The CFATS Personnel Surety Program will provide high-risk chemical facilities with the mechanism to implement security measures to ensure that certain individuals are subject to screening for ties to terrorism. The program is necessary since conducting terrorist ties checks is an inherently governmental function because the federal governments Terrorist Screening Database (TSDB) is not publicly available.
CFATS RBPS 12 (Personnel Surety) requires high-risk chemical facilities to perform a minimum of four (4) types of background checks on (1) facility personnel with access to a chemical facility’s restricted areas or critical assets and (2) facility visitors with unescorted access to a chemical facility’s restricted areas or critical assets. (1) background checks designed to verify identity, (2) background checks designed to check criminal history, (3) background checks deigned to verify legal authorization to work in the United States, and (4) background check to identify people with terrorist ties.
The CFATS Personnel Surety Program will provide high-risk chemical facilities with the mechanism to implement security measures to ensure that certain individuals are subject to screening for ties to terrorism. The program is necessary since conducting terrorist ties checks is an inherently governmental function because the federal government’s Terrorist Screening Database (TSDB) is not publicly available. The Personnel Surety Program must comply with the requirements of the Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA) and the Privacy Act because the facilities will be required to submit, and DHS to collect, Personally Identifiable Information (PII). To comply with the requirements of those laws, DHS has published three notices in the Federal Register:
1. A Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA) notice that (a) responds to comments received during the PRA 30-day comment period, and (b) notifies the public that the Office of Management and Budget is beginning its review of the PRA Information Collection
Request for the CFATS Personnel Surety Program.
2. A System of Records Notice proposing the establishment of a DHS system of records titled “DHS/NPPD – 002 Chemical Facility Anti-Terrorism Standards Personnel Surety Program System of Records.”
3. A Notice of Proposed Rulemaking seeking comments from the public about DHS’s intention to exempt portions of the CFATS Personnel Surety Program System of Records from certain provisions of the Privacy Act. Comments will be accepted on or before July 14, 2011. In addition to the three documents published in the Federal Register, DHS has also published a Privacy Impact Assessment for the CFATS Personnel Surety Program, which can be found on www.dhs.gov.
Program Features:
1. The Personnel Surety requirements apply to “affected individuals” with access to a high-risk chemical facility’s restricted areas or critical assets – (1) facility personnel and (2) unescorted visitors to the facility.
2. A CFATS facility will need to submit each affected individual’s full name, date of birth, and either gender or citizenship to DHS. If an affected individual is not a U.S. citizen, the facility will submit the person’s full name, date of birth, citizenship, and passport information or alien registration number.
- Facilities will be required to notify individuals that their PII will be submitted to DHS for vetting against the TSDB.
- Facilities will use the online Chemical Security Assessment Tool (CSAT) to submit this PII to DHS. CSAT is free to use.
- Companies operating multiple high-risk chemical facilities will identify, in CSAT, to which specific facilities each affected individual has access.
- Facilities may designate third parties or contractors as authorized to access CSAT and submit affected individuals’ PII to DHS on their behalves.
3. The results of TSDB screening will not be shared with facilities or with the individuals screened. In the event that there is a potential match to the TSDB, DHS will follow standard procedures in place to determine whether or not there is an actual match. In the case of a verified match, DHS will coordinate with appropriate law enforcement entities.
4. When applicable, CFATS facilities may submit information on individuals’ current enrollments in other DHS programs that conduct similar screening. DHS will verify individuals’ current enrollments in any of these programs rather than duplicating previously conducted screening.
- Facilities will submit this information through CSAT in the same manner as described above.
- DHS will verify enrollment in the Transportation Worker Identification Credential (TWIC), Hazardous Materials Endorsement (HME), Secure Electronic Network for Travelers Rapid Inspection (SENTRI), Free and Secure Trade (FAST), and NEXUS programs.
5. High-risk facilities will submit updated PII to DHS if an individual’s PII changes. Maintaining up-to-date PII will help the federal government to perform the most accurate TSDB screening possible.
6. High-risk facilities will also notify DHS (via CSAT) when any individuals whose PII has been submitted for screening no longer have access to restricted areas or critical assets. It is important for DHS to know when individuals lose access so that DHS can stop screening those individuals against updated TSDB records.
7. DHS will recurrently compare submitted PII to information contained in the TSDB.
- The results of TSDB screening will not be shared with facilities or with the individuals screened.
- In the event that there is a potential match to the TSDB, DHS will follow standard procedures in place to determine whether or not there is an actual match. In the case of a verified match, DHS will coordinate with appropriate law enforcement entities.
8. DHS has structured the Personnel Surety Program to provide high-risk chemical facilities with flexibility in how they can meet the CFATS terrorist ties background check requirement.
- Facilities may allow third parties to submit screening information to DHS through CSAT on their behalves.
- Facilities have wide latitude in how they define their restricted areas and critical assets in their SSPs.
- Facilities can restrict the numbers and types of persons that they allow to access their restricted areas and critical assets.
- Facilities can choose to escort visitors to restricted areas or critical assets in lieu of performing background checks on them.
- Facilities can leverage the results of previous TSDB vetting conducted on individuals enrolled in other DHS programs.
Effective Date:
DHS anticipates launching the Personnel Surety Program in the fall of 2011. DHS will implement submission schedules as part of the program, under which high-risk chemical facilities would have different periods of time, depending on facility risk tier, to submit affected individuals’ PII to DHS for screening.
- These schedules would apply to facilities once their SSPs are authorized by DHS and once the Personnel Surety Program is fully implemented.
- The Department may, on a facility-by-facility basis, allow for variances from these schedules.
- DHS will provide additional notice to the public and to high-risk chemical facilities when it launches the program.