US industry leaders repeat calls to reinstate security programme

A barbed wire fence in front of a chemical plant

Source: © Aziz Shamuratov/Getty Images

Six month gap in vetting people with access to high-risk chemicals means potential threats may have been missed

Six months since a key US chemical plant security monitoring programme expired, and with little prospect so far of government action to renew it, industry leaders are redoubling calls for reauthorisation.

The Chemical Facility Anti-Terrorism Standards (CFATS) programme, managed by the US Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), regulates high-risk chemical facilities to ensure these sites are not exploited by terrorists. The programme helps chemical facilities strengthen their physical and cybersecurity, but it expired in July 2023 and Congress has yet to extend or reauthorise it.