Transport Committee on March 5th, 2009

[The Chair, Conservative, Merv Tweed]

Good afternoon, everyone.

Welcome to the Standing Committee on Transport, Infrastructure and Communities, meeting number six, pursuant to the order of reference of Friday, February 13, 2009, Bill C-9, an act to amend the Transportation of Dangerous Goods Act, 1992.

Joining us today are, from AC Global Systems, Stephanie Mitchell, and from L-1 Identity Solutions, Dick Spencer, John Conohan, and Alan Brousseau. Welcome.

I apologize for my lateness. I'll ask you to begin. You have about seven minutes to make a presentation, and then we'll go to questions.

Please begin.

[Stephanie Mitchell, Executive Assistant, AC Global Systems]

I'd like to thank the committee for inviting AC Global Systems to be a witness at this session. We hope that the information I provide today will be useful to you.

AC Global Systems is a research and development company in the business of providing vehicle security and safety through GPS tracking and vehicle slowdown technology. We have a patent-pending product for the consumer and commercial transport market. It offers full fleet management and vehicle slowdown technology to the commercial sector, and it offers stolen vehicle recovery with vehicle slowdown technology to the consumer market.

On page 2 of my brief, you will see a graphic that demonstrates how AC Global Systems’ vehicle slowdown technology will work in the real world. We also have a video demonstrating our technology that can be viewed on our website. I have provided the address at the end of my reference material.

Through our research, we have found that since 9/11, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration of the U.S.A. has continually researched ways to improve safety, security, and efficiency in the trucking industry. Today I will give you an overview of a few reports that have been conducted to provide more information to the U.S. Transportation Security Administration on tracking systems, vehicle disabling technologies, vehicle shutdown technologies, and driver authentication technologies.

Large and small trucking companies that have adopted these kinds of technologies in their fleets were interviewed. They agreed that they provided peace of mind to their managers and made the drivers feel safe and secure, not to mention that there were monetary savings.

One trucking company interviewed mentioned a situation in which a truck carrying $5 million worth of pharmaceuticals had been stolen.

Another company that had adopted VST technology had a hijacking situation. The driver was able to send an alarm to dispatch and notify them that something was wrong. Once it was determined by law enforcement that the driver was not in danger, the vehicle was shut down, and it was recovered with the cargo intact. The savings were estimated to be $250,000.

In 2005 the United States Congress was deliberating legislation to encourage HAZMAT truck operators to equip their vehicles with tracking capability. The Transportation Security Administration awarded a grant to the University of Virginia to develop a recommended concept of operation and design for a national HAZMAT truck tracking system. Four teams, of 10 to 11 graduate students each, addressed this. Their reports contained a cost-benefit analysis and recommendations for system requirements for the deployment of a centralized HAZMAT trucking system for 2010.

In 2007, SAIC, a large research house in the U.S., was hired by the U.S. Department of Transportation and the FMCSA to write a report entitled “Vehicle Immobilizing Technologies: Best Practices for the Industry and Law Enforcement”. Twenty-eight commercial, off-the-shelf technologies were studied. Six of the companies were Canadian.

Field operational tests were conducted. They consisted of two parts. The first phase focused on vehicle shutdown technologies and on demonstrating shutdowns by dispatch and law enforcement. It also demonstrated the use of geo-fencing, which is a virtual boundary on a geographical area. If a boundary is crossed, an event is triggered, such as deploying the vehicle slowdown technology on board. The second phase of this field operational test focused on vehicle disabling technologies and driver authentication technologies. Both phases of the testing were conducted on trucks and buses.

All the information they collected resulted in a best practices list for vehicle immobilizing technologies. The report presented a concept of operations for the use of vehicle shutdown technologies, providing an appropriate protocol for avoiding inadvertent activation and procedures to be followed before activation. It also provided a list of organizations that should be involved in coordination to ensure safe vehicle slowdown.

The report stated that the primary conclusion of the study was that the industry favours an approach that focuses on theft prevention.

Adoption of these advanced security measures also has insurance benefits for trucking companies that are not able to self-insure. An insurance company that was interviewed stated that the underwriters could take an aggressive approach rather than a conservative one in estimating risk for companies that have adopted these kinds of technologies.

In 2008, the same group, SAIC, was hired by the TSA to continue their research using the best practices criteria from the 2007 report. AC Global Systems, of Trail, B.C., was part of this study and gave a field operational test.

This report is classified SS1 and is not available to the general public. It was our understanding this more in-depth report was being done to further push ahead the arrangements of a centralized tracking centre in the U.S. for all HAZMAT vehicles. We were told the money to create this kind of centralized tracking system had been set aside by the U.S. government.

It has now been announced that in the fiscal year 2009, the trucking security program has made available $7.7 million for implementing security improvement measures deemed valuable by the Department of Homeland Security, the primary focus being on the purchase, installation, and enhancement of equipment and systems related to tractor and trailer tracking systems. Additionally, the tracking security program will provide funding to develop a system for DHS to monitor, collect, and analyze tracking information and develop plans to improve the effectiveness of transportation and distribution of supplies and commodities during catastrophic events such as Hurricane Katrina.

The U.S. economic stimulus act of 2008 has been extended into 2009 and provides tax incentives to purchase vehicle shutdown and tracking technologies. Although it does not relate to HAZMAT, the committee may be interested to hear that GM has announced it will introduce a vehicle slowdown technology on more than one million 2009 GM vehicles in the U.S. and Canada. They hope this slowdown technology will prevent a vehicle from being an instrument of harm. OnStar Slowdown will help take high-speed pursuits out of the equation, as well as the probability that a stolen vehicle will be crashed during a chase.

Most of the movement of goods from Canada to the United States is by truck. If the trucking industry intends to continue to drive throughout the United States, they will be forced to install these technologies. If these kinds of forward-thinking security measures are taken in the trucking industry, lives will be saved and damage like that caused in the Oklahoma City bombing may be preventable.

The Olympic effort in Vancouver would be well served by implementing cost-effective vehicle shutdown technology and GPS tracking on all trucks working on Olympic venues. This could easily reduce if not eliminate the nightmarish threat of terrorists using a vehicle as a weapon.

In conclusion, AC Global Systems would like to make the following recommendations to the committee: that Canada develop a parallel tracking system for HAZMAT shipments like that proposed by the U.S. government. It is imperative that the Canadian government develop transportation safety and security regulations that will harmonize with U.S. regulations including the mandating of vehicle shutdown technology and driver authentication technology.

There must be an incentive package for the Canadian trucking industry that is similar in monetary value to the U.S. incentive package. Canadians can compete with their American colleagues if there is a level playing field. The American trucking industry has had financial incentives in place for two years, so Canada must act quickly to bridge the gap. There should be a grant structure for research and development companies that are Canadian-based to pursue this vital safety and security technology. Tens of millions of dollars have been spent in the U.S. researching transportation safety and security since 2001.

On behalf of AC Global Systems, I would like to thank the committee for allowing me the opportunity to testify before you on this vitally important subject.

I'll be happy to answer any questions you may have.

[The Chair, Conservative, Merv Tweed]

Thank you, Ms. Mitchell.

Who is going to speak? Please proceed.

[Alan Brousseau, Executive Vice-President, International Enrollment Services, L-1 Identity Solutions]

I will start.

Thank you very much, Mr. Chair.

I would like to thank the standing committee for allowing me the opportunity to testify today.

My name is Alan Brousseau, and I'm the executive vice-president for international enrollment services at L-1 .

I have brought Mr. Dick Spencer with me today from our Nashville office, who is a senior vice-president and has extensive experience in HAZMAT security clearance programs similar to the one that's being proposed or contemplated in Bill C-9. I also have with me Mr. John Conohan, former RCMP officer, who's an expert in security clearances and criminal history background checks in Canada.

Our company, L-1 Identity Solutions, specializes in many different areas of identity management and security, and we typically do so by employing the use of biometrics. Biometrics include such items as fingerprinting, facial recognition, and iris scan technologies. Our company specializes in creating solutions, typically for government agencies that are seeking to mitigate the risks associated with security threats, and providing them with the tools necessary to protect their assets.

We have a lot of experience in providing government agencies with logistical expertise in terms of rolling out programs that would credential or enroll applicants for security clearances. I think the most relevant experience that we, and specifically Mr. Spencer, will speak to you about today is called the hazardous materials endorsement program, sponsored by the Department of Homeland Security, the Transportation Security Administration agency.

We also have experience in other similar federal U.S. programs, such as the transportation workers identity card, which is a credentialing program at all port facilities across the U.S., and HSPD-12, which is a credentialing program for all federal employees across the U.S.

We're here today to share with the committee some of our experiences in the HAZMAT program in the United States. The HAZMAT program involved collecting applications, enrolling, and fingerprinting over 800,000 truck drivers across the U.S. It's been going on for about three years, if I'm not mistaken. We also have a few friendly and constructive suggestions on how to perhaps strengthen the bill and strengthen, obviously, the objectives of the bill that you folks are discussing today.

On that note, I'll turn the floor over to Mr. Spencer, who will provide you with some insight on HAZMAT. Mr. Spencer is from Nashville, Tennessee, so he has a bit of an accent. If he's speaking too quickly, please ask him to slow down, and he's promised not to use the word “y'all”.

[Dick Spencer, Senior Vice-President, L-1 Identity Solutions]

Thank you, Alan.

Mr. Chairman and committee members, thank you for the opportunity.

In response to the events of September 11, 2001, the U.S. Congress passed legislation requiring all transport workers who wanted to haul dangerous goods to undergo a security threat assessment. The security assessment conducted by the Department of Homeland Security's Transportation Security Administration, TSA, required jurisdictions to collect and submit biographical and fingerprint data on transport workers to determine their eligibility to transport dangerous goods.

In the United States, as Alan said, the act is called the HAZMAT program, and we are the contractor for TSA. They selected us in November 2004 to run the program, and the following components are included in the program that very much relates to your legislation that we are seeing here today. The components include a fingerprint-based, background-check program on all transport workers who want to haul hazardous materials, hazardous goods. The fingerprints are collected on a nationwide electronic fingerprint network and submitted to the FBI for them to run a criminal background search. The FBI, in turn, sends the fingerprint results of the criminal history search to the TSA, to allow them to conduct their security threat assessment. It also includes an electronic hazardous materials application in which biographical data are collected on all transport workers and submitted to the TSA. This biographical data includes citizenship documentation as well as employment background.

The program also includes a toll-free service centre, where transport workers can call in between 8 a.m. and 9 p.m., eastern time, and talk to a live operator and get their questions answered about the program. It includes a website that is operational 24 hours a day, seven days a week, where transport workers can log in on their own and enrol for the security clearance program. It includes fee collection.

In the United States the fee to conduct the security threat assessment is paid by either the transport workers themselves or their employer, and the fee is $89.25. This fee includes the FBI criminal history fingerprint search. It includes the TSA's threat assessment fee for all the work they're doing to conduct the security assessment on each applicant, and it includes the contractor's fee to collect the fingerprints, the application, and to do all of the entire network around the United States. It also includes this very important thing, and that is network security. In order to ensure the privacy of data on every transport worker and to help prevent identity theft, our network includes data encryption for all data, whether at rest or in transit.

Of all the keys to implementing this program, one of the most important was to eliminate or prevent unintended consequences. And with that in mind, TSA instructed us as a contractor to consult with the industry, with all state jurisdictions, and with the trucking industry, such as the federal motor carriers that Stephanie mentioned, the American trucking associations, and each state jurisdiction to make sure that the program met all the needs of each jurisdiction in enrolling their transport workers in the security program.

To date, we have enrolled over 800,000 truck drivers who are hauling hazardous materials in the United States. To date, our information is that maybe only about 5% or 10% of these individuals have been prevented from transporting hazardous materials from the criminal history search because of their backgrounds. But in the words of the TSA themselves, this is maybe 40,000 transport workers who will not be allowed to transport because of their backgrounds, and it is protecting Americans and the families that we serve through the transportation system.

[Alan Brousseau]

Thank you very much, Dick.

[The Chair, Conservative, Merv Tweed]

Are you finished?

[Alan Brousseau]

I have a final wrap-up and a quick recommendation. Of course, if there are any questions, feel free to interrupt.

Dick has spoken about security clearance vetting, and that's really at the heart of why we're here today. In the U.S., a criminal history search is typically done by fingerprints. It's the most secure method of doing the criminal history search.

We have a specific recommendation to the committee to perhaps provide some clarity on what the committee intends to define as a security clearance. It seems that in the legislation, section 27.1, the intention is that there's some sort of vetting process of individuals who are transporting these hazardous materials, but there's no real definition of how that should take place. We strongly promote that the committee consider defining a security clearance as involving a fingerprint-based criminal history search.

Thank you very much, Mr. Chair and honourable committee, for taking the time to listen to us today.

We are very happy to answer any questions you may have in terms of the technology behind such a system or the logistics behind enrolling people all across a very large continent, especially people who are travelling and transporting goods every day. Obviously we're very happy to speak to you more about what's involved with a criminal history search in Canada.

[The Chair, Conservative, Merv Tweed]

Thank you very much.

Mr. Volpe.

[Joe Volpe, Liberal, Eglinton—Lawrence, ON]

Thank you, Chair.

Thank you, gentlemen and lady, for coming and sharing your experiences with us.

As you know, the committee is looking at the transport of dangerous goods and amendments to the act. One of the things we have been told should be of great concern to us, of course, is the impending security issues that are raised by a world event in Vancouver, or the lower mainland, in one year's time. I'd like to address my questions in that context to both Ms. Mitchell and Monsieur Brousseau, to whoever it is who speaks English with a French accent.

Our concerns initially were as follows, and maybe Ms. Mitchell might attempt this one at first.

Transport basically involves two issues: one is the vehicle itself and the other, of course, is the driver. From your experience of the homeland security defence and the United States--I guess all of the states, but more from the federal government's perspective--which of the two is it that they're focusing on in greater detail?

[Stephanie Mitchell]

I would say that it was the tracking of the vehicles. The tracking centre seems to be what a lot of the studies are focused on at the moment. Vehicle slowdown is also a future federal requirement. They have provided money to these companies to start implementing that in the hope that trucking companies will comply and they won't be forced to mandate, or once they have mandated, most trucking companies will have complied with vehicle shut-down and GPS tracking.

[Joe Volpe, Liberal, Eglinton—Lawrence, ON]

What happens if they don't have that?

[Stephanie Mitchell]

Eventually it will be mandated.

[Joe Volpe, Liberal, Eglinton—Lawrence, ON]

If our trucks attempt to cross the border and they don't have the same kind of technology—

[Stephanie Mitchell]

We won't be able to cross the border if we don't have that implemented on our tractor-trailers. If they're not interchangeable from Canada to the U.S., we won't be able to bring our vehicles into the U.S.

[Joe Volpe, Liberal, Eglinton—Lawrence, ON]

You're telling us indirectly that we have to have it and it has to be the same kind of technology that the American side of the border will accept.

[Stephanie Mitchell]

There is what they call “open-source GPS tracking”. For example, Qualcomm does not have open-source, so they would never allow other GPS tracking systems to exchange data information. However, we are looking at providing open-source, so that we can interface with other tracking systems and provide information easily both to the U.S. and Canada.

[Joe Volpe, Liberal, Eglinton—Lawrence, ON]

If I understood you correctly, you said that there were 28 such companies that were studied, and of those 28, six were Canadian. Should I draw from these numbers that these 28, including those six Canadians, are the ones that would be acceptable in an architecture that says this is the kind of system that is validated for taking vehicles across the border?

[Stephanie Mitchell]

Yes, the 28 companies that they researched had to meet specific criteria. Off the top of my head, I can't remember what those criteria were, but all 28 companies had to meet whatever was laid out to be part of the report. They are looking at specifics for the technology.

[Joe Volpe, Liberal, Eglinton—Lawrence, ON]

Fire trucks don't meet those criteria, and I believe there were five of them.

[Stephanie Mitchell]

Yes.

[Joe Volpe, Liberal, Eglinton—Lawrence, ON]

If they don't meet the criteria, then that technology will not permit their trucks to cross the border.

[Stephanie Mitchell]

That is my understanding, yes.

[Joe Volpe, Liberal, Eglinton—Lawrence, ON]

Now, I'm wondering if I could just piggyback on that, perhaps to Mr. Spencer or Mr. Brousseau.

The second element is, of course, validating the driver. You indicated that you have some 40,000 to 80,000 drivers who are not validated for transporting dangerous goods, notwithstanding the fact that some of the vehicles they would be driving would already have been validated because they met the criteria--I believe they have to have three of the five criteria before they're validated.

What happens in the event that a Canadian driver, not part of your system, comes across the border?

[Alan Brousseau]

Transport Canada has a program in place right now to facilitate the flow of trucks across the border, the FAST program. We don't have a lot of information about the FAST program since we're not involved in it. I'm not entirely sure if there's even a security-clearance portion in the FAST program as opposed to just a pass that let's you go across the border quickly.