WASHINGTON DC – The US Department of Homeland Security currently is focusing on security in the chemical industry, specifically chemical facilities, in large part because of the potential for significant economic and human health consequences from a successful attack on a critical chemical facility.
The chemical sector?with nearly one million employees and $500 billion in annual revenue?is an integral component of the U.S. economy, converting various raw materials into more than 70,000 diverse products, many of which are critical to the health and well-being of the nation?s citizenry, security, and economy. While the contributions the chemical sector makes to the nation are expansive, they do not come without risk, as the economic and strategic value of the industry makes it an attractive target for terrorist activity. Moreover, many chemicals, either in their base form or when combined with others, can cause significant injuries to humans and damage to the environment if used maliciously. Yet there are no federal laws requiring that chemical facilities adhere to security regulations, and authorities must rely on voluntary compliance.
Current Programs
DHS works to secure the chemical sector by a variety of programs. Since 9/11, members of the chemical industry have helped to create an entirely new type of risk analysis, one that recognizes a deliberate and intelligent enemy. Traditional risk methods have never accounted for this kind of 21st century threat. But now, many in the chemical industry have developed screening methods and security best practices that help to reduce or eliminate some types of vulnerabilities at their sites. Some have also taken other steps? like investing in new security infrastructure and capabilities, implementing new procedures, and in many cases, complying with new rules, whether industry standards or state and local laws ? all in effort to protect against this new kind of threat.
The DHS has likewise been making investments in the communities that house this infrastructure ? providing funding and training to improve policing capabilities, emergency response, consequence management and community planning. And the Administration has requested additional funding in the FY 2007 budget proposal to promote chemical site security.
Vulnerability assessments are underway for the nearly 300 sites that could potentially affect more than 50,000 of local surrounding populations. To date, DHS officials have engaged most of these sites by conducting a variety of assessments (DHS does not have the legal authority to force corrections to most deficiencies we find. That is the reason why the Department is asking Congress for regulatory authority).
The Department continues to visit these facilities on a priority basis in coordination with the state Homeland Security Advisors, state and local law enforcement, and site owners and operators. Prior to the formation of the Department there were limited safety inspections of chemical facilities conducted by a variety of federal infrastructure protection authorities. Today, security needs are being addressed and coordinated across the federal government by the Department through numerous Site Assistant Visits (SAVs) and the Buffer Zone Plans (BZPs) in which Homeland Security personnel assist and advise site owners, operator, and security managers in making their facilities more secure.
DHS is enhancing sector-specific information sharing and coordinating mechanisms for all of the 17 critical infrastructure sectors, incorporating both Information Sharing and Analysis Centers (ISACs) and Sector Coordinating Councils (SCCs). These entities have dual roles serving as central points of information sharing within each of the sectors and acting as the liaison to the federal government. One of the primary functions is to funnel threat information to facilities and receive and collect information from facilities. The Chemical Sector ISAC has supported Homeland Security?s information sharing efforts since the Department?s inception and includes more than 650 representatives from more than 430 different chemical companies.
The Chemical Sector ISAC uses CHEMTREC, the chemical industry’s 24-hour emergency communication center as the communication link between the Department and ISAC participants. When CHEMTREC receives information from DHS, that information is immediately transmitted, on an around-the-clock basis, to Chemical Sector ISAC participants utilizing electronic mail and a secure website.
The Future of Chemical Security
The Chemical Sector-Specific Plan, now under development as part of the National Infrastructure Protection Plan (NIPP) process, will contain the operational detail for actions necessary to achieve the strategic goals and objectives need to reduce risk in the chemical sector. DHS, in conjunction with other federal, state, local, and private sector security partners, must work collaboratively to develop and implement the Chemical Sector-Specific Plan. The Department will soon have this plan completed and implementation will occur within the next six months.
Unfortunately, DHS and its Federal security partners are limited in what they can do to secure the chemical industry as there is no overarching federal regulatory authority regarding chemical sector security. To address this issue, legislation has been introduced in each of the last three Congressional sessions that would provide DHS with such power, yet each time Congress has failed. As a result, chemical sector security currently is primarily performed through voluntary actions taken by the chemical facilities themselves.
While many companies have taken this responsibility quite seriously and spent significant resources enhancing the security of their facilities, not all companies have done so. As a result, the nation is being held hostage by those few who have not undertaken the responsibility that they have to make sure their facilities are secured to an appropriate level. Now, four years after the horrific events of 9/11, DHS is pushing for legislation that will provide it with all encompassing regulatory authority for chemical sector security without delay.
In their most recent Congressional sessions, leaders in both the Senate and the House of Representatives have proposed legislation to address this gap. Senators Susan Collins (R, ME) and Joseph Lieberman (D, CT) have been at the forefront of this effort, and the Department has been working with them to put together a sensible and appropriate bill that would give it the regulatory authority it needs to ensure the proper level of security is maintained in the chemical sector while attempting to minimize the burden on the national economy.
Speaking in front of the National Chemical Security Forum on March 21, Secretary Michael Chertoff discussed the need for chemical security legislation, outlining the three strategic principals DHS believes are vital for a successful chemical security regulatory system:
Use a risk-based approach to focus effort appropriately
Emphasize performance standards, not specific protective measures, to provide facility owners and operators flexibility regarding the protective measures they implement
Reward voluntary activity already undertaken by responsible facility owners
A risk-based approach
Like most other critical infrastructure or key resource sectors, the chemical sector includes infrastructure that is spread across the entire spectrum of risk ? from small operations that are not very consequential and likely are not targets of terrorist interest, to major manufacturing centers where a successful terrorist attack could significantly affect the regional or national economy, as well as public health. Given the varied risks associated with different chemical facilities, and the limited resources which are ava
