GAO report finds DHS making progress in meeting chemical facility standards

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has made progress in managing the Chemical Facility Anti-Terrorism Standards (CFATS) program, according to a report by the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO).

DHS established the CFATS program in 2007 to identify and assess the security risk posed by chemical facilities. These facilities contain hazardous chemicals that could be targeted or used to inflict mass casualties or harm in the United States. As part of the program, DHS inspects high-risk facilities to ensure that they are implementing required security measures and procedures.

In April 2013, GAO reported concerns with several aspects of DHS’s risk assessment and prioritization approach. GAO recommended that DHS enhance its risk assessment approach to incorporate all of the elements of consequence, threat, and vulnerability associated with a potential terrorist attack involving certain chemicals.

In October 2016, DHS launched a new risk assessment methodology. It is currently gathering data from about 27,000 facilities to determine which facilities should be categorized as high-risk. Further, it is assigning high-risk facilities to one of four risk-based tiers.

In July 2015, GAO found that DHS used self-reported and unverified data to determine the risk of facilities holding toxic chemicals. At that time, GAO recommended that DHS should better verify the accuracy of facility-reported data which it did by revising its methodology. Now, DHS calculates the risk of toxic release, rather than relying on facilities to do so.

Also in July 2015, GAO learned that DHS conducted compliance inspections at 83 of the 1,727 facilities with approved security plans. It discovered that nearly half of the inspected facilities were not fully compliant with their approved security plans. Meanwhile, DHS did not have documented procedures for managing facilities’ compliance. Thus, GAO recommended that DHS document procedures for managing compliance. DHS is currently developing an enforcement procedure which it expects to finalize by the end of fiscal year 2018.

Overall, GAO has found that DHS is adequately addressing the various recommendations it has made concerning the CFATS program.