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Critical Infrastructure: Chemical Security

Cover of Chemical Facility Anti-Terrorism StandardsThe Department continues to strengthen security at the Nation’s high-risk chemical facilities through the Chemical Facility Anti-Terrorism Standards (CFATS) program.

CFATS Has Made Our Nation and Communities More Secure

The CFATS program identifies and regulates high-risk chemical facilities to ensure they have security measures in place to reduce the risks associated with these chemicals.

Initially authorized by Congress in 2007, the program uses a dynamic multi-tiered risk assessment process and requires facilities identified as high-risk to meet and maintain performance-based security standards appropriate to the facilities and the risks they pose. DHS chemical security inspectors work in all 50 states to help ensure facilities have security measures in place to meet CFATS requirements.

On December 18, 2014, the President signed into law the Protecting and Securing Chemical Facilities from Terrorist Attacks Act of 2014 (“the CFATS Act of 2014”), which recodifies and reauthorizes the CFATS program for four years.

Securing High-Risk Chemical Facilities

UPDATE: Earlier this year, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) temporarily suspended the requirement to submit Chemical Facility Anti-Terrorism Standards Top-Screens and Security Vulnerability Assessments (SVA) in order to allow for a phased rollout of the new Chemical Security Assessment Tool (CSAT) 2.0 surveys and enhanced risk tiering methodology. On October 1, 2016, the requirement to submit Top-Screens was reinstated. Chemical facilities of interest that have not previously submitted a Top-Screen, but which have come into possession of reportable amounts of COI, must submit a Top-Screen within 60 days. Additionally, in the coming months, DHS will be reaching out directly to CFATS chemical facilities that have previously submitted Top-Screens to DHS and require that they submit a new Top-Screen using CSAT 2.0. However, facilities may choose to proactively resubmit a Top-Screen prior to receiving the individual notification.

DHS is hosting a number of webinars and in-person demonstrations to showcase the new CSAT 2.0. For more information, see the listing of events on the CFATS Tiering Methodology webpage. To learn more on the CSAT 2.0 updates to the SVA and Site Security Plan (SSP), please visit the CSAT SSP Revisions webpage.

CFATS is the first DHS regulatory program focused specifically on security at high-risk chemical facilities. DHS determines a facility’s risk profile by requiring facilities in possession of specific quantities of specific chemicals of interest to complete a risk assessment, known as a Top-Screen.

Facilities determined by DHS to be high-risk must complete and submit a Security Vulnerability Assessment and a Site Security Plan for DHS approval or an Alternative Security Program that includes security measures to meet applicable risk-based performance standards established by DHS.

Priority Precursor Chemicals Study

On August 1, 2016, the Department awarded a contract to the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (the Academies) to conduct a study titled “Reducing the Threat of Improvised Explosive Device Attacks by Restricting Access to Chemical Explosive Precursors,” researching possible paths forward to safeguard the Nation’s people, infrastructure, and economy from terrorist use of improvised explosive devices (IEDs).

Under the oversight of the Board on Chemical Sciences and Technology at the Academies, an ad hoc committee will identify and prioritize a list chemicals that have been used or are susceptible for use in IEDs either in the U.S. or internationally, analyze how the priority chemicals move through commercial supply chains, assess existing control measures for the priority chemicals, and suggest controls that might be effective for a voluntary or regulatory strategy.

On October 4, 2016, the Academies selected provisional members of the study committee, which consists of experts from the academic, industrial, and national lab sectors. Expertise on the committee includes chemistry, energetic materials, commercial supply chain operations, security, and law enforcement. For more information regarding the committee, please visit the Academies’ website.

For all questions and inquiries about this study, please contact CFATS@hq.dhs.gov.

Additional Resources

CFATS Tip Line

Report a possible security concern involving the Chemical Facility Anti-Terrorism Standards (CFATS) regulation.

CFATS Chemical Facility Security Tip Line: 1-877-394-4347 (1-877-FYI 4 DHS); CFATSTips@hq.dhs.gov

You may report concerns on voicemail anonymously. If you want a return call, leave your name and number. Calls to this tip line involve the CFATS regulation at your facility or another facility.

National Infrastructure Coordinating Center: 202-282-9201. If a potential security incident has already occurred, call this number to report it. Call 911 or contact your local FBI field office instead if this is a security emergency or terrorist incident.

Key Documents

Last Published Date: October 19, 2016

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