RAMCAP WATER SECTOR VULNERABILITY ASSESSMENT TOOL PROJECT

What is RAMCAP?

RAMCAP stands for Risk Analysis and Management for Critical Asset Protection.  It is a project of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). It is intended to provide a framework for analyzing and managing the risks associated with all hazards against water sector infrastructure.

RAMCAP strives to provide a consistent and technically sound methodology to identify, analyze, quantify and communicate the various characteristics and impacts that may lead terrorists to select a particular target and engage in a specific form of attack. It documents a process for identifying security vulnerabilities and provides methods to evaluate the options for improving these weaknesses. LEARN MORE

Is RAMCAP a Vulnerability Assessment Tool?

No it is not.  Rather, RAMCAP is a framework that can be used to develop assessment tools or to modify existing tools so that they provide comparable output allowing the effective comparison of risks across critical infrastructure sectors.  This comparison is valuable in determining where the greatest risks are likely to occur for varying threat conditions thus facilitating appropriate identification of risk reduction measures and allocation of risk reduction resources.

What is the Water Sector RAMCAP Project?

The Water Sector RAMCAP Project is an effort to review and modify existing water and wastewater vulnerability assessment tools such as RAM-W and VSAT where appropriate to allow them to provide output consistent with the RAMCAP framework. LEARN MORE

Since the focus of DHS is terrorist threats, will the all hazards approach favored by water and wastewater utilities be lost?

No.  The framework is flexible and can accommodate an all hazards approach.  The specific, limited reports of interest to security specialists can be developed in parallel with more universal, all hazard reports desired by utility managers.

What are the potential benefits of RAMCAP for the Water Sector?

Potential Benefits of making RAM-W, VSAT and other existing water sector tools compatible with the RAMCAP framework have been outlined to include:

• The Water Sector retains the full utility of their existing tools.
• Consistency enables industry self-regulation, accreditation and consistent reference.
• Participation is voluntary but use may obviate the need for regulation.
• Should regulation come into place in the future, law and policy require a voluntary consensus standard such as provided by the RAMCAP framework be used – or the agency must explain why not to OMB.

How is the Water Sector involved in the process?
The water sector is represented on all Project Committees involved in the project which include the Steering Committee, Subject Matter Experts (SME’s) Team, and the Voluntary Stakeholder Committee. LEARN MORE