(a) The AMS Committee is established under the direction of the COTP and shall assist in the development, review, and update of the AMS Plan for their area of responsibility. For the purposes of this subchapter, Port Security Committees that were established prior to July 1, 2003, according to guidance issued by the Coast Guard, may be considered AMS Committees, provided they conform to the procedures established by this part and satisfy the membership requirements of § 103.305 of this part.

(b) The AMS Committee will operate under terms specified in a written charter. At a minimum, the charter must address:

(1) The AMS Committee's purpose and geographic area of responsibility;

(2) Rules for membership;

(3) The AMS Committee's organizational structure and procedural rules of order;

(4) Frequency of meetings, to include not less than once in a calendar year or when requested by a majority of the AMS Committee members;

(5) Guidelines for public access to AMS Committee meetings and records; and

(6) Rules for handling and protecting classified, sensitive security, commercially sensitive, and proprietary information.

(a) An AMS Committee will be composed of not less than seven members having an interest in the security of the area and who may be selected from—

(1) The Federal, Territorial, or Tribal government;

(2) The State government and political subdivisions thereof;

(3) Local public safety, crisis management and emergency response agencies;

(4) Law enforcement and security organizations;

(5) Maritime industry, including labor;

(6) Other port stakeholders having a special competence in maritime security; and

(7) Port stakeholders affected by security practices and policies.

(b) At least seven of the members must each have 5 or more years of experience related to maritime or port security operations.

(c) Members appointed under this section serve for a term of not more than five years. In appointing members, the FMSC should consider the skills required by § 103.410 of this part. With the exception of credentialed Federal, state and local officials, all AMS Committee members shall have a name-based terrorist check from TSA, hold a TWIC, or have passed a comparable security threat assessment, if they need access to SSI as determined by the FMSC.

(a) The AMS Committee shall:

(1) Identify critical port infrastructure and operations;

(2) Identify risks (threats, vulnerabilities, and consequences);

(3) Determine mitigation strategies and implementation methods;

(4) Develop and describe the process to continually evaluate overall port security by considering consequences and vulnerabilities, how they may change over time, and what additional mitigation strategies can be applied; and

(5) Provide advice to, and assist the COTP in, developing the AMS Plan.

(b) The AMS Committee shall also serve as a link for communicating threats and changes in MARSEC Levels, and disseminating appropriate security information to port stakeholders.