Priority Press eLetter Current Issue | Past Issues | Subscription Options

Preparing to Meet the New Chemical Facility Anti-terrorism Standards

Get Ready--the Department of Homeland Security may consider your company to be a Chemical Facility

By Jim Connolly, Principal Consultant, EORM, Inc.

If your company is a Chemical Facility, you may need to take immediate action, including review and filing, if it exceeds threshold quantities of certain chemicals as specified by the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS). The DHS recently finalized 6 CFR Part 27, a rule that requires action from what they are classifying as Chemical Facilities. The government has determined that any facilities using greater than threshold quantities of chemicals fall into this category. The list of chemicals (Appendix A of the regulation) has been proposed and should be finalized sometime in late spring 2007. The actions required vary depending upon the risk and potential impacts of an event at your facility.

Also in this Issue...

Pandemic and Avian Influenza: Much Ado about Nothing?

Why Be Concerned With IAQ?

Zavitz on Ergo: 3,500% Return on Investment for Applied Ergonomics Training Class

Facilities using quantities of chemicals above the threshold are required to submit information for review utilizing the DHS Chemical Security Assessment Tool (CSAT). This information will be used to categorize a facility as either low or high risk. High risk facilities will then be required to perform a Security Vulnerability Assessment (SVA) following a specific DHS methodology and then either prepare a Site Security Plan or propose acceptable Alternate Security Measures.

More Responsibility for EHS Managers

Although this new regulation is published in the Code of Federal Regulations, it’s not in a section generally reviewed by Environmental Health and Safety (EHS) professionals. However, in many organizations, EHS is the appropriate department to coordinate efforts to ensure compliance with this new regulation, since EHS typically oversees chemical inventory/information management and is experienced with similar reporting requirements.

Taking Immediate Action

This final regulation requires action in the very near term. An initial review should be done immediately to determine if those chemicals on the proposed list are present at or above threshold screening quantities. The required first step of completing a CSAT Top Screen submission is due within sixty days of the chemical list being finalized. EORM consultants are available to assist you with this step and with subsequent planning and filing, if necessary.

Overall, the general scope of work that is required includes:

Determining and documenting whether your facility is a covered facility as defined by the regulation;
Performing the first level activities of registering on the Top Screen tool on the DHS website, gathering and documenting the sources of necessary data, and completing the DHS web based survey;
Once notification is received from DHS, companies must prepare a Security Vulnerability Assessment using the DHS tool. (Once again, EORM, through its relationships with professional security planning firms, can act in partnership to assure that the SVA is done properly); and
Completing and implementing a Site Security Plan that meets all of the regulatory criteria.

Applicability Review –
Does the Chemical Facility Anti-Terrorism Standard apply to your facility?

As with any new regulation, this is a critical question. Failure to register will result in facilities being presumed to possess a high security risk. The consequences of further non-compliance can include fines of $25,000 per day and/or an order to close and cease operations until the facility is brought into compliance (see: 6 CFR 27.305 & 27.310).

The applicability review starts with a review of existing chemical database information (HMIS). Each facility needs to check their inventory (the most that could be on site at any one time) against the threshold screening quantities published in Appendix A of the regulation. At the same time, purchasing practices and other methods of bringing materials onto facility property must be reviewed to ensure that there are controls for onsite materials, and to ensure those practices are being followed.

Enhanced Need to Manage Chemicals in a Facility

Another interesting element of this regulation is applicability based on the term possess. This regulation does not have a static compliance point in time. The regulation requires facilities to view their operations in an ongoing timeframe. As operations change, a facility may step into applicability after the initial implementation of the regulation by possessing greater than a threshold screening quantity. The regulation specifies that if a facility possesses listed chemicals in excess of screening threshold quantities, this new rule applies. In other words, possessing materials includes materials that a facility may never own such as customer materials that are brought onsite for tests (such as dispensing equipment or test finishes). This requires that a process be put in place to track these materials as they come and go from the facility.

Table 1 is a list of materials that are on the Draft Appendix A list. The materials in the left column, possessed in any amount, trigger applicability, while the materials in the right column are presented along with their appropriate screening threshold quantities.

Table 1: Example Materials and Screening Thresholds

Material (Screening threshold of 0)	Material with threshold greater than 0	Threshold Screening Quantity (lbs)
Arsine	Acetone	2,000
Boron trichloride	Ammonia (anhydrous)	7,500
Boron trifluoride	Ammonia (conc. 20% or greater)	15,000
Carbon monoxide	Chlorine	1,875
Diborane	Hydrochloric Acid (conc. 35% or greater)	11,250
Dichlorosilane	Hydrogen	7,500
Fluorinehydrogen bromide	Methane	7,500
Hydrogen chloride	Nitric Acid	2,000
Hydrogen sulfide	Potassium Cyanide	2,000
Nitric oxide	Propone	7,500
Nitrogen trioxide	Urea	2,000
Silicon tetrafluoride
Tungsten hexafluoride

The above list is not exhaustive but is presented for illustration purposes. Follow this link to the full list on the DHS Web page. (Appendix A)

Register on DHS’s CSAT Tool and Input Information

The Top Screen is an initial screening process that determines the facility’s initial risk level through a preliminary consequence analysis. Factors affecting the results of the Top Screen include:

Volumes and hazards of chemicals;
Whether any chemicals used are chemical weapon precursors;
Proximity to receptors;
Whether the facility’s products are of national economic importance;
Whether the facility is a major supplier directly to the Department of Defense (DoD) or to other DoD suppliers; and
Whether the facility is a major supplier to public health, water treatment or power generation facilities.

The results of the Top Screen determine whether any further analysis is required as well as the scope and level of detail of that analysis. The Top Screen must be performed within 60 days of the chemical list being finalized. Facilities that are determined to be high risk will be required to complete Security Vulnerability Assessments and Site Security Plans CSAT sections within 120 days. Further detail regarding the content of the SVA and SSP can be found in the DHS proposed and final regulations (Federal Register Vol. 71, No. 249, December 28, 2006 and Vol. 72, No. 67, April 9, 2007). Details of these steps will be presented in subsequent articles.

This requirement is in addition to filing and reporting that you may have already done for the US EPA, for state Environmental regulatory agencies or for state security agencies. Failure to comply will result in certain actions specified by the regulation including a presumption that your facility possesses a high level security risk.

Additional Resources:

To help your company prepare for this new regulation, contact EORM at 800.648.1506 or email us with questions. Outside the United States, please call 408.790.9200.
Free Webcast: Preparing to Meet the New Chemical Facility Anti-terrorism Standards
Click here to view the archived webcast
DHS Chemical Security Assessment Tool