NPRA ’07: US chems given credit for security

27 March 2007 00:44  [Source: ICIS news]

SAN ANTONIO, Texas (ICIS news)--The chemicals industry deserves credit for antiterrorism security measures it has voluntarily put in place, a top US federal security official said on Monday, but he cautioned that industry players must co-operate further.

 

Alfonso Martinez-Fonts, assistant secretary at the US Department of Homeland Security, told chemical industry executives that he hopes their industry is sharing best practices on security matters.

 

“I have to give a great deal of credit to this [chemicals] industry,” Martinez-Fonts told executives at the 32nd annual National Petrochemical & Refiners Association (NPRA) petrochemicals conference. 

 

“I commend you for what you’ve done and what you do.” he said.  “You did not wait for 9/11,” he said, referring to the September 2001 terrorist attacks in New York City and near Washington, DC, before taking steps to ensure security at chemical high-risk chemical sites.

 

“I certainly hope that your companies are involved in best practices sharing,” Martinez-Fonts said.

 

He said impending regulations from his department to set site security standards will be “reasonable, clear and equitable”.

 

The department is within days of issuing final regulations to implement the chemical site security law passed by Congress late last year, as reported.

 

Martinez-Fonts said the department had received some 1,300 pages of public comment on the proposed regulations. 

 

Most industry concerns, he said, focused on federal pre-emption of state law, protection of proprietary business and security information and the potential imposition of inherently safer technology as a security mandate.

 

The NPRA conference concludes on Tuesday.

By: Joe Kamalick
+1 713 525 2653

< previous article(ICIS Podcast: Chemical News Central 2 November 2009)

For the latest chemical news, data and analysis that directly impacts your business sign up for a free trial to ICIS news - the breaking online news service for the global chemical industry.

Get the facts and analysis behind the headlines from our market leading weekly magazine: sign up to a free trial to ICIS Chemical Business.

Printer Friendly