Some agencies could get break on smart identity card deadline

Editor's Note: Since this article was published, federal officials have retracted some of the information included in it. For an updated follow-up story, please click here.

Agencies struggling to meet an Oct. 27 deadline for issuing new wireless-chip identity cards could gain relief under a policy that could be issued soon from a federal steering committee.

Under Homeland Security Presidential Directive 12, signed by President Bush in August 2004, agencies must issue their employees and contractors credit card-sized badges equipped with a computer chip. The badges will be used for physical entry into buildings and possibly to access to computer systems. Implementation guidance requires agencies to begin issuing identity cards compliant with National Institute of Standards and Technology standards by this fall.

But agencies that agree to procure cards through cooperative agreements with other agencies that volunteer to act as card service providers may not be held to the Oct. 27 deadline, said John Sindelar, acting head of the General Services Administration's Office of Governmentwide Policy and a member of the HSPD 12 executive steering committee.

An agency committed to procuring cards through another agency "may not be, by Oct. 27, in a city or an agency that actually issues a card at that point," he told Government Executive. Service providers will issue cards over a two-year period, he said. But, "If you decide to go it alone, you do have to meet the HSPD 12 requirements and the issuance of the credentials by Oct. 27," Sindelar said.

[Editor's Note: Federal officials stressed later that entire agencies will not be exempt from the deadline. The executive steering committee will issue a policy stating that although every agency must issue at least one new wireless chip identity badge by Oct. 27, not every office branch must provide its employees with the credential by the deadline.]

The steering committee wants agencies to volunteer to help with the card issuance process. Services provided by such agencies could range from simply providing space and personnel to oversee enrollment duties to handling the entire process of issuing cards, said David Temoshok, head of identity policy and management at GSA.

Some HSPD 12 implementation managers lack interest in stepping up to become service providers. "We can't get our own house in order. How can we get somebody else's house in order?" said one agency official, speaking on condition of anonymity.

It will be difficult for agencies to craft business cases for becoming volunteer service providers, the official said. Demand for such services will be high at first, but then will taper off once existing employees and contractors have the smart cards. If the volunteer service provider has committed resources and staff to handling the upfront business, then it's unclear how they would manage the subsequent drop, the official said.

The concept of using service centers for intergovernmental initiatives is becoming an increasingly important part of the Office of Management and Budget's vision for federal business operations. But there are many unresolved issues associated with the practice.

In an earlier interview with Government Executive, Karen Evans, OMB administrator for e-government and information technology, said generally, when business drops at a federal service center, the volunteer agency should consider laying off employees.

Agencies seeking to comply with HSPD 12 have been stymied so far by several factors. They must buy equipment for issuing cards from vendors that have been approved by NIST and passed a separate round of GSA testing for interoperability. But not all the necessary equipment has made it through the testing process.

Even planning for costs has been difficult, some agency officials say, because without an approved list of vendors, HSPD 12 implementation expenses are hard to estimate. A recent Government Accountability Office report (GAO-06-178) cast doubt on the likelihood that agencies will meet the Oct. 27 deadline.