New Homeland Security Rules Require Prompt Action

The United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS), acting under a congressional mandate, has finalized interim rules to regulate security at any facility possessing a threshold quantity of a long list of chemicals. The rules, which were finalized on April 9, 2007, require any facility that possesses one of these chemicals to submit a Top-Screen questionnaire. If the facility is a high risk, the facility will also be required to prepare a security plan. Very briefly, the rules require:

• Any facility that possesses a chemical on a list called Appendix A in greater than a threshold quantity (also listed on Appendix A), is considered a chemical facility. Appendix A contains over 300 chemicals.