DHS Sends Agriculture Survey

DHS recently sent an Agriculture Survey to nearly 1,300 covered CFATS facilities that submitted Top-Screens indicating they possessed certain COIs used in agriculture activities. DHS had indefinitely extended the Top-Screen submission due date in December 2007 for farmers and other agricultural facilities that use COI for agricultural production purposes in order to gather more information regarding agricultural operations to determine whether modification of the Top-Screen was necessary for such facilities. This Agriculture Survey represents DHS’s modification of the Top-Screen and its first step in re-evaluating agricultural facilities that possess and use Appendix A COIs.

The Agriculture Survey seeks information about COI-containing products that meet or exceed the lowest minimum concentration level established for that COI in Appendix A – whether or not the amount of the COI possessed by the facility exceeds the applicable Appendix A Screening Threshold Quantity. Therefore, a facility may need to provide information about COI-containing products that were not required to be reported on the facility’s Top-Screen submission. Those facilities notified in writing by DHS are required to complete and submit the Agriculture Survey by Monday, September 20, 2010.