Starting next year, harbor workers will only need to make one in-person visit to get a Transportation Worker Identification Credential, or TWIC card. Previously, first-time TWIC enrollees have had to stop into one of seven TWIC offices in the state of Alaska to register for the card -- and then come back again, weeks later, to pick up the printed security badge.

Congress relaxed the requirement as part of the Coast Guard reauthorization bill, which is about to be signed into law. 

Sen. Lisa Murkowski has argued that the two-visit requirement is an undue burden for Alaskans, who might have to travel long distances to get to a TWIC office. She lobbied the Department of Homeland Security to streamline the process last month.

In a press release, Murkowski says she was happy to see the changes go through.

“Getting a security card renewed for your job shouldn’t require hundreds of dollars worth of plane tickets and all that time away from work,” Murkowski says.

The Transportation Safety Administration directly administers the TWIC program. They’ll have until September 2013 to put the changes into effect.