ManuFACTS: Chemical Facility

Anti-Terrorism Security Act

• Domestic chemical supplies are a vital raw material to most manufacturers in the
United States. Overall, 55 percent of manufacturers depend on chemicals for
production, according to a study by the Manufacturing Institute.
• The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) began enforcement of landmark new
chemical security standards in January 2008 to protect thousands of facilities that
provide the food, water, energy, pharmaceuticals and other chemicals essential for
our national security and economic vitality.
• The Chemical Facility Anti-Terrorism Security Act of 2009 would impose overlapping
and conflicting security requirements, causing disruptions of new federal security
standards, weakened infrastructure protection and economic uncertainty.
• The bill goes beyond requiring security protections based on risk by creating a
mandate to change products and processes to a government-selected “safest”
technology, also known as inherently safer technology.
• DHS estimates it will cost facilities more than $8 billion in additional enhancements to
meet these stringent requirements over the next eight years.

How Congress Can Help

• Remove the October 2009 sunset date from the DHS enforcement program and make chemical security
regulations permanent; and
• Refrain from imposing unnecessary mandates or overhauling the program until it has been fully implemented
and evaluated.

More Information penalties for those found not to be in compliance. Protecting

• The majority of the nation’s critical infrastructures and key assets
are owned and operated by manufacturers.
• Security regulations approved by Congress authorize DHS to
enforce national risk-based security regulations to ensure that
“high-risk” chemical facilities assess vulnerabilities and im-
plement detailed plans to address them.
• DHS has clear authority to inspect facilities and apply strong
communities and complying with federal security standards is
a top priority for the nation’s manufacturers.
• More than 30,000 facilities that use or store chemicals are moving
swiftly and investing significant resources to implement the
regulatory program authorized by Congress and created by DHS.
• The American Chemistry Council reports that manufacturers
have already invested $5 billion in private sector funds for
chemical security.

NAM Resources
For more information on the NAM’s Chemical Security Policy, please visit www.nam.org/energy.

NAM Contact
Alexis Bayer, Director of Energy and Resources Policy
abayer@nam.org or (202) 637-3174
August 2009

1331 Pennsylvania Ave NW, Suite 600, Washington, DC 20004 P 202• 637• 3000 F 202• 637• 3182 www.nam.org