House Passes Bill To Boost Security R&D

The House of Representatives has passed legislation (H.R. 4842) reauthorizing the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) Science & Technology Directorate (S&T). The bill would authorize $1.1 billion for fiscal 2011 and $1.2 billion for fiscal 2012 for S&T, which is the department’s main research program. If the measure clears the Senate, it would be the first time Congress has reviewed and approved the programs in S&T since DHS was created in 2002. One measure in the bill establishes requirements for research in the areas of chemical and biological threats. For chemical security, the directorate would be directed to “develop technology to reduce the nation’s vulnerability to chemical warfare agents and commonly used toxic industrial chemicals.” Included in this would be the establishment of the Chemical Security Analysis Center, which would be tasked with “conducting risk and vulnerability assessments based on chemical threat properties.”