Pia

Privacy Impact Assessment Update
for the

Chemical Facility Anti-Terrorism
Standards (CFATS)
DHS/NPPD/PIA-009(a)
August 12, 2016
Contact Point
David Wulf
Office of Infrastructure Protection
National Protection and Programs Directorate
(703) 603-4778
Reviewing Official
Jonathan R. Cantor
Acting Chief Privacy Officer
Department of Homeland Security
(202) 343-1717

Privacy Impact Assessment
DHS/NPPD/PIA-009(a) CFATS Update
Page 1

Abstract
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) National Protection and Programs
Directorate (NPPD) is updating the Chemical Facility Anti-Terrorism Standards (CFATS)
Program’s Privacy Impact Assessment (PIA) to account for changes to the program since
the publication of the program’s most recent PIA on July 26, 2012. This PIA Update reflects
changes to the Chemical Security Assessment Tool, statutory requirements of the Protecting
and Securing Chemical Facilities from Terrorist Attacks Act of 2014, and updated records
retention schedules.

Overview
The Protecting and Securing Chemical Facilities from Terrorist Attacks Act of 2014,
commonly referred to as the Chemical Facility Anti-Terrorism Standards (CFATS) Act of 2014,
replaces Section 550 of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Appropriations Act of
2007, authorizing DHS to regulate the security of covered chemical facilities.
The Department established a risk-based approach for identifying and securing covered
chemical facilities. A covered chemical facility is one that the Department identifies as a
chemical facility of interest 1 and meets the risk criteria developed under 2102(e)(2)(B) of title
XXI of the Homeland Security Act of 2002 (as amended). If a facility is determined to be a
covered facility, the facility must implement a Site Security Plan, Expedited Approval Program,
or Alternative Security Program, which must be approved by the Department. Certain chemical
facilities, such as facilities regulated under the Maritime Transportation Security Act of 2002,
are exempt from CFATS.

Reason for the PIA Update
The reason for this PIA Update is to reflect updates to CFATS since the previous
PIA for the program, published on July 26, 2012. 2 The following specific updates are based
on enhancements to the Chemical Security Assessment Tool (CSAT) suite of applications,
programmatic changes resulting from the CFATS Act of 2014, and general updates to the
CFATS program.

1

The term ‘chemical facility of interest’ means a facility that holds, or that the Department has a reasonable basis to
believe holds, a chemical of interest, as designated under Appendix A to part 27 of title 6, Code of Federal
Regulations, or any successor thereto, at a threshold quantity set pursuant to relevant risk-related security principles;
and is not an excluded facility.
2
See DHS/NPPD/PIA-009 – Chemical Facilities Anti-Terrorism Standards, available at www.dhs.gov/privacy.
Note that the CFATS Personnel Surety program is addressed in a separate PIA. See DHS/NPPD/PIA-018 –
Chemical Facilities Anti-Terrorism Standards Personnel Surety, available at www.dhs.gov/privacy.

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1. The Chemical Facility Management System (CHEMS) was decommissioned and
replaced by the Chemical Security Evaluation and Compliance System (CHEMSEC).
2. The Protecting and Securing Chemical Facilities from Terrorist Attacks Act of 2014
(commonly referred to as the CFATS Act of 2014) now authorizes the CFATS program.
3. The CFATS Act of 2014 requires the Department to establish and implement a
procedure under which any employee or contractor of a chemical facility of interest
may submit a report to the Department regarding a violation of a requirement under
the CFATS program. Additionally, the Act prohibits any owner or operator of a
chemical facility from retaliating against an employee for reporting a CFATS violation
to the Department.
4. The CFATS Help Desk and Tip Line were originally covered under the National
Archives and Records Administration (NARA) General Records Schedule (GRS) 20,
Electronic Records, item 2b. That GRS has since been superseded by GRS 4.3, Input
Records, Output Records, and Electronic Copies, item 020.

Privacy Impact Analysis
In each of the below sections consider how the system has changed and what impact it has on the
below fair information principles. In some cases there may be no changes and indicate as such.

Authorities and Other Requirements
The Protecting and Securing Chemical Facilities from Terrorist Attacks Act of
2014 (December 18, 2014)3, or the CFATS Act of 2014 (Pub. L. No. 113-254, 6 U.S.C. 621, et
seq.). The CFATS Act of 2014 amended the Homeland Security Act of 2002 4 (6 U.S.C. 101 et
seq.) with the addition of Title XXI – Chemical Facility Anti-Terrorism Standards – authorizing
the Department to regulate chemical facilities of interest. 5
SORN coverage has not changed since the previous PIA was published on July 26, 2012,
and is still provided by DHS/ALL-002 Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Mailing and
Other Lists System and DHS/ALL-004 General Information Technology Access Account Records

3

See Pub. L. 113-254, 128 Stat. 2898, Dec. 18, 2014, is available at: https://www.congress.gov/bill/113thcongress/house-bill/4007?q=%7B%22search%22%3A%5B%22HR+4007%22%5D%7D (CFATS Act of 2014).
4
See Pub. L. 107-296 Stat. 2135, Nov. 25, 2002 is available at: https://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/PLAW107publ296/pdf/PLAW-107publ296.pdf (Homeland Security Act of 2002).
5
See Section 2101(2) of the Homeland Security Act of 2002, as enacted on December 18, 2014, defined chemical
facility of interest as a facility that holds, or that the Secretary has a reasonable basis to believe holds, a chemical of
interest at a set threshold quantity pursuant to relevant risk related security principles and is not an excluded facility.

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System.

Characterization of the Information
Though the CFATS Act of 2014 requires the Department to establish and implement a
procedure that will allow employees and contractors of a chemical facility of interest to submit
reports regarding violations of CFATS programmatic requirements, the type of data collected
under the CFATS Program has not changed since the previous PIA was published on July 26,
2012.

Uses of the Information
Implementation of CHEMSEC
CHEMSEC is the Government-facing case management tool that replaced CHEMS in
December 2013. CHEMS was an individual stand-alone system, whereas CHEMSEC has been
integrated into the CSAT 6 suite of applications. CHEMSEC provides users with a consolidated
interface for tracking ongoing activities, documentation, and facility status as well as managing
inspector activities such as facility visits, vehicle management, survey approval reviews, and other
supporting processes. CHEMSEC also serves as the repository for information collected during
interactions with covered chemical facilities.
Specifically, CHEMSEC:
•

Receives routine transfers of information from CSAT such as names, phone
numbers, and email addresses of facility POCs;

•

Securely stores correspondence between NPPD and covered chemical facilities;
and

•

Serves as the repository for information collected by NPPD employees during
personal interactions with covered chemical facilities

Compliance with updated whistleblower protection requirements
The CFATS Act of 2014 requires the Department to provide an avenue for employees or
contractors of chemical facilities of interest to report security violations. The Act prohibits any
owner or operator of a chemical facility of interest from retaliating against an employee for
reporting a CFATS violation to the Department. Individuals may report violations anonymously
under CFATS to the CFATS Tip Line, which has proper procedures and protections in place to
safeguard the identity of whistleblowers, should a whistleblower choose to disclose it.
The identity of an employee or contractor of a chemical facility of interest who reports a
6

See DHS/NPPD/PIA-009 – Chemical Facilities Anti-Terrorism Standards, available at www.dhs.gov/privacy.

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potential violation, should they choose to disclose it, will be kept confidential unless disclosure is
unavoidable or is compelled by a court order. In these instances, the Department will attempt to
contact the whistleblower to inform him or her of the disclosure.
Privacy Risk: There is a risk that the identities of whistleblowers may be
inappropriately accessed or disclosed.
Mitigation: The Department’s “Potential CFATS Violation Reporting Standard
Operating Procedures” dictates that NPPD use a Whistleblower Checklist to record and track all
actions taken related to each whistleblower report. In the interest of maintaining confidentiality,
access control measures have been implemented on the whistleblower folders to restrict access to
only DHS authorized personnel.
The risk of inappropriate access is mitigated through the use of access controls that
restrict access to the whistleblower folders. Logical and physical security boundaries have also
been put into place to safeguard the network. These protective boundaries include, but are not
limited to, the use of a Trusted Internet Connection (TIC), which serves as an external firewall
that encrypts data at the transport layer security (TLS) level.

Notice
There have been no changes regarding notice since the previous PIA, published on July
26, 2012.

Data Retention by the project
The CFATS Help Desk and Tip Line were covered under National Archives and
Records Administration (NARA) General Records Schedule (GRS) 20, Electronic Records,
item 2b. That GRS has since been superseded by GRS 4.3, Input Records, Output Records, and
Electronic Copies, item 020. No additional changes have been made related to the retention of
CFATS records. CFATS Help Desk and Tip Line data continues to be destroyed immediately
after data have been entered or otherwise incorporated into the master file or database and
verified, but longer retention may be authorized if required for business use.

Information Sharing
Information sharing practices have not changed since the previous PIA, published on
July 26, 2012.

Redress
The procedures for accessing and/or correcting information have not changed since

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the previous PIA, published on July 26, 2012.

Auditing and Accountability
Auditing and accountability procedures have not changed since the previous PIA,
published on July 26, 2016.

Responsible Official
David Wulf
Director, Infrastructure Security Compliance Division
Office of Infrastructure Protection, National Protection and Programs Directorate
Department of Homeland Security

Approval Signature
Original signed copy on file at the DHS Privacy Office.

Jonathan R. Cantor
Act i ng Chief Privacy Officer
Department of Homeland Security