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Protection of Chemical and Water Infrastructure: Federal Requirements, Actions of Selected Facilities, and Remaining Challenges

GAO-05-327 Published: Mar 28, 2005. Publicly Released: Apr 04, 2005.
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Highlights

The National Strategy for Homeland Security grouped critical infrastructure into 13 sectors which include assets that if attacked by terrorists could have a debilitating impact on the nation. Two of these 13 sectors are the chemical and water sectors. The total number of chemical sector facilities is not clear. DHS estimates that there are 4,000 chemical manufacturing facilities that produce, use, or store more than threshold amounts of chemicals that EPA has estimated pose the greatest risk to human health and the environment. There are approximately 53,000 community water systems and more than 2,900 maritime facilities that are required to comply with security regulations under the Maritime Transportation Security Act (MTSA). This report provides information about what federal requirements exist for the chemical and water sectors to secure their facilities, what federal efforts were taken by the lead agencies for these sectors to facilitate sectors' actions, what actions selected facilities within these sectors have taken and whether they reflect a risk management approach, what obstacles they say they faced in implementing enhancements, and what are the Coast Guard's results from its inspection of regulated maritime facilities' security enhancements.

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Topics

BioterrorismChemical agentsCounterterrorismCritical infrastructureEmergency preparednessFacility managementFacility securityFederal facilitiesFederal grantsHomeland securityIndustrial facilitiesPerimeter securityPotable waterSecurity regulationsTerroristsTransportation securityWater supply managementChemical industrySecurity standards