FederalDaily - October 30, 2006
TSA Needs to Rework Staffing Guidelines
Before the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) either caps or increases the level of administrative
airport employees, it needs to upgrade its staffing guidelines, says a new government report. The Department
of Homeland Security (DHS) Inspector General (IG) issued a report which looked at whether administrative
staff were top-heavy and underutilized at some airports and understaffed at others. TSA's initial staffing
actions lacked coherency, sometimes resulting in significant disparities in staffing at airports,
the IG stated. The tasks assigned to administrative personnel and screeners often overlap, making it
difficult to determine how many workers an airport might need and how employees are classified. Furthermore,
the auditors were doubtful the TSA’s new staffing policy—the Hub-Spoke Realignment and
Reallocation Plan—would help. “Even TSA’s (Hub-Spoke) plan does not answer the question
of whether it needs more or could get by with fewer administrative positions” the report said. “It
is only a more uniform allocation of the number (of existing) positions.” The IG report was completed
Sept. 26, but wasn’t released publicly until this week. To see more, go to: www.dhs.gov/xoig/assets/mgmtrpts/OIG_06-65_Sep06.pdf
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FWS Employee Warnings Ignored, Stifled
The Fish & Wildlife Service (FWS) excised key findings in a performance evaluation assessing the
first year of joint management of the National Bison Range Wildlife Refuge (BRWR) with the Confederated
Salish and Kootenai Tribes (CSKT), a public employees union said. Public Employees for Environmental
Responsibility (PEER) said on Oct. 26 that problems cited in deleted portions of the report—including
warnings of deteriorating relations and communication barriers with the CSKT—were later raised
by FWS staff in a formal agency grievance. PEER alleged that the censored sections described an array
of problems, including postponement of priority projects on the refuge, the complete loss of the volunteer
BRWR program and an array of hidden costs that had to be absorbed by cuts in refuge programs. FWS has
retained an outside investigator who is preparing a report for regional officials concerning the employee
grievance, PEER said. In addition to the employee grievance, the Department of Interior’s Office
of Inspector General has opened a separate probe.. To see more, go to: www.peer.org/news/news_id.php?row_id=777
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USDA Veterinarian Attacked by White Tiger
A Department of Agriculture (USDA) veterinarian was attacked by a white tiger while she was inspecting
a controversial exotic animal farm in Ohio. The tiger grabbed the right arm of Dr. Norma Harlan, veterinary
medical officer with the USDA's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, while she was outside of
its cage during an Oct. 16 inspection at the L&L Exotic Animal Farm in Copley, Ohio, just west
of Akron. Copley Police said Harlan reported she was standing three feet outside the cage when the
female tiger reached out with its paw and pulled her toward the cage. She was not seriously injured
and was able to later return to the farm and finish the inspection, the USDA said. The Animal Protection
Institute (API), a national animal advocacy organization, is renewing calls for Ohio legislators to
immediately ban the ownership of dangerous wild and exotic animals in the state. To see more, go to: www.api4animals.org/press?p=972&more=1
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