Securing Driver’s Licenses Negotiated Rulemaking required under the 9/11 Act

Client: U.S. Department of Transportation, in consultation with U.S. Department of Homeland Security

Background

On December 17, 2004, President George W. Bush signed into law the Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004 (Public Law No. 108-458). Under Title VII of the 9/11 Act, Section 7212 required the use of negotiated rulemaking to create minimum standards for state-issued driver’s licenses and personal identification cards used for federal purposes.

Process

Podziba Policy Mediation was retained to conduct an assessment and mediate the negotiated rulemaking process. The assessment, a synthesis of information developed from 45 interviews with representatives of stakeholder organizations and relevant government offices.

Based on PPM recommendations, the U.S. Secretary of Transportation appointed 16 organizational members to the federally chartered DL/ID Reg Neg Committee, which included representatives from DOT, DHS, American Association of Motor Vehicle Administrators, AAA, American Civil Liberties Union, International Association of Chiefs of Police, National Conference of State Legislatures, National Governors Association, National Immigration Law Center, Alabama Department of Public Safety, Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles, Texas Department of Public Safety, New York State Department of Motor Vehicles, Center For Democracy and Technology, and Information Technology Association of America.

At the first meeting of the DL/ID Reg Neg Committee, members established organizational protocols; listened to remarks from Congressman Lee Hamilton, Vice Chair of the 9/11 Commission; heard expert presentations on document security, privacy issues, state DL/ID processes, and existing voluntary DL/ID standards; identified all issues to be discussed as part of the minimum standards; and actively discussed each issue.

Soon after, the Real ID Act repealed §7212 of the 9/11 Act, thereby terminating all activities of the DL/ID Reg Neg Committee.