Chemical Sector Security: Risks, Vulnerabilities, and Chemical Industry Representatives' Perspectives on CFATS

The chemical industry plays an important role in the U.S. economy by producing goods and services and employing myriads of people. Unfortunately, the U.S. chemical facilities are vulnerable to terrorist attacks and are located near highly populated U. S. cities. Perhaps, as a result of these two factors, chemical facilities are attractive targets for terrorists. In recognition of the risks chemical facilities pose, Congress passed the interim final rule known as Chemical Facility Anti-Terrorism Standards (CFATS), to better secure U.S. chemical infrastructure against potential terrorist attacks. The purpose of this article is to understand the perspectives of chemical industry representatives on CFATS. To accomplish this goal, the author uses information collected from interviews of seven key individuals from the chemical industry supplemented with secondary information from academic articles, government reports, and Congressional testimonies. Some of the results suggest that chemical industry representatives think that the design of CFATS is good, but CFATS implementation is very slow. The article concludes with recommendations offered by chemical industry representatives to improve CFATS and a discussion of a broad research agenda for addressing the risks faced by the U. S. chemical industry.