Highway Infrastructure: Federal Efforts to Strengthen Security Should Be Better Coordinated and Targeted on the Nation's Most Critical Highway Infrastructure
GAO-09-57
Published: Jan 30, 2009. Publicly Released: Mar 06, 2009.
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Highlights
The nation's highway transportation system is vast and open--vehicles and their operators can move freely and with almost no restrictions. Securing the U.S. highway infrastructure system is a responsibility shared by federal, state and local government, and the private sector. Within the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) has primary responsibility for ensuring the security of the sector. GAO was asked to assess the progress DHS has made in securing the nation's highway infrastructure. This report addresses the extent to which federal entities have conducted and coordinated risk assessments; DHS has developed a risk-based strategy; and stakeholders, such as state and local transportation entities, have taken voluntary actions to secure highway infrastructure -- and the degree to which DHS has monitored such actions. To conduct this work, GAO reviewed risk assessment results and TSA's documented security strategy, and conducted interviews with highway stakeholders.
Recommendations
Recommendations for Executive Action
| Agency Affected | Recommendation | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Department of Homeland Security | To enhance collaboration among federal entities involved in securing highway infrastructure and better leverage federal resources, the Secretary of Homeland Security should establish a mechanism to systematically coordinate risk assessment activities and share the results of these activities among the federal partners. |
The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) has implemented a mechanism to systematically coordinate risk assessment activities and share the results of these activities among the federal partners. TSA provided evidence of an outreach effort to coordinate and share risk management activities with its federal partners. We consider TSA's outreach efforts to coordinate and share assessment activities as evidence of establishing a mechanism and, as a result, this recommendation is closed as implemented.
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| Department of Homeland Security | To help ensure that highway infrastructure stakeholders are provided with useful information to identify and prioritize potential infrastructure security measures, enhance future planning efforts, and determine the extent to which specific protective security measures have been implemented, the Secretary of Homeland Security should direct the Assistant Secretary for the Transportation Security Administration, in consultation with the Highway Government Coordinating Council and the Highway Sector Coordinating Council, for the upcoming revision to the Highway Modal Annex, (1) in addition to the results of threat assessment information, incorporate the results of available vulnerability, and consequence assessment information into the strategy for securing highway infrastructure; and (2) consistent with Executive Order 13416 and desirable characteristics of an effective national strategy, identify existing guidance developed by other federal and state highway infrastructure stakeholders; indicate timeframes or milestones for its overall implementation for which entities can be held responsible; more clearly define security-related roles and responsibilities for highway infrastructure security activities for itself and other federal stakeholders, state and local government, and the private sector; establish a timeframe for developing performance goals and measures for monitoring the implementation of the Annex's goals, objectives, and activities; and provide more guidance on resources, investments and risk management to help implementing parties allocate resources and investments according to priorities and constraints. |
The Transportation Security Administration has revised the Highway Modal Annex so that it is more closely aligned and consistent with elements of Executive Order 13416 and the recommended characteristics of an effective strategy. As a result, this recommendation is closed as implemented.
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| Department of Homeland Security | To help ensure that highway infrastructure stakeholders are provided with useful information to identify and prioritize potential infrastructure security measures, enhance future planning efforts, and determine the extent to which specific protective security measures have been implemented, the Secretary of Homeland Security should direct the Assistant Secretary for the Transportation Security Administration, in consultation with the Highway Government Coordinating Council and the Highway Sector Coordinating Council, to develop a cost-effective mechanism to monitor the implementation of voluntary protective security measures on highway infrastructure assets identified as nationally critical. |
The Transportation Security Administration provided evidence that demonstrates that it has developed a cost-effective mechanism to monitor the implementation of voluntary protective security measures on highway infrastructure assets identified as nationally critical. As a result, this recommendation is closed as implemented.
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Critical infrastructureCritical infrastructure protectionstate relationsHighway planningHighway researchHomeland securityInteragency relationsInternal controlsMonitoringPrimary highwaysPublic roads or highwaysResearch and developmentRisk assessmentRisk managementSecurity assessmentsSecurity regulationsSecurity threatsStrategic planningTerrorismTransportation securityProgram coordinationProgram goals or objectives