US House plans no quick change in site security

12 December 2007 21:13  [Source: ICIS news]

WASHINGTON (ICIS news)--Congressional leaders said on Wednesday they may make broad revisions to the existing regulations on chemical plant site antiterrorism security but that no changes would be made before the current law expires in late 2009.

 

Representative Sheila Jackson Lee (Democrat-Texas), chairwoman of the House Subcommittee on Transportation Security and Infrastructure Protection, told a hearing that her panel will consider changes and improvements to the existing law but there was no plan to impose a new legislative mandate before the current statute expires in October 2009.

 

“We envision making improvements in this law to become effective at the end of 2009,” she told other subcommittee members and witnesses.

 

Chemical industry officials at the hearing welcomed Jackson Lee’s statement. Marty Durbin, director of federal affairs at the American Chemistry Council (ACC), said Jackson Lee’s statement was significant because “it means that we’re all on the same page” as far as giving the existing regulations a chance to work.

 

The council and other chemical industry leaders along with officials at the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) had expressed concerns prior to the hearing that Congress might seek to change the existing site security law before it has been fully implemented and before its scheduled expiration in late 2009.

 

The department, which is responsible for implementing the site security statute enacted by Congress in 2006, issued final regulations last month and is only now beginning primary implementation of those rules.

 

The statute was passed when a Republican majority controlled Congress, and many Democrats had then complained that the legislation did not go far enough to ensure that chemical producers harden their facilities against potential terrorist attacks.

 

Democrats won control of the House and Senate in the November 2006 elections, and there have been expectations that the new congressional leadership might seek to scrap the existing law quickly and replace it with a more stringent regulatory framework.

 

Jackson Lee did indicate that her subcommittee will examine many areas of the statute with an eye to making significant changes.

 

Among areas of likely review, she said, are the law’s provision for strict security classifications for information US companies must provide to the department about their sites’ security weaknesses and improvement plans. She said neighbourhoods and first-responders near chemical plants need more information about the risks that the facilities may pose.

 

She and other committee members also said that the existing regulations’ provision for federal pre-emption of state law on site security must be revisited and perhaps should be revoked, allowing individual states to mandate site security measures in addition to federal rules.

 

Subcommittee members expressed strong interest in a possible legislative mandate for the use of inherently safer technology (IST) as a security measure, a tactic broadly opposed by the chemicals industry. Industry officials fear that a legislative mandate for IST could give federal regulators power to order changes in production feedstock selection and facility process control.

 

Jackson Lee and witnesses representing chemical producers, state regulators and academic specialists agreed that the Department of Homeland Security needs more funding and personnel to adequately implement and enforce the existing law.

 

She said more hearings would be planned.

By: Joe Kamalick
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