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Welcome
to the December 2006 Issue!
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This
is the Final 2006 (December) Community Safety/Security
Newsletter for people who are interested in making their homes,
families, workplaces, neighborhoods, and communities safer.
Happy
New Year!
BIG NEWS!
The Department of Homeland
Security has come out with a preliminary rulemaking requiring chemical
facilities to perform Security Vulnerability Assessments. The
rules just came out, and I haven't had a chance to review them yet, but
I'm planning to post my comments on our website in the next week or
so. I'll send everyone an email with a link to the comments when
we finish the letter. There will be only one round of comments for these
regulations, so if you want to get comments in, make sure you pay close
attention to the deadline of February
7, 2007 for comments. The text of the regulations can be
found at: http://a257.g.akamaitech.net/7/257/2422/01jan20061800/edocket.access.gpo.gov/2006/06-9903.htm
Because of these upcoming
regulations, I've included an article here that talks about the basics
of Vulnerability Assessments. We started working on the
methodology for VA's back in 1996, and that work was later used when
Sandia National Labs had me come out to help them develop their
methodology on Chemical Facility Vulnerability Assessments (now RAM-CF)
Past newsletters are all on the
website at: Newsletters.
As
always, thanks for helping us make the world just a little safer!
-Stephen
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Recent
and Upcoming Events
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RECENT EVENTS
Congress recently passed the Department of Homeland Security
Appropriations bill (Oct 2006) for the next year. Although
Congress doesn't often do this, they included authorizing language in
their appropriations bill requiring DHS to develop regulations for
completing Vulnerability Assessments on Chemical Facilities. As
mentioned above, the regulations came out a day or so ago, and we'll be
providing more information as soon as we get it.
CONFERENCES
Feb 6-7: Stephen Melvin will be speaking at "Homeland Security: The
Ripple
Effect" next February. Other speakers will
include: Hon.
Bennie G. Thompson
(ranking member of the Committee on Homeland Security, U.S. House of
Representatives), Hon.
Gary Hart (former
senator, presidential candidate, and the Wirth Chair in Environmental
and Community Development Policy at the University of Colorado at
Denver & Health Sciences Center), Hon.
James S. Gilmore, III
(chairman of the National Council on Readiness and Preparedness
(NCORP); chairman of the Congressional Advisory Panel to Assess
Domestic Response Capabilities for Terrorism Involving Weapons of
Mass Destruction; and former governor of Virginia), Lieutenant
General Russel L. Honoré
(commanding general of the U.S. First Army in Fort Gillem, GA, and
current commander of the Joint Task Force-Katrina), and James
W. Spears (Homeland
Security Advisor and Secretary of Military Affairs and Public Safety,
State of West Virginia). It looks to be an all-star lineup, so we
hope to see you there. More information can be found at: http://www.apus.edu/disaster.
Feb 12-15: The 9th annual CUPA Conference will be held in
Garden Grove
from February 12-15. Mr. Melvin will be presenting on Industrial
Security on February 12 (read: Chemical VAs). There will be a
joint meeting of
California's Region VI and Region Local Emergency Planning
Committees. This meeting is open to the public. More
information on the conference can be found at: http://www.calcupa.net/conference/2007/index.html.
Feb 13-16: The
Public Agency Risk Manager's Association (PARMA) Conference will be
this February 13-16 in Monterey, CA. More information is available at: http://www.parma.com/index.cfm?pageid=545
Feb 20-21: The Environmental
Professionals of Arizona (EPAZ), Thunderbird Chapter of the
Academy of Certified Hazardous Material Managers (ACHMM) and the Arizona Emergency Response
Commission (AZSERC) will co-host the Third Annual GATEKEEPER
REGULATORY ROUNDUP (GRR) on February 20-21, 2007 at the Chaparral
Suites in Scottsdale, Arizona. Mr. Melvin will be speaking on
Chemical Facility Vulnerability Assessments. For more
information, please click: http://www.dem.state.az.us/azserc/upcoming.htm#February
As you can see from the above, you have lots of opportunities
to learn about chemical facility vulnerability assessments before the
regulations require your facility to perform one!
If
you are planning a conference or other event and would like Stephen
Melvin
to appear, please call us at (951) 764-3626 or email us at: info@oursafetowns.com.
His bio and information are available here.
TRAINING
CLASSES
Congressman
Rohrabacher's office (in Orange/LA County) is still sponsoring
regular classes on anti-terrorism topics. If you would like more
information on these classes, please let us know.
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What
lies ahead?
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Keeping
Our Schools Safe is progressing. We aren't going to make the
AAPUS Conference in Feb, but we'll do our best to get it out
soon.
We have begun offering consulting services under the SRM Associates
banner. Emergency Response Planning for businesses, agencies, and
communities. Tabletop exercises, vulnerability assessments,
safety assessments, etc. Many of you have worked with us in the
past, so you know the type of things that we do. It is our
intention to work with businesses and agencies that truly wish to
improve their ability to prevent, respond to, and recover from a
disaster. We find ways to make your community safer, while
working to make your job easier. We help to find grant funding
for emergency preparedness programs and often, can help you accomplish
your project with little to no money out of your budget. If you
are interested in working with us directly to make your community,
business, or agency safer, please contact us at: info@oursafetowns.com.
See
you next month! |
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| ©
2006 SRM Associates |
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