Terrorism and Security Issues Facing the Water Infrastructure Sector
Abstract
Damage to or destruction of the nation's water supply and water quality infrastructure by terrorist attack or natural disaster could disrupt the delivery of vital human services, threatening public health and the environment, possibly cause loss of life. The country's water infrastructure systems extend over vast areas; ownership and operation responsibility are both public and private, but are overwhelmingly non-federal. Since the attacks, federal dam operators and local water and wastewater utilities have been evaluating security plans and measures. There are no federal standards or agreed-upon industry practices within the water infrastructure sector to govern readiness, response to security incidents, and recovery. Efforts to develop protocols and tools are ongoing since the 2001 attacks. When Congress created the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) in 2002 (P.L. 107-297), it gave DHS responsibilities to coordinate information to secure the nation's critical infrastructure, including the water sector. Under Homeland Security Presidential Directive-7, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is the lead federal agency for protecting drinking water and wastewater utility systems. This report presents an overview of this large and diverse sector, describes security-related actions by the government and private sector, and discusses additional policy issues and responses, including congressional interest. Recent congressional interest has focused on two legislative issues: (1) security of wastewater utilities, and (2) whether to include water utilities in chemical security regulations implemented by DHS.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Jul 28, 2008
- Accession Number
- ADA485723
Entities
People
- Claudia Copeland
Organizations
- Library of Congress