ISCD Updates Publications on the CFATS Knowledge Center

Yesterday (coincidentally the first day of the Chemical Sector Security Summit) the folks at ISCD updated some CFATS related publications on the CFATS Knowledge Center web page. Actually they revised an SSP tip sheet that had been removed early this spring, updated their Colleges & Universities pamphlet and added a pamphlet for Emergency Responders.

Brochures

The Latest News section of the page notes that:

“The CFATS Trifold, CFATS Colleges and Universities, and CFATS for Emergency Responders brochures have been updated to reflect the updated CFATS Help Desk e-mail address, CSAT@hq.dhs.gov, and to correct minor grammatical inconsistencies.”

The colleges and universities brochure has been around for a while. The changes to the new version are not really important other than providing a better presentation of the CFATS program. After all good grammar is seen as a sign of intelligence in these communities.

I don’t recall seeing the emergency response brochure before. It is a little bit too simple in the way it deals with CVI and emergency responders. It would be helpful if it was clearer that CVI access would be needed for emergency response planning but not for actually responding to an emergency at a CFATS facility. Oh well, it is only a small brochure, not an instruction manual.

SSP Tips

Back in 2010 the folks at ISCD put together a rather detailed booklet providing some tips for completing the facility site security plan submission. This was done because it was obvious that all of the SSP submissions that they had received to date had been way less than adequate. That booklet was withdrawn from the Knowledge Center this spring when ISCD decided to revamp their SSP authorization program.

This new SSP tips booklet is much smaller (two pages instead of five), but smaller is not necessarily bad. The focus of the new booklet is different than the original and we have to assume that this reflects a change in the way that ISCD is looking at the SSP process.

There is one specific section of the new booklet that I am really happy to see included. It reminds personnel that the existing safety and environmental protections and controls in place can be a valuable part of the site security plan.

EPA RMP*COMP Link Problem

The link to the EPA’s RMP*COMP tool on the bottom of the CFATS Knowledge Center is still a dead link. I pointed this out back in June when ISCD updated the link to that tool in FAQ #329. There really isn’t any point in having a dead link on the main page, but there it is. The good link is: http://www.epa.gov/osweroe1/content/rmp/rmp_comp.htm.

NOTE: As of 2:00 pm EDT 8-2-12 the RMP*COMP link has been fixed.