Protecting and Securing Chemical Facilities from Terrorist Attacks Act of 2018
Placed on Senate Legislative Calendar under General Orders. Calendar No. 670.
Congressional Research Service
Official summary
Version 00 · Introduced in Senate · Sep 4, 2018
Protecting and Securing Chemical Facilities from Terrorist Attacks Act of 2018
This bill directs the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to reauthorize and make changes in its Chemical Facility Anti-Terrorism Standards (CFATS) program. The CFATS program regulates "high-risk" chemical facilities to reduce the risk of terrorist attacks.
The program shall evaluate and maintain (currently, limited to establishing) risk-based performance standards designed to address high levels of security risk at certain chemical facilities. The bill prohibits the inclusion of any standard relating to cybersecurity.
DHS shall: (1) establish a CFATS Recognition Program to leverage CFATS regulations and industry stewardship programs to further enhance security relating to hazardous chemicals, and (2) commission a third-party study to assess the effectiveness of the program in maintaining security risks and in developing and using appropriate metrics and analysis capabilities to measure risk reduction.
The Government Accountability Office shall report on CFATS inspector training with recommendations for improving such training.
Placed on Senate Legislative Calendar under General Orders. Calendar No. 670.
Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs. Reported by Senator Johnson with an amendment in the nature of a substitute. With written report No. 115-384.
Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs. Reported by Senator Johnson with an amendment in the nature of a substitute. With written report No. 115-384.
Star Print ordered on the bill.
Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs. Ordered to be reported with an amendment in the nature of a substitute favorably.
Read twice and referred to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs.
Introduced in Senate
Primary sources
Bill text & related measures
Text links open the official source. We currently store references to these documents.
Source last updated: Apr 7, 2025. Consult Congress.gov for the current record.
AI Conversation Starters
Explore the bill from different angles
Choose a perspective, copy a prompt, and paste it into your preferred AI. Each prompt includes the bill version and available official source links, and asks for counterarguments as well as supporting evidence.
Neutral evidence review
Objective
Analyze S.3405 as objectively as possible. Explain its main provisions, who would be affected, possible benefits and harms, implementation, exceptions, and uncertainties. Present the strongest arguments for and against it, and identify evidence needed to assess its public impact.
View full prompt & sources
Fairness and public impact
Progressive lens
Examine S.3405 through a progressive lens, focusing on fairness, access, economic inequality, and effects on vulnerable communities. Explain potential benefits, costs, and unintended consequences. Consider the strongest counterarguments and distinguish stated goals from demonstrated outcomes.
View full prompt & sources
Institutions and government scope
Conservative lens
Examine S.3405 through a conservative lens, focusing on fiscal responsibility, institutional stability, federalism, and the scope of government. Explain potential benefits, costs, and unintended consequences. Consider the strongest counterarguments and any provisions that challenge this perspective.
View full prompt & sources
Individual rights and government power
Liberty lens
Examine S.3405 through a civil-liberties and limited-government lens. Consider individual rights, privacy, voluntary choice, accountability, and government power. Explain tradeoffs, possible safeguards, and the strongest counterarguments without assuming the proposal is beneficial or harmful.