Water Information Protected Under Homeland Security Rule

On February 20, the Department of Homeland Security issued an interim final rule that protects infrastructure-related information voluntarily submitted to the government by drinking water facilities, chemical plants and other industries from public dissemination.

Information protected under the Procedures for Handling Critical Infrastructure Information rule includes data from drinking water utilities about possible vulnerabilities to terrorist attacks.

The rule was mandated by the Homeland Security Act of 2002 and exempts critical infrastructure information from the Freedom of Information Act.