If we are going to talk about chemical facility security, discussing CFATS would be top of mind. There is a lot of good background information available from DHS and other consultants and integrators. But, the question is where is CFATS legislation right now?
In late 2006, Congress passed the Department of Homeland Security Appropriations Act of 2007, which included the Chemical Facilities Anti-Terrorism Standards. CFATS was meant to establish security standards for facilities considered to be at high risk. This original legislation gave DHS three years to develop and implement the program. It was set to expire in October 2009.
During the three years it is estimated that more than 32,000 facilities have submitted an online analysis or "top screen" to DHS and they have identified close to 7,000 of those as high risk. Based on the "top screens" submitted, DHS assigns a risk level or "tier" - from 1 to 4 with 1 having the highest risk level. Once facilities have their tiering letter they must put together a security site plan for review.
In October 2009, the Senate passed H.R. 2892 to extend CFATS until October 2010. That gave lawmakers a year to work on permanent or longer-term legislation. Here is a rundown of CFATS legislation over the past few months.
- On Nov. 6, 2009, the House passed H.R. 2868, the Chemical and Water Security Act of 2009. This legislation would make CFATS permanent and contains a provision for IST (Inherently Safer Technologies). It would also bring water and wastewater treatment facilities under CFATS. The legislation was sent to the Senate.
- In Feb. 2010, a bipartisan group of senators introduced S.2996, which would keep CFATS in its current form and extend ituntil 2015.
- On March 3, the Senate Committee on Homeland Security & Governmental Affairs held a chemical security hearing with testimony from key governmental agencies, unions and industry associations.
So that is where we are right now. It doesn't look like the Senate is inclined to vote on the House bill and with the focus on healthcare, stimulus fundingand the upcoming mid-term elections there doesn't appear to be a lot ofattention on CFATS. That doesn't mean that CFATS is going away. Most experts believe the mandate is here to stay and the Obama administration has put funding for the program in the DHS 2011 budget. Stay tuned and look for updates here.
RyanLoughin is Director of Petrochemical & Energy Solutions for the Advanced Integration division of ADT- www.adtbusiness.com/petrochem. He provides security education to CFATS and MTSA-affected companies and is amember of the National Petrochemical and Refiners Association (NPRA), Society of Chemical Manufacturers and Associates (SOCMA), Energy Security Council (ESC) and American Society for Industrial Security (ASIS). Loughin has also completed multiple levels of CVI Authorized User training (Chemical- Terrorism Vulnerability Information) which was authored by the U.S. Department ofHomeland Security.
Copyright © ADT Security Services, Inc. 2011 - All Rights Reserved. Legal Disclaimer - Some of the individuals posting to this site, including the moderators, work for ADT Security Services, Inc. Opinions expressed here and in any corresponding comments are the personal opinions of the original authors, not of ADT Security Services, Inc. The content is provided for informational purposes only and is not meant to be an endorsement or representation by ADT Security Services, Inc. or any other party. This site is available to the public. No information you consider confidential should be posted to this site. By posting you agree to be solely responsible for the content of all information you contribute, link to, or otherwise upload to the Website and release ADT Security Services, Inc. from any liability related to your use of the Website. You also grant to ADT Security Services, Inc. a worldwide, perpetual, irrevocable, royalty-free and fully-paid, transferable (including rights to sublicense) right to exercise all copyright, publicity, and moral rights with respect to any original content you provide. The comments are moderated. Comments will appear as soon as they are approved by the moderator.
