Chemical plants must screen one million people for possible terrorist links

DHS has issued details of its plan to require more than one million employees, contractors and unescorted visitors to “high-risk” chemical facilities across the U.S. to submit their background data, so it can be checked by TSA against the federal government’s consolidated Terrorist Screening Database.

Under this new initiative, known as the CFATS Personnel Surety Program, TSA’s Office of Transportation Threat Assessment and Credentialing, or TTAC, will compare information about the individual collected by DHS to information about known or suspected terrorists.

“TTAC will forward the results from potential matches to the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Terrorist Screening Center (TSC), which will make a final determination of whether an individual is a match to a known or suspected terrorist listed in the TSDB,” explains a DHS notice posted in the Federal Register on April 13.

Under its proposed ground rules, DHS would alert law enforcement authorities if a match is found, but it wouldn’t notify executives at the chemical facility itself, nor would it inform the individual being investigated.

“DHS will neither routinely provide vetting results to high-risk chemical facilities, nor will it provide results to an affected individual whose information was submitted by a high-risk chemical facility,” says the notice.

The new procedures are being implemented in accordance with a section of the Department of Homeland Security Appropriations Act of 2007 that requires DHS to ensure that chemical facilities implement “measures designed to identify people with terrorist ties.”

DHS estimates that 1,063,200 affected individuals will be vetted during the upcoming three-year period. That translates to just under 30,000 checks of individuals’ backgrounds per month.

Some members of the public who commented on earlier versions of these proposed rules observed that other DHS programs already require background checks before various security credentials are issued. However, DHS is intent on moving forward with this new CFATS Personnel Surety Program.

“DHS is considering recognizing the previous [Terrorist Screening Database] vetting results completed by other DHS programs, such as TWIC [the Transportation Worker Identification Credential], and the Trusted Traveler Programs (Secure Electronic Network for Travelers Rapid Inspection (SENTRI), Free and Secure Trade (FAST), and NEXUS,” says the DHS notice. “Further, DHS is also considering recognizing the results of TSDB vetting (conducted by DHS) upon which each State relies when issuing a Commercial Driver’s License with a Hazardous Materials Endorsement.”

DHS may seek additional information about a specific individual to further its investigation, or it might request that data simply to check the accuracy of its auditing and review process, says the DHS notice.

For that reason, DHS goes out of its way to point out that, “a request for additional information from DHS does not imply, and should not be construed to indicate, that an individual is known or suspected to be associated with terrorism.”