DHS Approved to Expand CFATS Personnel Surety Program to Tiers 3 and 4
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has been given the green light from the White House Office and Management and Budget (OMB) on a proposal to expand the Chemical Facility Anti-Terrorism Standards (CFATS) program’s Personnel Surety Program (PSP) . DHS received the authorization in late May to expand the program to cover CFATS facilities in risk Tiers 3 and 4, which consists of more than 3,000 CFATS facilities in Tiers 3 and 4. Most agricultural retailers that are subject to CFATS are considered tiers 3 or 4.
DHS plans to rollout this expansion to the PSP over the course of the next three years and to circulate some additional tools to assist with compliance, including a set of best practices informed by lessons learned from implementing the program for Tiers 1 and 2. The department also plans to host a few sessions on the program expansion at the upcoming Chemical Security Summit, which will take place in New Orleans on July 16-18, 2019.
DHS will send out notices to CFATS facilities on a monthly basis, which will be randomly selected. Once facilities receive the notice, they will have 30 days to modify their preexisting Site Security Plan (SSP) to incorporate the PSP obligation. The updated SSP will then be sent to DHS for review and approval. Once a facility receives DHS approval for the updated plan, the facility will have 60 days to implement the PSP requirement.
The PSP requirement exists under the CFATS risk-based performance standard 12, Part 4, which requires employees at, and visitors to, CFATS regulated facilities be vetted against the federal terrorist screening database.
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DHS plans to rollout this expansion to the PSP over the course of the next three years and to circulate some additional tools to assist with compliance, including a set of best practices informed by lessons learned from implementing the program for Tiers 1 and 2. The department also plans to host a few sessions on the program expansion at the upcoming Chemical Security Summit, which will take place in New Orleans on July 16-18, 2019.
DHS will send out notices to CFATS facilities on a monthly basis, which will be randomly selected. Once facilities receive the notice, they will have 30 days to modify their preexisting Site Security Plan (SSP) to incorporate the PSP obligation. The updated SSP will then be sent to DHS for review and approval. Once a facility receives DHS approval for the updated plan, the facility will have 60 days to implement the PSP requirement.
The PSP requirement exists under the CFATS risk-based performance standard 12, Part 4, which requires employees at, and visitors to, CFATS regulated facilities be vetted against the federal terrorist screening database.
Click Here to read more.