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.

This time, the committee was pleased to have its first visit from the new Deputy Director of the Infrastructure Security Compliance Division (ISCD) of DHS’s Office of Infrastructure Protection, David Wulf.  David joined ISCD in July – just days before the annual Chemical Sector Security Summit – after many years with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF).  Since then, he and new ISCD Director Penny Anderson have been learning the ropes on the multifaceted aspects of the CFATS regulatory program and getting up to speed with the ISCD’s implementation activities.

After a brief status update on CFATS, David opened up the discussion on DHS’s proposed Personnel Surety Information Collection Request (ICR) package, which is pending at the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for approval. Since DHS released the Federal Register Notice in June, industry groups like SOCMA have been expressing their reservations about aspects of the program’s design in regular meetings with the Department and through the submission of comments to the federal docket. As announced, the Personnel Surety Program would require facilities to submit to DHS personally-identifying information regarding individuals seeking access to restricted areas and critical assets at a CFATS-regulated facility. DHS would then arrange for these individuals to be checked against the FBI’s classified Terrorist Screening Database (TSDB) in order to meet the requirements of Risk Based Performance Standard 12. Industry is concerned that DHS’s proposal is duplicative, places a significant financial and legal burden on facilities to collect personally identifiable information from individuals seeking access to regulated sites, and does not allow for the effective leveraging of existing credentials that already screen against the TSDB.

David, who joined ISCD after the proposed Personnel Surety Program had been developed, assured SOCMA members he and Penny are reviewing the Personnel Surety program in its entirety and were still soliciting feedback from chemical companies and associations.  Members were glad to hear that he had gleaned additional information from industry meetings and that he in fact shared a number of the concerns that had been voiced.  DHS Undersecretary for the National Protection and Programs Directorate (NPPD) Rand Beers was also reportedly receptive to discussing the issues raised in the most recent discussions with stakeholders. David said his goal is to “get to a place where the program is workable for DHS and for industry,” and stressed the importance of receiving feedback from regulated sites and potentially soliciting volunteers to improve the pilot program as it is rolled out.  

Both David and SOCMA’s committee members referenced the unique partnership between industry and the agency on chemical security, to which he issued an informal request for comments from the group on available Site Security Plan (SSP) tools as well as the inspections process. Member companies in turn asked for more collaboration and engagement with DHS inspectors earlier on in the compliance process to help SSP preparers develop better products from the get-go.  Several members suggested that inspectors become involved in the preparations of regulated sites prior to Pre-Authorizing Inspections, and that DHS develop a method to share best practices from bringing Tier 1 facilities into compliance (which the agency has stated it will focus on before turning its attention to lower tiers).   

Both David and Penny are proving to be an engaging new leadership team at ISCD, and David’s forthrightness and conversationalism last week were welcomed by SOCMA staff and committee members. While DHS and industry do not always agree on all proposals in the way of CFATS implementation, we do value the ongoing partnership that so few sectors are able to enjoy with their regulators and are always looking for ways to work together to help improve compliance.

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

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