The Chemical Facility Anti-Terrorism Standards (CFATS) Program identified and regulated the security of high-risk chemical facilities using a risk-based approach. Pursuant to section 5 of the Protecting and Securing Chemical Facilities from Terrorist Attacks Act of 2014. Authorization had been granted for CFATS until July 27, 2023. Congress did not act to reauthorize the program in time and, as such, the authorization expired on July 28, 2023. Therefore, regulations written pursuant to CFATS authority are not currently active. While regulatory text for the CFATS regulation, including information protection requirements, is located in part 27 of title 6 of the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR), the text is inactive due to the lapse in authority.
CISA continues to possess and safeguard the information provided to CISA under the CFATS program prior to the program’s lapse in authority on July 28, 2023. CISA also continues to receive requests for these government records and has continued to treat any information previously designated as CVI prior to the July 28, 2023 lapse consistent with the previously established CVI information handling protection regime. As a result, prior to granting access to information safeguarded as CVI, CISA verifies that the requestor is a CVI Authorized User. If that requestor has a need to know but is not a CVI Authorized User, CISA will provide the requestor with CVI training. The requestor then submits an application to become a CVI Authorized User.
CISA is authorized to safeguard information provided to CISA under CFATS prior to July 28, 2023 under 6 U.S.C. 652(e)(1)(J), which grants CISA the authority to safeguard information from unauthorized disclosure and to ensure that the information is handled and used only for the performance of official duties.[5]
It is the Administration’s position that CFATS should be reauthorized. However, even without statutory reauthorization, there is both a reason to continue collecting this information ( i.e., enabling individuals with a need to know but who are not CVI Authorized Users to access historical government records safeguarded as CVI) as well as existing statutory authority to do so under 6 U.S.C. 652(e)(1)(J). Once CFATS is reauthorized, the training and application to become a CVI Authorized User will be made accessible to the public.
The current information collection for the CVI program (IC 1670-0015) will expire on November 30, 2024.
CISA proposes three revisions from the previously approved collection. Specifically, to renew the information collection for an additional three years, increase the loaded average hourly wage rate of respondents from $79.75 to $101.87 based on updated BLS wage and compensation data, and to cite 6 U.S.C. 652(e)(1)(J) as its statutory authority rather than 6 U.S.C. 623.