CFATS Expiration Notice

At first glance there is nothing on the Chemical Facility Anti-Terrorism Security (CFATS) program web site that would indicate that the authority for the program had been terminated by lack of action in the Senate. Until, that is, until you click on the link for the CFATS Knowledge Center. Instead of the usual listing of news and updates, there is now just a simple block of text:

July 28, 2023: The statutory authority for the CFATS program has expired. The approximately 3,300 high-risk chemical facilities are no longer bound by the CFATS regulation (6 CFR Part 27). Facilities no longer have a requirement to report their chemicals of interest to CISA. Chemical terrorism continues to pose a threat against national security. CISA encourages chemical facilities to continue to maintain security measures for their dangerous chemicals. The voluntary ChemLock program provides services and tools that facilities with dangerous chemicals can use to enhance their security posture in a way that works for their business model.

There may still be a remote chance that the latest CFATS extension bill, S 2499, could resurrect the program, but no action can be taken on that bill until September because Congress has recessed for the month of August. We will need to see what the actual language of that bill says, but it could be a week or two until the GPO gets around to that bill, they are way behind an unusually prolific bill crafting congress.

The big problem is political inertia, the longer it takes to try to fix this problem the more difficult it is going to be to reach a consensus on restarting the program. First off, spending bills, the NDAA and other must pass bills are going to be taking up the attention of Congress for most of the rest of the year. Added to that, there will be a tendency for members to realize that restarting the CFATS program would be an ideal time to implement their favorite changes to the program. The controversies that will attach to those changes will interfere with the consideration, much less passage of the bill.

I will continue to cover developments.