Last month, Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Janet Napolitano revealed the Obama Administration’s National Strategy for Global Supply Chain Security (Strategy). The Strategy aims to:

While pipeline security is currently only "voluntary," the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) has the authority to implement mandatory pipeline security regulations. In the last year, there has been an increase in the scope and intensity of "voluntary" pipeline activities, including:

Last week, the Society of Chemical Manufacturers and Affiliates (SOCMA)’s member-driven Safety and Security Committee held its final meeting of the year in Washington, DC to hear from agency issue experts and set an agenda for its 2012 activities.  At past meetings, members have heard from process safety experts in academia and government and have received regular updates from regulators at the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) who oversee CFATS compliance enforcement.

As the industry looks ahead to 2012, the Chemical Facility Anti-Terrorism Standards (CFATS) will continue to have a significant impact, especially as more sites undergo Authorization Inspections.

Don Keen, Acting Eastern District Commander, Infrastructure Security Compliance Division, DHS, joined me at the 4th Annual Homeland Security Regulatory Briefing, held in Houston, TX on November 1, 2011 to provide an update on CFATS.

The Sri Lanka government recently announced that it will regulate and monitor the use of hazardous chemicals. Sri Lanka imports many extremely toxic and hazardous materials that are used as base chemicals in Sri Lankan industries.

As previously reported, in August the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) published an Ammonium Nitrate Security Program (AN Security Program) Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM).

Public-private partnerships are a critical component of stopping terrorism, and an alert public plays an essential role in protecting the homeland. Three intelligence and law enforcement professionals addressed these issues at the recent Chemical Security Regulatory Workshop, jointly hosted by the Chemical Industry Council of California (CICC) and ADT Advanced Integration, held Tuesday, September 13, 2011 in Norwalk, CA.

The U.S. certainly isn’t the only country dealing with the threat of chemical terrorism. Nation’s like Australia are taking proactive measures to keep their country safe.  Over the past few months, police in Australia have been warning sellers of industrial chemicals to be careful about the sale of products to possible chemical terrorists prior to the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM).

Last week, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) issued a report warning  major utilities and critical infrastructure operators, such as chemical plants and oil refineries, that “violent extremists” have obtained insider positions and might use those positions to conduct physical and cyber attacks on behalf of Al Qaeda.

I ran across this warning from the FBI.  Apparently, members of the chemical community are asked to be on the lookout after two U.S. based chemical companies received letters from an entity claiming to be FBI Director Robert S. Mueller, III.  The fraudulent letters were emailed to two major chemical companies located in Missouri and Virginia asking that the companies send $350 to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to pay for a Clearance Certificate.