The U.S. Justice Department recently recommended a 12-step analysis and reduction process to improve security for the nation's15,000 chemical, water and wastewater treatment plants.

The U.S. Justice Department recently recommended a 12-step analysis and reduction process to improve security for the 15,000 chemical, water and wastewater treatment plants in the United States. The program was developed by the Justice Department's research and development agency and the Department of Energy-controlled Sandia National Laboratories.

The program involves definition and assessment of threats to a facility, then determining the priority in which they should be dealt with.

The Bush administration plans to require facilities to assess their vulnerability to terrorists, then fix any problems. The terrorism assessments would be similar to risk-management plans the Environmental Protection Agency already requires from the facilities for accidental releases for toxins.

Requiring such improvements could be done through EPA rule making or an act of Congress.