Chemical Facility Security: Regulation and Issues for Congress
Abstract
On April 9, 2007, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) issued an interim final rule (72 Federal Register 17688-17745) on chemical facility security, implementing the statutory authority granted in the Homeland Security Appropriations Act, 2007 (P.L. 109-295, Section 550). The regulations require chemical facilities possessing amounts and types of substances considered by the Secretary to be hazardous to notify DHS and undergo a consequence-based screening process. The Secretary then determines which chemical facilities are high-risk and thus need to comply with additional security requirements. High-risk facilities are to be categorized into tiers based on risk, and those with higher risk must comply with more stringent performance-based security requirements. Under the interim final rule, high-risk chemical facilities are required to create and submit to DHS a vulnerability assessment; create and submit to DHS a site security plan, addressing the vulnerability assessment and complying with the performance-based standards; and implement the site security plan at the chemical facility. The Secretary is to approve or disapprove each step in the process, and may require the chemical facility to improve the submission or implementation.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Jan 10, 2008
- Accession Number
- ADA479070
Entities
People
- Dana A. Shea
- Todd B. Tatelman
Organizations
- Library of Congress