Only 10% of US chem sites make antiterror filing

09 January 2008 19:42  [Source: ICIS news]

WASHINGTON (ICIS news)--Only 10% of the estimated 50,000 US chemical facilities that are obliged to register with the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) have done so, but officials said on Wednesday they expect a rush of registrations just before the 22 January deadline.

 

Robert Stephan, the department’s assistant secretary for infrastructure protection, said that about 5,000 chemical facilities have completed the online registration process that federal law requires in order to identify those chemical production, storage or transit sites that might be at high risk for a potential terrorist attack.

 

The 60-day registration period began on 20 November when the department published its final list of some 300 “chemicals of interest” that trigger the reporting obligation.

 

However, about 30,000 additional facilities have begun the registration process, Stephan said, and operators of those sites are expected to complete the process by the deadline that is less than two weeks away.

 

Under the department’s new Chemical Facility Anti-Terrorism Standards (CFATS), any US facility that has threshold amounts of any of the 300 substances - ranging from a few ounces for some chemicals to 20,000 pounds (9,000 kg) for others - must complete an online registration with the department, detailing which substances and in what quantities each location holds.

 

Earlier estimates of how many US facilities might be obliged to register ranged as high as 80,000.  Stephan said, however, that based on available information the total number of obligated facilities is likely around 50,000, but even that number remains a rough estimate.

 

Stephan said he expects most site operators will complete the registration process on time.

 

“You have to realise that in all of these situations, everybody likes to prepare and cram for the exam up to the last minute,” Stephan said.  “So in the final days before the deadline and the night before the deadline there will be lots of submissions - it is just the nature of the beast.”

 

After the 22 January deadline, the department will review the registrations to determine which sites should be categorised as "high-risk" locations, defined as those which pose the greatest danger to local populations if the chemicals were exploded or otherwise released by terrorists into the atmosphere.

 

Those high-risk facilities, which the department has estimated might number 8,000, will be required to conduct vulnerability assessments and create security improvement plans subject to the department’s approval.

 

If a chemical facility fails to comply with the department’s security requirements, the company could face fines and the plant could be ordered to shut down.

 

Stephan indicated that department notifications to those sites it considers high-risk could go out by late March.

By: Joe Kamalick
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