SECRETARY NAPOLITANO ANNOUNCES NEW STANDARDS FOR PRIVATE SECTOR PREPAREDNESS

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Janet Napolitano today announced the adoption of the final standards for the Voluntary Private Sector Preparedness Accreditation and Certification Program (PS-Prep)—a major milestone in DHS’ implementation of a program recommended by the 9/11 Commission to improve private sector preparedness for disasters and emergencies.

 “Private organizations across the country—from businesses to universities to non-profit organizations—have a vital role to play in bolstering our disaster preparedness and response capabilities,” said Secretary Napolitano. “These new standards will provide our private sector partners with the tools they need to enhance the readiness and resiliency of our nation.”

PS-Prep is a partnership between DHS and the private sector that enables private entities to receive emergency preparedness certification from a DHS accreditation system created in coordination with the private sector.

The standards—developed by the National Fire Protection Association, the British Standards Institution and ASIS International—were published for public comment in the Federal Register in Oct. 2009.  The adoption of the final standards was published in a Federal Register notice today following a series of regional public meetings and the incorporation of public comments.

DHS will continue to accept comments on PS-Prep, the three adopted standards, and/or proposals to adopt any other similar standard that satisfies the target criteria of the December 2008 Federal Register notice which announced the program.

Comments may be submitted to http://www.regulations.gov or FEMA-POLICY@dhs.gov, in Docket ID FEMA-2008-0017).

For more information, visit http://www.fema.gov/privatesectorpreparedness/.

Asteroid 2010 GA6 Will Pass Close to Earth Today

Last year I did a significant post on a near miss of earth by an asteroid that occurred on March 2, 2009. Today another recently discovered asteroid measuring approximately 71 feet across will pass close to the earth. The asteroid named 2010 GA6 will pass within 223,000 miles of earth and will be 16,000 miles closer to us than the moon. The event will occur approximately at 4:00 pm PST.

This past January another asteroid passed within 76,000 miles of earth as well.

Though it should pass safely the discovery of the number of asteroids passing near the earth is on the rise due to more time, techniques and research being devoted to their discovery.

Referred to NEO's (Near Earth Objects) there are a number of groups and people concerned with this external threat that these objects present. One of the most notable organizations involved in this area is The Association of Space Explorers (ASE) Committee on Near-Earth Objects (NEOs)

The ASE-NEO committee is dedicated to raising awareness of this issue and in efforts to get the international community to protect the Earth from future asteroid impacts.

Another interesting group which I have only become recently aware of through some brief communications with Rusty Schweickart is the B612 Foundation. The goal of the B612 Foundation is to find a method for significantly altering the orbit of an asteroid so that it does not impact the earth. They plan on doing this by 2015.

Interestingly enough Rusty Schweickart and I are planning on getting together sometime in the next moth or two to discuss this very issue. I'll keep you posted as to what occurs and how I become involved more with this issue over the next several months.

Biden Says Large Scale 9/11 Like Attack in the U.S. "Unlikely"

Vice President Biden says large scale terror attack against the United States unlikely while on CNN's Larry King Live.

recently I wrote a two part series on why I think the current administrations does not get the current situation when it comes to the Islamic terrorist threat you can view Part I here.

Additionally the day after the State of the Union Address the President gave a statement about traveling on trains since he is now backing future creation of a high-speed rail systems in the U.S. In that statement he said "besides, you don't have to take off your shoes" alluding to the fact that unlike traveling by planes we do not have to remove our shoes while traveling on trains.

There are several things wrong with this statement, the most important of which again shows the lack of understanding of the threat we face. Though it is true you do not have to remove your shoes while traveling by train, it is not impossible for a terror attack to occur on a train inside the U.S.

I would like to see more security on our trains, and at all major transprotation hubs that includes rail, bus, plane and ships.

Quite frankly these two statements scare me.

Rock Slide Shuts Part of Highway 64

A series of rock slides shut down U.S. Highway 64 in Tennessee, and officials are saying it may take up to a week to clear the debris which include rocks as large as some cars.

The route is a major highway in the area and the Tennessee Department of Transportation has set up detours by using I-75 and U.S. Highway 74.

For more information on this or any other TDOT road construction project, or for weather-related road closure information, visit the TDOT Web site's dynamic TDOT SmartWay Information System or travelers in the local area can call 511.

Video of the Second Rock Slide in Tennessee

Events such as these can cause disruptions to your business, make a plan today.

House Bill Seeks Terrorist-Proof Chemicals

The House recently passed legislation giving the government the authority to force companies to replace chemicals that terrorists could use in attacks with safer alternatives.

Chemical-industry lobbyists say mandating substitutions in chemicals and manufacturing processes, as the House measure would do, could cause shortages of some products.

The Senate will be taking up a similar version of the legislation sometime next year.