Houston port officials in coming weeks will be working to try to secure more than 100 more customs agents to help increase security for the region.
The Port of Houston Authority has estimated that between 125 and 150 additional agents are needed to properly staff the port and the city's biggest airport.
The cost to hire 150 new customs agents would be $22.8 million, according to port officials.
At the Port of Houston, many agents inspect containers coming across the docks.
Houston will be vying with other entities for additional agents as a result of the Port Security Improvement Act of 2006, signed by President Bush last week.
That law is expected to trigger the hiring of more than 1,200 new U.S. Customs agents nationwide over the next several years, according to the port authority. Decisions about where the agents will be assigned are expected to be made in mid-2007.
Port officials said the manpower shortage is increasing the time it takes cargo to move through the port.
The need for customs officers will only increase when the port authority's new container terminal opens, which is expected later this year.
Customs agents now are shuttled between the port and George Bush Intercontinental Airport.
Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, who toured Houston port security facilities Monday, said that in addition to agents in the U.S., she wants more of them placed in foreign ports.
The Container Security Initiative places officers in foreign ports to inspect cargo before it is transported to the U.S.
Hutchison also noted that she wants the port to continue to get grant money for other kinds of security. The port's most recent grant announced Sept. 25 was for $1.7 million, and the senator said that brings the amount the region has received to $76 million.
Only New York-New Jersey has received more — $77 million — she said.
The Houston region needs to continue to get a big share of federal grant money for security because of its huge petrochemical complex, she said.
The port has been implementing more security measures in the past few years, including fencing, access control systems and cameras. The port has about 150 cameras.
"Security is an ongoing process," said Wade Battles, managing director for the authority. "We will never be done."
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