Who pays? Weighing the costs of security.

• Author: Erwin, Sandra I.
• Position: MARITIME DEFENSE

A smorgasbord of legislation and policy directives aimed at patching up security at U.S. ports in recent years has resulted in expenditures of billions of dollars worth of protective systems and technologies.

But there is lingering confusion among government and industry circles on major issues--such as what level of protection is needed against what threats, and the possible financial implications that the increased security ultimately will have on maritime commerce.

A patchwork of civilian and military agencies--in addition to private firms that manage port terminals--make for a complex web of authorities that oversee port security. Trying to pinpoint exactly who is in charge of port security nationwide is rather puzzling, notes Jonah J. Czerwinski, a homeland security analyst at the Center for the Study of the Presidency. "There's no one answer," he says. "In a macro sense, it's the government and the private sector." While the Coast Guard has the majority of the security responsibilities, the Customs and Border Protection agency is in charge of the terminal, along with the contractors who operate the port.

Of concern to port managers, particularly; is the lack of standard policies and security requirements, as well as the yet-undermined costs of implementing the added security, says Gary Brown, a retired Marine Corps brigadier general who runs a port security center at the University of Tampa, Fla.

Brown says he met with several private-sector port directors who claim that there is "conflicting information coming from federal agencies."

Port managers, he says, "want some sort of policy that is consistent, that's understandable." Maritime transportation security laws and Department of Homeland Security regulations, for example, require port operators to erect fences around the terminals or to install additional lighting, but don't specify what type of fence or lights. These broadly stated mandates frustrate port managers, Brown says, because it forces them to rely on the recommendations from contractors who sell this equipment, rather than from unbiased experts.

Port security officials at the Department of Homeland Security could not be reached for comment. According to one DHS spokesman, the science and technology branch of the department plans to set standards for security equipment, but he declined to elaborate. Another spokesman says that technology standards are not the purview of DHS, but of the National Institute of Standards and...