As ordered reported by the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs on July 30, 2014
H.R. 4007 would extend the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS’s) authority to regulate security at certain chemical facilities in the United States. Under the Chemical Facility Anti-Terrorism Standards (CFATS) program, DHS collects and reviews information from chemical facilities in the United States to determine which facilities present security risks. Facilities determined to present a high level of security risk are then required to develop a Site Security Plan (SSP). DHS in turn conducts inspections to validate the adequacy of a facility’s SSP and their compliance with it. The program is set to end on October 4, 2014.
H.R. 4007 would authorize CFATS for an additional four years and would create an expedited review procedure for facilities in the lower risk tiers of the CFATS program. Based on amounts requested for the CFATS in fiscal year 2015 as well as information from DHS, CBO estimates that continued implementation of CFATS would require appropriations of $87 million in 2015 and slightly higher amounts in fiscal years 2016 through 2018 after accounting for the effects of inflation. Assuming appropriation of the estimated amounts, CBO estimates that implementing H.R. 4007 would result in outlays of $349 million over the 2015-2019 period.
