More leaders praise new US site security rules

03 April 2007 23:13  [Source: ICIS news]

WASHINGTON (ICIS news)--US chemical industry and refining officials gave further praise on Tuesday for new plant site security regulations issued by the Bush administration, saying the new rules represent an “admirable job”.

 

The National Petrochemical & Refiners Association (NPRA) said it welcomes the Department of Homeland Security’s plan to encompass a broad range of facilities in trying to identify “high risk” chemical plants that will be subject to the department’s new standards.

 

The department issued final regulations on Monday to establish the first federal control of antiterrorism security measures at those chemical plants - yet to be determined - that pose the greatest risk of mass casualties in neighbouring communities in the event of a terrorist attack.

 

“NPRA is pleased that the initial phase of the rule encompasses a broad range of facilities possessing chemicals in quantities that might present a high level of risk,” the trade group said.

 

The rules require that sites that produce, use or store any of some 300 “chemicals of interest” participate in the first screening procedure designed to identify high-risk plants. The qualifying quantity levels among the 300 substances can range from any amount to 6.8 tonnes.

 

The association also praised the department’s rulemaking for reflecting the intent of Congress in allowing regulated sites to select security measures to meet the federal standard and for giving high security protection against disclosure of business critical information.

 

The Synthetic Organic Chemical Manufacturers Association (Socma) also welcomed the new rules, commending the department for its “hard work in promulgating these regulations”.

 

Socma said it welcomed the rules’ risk-based approach to site evaluation. However, the trade group, whose member firms are chiefly batch and specialty chemical producers, said it was worried that the department was not allowing enough time for smaller firms with limited resources to conduct mandatory vulnerability assessments.

 

The new rules go into effect in June.

 

Democrat leaders in Congress are unhappy with the department’s rulemaking and are working on new legislation to toughen the site security law.

By: Joe Kamalick
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