By Patrick Coyle, Staff Writer

On May 15, 2009, the Department of Homeland Security’s Chemical Security and Compliance Division started the final phase of its implementation of the Chemical Facility Anti-Terrorism Standards (CFATS) by opening the Site Security Plan (SSP) portion of the Chemical Security Assessment Tool (CSAT). At the same time, the Department mailed out Final Facility Notification Letters (FFNL) to about 140 high-risk chemical facilities that have been identified as the highest risk, Tier 1 facilities. This letter marked the start of their 120 day period within which they are required to complete their SSP submission.

The remainder of the almost 7,000 high risk chemical facilities will be receiving their notification letters on a staggered schedule that has yet to be announced. The Tier 2 facilities will receive their letters next, followed by the Tier 3 and 4 facilities. The staggered submission schedule is designed to allow DHS to concentrate on assisting the highest risk facilities with the development of their SSP first. The final Tier rankings are included in the FFNL and are based upon DHS evaluations of the Security Vulnerability Assessments (SVA) that most of the facilities completed last year. 

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