Homeland Security Presidential Directive 12 (HSPD-12)

On August 27, 2004, President Bush signed Homeland Security Presidential Directive 12 (HSPD-12), Policy for a Common Identification Standard for Federal Employees and Contractors. Based upon this directive, the National Institute for Standards and Technology (NIST) developed Federal Information Processing Standards Publication (FIPS Pub) 201, including a description of the minimum requirements for Federal personal identification verification (PIV). HSPD-12 directs the implementation of a new standardized badging process, which is designed to enhance security, reduce identity fraud, and protect personal privacy by establishing a mandatory, government-wide standard for secure and reliable forms of identification issued by the Federal Government to its employees, contractors, and other classes of individuals. The Department of Energy (DOE) began implementing the HSPD-12 program on October 27, 2005.

This policy will mean major changes in the issuance of the DOE Standard Badge. Only those individuals who meet the minimum requirements under the PIV process will be issued the DOE Common Badge or the follow-on HSPD-12 Standard Badge. All other individuals will be issued a local site badge that will be valid only for access to the issuing site.

Along with this new process are new requirements:

• Everyone issued a DOE Standard Badge must have a favorable background investigation (NACI), including an FBI fingerprint check.
• All personnel must be "identity-proofed," that is, they must present two forms of identification (I-9 Documents), one of which must include a photo.
• No one person can be the sole official who requests, authorizes, and issues a badge.

The PIV process contains critical roles associated with identity proofing, registration, and credential issuance. They are: the Applicant, the Sponsor, the Registrar, and the Issuer. These roles may be ancillary roles assigned to personnel who have other primary duties.

Each PIV role and its corresponding responsibilities are listed below. The following roles shall be employed for the PIV identity proofing, registration, and issuance process:

• Applicant:
  The Applicant receives a DOE Standard Badge (PIV credential)
• Sponsor:
  The Sponsor substantiates the need for a DOE Standard Badge (PIV credential)issued to the Applicant; the federal authority who requests a DOE Standard Badge (PIV credential) for the Applicant. Sponsors are responsible Federal officials, to include supervisors, managers, Contracting Officer Representatives, Administrative Officers, Human Resources or Security Specialists, or similar level positions.
• Enrollment Official:
  The Enrollment Official collects all the applicable forms and data on an individual, to include verifying I-9 documents, and submits the package to the Registrar. These duties may be performed by the local badging office at DOE sites.
• Registrar:
  The Registrar is responsible for the identity proofing of the Applicant and coordinating the NACI or other BI activities. One or more individuals may perform the Registrar role. The Registrar provides the final approval for issuance of a credential to the Applicant.
• Issuer:
  At the time of PIV Card issuance, the Issuer confirms the Applicant's identification source documents, which must be a State- or Federal-issued ID in original form (not copies), one of which must include a photo, as defined in FIPS 201. The Issuer issues the credential (ID badge) to the Applicant and obtains a signature from the Applicant attesting to the acceptance of the credential and related responsibilities. Within DOE, these duties are typically performed at a site badging office within the local security organization.

DOE implemented the PIV process in DOE Notice 206.3, "Personal Identity Verification." Although this new program will require significant changes throughout the Department of Energy and the Federal Government, it will translate to a safer and more secure work environment for us all.