New deadline for baggage screening gains momentum

Wednesday, Sept. 18, 2002 | 9:37 a.m.

WASHINGTON -- As many as 40 airports, including McCarran International, will be allowed to miss a Dec. 31 deadline for installing minivan-sized baggage screening machines if legislation that continues to gain momentum in Congress passes.

The Senate Commerce Committee on Thursday is expected to approve the legislation and attach it to a broader aviation security bill. Panel member Sen. John Ensign, R-Nev., is a leading proponent of delaying the deadline.

Ensign's office announced Tuesday that a compromise on the bill had been reached.

Ensign says that airports such as McCarran simply cannot have the machines in place in time. Many of the nation's biggest airports face real logistical problems, he said. If the airports are forced to screen 100 percent of luggage through the few machines they might have in place by year's end, passengers -- including all-important Las Vegas tourists -- could be stranded in long lines, Ensign has said.

The legislation would allow the nation's new Transportation Security Administration to work with each airport to set a new deadline. McCarran would need three to four months beyond year's end, Ensign has said.

The TSA would be required to submit each airport's plan to Congress, and then submit monthly progress reports, according to the legislation.

The legislation also requires that after Dec. 31 airports use other methods to check 100 percent of bags until the bulky explosive detection machines are in place. Those methods may include more hand-checking, bomb-sniffing dogs and baggage identification procedures.