SOCMA to Congress: Move CFATS Forward Through More Collaboration, Oversight and Reauthorization

WASHINGTON, March 6, 2012 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- In testimony before a House homeland security panel today, the Society of Chemical Manufactures and Affiliates (SOCMA) reiterated its strong support for the nation's chemical security standards while calling on the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to increase collaboration with industry and be more transparent about its operations.

Bill Allmond, SOCMA's Vice President of Government and Public Relations, stressed to lawmakers that the Chemical Facility Anti-Terrorism Standards (CFATS) is a success despite DHS's management failings that recently came to light. Since the program's 2007 launch, more than 2,000 facilities have changed processes or inventories such that they are no longer considered high-risk under CFATS. Hundreds of other regulated facilities have already made significant proactive security investments in anticipation of compliance. SOCMA members alone have invested approximately $515 million to date in safeguarding their plants.

Today's hearing before the House Subcommittee on Cybersecurity, Infrastructure Protection & Security Technologies was aimed at addressing the program's challenges and finding a way forward.

"As this subcommittee and others assess the CFATS program, we must bear in mind that it is processes and personnel that need addressing, not the program itself," Allmond said. He added that the problems holding back CFATS implementation are "serious but not insurmountable."

To get the program back on track, Allmond urged DHS to embrace greater collaboration with industry, provide more operational transparency, simplify the "personnel surety program" and avoid further discussion on mandating product substitution. Allmond said it was evident that DHS will also need to retrain and likely replace much of the staff that administers the CFATS program. 

Failure to achieve long-term or permanent reauthorization has also been one of the greatest challenges to the program's future success. SOCMA continues to support a long-term extension of the standards to allow DHS and the regulated community to come fully into compliance.

"The key to fixing CFATS is vigorous oversight, not budgetary uncertainty or budget cuts," Allmond explained.

About SOCMA

SOCMA is the only U.S. based trade association dedicated solely to the batch, custom and specialty chemical industry. Since 1921, we have represented a diverse membership of small, medium and large chemical companies, making us the leading authority on this sector.

Available Topic Expert: For information on the listed expert, click appropriate link.
Bill Allmond - http://www.profnetconnect.com/billallmond

Contact:
Christine Sanchez
Sr. Manager, Public Relations & Media
(202) 721-4182
[email protected]

SOURCE Society of Chemical Manufacturers and Affiliates

WANT YOUR COMPANY'S NEWS FEATURED ON PRNEWSWIRE.COM?

440k+
Newsrooms &
Influencers

9k+
Digital Media
Outlets

270k+
Journalists
Opted In

GET STARTED