Securing our nation’s chemical sector infrastructure is crucial to our economic prosperity, national security, and public health and safety.
Every day, thousands of chemical facilities across the country—from small companies to national laboratories—use, manufacture, store, and transport chemicals in a complex, global chain that affect other critical infrastructure sectors. These chemicals are used to develop medicines that maintain our health, provide refrigeration for our food supply, manufacture fuel for our vehicles, and build the microchip that runs our smartphones. But in the hands of a terrorist, some of these hazardous chemicals could potentially be weaponized.
Enhancing security and resilience across the chemical industry requires a collaborative effort. To this end, CISA has developed voluntary and regulatory programs and resources to help stakeholders—private industry, public sector, and law enforcement—secure chemical facilities from many threats: cyberattacks, biohazards, insider threats, and theft and diversion for use in chemical or explosive weapons.
ANNOUNCEMENT: Due to the evolving COVID-19 environment, the in-person 2020 Chemical Security Summit originally planned for July 2020 has been cancelled. In lieu of that event, CISA will be hosting three virtual Chemical Security Seminars on consecutive Wednesdays: December 2, 9, and 16, 2020. Planning is ongoing. Agenda and registration details will be coming soon on the Chemical Security Summit webpage.
UPDATE: In light of international events with the potential for retaliatory aggression against the U.S. and our critical infrastructure, CISA released a Chemical Security CISA Insights bulletin that urges facilities with chemicals of interest (COI)—whether tiered or untiered under the Chemical Facility Anti-Terrorism Standards (CFATS) program—to consider enhanced security measures to decrease the likelihood of a successful attack. Read the entire Chemical Security CISA Insights bulletin.
Chemical Facility Anti-Terrorism Standards
CFATS is a CISA regulatory program focused on security at high-risk chemical facilities to ensure they have security measures in place to reduce the risks associated with certain hazardous chemicals.
Ammonium Nitrate Security Program
The ANSP is a proposed regulatory program that seeks to reduce the likelihood of a terrorist attack involving the misuse of ammonium nitrate by creating a registration program for purchasers and sellers.
Chemical Security Events
CISA sponsors events throughout the year to engage with stakeholders, exchange security-related information, and share best practices regarding chemical security.