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							                                                                                 Subject Matter Expert
                                                                                 Carlos Barbosa
                                                                                 cbarbosa@wackenhut.g4s.com

                                                                                 G4S Wackenhut
                                                                                 The Wackenhut Corporation
                                                                                 4200 Wackenhut Drive
                                                                                 Palm Beach Gardens, FL 33410

                                                                                 Telephone: 561 691- 6642
                                                                                 Fax: 561 691 6794
                                                                                 www..G4SWackenhut.com




Public Policy and CFATS “2.0”
Author: Mr. Carlos Barbosa; Chemical – Petro Chemical Vertical Market Director


In October 2006, the Department of Homeland Security Appropriations Act of 2007 became law.
Section 550 of the Act ordered the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to “…issue interim final
regulations establishing risk-based performance standards for security of chemical facilities and
requiring security vulnerability assessments and the development and implementation of site security
plans for chemical facilities.”     Those regulations became known as the Chemical Facility Anti-
Terrorism Standards or CFATS and apply to “high-risk” facilities that possess certain quantities and
concentrations of chemicals.


An important aspect of Section 550 was that it was set to expire in October 2009. That is, Congress
included a termination provision in the statute, and DHS’s authority under CFATS was to be
terminated -- unless the authorization was extended by Congress, or unless there was a new chemical
security law to pick up where the original bill left off.


Congress did extend the authorization of DHS to implement CFATS. On October 20, the Senate
passed HR 2892 (the DHS budget) that carries the existing CFATS program forward until October of
2010. While there remains disagreement about the next version of CFATS – sometimes referred to as
CFATS “2.0” – all sides concede that CFATS is here to stay.


Two proposed chemical security bills have advanced in the House of Representatives. HR 3258, the
“Drinking Water System Security Act of 2009”, and companion bill HR 2868, the “Chemical Facility
Anti-Terrorism Act of 2009” have made their ways through committee and are on the schedule for the
entire House.
Highlights of the bills:


          Would make the Chemical Facility Anti-Terrorism Standards permanent
          Would remove the exemption of water treatment facilities
          Would make Inherently Safer Technologies (IST’s) a required element of chemical facility
          security assessment, plan and implementation.


    The Drinking Water System Security Act would hold water treatment facilities responsible for
    chemical security; however, the cognizant agency for water facilities’ security would be the
    Environmental Protection Administration (EPA) and not DHS. The language of the current bill is
    very much like “CFATS 1.0”; i.e. facilities would be required to report chemicals-of-interest,
    perform a vulnerability assessment (SVA), and prepare a site security plan (SSP) for the
    Administrator’s review and approval. The EPA would be charged with establishing their own Risk-
    Based Performance Standards (RBPS).


    The IST provisions are the principal point of contention with the chemical manufacturers and
    industry groups such as the Society of Chemical Manufacturers and Affiliates (SOCMA) 1 and the
    American Chemistry Council (ACC). These provision would not only require that chemical facilities
    consider the use of inherently safer technologies in their facility security planning, but would also
    give the Secretary the authority to specify and require certain IST substitutions based on security
    threat. However, the bill would also provide a “way out” for the manufacturers if they can show
    that implementation of the IST would put them out of business or necessitate a move to a foreign
    location.

    1
          G4S Wackenhut is now an affiliate member of SOCMA. Please contact Carlos Barbosa or Lew Pincus for more
          information on SOCMA programs and benefits. http://www.socma.org




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