Case Study: Department of Homeland Security’s Advanced Imaging Technology (AIT) Shannon Joyce White House Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs U.S./Colombia RIA and GRP Workshop Bogota, Colombia April 11, 2018 Any views expressed here are solely those of the presenter, and do not necessarily reflect the position of the Office of Management and Budget or the Executive Office of the President.

What Are We Trying to Solve? The Transportation Security Administration was created after and in response to 9/11. Congress has charged the Transportation Security Administration (TSA), a component of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), with responsibility for civil aviation security, including combatting the threat posed by al Qaeda and other terrorists. The Administrator of TSA must “assess current and potential threats to the domestic air transportation system” and take “necessary actions to improve domestic air transportation security,” including by providing for “the screening of all passengers and property” before boarding an aircraft to ensure that no passenger is “carrying unlawfully a dangerous weapon, explosive, or other destructive substance.” Photo source: CC BY-SA 2.5, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=4746093

Technology Provides Possible Solution Metal detectors have frequent false-positives and not all weapons are made of metal Pat-downs solve this by telling us if the person has something they are concealing, but they are slow Congress directed DHS to “give a high priority to developing, testing, improving, and deploying, at airport screening checkpoints, equipment that detects nonmetallic, chemical, biological, and radiological weapons, and explosives.”  

Technology Provides Possible Solution TSA began deploying AIT in 2008 after laboratory and operational testing. Modern imaging:

Alternatives Considered by TSA Walk-through Metal Detector (WTMD) only AIT as Secondary Screening following WTMD alarm Pat-down as Secondary Screening following WTMD alarm Explosive Detection Technology (EDT) as primary, WTMD secondary AIT as primary, pat-down and/or EDT as secondary

Quantified Costs Considered Training costs for employees Traveler Delay (opportunity) costs Utility costs (for both airports and TSA) Labor costs Equipment costs Deliberative staff materials. Subject to further revision. Do not distribute/duplicate.

Unquantified Costs Considered Privacy Dignity Discomfort from false alarms Health Impacts (negligible so not quantified) Disparate impacts discussion Deliberative staff materials. Subject to further revision. Do not distribute/duplicate.

Benefits? Deliberative staff materials. Subject to further revision. Do not distribute/duplicate.

Shannon Joyce: sjoyce@omb.eop.gov Questions? Thank you! Contact information: Shannon Joyce: sjoyce@omb.eop.gov Not sure about providing contact info. I’m fine to read off either email or phone numbers. If there is concern, we could do the main phone line.

Deliberative staff materials. Subject to further revision Deliberative staff materials. Subject to further revision. Do not distribute/duplicate.