US officials to offer plant security guidance

12 June 2007 22:59  [Source: ICIS news]

FALLS CHURCH, Virginia (ICIS news)--Federal officials said on Tuesday they soon will provide guidelines to the thousands of US chemical facilities that by law will have to prepare detailed security plans to thwart possible terrorist attacks.

Larry Stanton, head of chemical sector compliance at the Department of Homeland Security, told some 400 industry executives that by the fourth quarter this year his office will provide a guidance document for companies that must craft a comprehensive and detailed site security plan to meet new federal antiterrorism standards.

Within weeks, the department is to publish a final list of about 350 “chemicals of interest”. Most of the some 15,000 chemical facilities in the US will have to report to the department if they produce, use or store certain threshold amounts of any of the listed substances.

Under a chemical plant site antiterrorism security law passed last year by Congress and in force as of last Friday, the department is to determine which of the reporting US facilities constitute high risk sites subject to federal standards for plant protection. 

Those high risk sites will be required to conduct vulnerability assessments and then draft detailed site security plans to remedy apparent weaknesses that could invite terrorist attack.  The site security plans must be approved by the department.

To increase the likelihood that plant operators will be able to develop security plans that meet department standards, Stanton said his office will provide a guidance document by September or October this year. He said the document will outline what the department typically will expect to see in a facility’s security plan.

Stanton said the guidance will include typical provisions - but not requirements - regarding access control issues such as perimeter defences, employee and visitor screening, protection of high-value assets, shipping and handling and safeguards against theft or diversion of chemicals that could be used to make weapons of mass destruction.

He said the guidance document also would outline department expectations for response capabilities at high-risk plants and safeguards for computer systems in both process control and business administration.

Stanton spoke on the second day of a three-day chemical security summit that is cosponsored by his department and 18 chemical industry trade associations.

By: Joe Kamalick
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