09/12/2025

America Can’t Afford Chemical Security Gaps

HSToday | Chris Jahn | September 11, 2025

America Can’t Afford Chemical Security Gaps

The attacks of September 11, 2001, reshaped how America thinks about security. Since then, we’ve strengthened counterterrorism measures—but the threat environment hasn’t stood still. Cyber intrusions, unauthorized drone flights over critical infrastructure, and misuse of artificial intelligence are creating new vulnerabilities that adversaries can exploit in ways we are only beginning to understand.  

Among our nation’s most attractive targets is the chemical sector. It powers more than a quarter of U.S. GDP, directly employs over half a million Americans, and underpins essentials like clean water, safe food, reliable energy, advanced manufacturing, and life-saving medicines. But the same chemicals that sustain modern life can, in the wrong hands, be weaponized to endanger workers, communities, and critical supply chains far beyond the plant gates. 

Because our sector is so tightly woven into both the economy and national infrastructure, it requires a security threat response system that matches its unique risks. Unlike many industries, chemicals are dual-use by nature—vital for industry, but dangerous if stolen, diverted, or sabotaged. That is why security measures cannot be an afterthought; they must stand alongside safety programs as a national priority. 

Safety and Security: Different but Complementary

It’s critical to distinguish between chemical safety and chemical security. Safety programs protect against accidents and natural disasters. Security, however, guards against deliberate threats—sabotage, theft, or terrorism. Both matter, but they require different solutions.  While OSHA and EPA rules address safety, they were never designed to stop adversaries determined to weaponize chemicals. 

The Gap Left by CFATS

For more than a decade, the Chemical Facility Anti-Terrorism Standards (CFATS) program provided exactly what was needed: a tailored, risk-based framework to secure high-risk facilities against intentional threats. CFATS required facilities to assess vulnerabilities, implement layered defenses, and undergo federal inspection. It also gave industry access to DHS expertise and security tools not available elsewhere.

When CFATS expired in July 2023, the nation lost its only federal program dedicated to chemical facility security. That lapse has left facilities more exposed—without clear federal guidance, without specialized oversight, and without a unifying standard to measure readiness. The gap cannot be filled by private sector programs alone, no matter how well-intentioned. 

A Changing and Escalating Threat Environment 

The risks are accelerating:

Cyberattacks on industrial control systems are relentless, with the potential to manipulate chemical processes and cause devastating accidents.

Drones are probing perimeters, testing response times, and could be adapted to carry chemical payloads or trigger releases.

Artificial intelligence is giving adversaries powerful tools to scan for weak points in security systems, supply chains, and physical defenses.

Global instability increases the likelihood that state and non-state actors may target U.S. chemical facilities for disruption or terror.

While recent White House actions on cyber, drones, and AI are helpful, they cannot substitute for a dedicated, federally led programs that address threats to critical infrastructure, including chemical facilities.

Level Up: Why Congress Must Act 

The chemical industry is doing its part through initiatives such as American Chemistry Council’s Responsible Care® program, which requires companies to address a broad range of security across facilities, transportation networks, and digital operations.  But without DHS’s direct partnership and oversight under CFATS, companies no longer have access to the shared expertise, intelligence, and tools that made security improvements...

We know collaboration works. When industry and government work together, critical infrastructure is stronger, communities are safer, and the nation is better protected.

Congress should act quickly to:

Restore CFATS and reestablish a dedicated chemical security framework.

Establish a national framework for drone security to address rapidly growing threats.

Direct the FAA to finalize overdue drone rules to protect chemical and other critical infrastructure.

These are practical, achievable, and bipartisan steps—not heavy lifts, but common-sense measures that strengthen national resilience without adding unnecessary burdens.

Bottom Line

The nation cannot afford a chemical security blind spot. Without CFATS and related protections, the door is being propped open to potential attacks on our nation.  Restoring and adopting  new federal security programs to help protect chemical facilities is not optional—it is essential to safeguarding our economy, our communities, and our way of life.