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Newsroom
By Government Security News magazine
August 31, 2009
Ten more airports around the country likely will be getting new in-line baggage-handling systems with enhanced explosives detection technology, thanks to more than $240 million in American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA), aka stimulus, funding, to be disbursed by DHS.
The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) has issued conditional letters to the following airports, informing them that they are being considered for the new systems:
•William P. Hobby Airport (Houston, TX);
•Washington Dulles International Airport;
•Lambert-St. Louis International Airport;
•Yellowstone Regional Airport (Cody, WY);
•St. Petersburg/Clearwater International Airport (St. Petersburg, FL);
•Gallatin Field Airport (Bozeman, MT);
•Little Rock National Airport;
•Tulsa International Airport;
•Charlotte Douglas International Airport (Charlotte, NC); and
•Colorado Springs Airport.
According to a DHS statement, the new projects were made possible by TSA’s cost assessment and negotiation process, which resulted in reductions in project costs for the airports originally in the pipeline for ARRA funding.
According to the statement, TSA’s efforts reflect DHS Secretary Napolitano’s commitment to creating a culture of efficiency at DHS.
“By managing our Recovery Act funds responsibly, we are able to stretch our resources even further to deploy new security equipment to more airports across the country," said Secretary Napolitano in the statement. “These state-of-the-art baggage systems will inject critical resources into local communities while making travel safer.”
The new stimulus dollars are in addition to $104 million in ARRA funding for explosive detection system projects already allocated to other other airports.
More than $3 billion in ARRA funds have been committed to DHS and General Services Administration homeland security projects. Of the $1 billion allocated to TSA for aviation security projects, $700 million is earmarked for screening checked baggage and $300 million is allocated for checkpoint explosive detection technology.
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