CFATS Knowledge Center Update

Yesterday the folks at ISCD added an interesting note in the ‘Latest News’ section of the CFATS Knowledge Center web page. It noted that they had removed eight frequently asked questions (FAQ) and replaced them with Article 1668; “CSAT User Account Passwords”. The eight FAQ dealt with CSAT password issues but Article 1668 provided the same (or more up-to-date) information in a single location.

Actually, this seems to be just a tad bit of FAQ housecleaning. Search for Article 1668 (type ‘1668’ into the search box at the top of the CFATS Knowledge Center page) and you get a link to an article that was last updated on July 13^th, 2010. So there is no new information involved here; it is just an attempt to make it easier to access the information. That is always a good thing.

It would have been nice if they had listed the deleted FAQs, people like me like to keep track of these things. Realistically though, unless you had previously printed out the large .PDF file of all of the FAQs, you would never see the deleted FAQs. If you did, just throw it away and download a new one today. You still won’t know which ones aren’t there, but that isn’t really important.

DHS CFATS FAQ Update 04-30-10

Last week DHS updated three of the responses on their extensive list of frequently asked questions for the CSAT Help Desk. Those three questions were:

1282 - Can you briefly explain how CSAT passwords work?
1390 - I have searched the FAQs but still need additional assistance. Where can I get additional assistance?
1435 - What is the definition of A Commercial Grade (ACG) for the purposes of CFATS?

The answer to question 1282 concerning passwords contains a small but important change. The question explains that the password ‘times out’, or become outdated after 90 days. The previous version of this answer stated that the time out period was 60 days. This change will significantly reduce the number of times that a CSAT user will have to change their password.

Unfortunately, my records do not contain a copy of the previous version of the answer for question 1390 (August 15, 2008), so I don’t know what changed on this response. Nothing looks new in this information, so maybe there was just a correction of a typographical error.

The new answer to question 1435 makes a one-word change. The answer now reads “ACG refers to any quality [emphasis added] or concentration of a chemical of interest”; the previous version used the word ‘quantity’ instead of quality. Obviously ‘a commercial grade’ has nothing to do with the amount of the material involved; it describes some characteristic that makes the product salable in commerce.