Office Of Environmental Health & Safety

Northeastern University
360 Huntington Avenue
229 Forsyth Building
Boston, MA 02115-5000

phone: 617.373.2769
fax: 617.373.7622

ehs@neu.edu Image 2

Homeland Security

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) on November 20, 2007 published a final rule that imposes comprehensive federal security regulations for high-risk chemical facilities that may include some universities. The regulation requires any facility that possesses amounts of chemicals of interest above certain quantities and concentrations to provide a detailed inventory to DHS.

As part of our continuing effort to comply with these regulations, EHS is asking all University personnel to contact our office if you purchase or acquire any chemicals on the DHS list. This will allow EHS to review any existing inventories and ensure your chemical purchase does not exceed certain thresholds outlined by DHS.

A modified version of the DHS list prepared by EHS can be found at this URL: DHS List of Chemicals. You will note DHS has broken down the COI's into three categories: Release, Theft and Sabotage. Release reflects any type of storage including underground storage tanks, aboveground storage and any other immobile type storage units. Theft reflects any type of storage such as 55 gallon drums, bottles or other containers that can be easily moved around or stolen. Sabotage reflects any chemicals listed that might be shipped off campus for use elsewhere or disposed as hazardous waste. You will also note some chemicals are color coded. Yellow shows chemicals exempt from reporting if they are found in laboratories, while red and violet reflect Sabotage chemicals that have "any amount" reporting thresholds.

To report a chemical you purchased on the DHS list please e-mail us at: ehs@neu.edu

Additional information about the regulation can be found at the links below.