Draft 2009 National Infrastructure Protection Plan

DHS published a request for public comment on the draft revision to the National Infrastructure Protection Plan (NIPP). This draft document is based on a DHS triennial review of the NIPP and the public comments that it had requested earlier this year (see: “Triennial Review of National Infrastructure Protection Plan”). Comments need to be submitted (Docket # DHS-2008-0112) by December 1st, 2008.

What is the NIPP? The preface to the draft describes the NIPP and its 18 supporting Sector-Specific Plans (SSPs) as: “an integrated network of Federal departments, State and local government agencies, private sector entities, and a growing number of regional consortia—all operating together with a largely voluntary CIKR (critical infrastructure and key resources) protection framework”. The preface goes on to describe the updated draft NIPP this way:

“The current document was developed collaboratively with CIKR partners at all evels of government and the private sector. Participation in the implementation of the NIPP provides the government and the private sector the opportunity to use collective expertise and experience to more clearly define CIKR protection issues and practical solutions and to ensure that existing CIKR protection planning efforts, including business continuity and resiliency planning, are recognized.”

Public Comments I’ll be taking some time to read the 200+ page document. Then I’ll take a couple of blogs to discuss the parts that have a potential to have an impact on the high-risk chemical facility community.