Critical infrastructure, terrorism, and the Chemical Facility Anti-Terrorism Standards: the need for collaboration

In response to 9/11 and the increasing concerns over chemical sector security, Congress gave the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) the authority to regulate the safety and security of U.S. chemical facilities. In April of 2007, DHS passed the interim final rule called the Chemical Facility Anti-Terrorism Standards (CFATS) in order to secure the U.S. chemical infrastructure. Unfortunately, the latest update on CFATS progress by DHS indicated that very few chemical facilities have completed the CFATS process. The slow implementation of CFATS perpetuates the inherent vulnerabilities of U.S. chemical infrastructure and does not augur well for the safety and security of the U.S. population. We argue that collaboration between DHS and the chemical industry can help to speed up CFATS and that communities should not wait for CFATS to ramp up before developing preparedness and response plans in anticipation of future chemical disasters.