Office of Infrastructure Protection

National Protection and Programs Directorate

U.S. Department of Homeland Security 

Washington, DC 20528

CHEMICAL FACILITY ANTI-TERRORISM STANDARDS

ADVANCE NOTICE OF PROPOSED RULEMAKING

LISTENING SESSION HELD IN ATLANTA, GA ON

SEPTEMBER 16, 2014

CONTENTS:

Agenda

Transcript
Chemical Facility Anti-Terrorism Standards

Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (CFATS ANPRM)

September 16, 2014 Listening Session 

Hosted by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) – Forest Park Farmers Market Exhibit Hall, 16 Forest Way, Forest Park, GA 30297

Agenda

8:00 a.m. – 9:00 a.m. Registration

9:00 a.m. – 9:20 a.m. Welcome, Introductions, and Overview

Kate Finnerty, Facilitator

Todd Klessman, Department of Homeland Security, Office of Infrastructure Protection

9:20 a.m. – 9:30 a.m. Listening Session Format

Kate Finnerty, Facilitator

9:30 a.m. – 11:00 a.m. Public Listening Session

Comments from Listening Session Participants

11:00 a.m. – 11:15 a.m. BREAK

11:15 a.m. – 12:15 p.m. Public Listening Session

Comments from Listening Session Participants

12:15 p.m. – 12:45 p.m. Open Session (as time permits)

12:45 p.m. – 1:00 p.m. Closing Comments

1:00 p.m. Adjournment

Persons may also submit written comments to U.S. Department of Homeland Security, National Protection and Programs Directorate, 

Office of Infrastructure Protection, Infrastructure Security Compliance Division, 245 Murray Lane, Mail Stop 0610, Arlington, VA 20528-0610 

or through the Federal eRulemaking Portal at http://www.regulations.gov.

For more information on the CFATS ANPRM, please visit https://www.dhs.gov/CFATS-Rulemaking.
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5 CHEMICAL FACILITY

6 ANTI-TERRORISM STANDARDS

7 ADVANCE NOTICE OF PROPOSED RULEMAKING

8 (CFATS ANPRM)

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10 Listening Session 

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12 September 16, 2014

13 9:00 a.m. - 1:00 p.m.

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15 Department of Homeland Security

16 Forest Park Farmers Market Exhibit Hall

17 16 Forest Parkway

18 Forest Park, Georgia 30297 

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1 ATTENDING:

2 KATE FINNERTY, Facilitator

3 TODD KLESSMAN, Department of Homeland Security,

4 Office of Infrastructure Protection 

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6 Also Present:

7 MARY BLACKMOOR

8 GEORGE RICARD 

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10 Maxyne Bursky, RPR, CRR, CCR-GA

11 Court Reporter

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1 P R O C E E D I N G S

2 MS. FINNERTY: Good morning,

3 everyone, and welcome to the listening

4 session for the Chemical Facility

5 Anti-Terrorism Standards Advance Notice

6 of Proposed Rulemaking or CFATS ANPRM

7 that was issued by the US Department of

8 Homeland Security on August 18, 2014. We

9 are glad that you are here with us today.

10 This is the fourth listening session

11 in a series that will be held across the

12 country, including six in-person and two

13 via webinar.

14 My name is Kate Finnerty with

15 Energetics Incorporated. DHS, who is

16 leading the proposed rulemaking, has

17 arranged for me to be your moderator

18 today.

19 Before we get started, I would like

20 to make a couple of announcements. All

21 stakeholders are welcome to submit public

22 comments on the CFATS ANPRM. Besides

23 commenting in person at a listening

24 session, there are two other ways to

25 submit written comments. They are both
1 listed on the agenda and in the Federal

2 Register Notice that were handed out at

3 registration. The Federal eRulemaking

4 portal is www.regulations.gov, and

5 there's also a physical mailing address

6 listed should you not have internet

7 access.

8 The deadline to submit comments is

9 October 17, 2014 which is 60 calendar

10 days after publication of the ANPRM in

11 the Federal Register. The comments

12 provided during this session are being

13 transcribed for note-taking purposes.

14 A transcript of each listening

15 session will be posted on the docket in

16 the Federal Register at a later date.

17 In case of emergency, there are

18 exits in the back of the room and to my

19 right that go directly outside.

20 Restrooms are located back out towards

21 registration.

22 As a courtesy to all of those

23 participating, please put your phones on

24 silent.

25 The purpose of today's session is to
1 gather comments, data, or views on how

2 the current CFATS regulation, 6 CFR Part

3 27, issued in 2007, might be modified.

4 Issuing the Advance Notice of Proposed

5 Rulemaking enables the Department to

6 provide stakeholders with an opportunity

7 to provide comments and suggestions for

8 identifying ways to make the program more

9 effective in achieving its regulatory

10 objectives.

11 We are going to begin with some

12 opening remarks this morning which will

13 include a brief overview on the status of

14 the CFATS program, and the remainder of

15 the session today will be dedicated to

16 hearing from the stakeholders.

17 At this time, I would like to

18 introduce Mr. Todd Klessman, Senior

19 Policy Advisor for the DHS Infrastructure

20 Security Compliance Division. Mr.

21 Klessman.

22 MR. KLESSMAN: Thanks, Kate. I have

23 a couple of remarks to go through just to

24 give you guys a background on the program

25 and Advance Notice effort.
1 The Homeland faces a persistent and

2 evolving threat from terrorist groups and

3 cells. Chemical facilities potentially

4 are attractive targets, as a successful

5 attack on some chemical facilities could

6 potentially cause a significant number of

7 deaths and injuries.

8 Additionally, certain chemical

9 facilities possess materials that could

10 be stolen or diverted and used as or

11 converted into weapons for use offsite.

12 In light of this, in Section 550 of

13 the DHS Appropriations Act of 2007,

14 Congress authorized the Department to

15 regulate security at high-risk chemical

16 facilities. Under Section 550, covered

17 facilities must perform Security

18 Vulnerability Assessments and implement

19 Site Security Plans containing security

20 measures that meet the Department-defined

21 Risk-Based Performance Standards.

22 To implement this authority, the

23 Department developed the Chemical

24 Facility Anti-Terrorism Standards, also

25 known as CFATS, which is located at 6 CFR
1 Part 27.

2 To determine if a facility is

3 subject to CFATS, the Department looks at

4 the unique circumstances faced by the

5 facility, starting with the quantities of

6 chemicals of interest the facility

7 possesses.

8 Potential regulation is not based on

9 a facility type, meaning that many

10 different types of facilities may be

11 subject to CFATS including chemical

12 manufacturers; warehouses and

13 distributors; oil and gas operations;

14 hospitals; semiconductor manufacturers;

15 paint manufacturers; colleges and

16 universities; and mining facilities.

17 Congress did exempt several types of

18 facilities from regulation, including

19 facilities regulated by the US Coast

20 Guard under the Maritime Transportation

21 Security Act; facilities subject to

22 regulation by the Nuclear Regulatory

23 Commission; facilities owned or operated

24 by the Department of Defense or

25 Department of Energy; and public water
1 systems or water treatment works

2 regulated under certain Federal water

3 quality laws administered by the US

4 Environmental Protection Agency.

5 Since the program's inception, more

6 than three thousand facilities have

7 voluntarily removed or reduced the onsite

8 quantities of their chemicals of interest

9 or otherwise modified processes to the

10 point that they are no longer considered

11 high-risk. These actions have helped

12 reduce the number of high-risk chemical

13 facilities throughout the Nation and have

14 correspondingly made the Nation more

15 secure.

16 As of September 15, 2014, CFATS

17 covers 3,767 facilities. 3,110 of those

18 facilities have received final tier

19 determinations. 657 of those facilities

20 are still in the preliminary tiering

21 stage. And these facilities are located

22 across all 50 states.

23 The Department has received and is

24 in the process of reviewing Site Security

25 Plans or Alternative Security Programs
1 from these facilities, and of these

2 plans, 2,128 Site Security Plans or

3 Alternative Security Programs have been

4 authorized to date, and 1,094 have been

5 approved to date.

6 The first authorization inspection

7 was conducted during the summer of 2010,

8 and as of September 15th of this year,

9 approximately 1,500 authorization

10 inspections have been conducted.

11 The Department continues to work to

12 strengthen the program and approve

13 implementation of CFATS.

14 Although work remains to be done, in

15 the past two years, significant progress

16 has been made, including improving the

17 SSP, the Site Security Plan review

18 process and increasing the pace of Site

19 Security Plan reviews and approvals;

20 working with experts to evaluate and

21 validate or recommend ways to improve the

22 risk-tiering methodology used in the

23 program; introducing one-day inspections

24 with smaller inspection teams; corporate

25 approach for companies with multiple
1 facilities regulated under CFATS; and

2 increased pre-inspection coordination and

3 outreach; and finally, engagement with

4 industry on the development of

5 Alternative Security Program templates.

6 The work industry has done with the

7 Department to develop Alternative

8 Security Program templates is a prime

9 example of how an agency implementing a

10 regulatory program like CFATS can work

11 with industry to develop the tools that

12 answer regulatory needs while also

13 accounting for industry realities, and

14 how industry associations can support the

15 Department's mission.

16 Currently, CFATS is authorized on a

17 year-to-year basis through the

18 appropriations process. The Department

19 supports permanent authorization for the

20 CFATS program and is committed to working

21 with Congress and other security partners

22 to establish a permanent authority for

23 the CFATS program.

24 The Department firmly believes

25 permanent authorization will provide
1 industry with the necessary stability to

2 move forward in effectively implementing

3 CFATS, and will send a clear message to

4 facilities that may be seeking to avoid

5 their obligations to report dangerous

6 chemicals of interest to the Department.

7 HR 4007, the CFATS Authorization and

8 Accountability Act of 2014, was passed by

9 the US House of Representatives on

10 July 8, 2014. That bill would

11 permanently authorize the CFATS program

12 and authorize appropriations for three

13 fiscal years.

14 The Senate Committee on Homeland

15 Security and Governmental Affairs passed

16 the Senate version of that bill on July

17 30, 2014, entitled Protecting and

18 Securing Chemical Facilities from

19 Terrorist Attacks Act of 2014. That bill

20 would authorize appropriations for four

21 fiscal years.

22 We are grateful that Congress has

23 recognized the progress the program has

24 made, and the importance of permanently

25 authorizing this program.
1 In addition to the CFATS program,

2 the Department is hard at work on

3 implementing activities under Executive

4 Order 13650, Improving Chemical Facility

5 Safety and Security. In August 2013,

6 President Obama issued Executive Order

7 13650 to improve the safety and security

8 of chemical facilities and reduce risks

9 to workers, communities, and first

10 responders.

11 Under Executive Order 13650, the

12 Department of Homeland Security,

13 Department of Labor, and Environmental

14 Protection Agency, established a Chemical

15 Facility Safety and Security Working

16 Group. This working group recently

17 submitted a status report to the

18 President entitled Actions to Improve

19 Chemical Facility Safety and Security - A

20 Shared Commitment, which was released to

21 the public on June 6, 2014.

22 Recognizing that information,

23 Actions and experiences of stakeholders

24 are essential to understanding, managing

25 and mitigating the risks of potential
1 chemical facility hazards, the working

2 group has initiated a robust stakeholder

3 outreach effort to assist them in

4 identifying successes and best practices.

5 This outreach included engagement across

6 all levels of government, with owners and

7 operators, industry associations, labor

8 organizations, and communities where

9 chemical plants are located.

10 The status report highlights

11 activities undertaken to improve chemical

12 facility safety and security, and

13 provides a plan for moving forward to

14 continue the initial progress made across

15 these five thematic areas: strengthening

16 community planning and preparedness;

17 enhancing Federal operational

18 coordination; improving data management;

19 modernizing policies and regulations; and

20 incorporating stakeholder feedback and

21 developing best practices.

22 Now, this status report is a

23 milestone, not an endpoint. It

24 recognizes that every stakeholder group

25 in the chemical facility community has a
1 continuing role in ensuring safe and

2 secure operations.

3 Safety and security are a shared

4 commitment. DHS and our interagency

5 colleagues are striving to improve safety

6 and security of chemical facilities with

7 our partners on behalf of the American

8 public.

9 DHS and our partners are making

10 progress on the action items contained in

11 that report, and one of those items

12 included the issuing of an Advance Notice

13 of Proposed Rulemaking for the CFATS

14 program.

15 As we work to mature the CFATS

16 regulatory program, DHS has initiated

17 this rulemaking process to help identify

18 how to make the CFATS program more

19 effective in achieving its regulatory

20 objectives. We believe that after seven

21 years of experience implementing the

22 CFATS program, both the Department and

23 the regulated community have gained

24 firsthand insight into how a

25 non-prescriptive security regulation can
1 be most effective.

2 This Advance Notice of Proposed

3 Rulemaking provides an opportunity for

4 the Department to hear and consider the

5 views of the regulated industry and other

6 interested members of the public on their

7 recommendations for program

8 modifications.

9 The Department invites interested

10 persons to submit written comments, data,

11 or views on the CFATS regulations and how

12 they might be improved. The public is

13 encouraged to comment on all aspects of

14 the program. This rulemaking covers all

15 regulatory and guidance documents,

16 including Appendix A and the chemicals of

17 interest covered by the program.

18 The Department has highlighted

19 several topics on which public comment

20 will be particularly helpful, and that

21 includes the overall regulatory approach;

22 the treatment of non-traditional chemical

23 facilities; clarification of terminology;

24 the Risk-Based Performance Standards;

25 chemicals of interest; considerations for
1 small businesses; and alignment with

2 regulatory programs.

3 Written comments may be submitted

4 online through the Federal eRulemaking

5 portal at www.regulations.gov, or by mail

6 to the US Department of Homeland

7 Security, Infrastructure Security

8 Compliance Division, at 245 Murray Lane,

9 Mail Stop 0610, Arlington, Virginia,

10 20528. Please note that any personal

11 information included in submissions will

12 be publicly viewable.

13 Thank you for taking the time to be

14 here today, and we look forward to

15 hearing any comments or suggestions you

how the Department can mature

18 MS. FINNERTY: Thank you, Mr.

19 Klessman.

20 The remainder of the session today

21 is set aside to hear from the

22 stakeholders. Before we hear from you,

23 I'd like to outline the format and ground

24 rules for the session.

25 This is a listening session with the
1 purpose to hear a diverse set of opinions

2 from across a broad spectrum of

3 stakeholders who have an interest in

4 improving and streamlining the CFATS

5 rules. DHS is interested in comments on

6 the topics included in Part 4 of the

7 ANPRM as listed by Mr. Klessman a minute

8 ago.

9 We hope to hear a range of

10 suggestions, and all viewpoints are

11 welcome. As such, we are not seeking

12 consensus today on any of the topics.

13 All presenters are asked to keep

14 their comments directly related to topics

15 contained in the Rule. In a few minutes,

16 I will open the floor for public comment.

17 Individuals will have a maximum of

18 five minutes to present to the panel,

19 which includes any introduction to your

20 remarks. Members of the panel may then

21 ask clarifying questions.

22 To help us stay on track and make

23 sure everyone has a chance to speak

24 today, I will keep an eye on the clock

25 for you. I will show you a yellow card
1 when you have one minute remaining and a

2 red card when your time is up. We also

3 have a clock available.

4 We ask that you respect everyone's

5 time and stay within the designated time

6 frames. If there are no questions on the

7 process and purpose for today, let's go

8 ahead and begin.

9 I will now open the floor for public

10 comments related to the CFATS Advance

11 Notice of Proposed Rulemaking.

12 Gentlemen, are you interested in

13 providing public comments today?

14 SPEAKER: No.

15 MS. FINNERTY: Thank you again for

16 joining us. I will now keep the floor

17 open for public comments for the

18 remainder of our session today. We don't

19 have microphones to mute, otherwise I'd

20 mute microphones to reduce background

21 noise. But I will announce by returning

22 back to the podium when additional

23 speakers do arrive and indicate that they

24 are ready to provide public comments.

25 Thank you.
1 (Recess taken from 9:20 a.m. to 

2 12:46 p.m.)

3 MS. FINNERTY: Thank you for

4 participating in today's listening

5 session on the Chemical Facility

6 Anti-Terrorism Standards Advance Notice

7 of Proposed Rulemaking or CFATS ANPRM.

8 Please visit the docket in the

9 Federal Register to view listening

10 session notes and to submit additional

11 comments. Please visit the chemical

12 security website to view the remaining

13 schedule of listening sessions.

14 We are now adjourned.

15 (Time noted: 12:47 p.m.) 

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1

2 C E R T I F I C A T E 

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4 STATE OF GEORGIA:

5 COUNTY OF FULTON: 

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7 I hereby certify that the foregoing

8 proceedings were taken down, as stated in

9 the caption, and reduced to typewriting

10 under my direction, and that the

11 foregoing pages 1 through 19 represent a

12 true, complete, and correct transcript of

13 said proceedings.

14 This, the 17th day of September, 15

2014.

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19 MAXYNE BURSKY, CCR-2547

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