Explosives Questions and Answers

The 9/11 Commission declared that “the biggest impediment to … connecting the dots is the human or systemic resistance to sharing information.” This theme is universal to all investigations. A key recommendation was the creation of a “trusted information network” to facilitate better information sharing at the federal, state and local levels.

BATS is the solution to law enforcement and public safety’s long-term inaccessibility to real-time fire and explosives incidents by providing a trusted means to exchange information across the country. Investigations increasingly involve other jurisdictions and transient subjects who move around.

The Activity section allows fire investigators to track their Certified Fire Investigator (CFI) training, re-certifications, courtroom testimonies, peer reviews and other non-incident responsibilities such as code enforcement.

BATS requires that if an Activity entry is part of an Incident, that related incident MUST also be entered into BATS. For example, an explosives Disposal (Activity) of Recovered Explosives (Incident), or a Fire Scene Examination (Activity) of a Fire (Incident). The USBDC reserves the right to remove access to BATS due to not reporting incidents.

BATS can be used to document any explosives, explosion, fire, or arson case. This includes attempts and related threats.

BATS was designed for users with minimal computer skills. Using dropdown menu options, BATS users can easily document basic incident details in a matter of minutes.

Take a tour of BATS

BATS “links” agencies to the U.S. Bomb Data Center (USBDC) which Congress and the Attorney General have entrusted with maintaining the national repository of arson and explosives incidents. BATS is central to the USBDC’s mission to standardize the reporting of explosives, bombing and fire incident information from law enforcement and firefighting authorities to facilitate case analysis and comparison in order to provide investigative leads and intelligence.

The USBDC is staffed with a team of special agents (criminal investigators) and intelligence research specialists with many years of specialized arson and explosives investigative experience.

BATS is a secure, web-based, computer case management system that is provided to state and local agencies for documenting explosives, fire and arson investigations. BATS was developed primarily with the investigator in mind.

BATS is easy to use and assists investigators in the gathering, reporting, and accessing of case information for any explosives, fire or arson incident quickly and efficiently. BATS can be used to document any fire, arson, explosion, bombing or explosives case regardless of cause, including attempts and related threats. Users also have access to critical intelligence advisories and other investigative resources such as online explosives tracing. There is no cost to the participating agency.

BATS contains information from the investigation of possible crimes involving explosives and fire as reported by local, state, tribal, and federal law enforcement and public safety agencies throughout the United States. This information is reported to BATS as a result of a variety of investigative actions including but not limited to incident responses, crime scene processing, and interviews of suspects and potential witnesses. The agency contributing information into BATS is the custodian/owner of that record and responsible for maintaining the original. This information is designated as case data collected by law enforcement in the performance of their duties and is exempt from the Privacy Act (5 U.S.C. § 552a(j)(2)). See also FOIA’s law enforcement exemptions, 5 U.S.C. 552(b)(7) which generally exempts from disclosure records or information compiled for law enforcement purposes.

Disclosures made under a non-federal agency’s State Public and Open Records Laws (including arson immunity laws) or other internal agency dissemination policy applies only to incident reports that the participating agency has contributed into BATS.

Yes. BATS serves as the Nation’s Nation’s repository for information pertaining to bombing, explosives and arson incidents, as mandated by statute and Attorney General directive. In addition, ATF and FBI recently joined in support of efforts by the National Bomb Squad Commanders Advisory Board (NBSCAB) on the issue of explosives incident reporting by bomb technicians. ATF and the FBI jointly endorse and support the use of BATS. Additionally, BATS has been endorsed by the International Association of Bomb Technicians and Investigators (IABTI), the International Association of Arson Investigators (IAAI), NBSCAB, and supported by the U.S. Fire Administration (USFA) and the International Association of Fire Chiefs (IAFC).

In August 2010, the Deputy Attorney General's Office directed the FBI and ATF to ensure that all state and local law enforcement that partner with FBI and ATF in explosives investigations, report in BATS, in order to be a "comprehensive" database. BATS is also part of the national curriculum at the Hazardous Devices School (bomb technicians) at Redstone Arsenal in Huntsville, Alabama and the National Fire Academy's Fire/Arson Origin-and-Cause Investigations course in Emmitsburg, MD. In addition, BATS is part of the FBI's Model for Bomb Squad Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs).

Federal law (18 USC 846b) requires all federal agencies to report incidents involving arson and the suspected criminal misuse of explosives to the USBDC.

In 2004, the Attorney General directed the consolidation of all Department of Justice (DOJ) arson and explosives incident databases into a single system, which is now known as BATS. As a result, the ATF Arson and Explosives Incident System (AEXIS) and the former FBI Automated Incident Reporting System (AIRS) have been consolidated into BATS.

In August 2010, the Deputy Attorney General’s Office directed the FBI and ATF to ensure the participation of all state and local law enforcement agencies that partner with FBI and ATF in explosives investigations, in order for BATS to be a "comprehensive" database.

BATS is part of the national curriculum for bomb technicians at the Hazardous Devices School at Redstone Arsenal in Huntsville, Alabama and the National Fire Academy’s Fire/Arson Origin-and-Cause Investigations course in Emmitsburg, Maryland. In addition, BATS is part of the FBI’s Model for Bomb Squad Standard Operating Procedures.

BATS has a bomb technician-only RSP section to document and store information pertaining to Render Safe Procedures.

This section along with the bomb techs only advisory section is only accessible to agencies that have a valid bomb squad identification number, and to users that have a bomb squad expiration date that is not expired.

BATS provides your unit with state-of-the-art technology to manage and keep track of all your investigations and administrative activities. Users can easily create professional reports using standardized terminology for consistency. This provides the investigator with the ability to efficiently communicate investigative findings with a prosecutor and other investigators.

The value of the information in BATS is dependent on the quality of incident reporting. This data is not only important to the successful conclusion of the case being investigated but can also help “connect the dots” to other cases across jurisdictions.

The USBDC also provides Congress with statistical reporting regarding explosives, bombing, and fire incidents. Full participation in BATS enables your agency to be accurately represented and can better make a case to acquire needed resources (e.g., grant writing, statistics, mapping, identifying a community’s arson problem, juvenile fire setter programs, budget accounting/requests, planning, equipment requests, meetings with municipal leaders, etc.).

BATS contains Sensitive But Unclassified (SBU) information from law enforcement and public safety agencies in the Information Sharing Environment (ISE). BATS is certified as secure under the Federal Information Security Management Act (FISMA) and is Section 508, 1194.21 compliant (Software Applications and Operating Systems).

After completing the online application, the system will auto-reply to your designated email address with the necessary forms for completing the application process. Please reference the email response to your initial BATS application for downloading the necessary forms. If you did not receive an email reply, please check your spam or junk email folders. If you have deleted the email, please restart the application process online at www.BATS.gov. It is also recommended that you add USBDC@atf.gov on your safe senders list in order to prevent messages from being marked as spam.

Yes. The latest version of BATS includes icon-driven wizards and decision trees to quickly create an incident in a matter of minutes with the option to enter additional information in the future.

Some examples of factors that could affect our timely processing of your application and the issuance of your license or permit could include the local ATF field office being unable to contact you for the purpose of the face-to-face interview; your need for additional time to satisfy the requirements of your local zoning boards or other state and local agencies in order to bring your proposed business premises into compliance with state or local law; your need for additional time to obtain or construct the correct storage facility for the explosives product you plan to maintain, the FBI being unable to adequately complete the required background checks because of incomplete or aged court records or fingerprint card imprints that could not be “read” and require re-submission, or insufficient fee payment.

If the field office’s recommendation is to deny your application, then a different process applies. That process requires the field office to notify you in writing of the reasons for denial and give you the chance to request and attend a hearing to review the evidence upon which the denial is based. The Safe Explosives Act also affords an applicant the right to appeal an adverse hearing decision to federal district court. The hearing process would obviously exceed 90 days.

If you submit a license or permit renewal application with the appropriate fee to ATF prior to the expiration date of your current license, you can contact the Federal Explosives Licensing Center (FELC) and request what is called a Letter of Authorization (LOA). An LOA will act as evidence of your licensed status until we act on your pending renewal application and can be provided by the license holder to suppliers to verify that you are a licensee in good standing awaiting final ATF action on your renewal application.

A Federal explosives manufacturer license allows a person to acquire, manufacture for commercial use, distribute, ship and transport explosive materials in interstate or foreign commerce.

A Federal explosives importer license allows a person to import, distribute, ship and transport explosive materials in interstate or foreign commerce.

A Federal explosives dealer license allows a person to acquire, distribute, ship and transport explosive materials in interstate or foreign commerce.

A Federal explosives permit allows a person to receive, ship, and transport explosive materials. A federal explosives permit does not authorize a person to distribute explosives.

• Appeals Process — If upon receiving a denial letter from ATF you believe that you are not prohibited from possessing explosives (due to reasons such as identity theft, the dismissal of criminal charges, or other reasons), you may appeal your denial by supplying a written statement, new fingerprint cards, and any supporting documentation that you may have which demonstrates that you are not prohibited. ATF will consider all appeal documents submitted and send the fingerprint cards to the FBI for processing. A determination will be made as to whether the denial should be overturned and you will be notified of the outcome. You will remain in a denied status while your appeal is pending.
   
• Explosives Relief of Disabilities Process – If your denial is upheld, you may apply for relief from your federal explosives disability by sending ATF a Form 5400.29, Application for Restoration of Explosives Privileges along with the required additional information specified in the application. Your application will be coordinated by ATF personnel in the Explosives Relief of Disability (EROD) Program. An investigation will then be conducted, to include, but not limited to, interviews and review of court documents and other information. ATF will notify you in writing of its decision. You may contact the EROD Program by email at EROD@atf.gov or phone at (256) 261-7640.

The Safe Explosives Act (SEA) requires ATF to act on a properly completed application within 90 days. ATF usually considers an application to have been properly completed when all required information has been provided to ATF in writing. This includes submission of the correct number of legible fingerprint cards, the correct fee, etc.

If material changes have to be made to an application (e.g., a change from one license type to another or the addition of or changes to the responsible persons, different business name, premises address, hours of operation, EIN, etc.) after its initial receipt by the Federal Explosives Licensing Center (FELC), then the 90-day processing period may re-start.

The FELC generates licenses and permits every day based on the receipt of field recommendations. Licenses and permits are sent first class mail to an applicant’s mailing address of record from the FELC in Martinsburg, West Virginia.

View current processing times

We would approve or, depending on the circumstances, deny an application within a 90-day period, which begins with the day a “properly executed application” is received at the Federal Explosives Licensing Center.

Current Processing Times for ATF Applications

[18 USC 843, 27 CFR 555.49(a)(3)]

Yes. As part of our commitment to supporting firefighting authorities, the USBDC is able to establish new user roles in BATS, including one for non-law enforcement (non-LE) public safety fire investigators.

Non-LE BATS users will have limited access to BATS to document incidents and activities, and be able to query all of their own data, as well as other non-LE user incident data. The non-LE users will also have access to the non-LE sensitive posted advisories and investigative resources. This will allow agencies to use BATS for case management, data collection and analysis, incident reporting and activity tracking. Non-LE users will also have access to the non-LE sensitive posted advisories and investigative resources.

Non-LE public safety agencies still have the option of partnering with a law enforcement agency for full access to BATS. Non-LE public safety agencies also have the option of contacting their state Criminal Justice Information Services (CJIS) point of contact to apply for an Originating Agency Identifier (ORI). By obtaining an ORI from CJIS, an agency will maintain their own account and gain full access to the national database.

The USBDC can provide information on applying for an ORI number from your state CJIS point of contact. Please note that ATF and the USBDC are not involved in the actual ORI application.