As an advisor to chemical, energy, and manufacturing companies on compliance with the Chemical Facility Anti-Terrorism Standards (CFATS) and other security matters, and to critical infrastructure companies on liability and regulations associated with terrorism and natural disasters, Evan Wolff is one of the few legal practitioners in Washington who has real, hands-on practical experience in the policies, programs, rules, and regulations that govern companies today. Before entering private practice, Wolff served as the senior advisor to the assistant secretary of infrastructure protection of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and held several other key positions. The one-time geologist with the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission played vital roles in the formation of many DHS critical infrastructure policies and programs, including CFATS. His experiences as a scientist, lawyer, and program manager help bring credibility and foundation to these important areas.

Wolff is an Adjunct Professor in homeland security law at George Mason University School of Law. He was recently named a "Homeland Security Professional to Watch" in The Year in Homeland Security, 2009 Edition. Additionally Wolff sits on many advisory boards including at Sandia National Laboratory. He holds a J.D. from the University of Maryland School of Law, and an M.S. in Geology from Northern Arizona University. Wolff is admitted to practice law in Maryland and Washington, D.C.

He is a frequent speaker on issues related to homeland security, CFATS, and infrastructure protection, and is often invited by government agencies and sovereign governments to participate in panel discussions related to these topics.

A VIEW OF THE TRANSPORTATION SECTOR

Over the past seven years, the United States has established the mission of infrastructure protection as a focus of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). DHS created the National Infrastructure Protection Plan (NIPP) to provide a strategy for the protection of critical infrastructure, which involves coordination with the private sector, which owns over 85% of critical infrastructure, federal, state and local agencies.

Infrastructure consists of assets and networks that have been categorized into 18 sectors, such as energy, transportation and chemical. The NIPP establishes a risk framework that allows for increased protection and enhanced resilience of critical infrastructure.

In addition to providing an overview of the NIPP, there will be a focused discussion of the transportation sector. The transportation sector consists of 6 sub-sectors including: aviation, maritime, mass transit, highway infrastructure, freight rail and pipeline. Given the size and importance of the transportation sector NIPP has developed an approach to risk management that will also be discussed.