Travel regulation changes you need to know

By Ed Hewitt

updated 6:07 p.m. ET Jan. 29, 2008

Since the year 2007 started off with an ambush of a passport policy change, we kept our eyes peeled for the same this year — and of course were not disappointed. Not inclined to waste any time, at least when it comes to surprising travelers, the Department of Transportation instituted a policy change on the morning of January 1. Naturally, they chose the Friday between Christmas and New Year's — the last possible business day to do so, not to mention the last one of the year — to announce the new policy.

Now, just because I was checking security policies over the holidays doesn't mean normal people were doing so. It almost seems like the policy was meant to go unnoticed — at least until you arrived at the airport security checkpoint. Toward eliminating more surprises as the days and months pass, I have compiled some of the rule and policy changes coming in 2008 — read up now so they won't kick in when you're not looking.

Batteries are the new bad guy
The aforementioned ambush refers to the new security policy — announced on December 28 that took effect on January 1 — that limits the number of lithium batteries with which you may travel, as well as the way in which you can travel with them.

The policy statement is no easy read, but it appears that the new rule permits you to bring only two "spare" rechargeable lithium batteries in your carry-on bags. These must either be in their original packaging, or in a plastic bag or travel case. You may only travel with batteries in your checked bags if they are installed in an electronic device (but of course checking something like your laptop or camera is the practical equivalent of chucking it off a bridge).

I'm OK at parsing legalese, but I am not entirely confident of my interpretation — the DOT's statement meanders like a drunken ant.

It does provide some comic relief, however — as if they know just how wicked a New Year's Day policy change is. The requirement to know how many grams your batteries weigh is a nice challenge for New Year's morning, but my favorite part is Lynne Osmus's comment that "it's the right thing to do and the right time to do it."

FACT FILE Passport rule changes What travelers need to know about new regulations

New Year's morning is the right time to secure the world from rechargeable lithium batteries? It's more like the right time to sleep in and hoard Excedrin. Yeesh.

State Department struggled — Now it's the DMV's turn
Since administration of the new passport rules went so well, the Homeland Security Department is linking their Real ID program to the issuance of state driver's licenses. The REAL ID act is a law intended "to make it harder for terrorists, illegal immigrants and con artists to get government-issued identification."

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There are significant debates over the privacy implications of the law, but for our purposes it is the timing of the law that merits concern; the original plan was for adoption by May 2008. Meanwhile, a large majority of travelers still use their old vanilla driver's licenses as legal ID to board planes (not to mention drive their cars) — and the Department of Homeland Security has made some rumblings about enforcing the requirement come May. Which would mean you're not boarding a plane without a valid passport, or a new high-tech driver's license that is still in R&D — which can't fail to bring back memories of the immense backlog for passports when the new rules launched last year. Round and round we go ...

Many believe, however, that the DHS is using the May deadline as a threat, albeit a hollow one, to force states to adopt the REAL ID statutes. Someone seems to have learned a good lesson from the passport fiasco — despite recent posturing, the DHS has officially relaxed critical deadlines for some time in 2011. They (and we) will need the time; I have been to a few empty passport offices in my life, but never, ever have I visited a DMV office where the waiting areas were not packed to the rafters.

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