The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has collected white papers for solutions that can identify the nature and source of materials used in an attack with chemical threat agents and thus attribute them to specific perpetrators.

The DHS S&T Directorate has about $2 million to spend on chemical agent attribution in fiscal year 2013. It anticipated beginning negotiations for awards to develop attribution solutions around May 13. The directorate could make six to 12 awards in support of the Chemical Forensics Program, the department said.

As part of the effort to deter criminal and terrorist chemical attacks and strengthen the law enforcement response to such an act, Homeland Security Presidential Directive (HSPD) 22, a classified document dealing with domestic chemical defense, was issued, the BAA explained. An unclassified portion of this document addresses attribution as a means of identifying the nature and source of materials, the perpetrators and the methods of chemical attacks.

The effort falls under the Chemical and Biological Division (CBD) of the DHS S&T Directorate. CBD maintains a Threat Characterization and Attribution Branch with responsibilities to conduct threat and risk assessments on both traditional and advance agents, conduct experiments to close major scientific gaps, provide scientific support to the biodefense, chemical defense and intelligence communities, and provide the nation with an operational biological and chemical forensics capability, DHS said.

Source: Full article available at Homeland Security Today, http://www.hstoday.us/industry-news/general/single-article/dhs-considering-techniques-for-attribution-of-chemical-attacks/c35ccd9076418c8f191afe81bf90c33b.html