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Fact Sheet: Protecting America’s Critical Infrastructure – Chemical Security

Release Date: 06/15/05 00:00:00

During remarks before the Senate Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee, Acting Under Secretary for Information Analysis and Infrastructure Protection Directorate (IAIP) Robert Stephan announced that Secretary Chertoff has concluded, as a result of his review of the Department, that a regulatory framework which adheres to risk-based methods is needed to close remaining security gaps and further reduce risks to our nation’s chemical sector.

The Department has Outlined a Number of Core Principles that Should Guide the Development of a Regulatory Framework.

  • Recognize that not all facilities present the same level of risk, and that the most scrutiny should focus on those that, if attacked, could most endanger public health and cause economic harm.
  • Develop enforceable, reasonable, clear and equitable performance standards.  
  • Set performance standards based on the types and severity of potential risks posed by terrorists and facilities should have the flexibility to select among appropriate site-specific security measures that will effectively address those threats.
  • Design any new authority to recognize the progress many responsible companies have made since 9/11 and build on that progress.

The Department has Not Waited for Legislation to Assist in Securing the Nation’s Chemical Sector.

  • Prior to the formation of the Department of Homeland Security, responsibility for the nation’s critical infrastructure was scattered over various federal agencies. Now one agency is responsible for coordinating the U.S. Government’s efforts to protect critical infrastructure across all sectors, including chemical facilities.  
  • The Department works in close coordination with Federal, state and local governments as well as private sector partners to develop and coordinate plans to protect our complex critical infrastructure systems.
  • This coordination has resulted in physical security enhancements in and around chemical facilities, including strengthening law enforcement coordination, improving access control, adding multiple buffer zones, implementing surveillance and detection technologies and improving response and preparedness capabilities in the chemical, petrochemical and related sites of immediate concern to help protect our nation, our citizens and our way of life.

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s Information Analysis and Infrastructure Protection (IAIP) Directorate serves as the focal point for intelligence analysis, infrastructure protection operations, and information sharing..  IAIP merges the capability to identify and assess a broad range of intelligence and information concerning threats to the homeland, maps that information against the Nation’s vulnerabilities, issues timely and actionable warnings, and takes appropriate preventive and protective measures to protect our infrastructures and key assets.

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June 15, 2005

This page was last modified on 06/15/05 00:00:00