chemical industry:
There are some 38,000 chemical facilities in the United States that manufacture, store, or use “chemicals of interest” – the 327 chemicals determined to be the most toxic and dangerous. The Chemical Facility Anti-Terrorism Standards (CFATS) required 6,000 of those 38,000 chemical facilities to submit Security Vulnerability Assessments (SVA) of their facilities. Based upon the types and amounts of chemicals of interest (COI) at each facility and the proximity of those COI to population centers, the Department of Homeland Security ranked those chemical facilities in a Tier 1-4 ranking – with Tier 1 facilities representing the “Highest Risk” facilities, then Tier 2, and so forth. As of October 2010, there were the following “High Risk” chemical facility rankings:
"High Risk" Chemical Facilities
In order to ensure that adequate security plans are in effect and are adequately exercised, CFATS tabletop exercises are required once every 2 years for Tier 1 chemical facilities and once every 3 years for Tier 2 chemical facilities. On average, this means that 113 Tier 1 and 179 Tier 2 “High Risk” chemical facilities will be conducting tabletop exercises annually. For the chemical industry, that’s a total of 292 tabletop exercises per year.
The RBTX staff has directly participated in the design, development, coordination, and facilitation of some 20 chemical exercises – exercises that involved either the malevolent (disgruntled employees and / or terrorists) or accidental release of toxic chemicals and the consequences of those releases. These exercises resulted in the training of over 1,900 Federal, State, local, and private sector law enforcement, security, and emergency response personnel. The RBTX Team is also trained in the use and handling of Chemical Vulnerability Information.
"High Risk" Chemical Facilities
- Tier 1: 225
- Tier 2: 537
- Tier 3: 1,131
- Tier 4: 2,224
- Total: 4,117
In order to ensure that adequate security plans are in effect and are adequately exercised, CFATS tabletop exercises are required once every 2 years for Tier 1 chemical facilities and once every 3 years for Tier 2 chemical facilities. On average, this means that 113 Tier 1 and 179 Tier 2 “High Risk” chemical facilities will be conducting tabletop exercises annually. For the chemical industry, that’s a total of 292 tabletop exercises per year.
The RBTX staff has directly participated in the design, development, coordination, and facilitation of some 20 chemical exercises – exercises that involved either the malevolent (disgruntled employees and / or terrorists) or accidental release of toxic chemicals and the consequences of those releases. These exercises resulted in the training of over 1,900 Federal, State, local, and private sector law enforcement, security, and emergency response personnel. The RBTX Team is also trained in the use and handling of Chemical Vulnerability Information.
Chemical plant fire in Waxahachie, Texas, October 3, 2011
Chemical manufacturing facilities in the United States