On December 21, Fox News obtained a copy of an internal memo by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) evaluating the Chemical Facility Anti-Terrorism Standards (CFATS) program. While copies of the memo have not been circulated beyond Fox News, it reportedly identifies significant shortfalls in DHS's progress of reaching compliance and a number of human resource problems slowing its implementation.

The process of approving site security plans has been taking longer than anyone involved -- including DHS, Congress and industry -- would have liked. In the year that I have been managing security issues for SOCMA, I have worked with no less than four Directors or Acting Directors of the Infrastructure Security Compliance Division (ISCD) which oversees CFATS. Each time there has been a management change, policy staff has had to spend weeks, if not months, bringing the new ISCD leadership up to speed on the regulatory program, which distracts them away from implementation.

The chemical industry, which has invested billions of dollars to upgrade security and meet CFATS's requirements, is certainly concerned about the slow pace of the standards' implementation and the high staff turnover in ISCD. No one can dispute that the administration of CFATS must be improved significantly to provide stability to this nascent program and regulatory assurance to the thousands of covered facilities - many of whom are SOCMA members - who have been proactively investing in security measures over the past five years.

This news could easily derail the advancement of any of the three pending CFATS bills in the House and Senate, all of which have already been approved by their respective committees, and instead redirect Congress's attention to oversight hearings on the program in lieu of a multi-year authorization. Before the end of the First Session of the 112th Congress, both chambers approved an extension of CFATS through October 4 of this year as part of an omnibus appropriations package for outstanding 2012 funding bills. The passage of this temporary extension, coupled with the memo's scathing assessment of ISCD's personnel problems, serves as a disincentive to legislators to further act on the stand-alone CFATS bills this year - especially with the many election promises that Congress has yet to meet before November.

To find some light in this otherwise disheartening news, the memo does not find fault with the risk-based standards themselves. In fact, it makes the argument that has been the drumbeat of the regulated community to-date: imposing major changes to the program - such as mandating inherently safer technology (IST) - would be disastrous. It will be difficult for legislators to make the argument for legislating IST or expanding coverage to water and wastewater facilities in the face of DHS's assessment, keeping proponents of a CFATS overhaul at bay at least for now. The memo's findings also raise the question whether the Office of Management and Budget, which has been sitting on DHS's proposed Personnel Surety pilot for CFATS sites since June of 2011, will choose to proceed with approving a new credentialing system that would create further administrative burdens for the agency.

And while the odds against reauthorizing a program that has been painted as administratively faltering are undeniably stacked high, I believe the case for a multi-year extension of the current chemical security standards is stronger than ever. As SOCMA has stated many times before, relying on temporary and often last-minute legislative extensions - some lasting as little as a day or two - is no way to run a major federal security program. And with new Director Penny Anderson and Deputy Director David Wulf at ISCD's helm and pledging to make progress, DHS needs the opportunity to get its house in order, fill critical vacancies with knowledgeable staff and focus on implementing CFATS properly. The alternative of discarding well-crafted standards for their poor administration is far more dangerous.

Congress reconvenes next week for regular business, at which time it will become clearer whether they choose to throw the baby out with the bathwater when it comes to chemical security. SOCMA continues to support CFATS's long-term extension, and it is our hope that both Congress and DHS see the assessment as an opportunity to turn the program's administration around.

By guest blogger Alexis Rudakewych, Manager, Government Relations for SOCMA  

Copyright © ADT Security Services, Inc. 2012 - 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.