November 29, 2007 by Tim McDowell.

On November 20, the Homeland Security Department published the final Appendix A to its Chemical Facility Anti-Terrorism Standards. If a facility possesses a chemical listed in the appendix at or above the quantity noted, it must complete and submit to DHS a Top-Screen assessment by January 22. After that, DHS will determine which facilities present a high level of risk; those will have to conduct vulnerability assessments and implement a site security plan that meets DHS performance standards.

http://www.dhs.gov/journal/leadership/

Posted in WMD Guides, State & Local, HLD | Print | No Comments »

September 21, 2007 by Tim McDowell.

“The Federal Emergency Management Agency and Sandia National Laboratories … began small-scale implementations of the Integrated Public Alert and Warning System (IPAWS) in several Gulf Coast states in August … and other small-scale implementations [are] planned for next year,” reports Federal Computer Week. The emergency alert system “now operates through a cascade arrangement, in which messages are sent to a single, primary point. Then local authorities pick up those messages and retransmit them. Other authorities then pick up the messages, transmit them and so on. By contrast, IPAWS messages can be broadcast to all recipients simultaneously. IPAWS enables officials to send messages to various Internet-connected devices, including personal digital assistants [and] cell phones.” [View article]

Posted in WMD Guides, State & Local, HLD | Print | No Comments »