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Appendix to Chemical Facility
Anti-Terrorism Standards, Final Rule, Federal Register, November 20, 2007 This final rule revises the list of
chemicals of interest, or COI, and their corresponding screening threshold
quantity (STQ), which DHS included as Appendix A to 6 CFR 27.
Any facility that possesses (or later
comes into possession of) a COI that meet or exceed the STQ for any applicable
security issue must complete and submit a preliminary screening assessment,
referred to as a Top-Screen, by January 22, 2008.
This publication marks a significant
departure from the April 2007 draft Appendix A in several aspects including:
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Provisions (6 CFR 27.203-4) for
fuels mixtures has been added to the requirements. A “facility must…include
chemicals of interest in fuels (MFPA 1,2,3 or 4) when stored in above-ground
tank farms, including tanks farms that are part of pipeline systems,” (6 CFR
27.203(b)(1)(v)). If these facilities possess fuels that contain 1 percent or
more COI at or above the STQ, they must submit a Top-Screen. For example, STQ
for butane is 10,000 pounds. A facility that possesses 200,000 pounds
(approximately 33,000 gallons) of gasoline containing five percent butane,
including product within piping, would be required to complete a Top-Screen.
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Draft Appendix A referenced a
single STQ per chemical, but the final rule specifies three STQ categories,
each carrying different applicability rules. Instructions on how to calculate
applicable quantities of COI are included in the Federal Register notice.
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The “any amount” specifications in
the draft Appendix have been replaced with numerical quantities.
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A higher STQ has been
specified for propane.
CFATS
excludes those terminal facilities covered under MTSA regulations.
6 CFR 27 This rule
imposes federal security regulations for high risk chemical facilities.
Facilities that are currently regulated under the Coast Guard’s Maritime
Transportation Security Act, (MTSA) Section 105, are excluded from this rule.
Specifically, the rule requires owners of chemical facilities housing certain
quantities of specified chemicals to complete a preliminary screening
assessment. This assessment will be used to determine the level of risk
associated with the facility.
Unlike
the advanced notice of proposed rule making, the final rule does not pre-empt
existing state laws. More information can be found on the
DHS Web site.
Chemical Facility Anti-Terrorism Standards, Advance Notice of Proposed Rule
Making, Federal Register, December 28, 2006
This notice advises of
proposed regulations for chemical plant security and seeks industry comments on
a variety of policy and implementation issues.
Department of Homeland Security 2007 Appropriations Act, Title V: General
Provisions, Section 550, October 4, 2006
This act provides the DHS with the authority to regulate the security of
“high-risk chemical facilities.” It mandates the Secretary to issue an interim
final rule that provides risk-based performance standards for the security of
chemical facilities and it requires that this rule be proposed by the Secretary
on or before April 4, 2007. The regulatory authority under this act expires the
sooner of three years hence or once a permanent, comprehensive chemical facility
security legislation is enacted.
Updates, Comments & Other Reports
June 2008
DHS has issued preliminary teiring letters to all
top-screen responders. There were a total of 32,000 top screens received by
DHS. Of these, approximately 7,000 chemical facilities were assigned a
preliminarily Tier level of 1-4. Notifications letters included (1) the
chemical(s) of concern at the facility, (2) the “security concern,” namely
whether the risk is release/flammable, theft/diversion, sabotage, etc., and (3)
the preliminary tier level.
Tiered facilities are required
to submit a Security Vulnerability Assessment (SVA) for the entire facility,
although tier 4 may submit an alternate security plan (ASP) in lieu of an SVA,
provided it both meets DHS’s methodology requirements and addresses the issues
addressed in the top-screen letter. Note that the SVA process does not require
any physical changes to be made to a site at this time. Facilities must
complete their SVA’s based on the following schedule:
Preliminary Number
of Days to SVA due date,
Tier
facilities submit SVA “on or around”
1
219 90 9/25/2008
2
756 120 10/24/2008
3
1712 150 11/24/2008
4
4319 180 12/31/2008
The SVA must be conducted and
prepared in accordance with the CFATS requirements and shall include: (1) asset
characterization, (2) threat assessment, (3) security vulnerabilities and
countermeasures, (4) risk assessment and (5) countermeasures analysis. Note
that the SVA includes over 100 pages of questions and over 90 pages of
instructions. Additional information on CFATS and the SVA is available from
DHS.
It is unclear the amount of time that DHS will require to respond to SVA
submittals once received. However, once each SVA is reviewed and final facility
tier is approved, site-security plan (SSP) requirements will be assigned to each
facility, “most likely at the asset level.” The SSPs will then be due (using
another web-based tool) within 180 days, though they will also likely become due
on a staggered schedule.
The approx. 25,000
non-regulated facilities are NOT required to further report under CFATS. There
has been no comment as to whether this may change following the introduction of
new chemical security regulations during late 2009.
January 2008
DHS recently published the revised
CSAT Top-Screen User Manual (Version 1.3). Section 5.2 of the
new manual establishes significant changes to fuel reporting requirements. All
fuels must be reported, regardless of whether they contain any chemicals of
interest (COI).
December 2007 On December 10, ILTA, in
conjunction with API and NPRA, sent a
letter
to DHS, requesting clarification regarding the reporting and modeling of
chemicals of interest within fuels mixtures under CFATS. Specifically, the
letter requested that DHS stay the relevant provisions (§27.203
(b)(1)(v)) and extend any compliance deadlines for covered facilities.
November 2007 DHS
has published the final Appendix A to CFATS. This rule contains the list of
“chemicals of interest (COI).” Facilities that possess a screening threshold
quantity of any COI are required to submit a Top-Screen Application by January
22, 2008.
August 2007 The CFATS
help desk has developed a bulk upload registration spreadsheet for large
companies that are required to register multiple facilities with CSAT. Note,
the bulk upload process is only for the registration process, not for
answering the top-screen questions. Contact the CSAT help desk at 1-866-323-2957
for more information or to request the bulk upload spreadsheet.
June 2007 The Chemical
Facility Anti-Terrorism Standards, Interim Final Rule goes into effect June 8,
2007. If your facility is not already regulated by MTSA, AND if you could
possess a threshold quantity of any of the chemicals ultimately listed in a
final Appendix A, then you must register under CFATS using the
Chemical
Security Assessment Tool (CSAT). You are also required to complete a “top
screen” application.
May 2007 ILTA is an active member of
the Chemical Sector Coordinating Council (CSCC). On May 9, 2007, the CSCC
submitted
comments on
behalf of the chemical industry relating to Appendix A.
January 2007
On December 22, 2006, DHS
announced proposed regulations for chemical plant security. DHS requested
comments on the proposed rule by February 7, 2007. A question remains regarding
specification of facilities that will be regulated by this rule. DHS loosely
defines chemical facility as any facility that possesses or plans to possess a
quantity of a chemical substance determined by DHS to be potentially dangerous
or that meets other risk-related criterion. The rule excludes maritime
facilities regulated by the MTSA, Sec. 105. It is, however, unclear whether it
will include facilities subject to other maritime security regulations pursuant
to MTSA but NOT covered by part 105.
October 2006
Neither the Senate nor House versions of the chemical facility security
legislation passed, resulting in the absence of a comprehensive chemical
facility security policy. Interim legislation on chemical facility security was
included in the DHS 2007 Appropriations Act, passed on September 29, 2006 and
was signed on October 4, 2006.
June 2006,
The Chemical Facility Anti-Terrorist Act of 2005
S.2145
was approved by the Senate Homeland Security & Governmental Affairs Committee.
H.R. 4999
(a similar bill) was also pending before the House Homeland Security Committee.
RELATED ILTA ARTICLES
ILTA provides a monthly
newsletter to its membership. Members may log in to the Member Resources page to
access archived newsletters. The following is a list of articles ILTA has
published in its newsletter relating to Chemical & Facility Security.
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Concerns Abound Regarding DHS
Preliminary CFATS Tiers at Gasoline Facilities, August 2008 Issue (p.2)
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CFATS Takes Center Stage at
Chemical Sector Security Summit, August 2008 Issue (p.3)
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DHS Issues Initial Risk Teiring
Letters Under CFATS, July 2008 Issue (p.2)
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Congress Seeks New Chemical
Facility Rule, February 2008 Issue (p.2)
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Congress
Seeks New Chemical Facility Security Rule,
February 2008 Issue (p.2)
- DHS Changes Rules for Facilities Required to Report Under CFATS…Again,
January 2008 Issue (p.4)
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Chemical Facility Security ‘Appendix A’ Unexpectedly Captures Fuel Terminals,
December 2007 Issue (p.3)
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Start of TWIC Enrollment and Publication of CFATS Final ‘Appendix A’ Remain
Uncertain, October
2007 Issue (p.4)
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Chemical Facility Rules Go Into Effect June 8, June 2007 Issue (p.3)
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DHS Proposes Chemical Security Rules,
January 2007 Issue (p.2)
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Senate Committee Passes Chemical Security Bill,
July 2006 Issue (p.1)
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New Chemical Security Bill Introduced,
May 2006 Issue (p.1)
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House Chemical Facility Security Bill Introduced,
April 2006 Issue (p.1)
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Chertoff Supports Federal Regulation of Security at
Chemical Plants,
April 2006 Issue (p.2)
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DHS Budget Creates Office for Chemical Security Site
Security, March
2006 Issue (p.1)
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GAO Report Says Federal Security Requirements for
Chemical Facilities are Needed, March 2006 Issue (p.2)
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