CHEMICAL FACILITY ANTI-TERRORISM STANDARDS

Performance standards will be risk-based

Earlier this year, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) published in the Federal Register an interim final rule on "Chemical Facility Anti-Terrorism Standards" (CFATS). DHS will soon publish its final list of "chemicals of interest" which will include some fertilizer products regulated by CFATS. Facilities possessing those chemicals will be required to adhere to new and complex regulations.

The regulation will require online submission of data and significant information exchange between facilities and DHS. Careful thought and planning is necessary from the outset in order to adequately work through the regulatory process.

The interim final rule listed anhydrous ammonia, ammonium nitrate, potassium nitrate, sodium nitrate and urea as chemicals of interest. DHS has made significant changes to the list, but those changes will not be known until the list is published in the coming weeks.

The Fertilizer Institute (TFI) and the Ohio AgriBusiness Association (OABA) encourages their members to familiarize themselves with the regulatory process, including user registration and a Top-Screen, also known as a criticality assessment. Following the Top-Screen, only facilities which DHS determines to present a high level of security risk will proceed through the regulatory process. (The Fertilizer Institute TFI)