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New security procedures are going into place at all ports:

Ports to use new employee ID cards in March

Workers at the nation's ports and docks will need special biometric ID cards beginning in March.

WASHINGTON - The Department of Homeland Security this March will begin requiring 750,000 U.S. port and maritime workers to carry identification cards imprinted with their biometric fingerprints, despite delays in developing devices to read them.

The agency announced Wednesday the start of the program, under which workers will undergo extensive background checks to obtain the cards to gain unescorted access to secure areas of U.S. ports and vessels. Installation of the card readers, however, appears to be more than a year away.

Local ports support the ID requirement.

''We do think a uniform ID card is necessary,'' said Port Everglades spokeswoman Ellen Kennedy, ``and we just need to learn more about how it's going to be implemented and how it fits in with state standards.''

Florida already has a very substantial credential program in place, said James Maes, assistant seaport director for safety and security at the Port of Miami.

''We think it's a good idea to have the same security standards applied to all of the ports,'' he said.

The Transportation Security Administration and U.S. Coast Guard decided that more research was needed on technology for the card readers, which must be durable enough to withstand saltwater environments and able to scan cards and fingers without direct contact, Coast Guard spokeswoman Angela McArdle said. The agencies said a separate rule covering the readers would be proposed later this year.

In the interim, McArdle said, the Coast Guard will conduct spot checks with hand-held scanners to verify the identify of cardholders.

MOVING FORWARD

With the final rule posted on the TSA's website on New Year's Day, the agency and the Coast Guard called it ''imperative'' to go forward, despite the delays, ``to improve the security of our nation's vessels and port facilities.''

McArdle said the agencies ``can still take advantage of the screening and the background checks, so we know the backgrounds of the people who are getting these cards.''

Under the regulation, applicants for the ID card will undergo a comprehensive check of their criminal histories, immigration status and whether their names show up on TSA's terrorist watch lists.

The rule lays out what crimes or terrorism-related concerns will disqualify applicants for the ID card. For example, money laundering is listed as a disqualifier because it is among ''crimes of dishonesty and fraud and can be a means of funding terrorism,'' while welfare fraud and passing bad checks won't preclude issuance of the credential.

Fees for the cards, known as the Transportation Worker Identification Credential, will range from $107-$159, with applicants getting discounts. The card, which also will carry a photo of each worker, will be valid for five years.

Todd Spencer, executive vice president of the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association in Grain Valley, Mo., described the fees as ''really high'' for a program ''that isn't even functional.'' The group represents 148,000 drivers in an industry where turnover averages 120 percent a year, Spencer said.

'It's going to be another reason that drivers are simply going to say, `Phooey, I'm not going to get any of it,' '' Spencer said.

But Carlos Duenas, owner of the Miami-based trucking company MVC Transportation, said the fee, divided over five years, is better than the current cost of $50 or $60 annually.

''It's a pretty good deal,'' he said.

McArdle said maritime workers will be required to sign up to get the cards on a rolling basis, starting at the most critical ports, with all workers scheduled to be enrolled within 20 months.