal to allow the Department of Transportation (DOT) to make categorical hot-spot findings for appropriate projects in carbon monoxide areas. Comments must be received on or before June 1, 2007. View the
Federal Register Notice for more information and submission guidelines.
Senate Judiciary Committee to Hold Hearing on Real ID
The Senate Committee on the Judiciary has scheduled a hearing on "Will Real ID Actually Make Us Safer? An Examination of Privacy and Civil Liberties Concerns" for Tuesday, May 8 at 10:00 a.m. in Room 226 of the Senate Dirksen Office Building. More information is available at
http://judiciary.senate.gov/. Listen to the hearing on
http://www.capitolhearings.org/.
UCR Board Meeting Scheduled
The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) has announced the United Carrier Registration Plan Board of Directors will meet on May 21 from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., ET. This meeting will take place via teleconference and is open to the public. Contact Avelino Gutierrez at (505) 827-4565 for more information or to receive the toll-free number and passcode needed to participate in this meeting by telephone.
Over 50 Organizations Join in Opposition to Real ID
Over 50 organizations have joined to launch a national campaign to solicit public comments to stop Real ID. According to a
press release issued by the Privacy Coalition, the groups are concerned about the increased threat of counterfeiting and identity theft, lack of security to protect against unauthorized access to the document's machine-readable content, increased cost to taxpayers, diverting of state funds intended for homeland security, increased costs for obtaining a license or state-issued ID card, and because the Real ID would create a false belief that it is secure and unforgeable. The draft regulations to implement the Real ID Act are open for comment until 5 p.m. ET on May 8. For more information, visit
www.regulations.gov and refer to docket number 2006-0030-0001.
House Approves Bill Restricting Mexican Trucks on U.S. Roads
The House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee voted 66-0 to approve the Safe American Roads Act of 2007 (
H.R. 1773), which will limit the authority of the Secretary of Transportation to grant authority to motor carriers domiciled in Mexico to operate beyond U.S. municipalities and commercial zones on the U.S.-Mexico border. This approval limits the administration's plan to allow up to 100 Mexican trucking companies access to U.S. roads. The Department of Transportation earlier this week attempted to ease concerns of the plan by stipulating that the program be reciprocal between the U.S. and Mexico.
Two Jurisdictions Complete Structured Testing of Digital Image Program
AAMVA is pleased to announce that Kentucky and Ohio have successfully completed structured testing of the Digital Image Access and Exchange Program. Both jurisdictions join Arizona, the District of Columbia, Virginia and Illinois in satisfying all associated program requirements. Virginia successfully migrated their new functionality into production on April 5. Kentucky joins them in production as of May 6. Congratulations to everyone for a job well done!
Share Information With Other Jurisdictions
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NMVTIS Disaster Recovery Drill Scheduled
On Sunday, May 13, AAMVA will perform a Disaster Recovery Drill for the National Motor Vehicle Title Information System (NMVTIS). Only online states will be affected. There will be a conference call to go over the details on May 8 at 11:00 a.m. ET for NMVTIS production online states. The conference call number is (877) 358-8255, and the passcode is 4364792. If you are an online state and are unable to attend the conference call and need information, contact
Susan Creighton at (703) 908-5893.
Aging and the Medically At-Risk Driver; Learn More Online Today
AAMVA has completely revised its Web pages pertaining to
Aging and the Medically At-Risk Driver. Now, you can easily find timely, relevant information about Driver Fitness and Medical Review; Licensing and Renewal; Law Enforcement; Aging, Transportation and Mobility; and more. Review the new section and learn how to improve your older driver and driver fitness programs today.
Are You Helping Your Customers "Get it Together?"
If you are, great! But if not, AAMVA, through a PACE/CSD collaborative effort, has produced some turnkey materials to help you communicate to your customers recent and upcoming changes in your jurisdiction's driver's license administrative policies and procedures. This consumer awareness campaign features all the elements of a comprehensive integrated strategy including: news releases, speeches, community outreach, speeches, brochures, flyers, posters, billboards, opeds, print ads and its very own Web site--
www.licenseinfo.org. Visit
www.aamva.org/GetItTogether.htm and help your customers "Get It Together" today, before they come unprepared to the driver's license office tomorrow! You will need an AAMVA username and password to access this information.
Ready to Enhance Your Job Skills?
Take your training to a higher level; sign up today for a course with AAMVA University. Following are upcoming fraud courses to be held in Arlington, Virginia. AAMVA University can also provide training at your jurisdiction's facility. Visit
www.aamva-u.org for details or to register online, or call (866) 908-8270.
- VDEC Instructor Course: June 4-7; cut-off May 18 (prerequisite: VDEC Course)
- FDR Level II Course: July 9-12, 2007; cut-off June 22
- FDR Instructor Certification Course: Aug. 13-17, 2007; cut-off July 27 (prerequisite: FDR Level II Course)
CDLIS Disaster Recovery Drill Scheduled
A Commercial Driver's License Information System (CDLIS) Disaster Recovery Drill is scheduled to take place Saturday, May 19, 2007 between 8:00 p.m. and 10:00 p.m. (ET). Because connectivity to the CDLIS Central Site Production Region will be interrupted, AAMVA is asking jurisdictions and third-party providers to refrain from sending any messages to the CDLIS Central Site during this time. For any questions or concerns, contact the AAMVA Operations Helpdesk at (888) AAMVA80 or (888) 226-8280), option 3 or via e-mail at
operationshelpdeskall@aamva.org. Check the
System Alerts page on the AAMVA Web site for updates.
AAMVA, PBS and CarTalk Welcome New Partners
Production on CarTalk's inaugural season is well underway and AAMVA is pleased to welcome our newest partners, Massachusetts, South Carolina, Wisconsin and Florida! AAMVA, PBS and CarTalk want you in primetime too. If you are interested, contact
Jason King at (703) 908-8287.
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