DHS Laws and Regulations Page Update

Friday afternoon some time, DHS updated their Laws and Regulations web page in the Counter-Terrorism section of their web site. I watch this page because it contains all of the references to the legal documents supporting the CFATS program. No changes were made in the CFATS portion of the page.

Human Trafficking Section Removed

The only change that I can find is that the section on ‘Human Trafficking’ that was added last year has been removed. Since all of the old links still work, and I assume that this program is still a priority for Secretary Napolitano, I would bet that this information was moved to a more appropriate location on the DHS web site. In any case, it is not a specific interest of the chemical security community.

CFATS Authorization Info

I have been surprised that DHS has not updated the information on the §550 authorization for the CFATS program. If one were to rely on this page for information, one would have to conclude that the CFATS authorization expired last October without any Congressional action. The earlier extension in the Department of Homeland Security Appropriations Act, 2010 is listed and an updated version of §550 is provided up through that amendment.

I was disappointed but could understand why the extensions in the two ‘short-term’ continuing resolutions were not referenced on this page. But, now that the FY 2011 budgeting is complete and the CFATS authorization continued through until the beginning of FY 2012, I would have thought that at least the final extension of the authorization would have been listed.

Oh, well; just another example of the general deterioration of the DHS web site.