Government Concentrates

Chemical plant risks assessed

A terrorist attack at any of some 2,500 U.S. chemical plants could harm at least 10,000 residents, says a new report by the Congressional Research Service (CRS). The government research organization's report also found that an attack at any of 6,700 smaller plants could endanger more than 1,000 people; the Department of Homeland Security recently said its own analysis found that only 3,400 plants held the risk of harming more than 1,000 people if attacked. In its report, CRS compiled and updated risk management plan (RMP) data reported by companies to the Environmental Protection Agency, starting in the late 1990s. In recent years, a component of the RMP data, the worst-case scenarios, has been used to assess the potential impact of a terrorist attack on a chemical plant. CRS found that the universe of chemical plants reporting this data had dropped from 14,400 to 12,099 facilities and attributed this decline to company noncompliance, bankruptcy, or process changes eliminating use of toxic or flammable chemicals. CRS also found that the number of plants that could threaten more than a million residents declined slightly from earlier EPA data but still includes 106 facilities in 23 states; Texas, California, and Illinois have most of these plants. Texas and California also have the most facilities where more than 10,000 people would be affected by a severe accident or attack. Each has more than 300 plants with this potential. The report was requested from CRS by Rep. Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.), who has urged mandatory security requirements for these plants.

Penalty strategy recommended to EPA

EPA should consider penalties for environmental harm from violations as it sets fines in administrative enforcement cases settled out of court, a panel of economics experts is recommending to the agency. For the past two decades, EPA has set fines in administrative cases--enforcement actions that do not involve criminal charges--based on recouping the economic benefit a company reaped through a violation. A draft report from the agency's Science Advisory Board recommends that EPA consider more than just this type of economic benefit when it sets penalties in the administrative cases it settles. The draft suggests adding "a penalty based on harm to the environment rather than on gain to the polluter." In addition, the draft says EPA should drop its complex plans to set fines based on "illegal competitive advantage" (C&EN, Aug. 23, 2004, page 26). Instead, the agency should have only two categories of economic benefits that it seeks to collect in administrative penalties, the draft says. One is the financial advantage from delayed or avoided costs of complying with environmental standards, such as installation of pollution control equipment. The second category, the draft says, should cover profits on increased sales, such as sales of an unregistered pesticide.

Tighter standard suggested for particulates

In a first step toward tougher air pollution regulations, EPA's staff on June 30 recommended tightening the national standards for fine particulate matter. A staff paper recommends lowering the current air quality standards from 15 mg per m³ for an annual average or 65 mg per m³ for a daily average. It suggests that EPA policymakers choose one of two strategies. One is to keep the current annual average and to ratchet down the daily average to between 25 and 35 mg per m³. The other is to lower the annual average to between 12 and 14 mg per m³ and the daily average to 30 to 40 mg per m³. The staff paper adds that current scientific data are insufficient to base a standard for fine particles on the composition of particles. EPA agreed to prepare the staff paper to settle a lawsuit by environmental activists to get the agency to review its 1997 standards for particulates. Under that deal, EPA is to propose any changes to the particulate matter standards by Dec. 20 and issue a final rule in late 2006.

NIH to establish protein structure centers

NIH's National Institute of General Medical Sciences announced that 10 new centers will be set up under the agency's Protein Structure Initiative (PSI), the national effort to find the three-dimensional structures of a range of proteins. The centers mark the beginning of the initiative's second phase for the decade-long program that started in 2000. "PSI has transformed protein structure determination into a highly automated process, making it possible to go from a selected target to a completed structure much more rapidly than before," NIGMS Director Jeremy M. Berg said. The second phase moves the initiative into a production phase in which four of the 10 centers will generate an expected 3,000 to 4,000 structures. The other six centers will work on new methods for quickly determining the structures of proteins that are difficult to study. The 10 centers will share $300 million over the next five years.

Pandemic flu plan lacks clear guidance

The Government Accountability Office reports that the U.S. strategy concerning a possible influenza pandemic lacks any clear guidance on how to deal with a serious virus outbreak, as some experts fear might happen with the avian flu. Released on June 30 at a House Committee on Government Reform hearing, the GAO draft, titled "Influenza Pandemic: Challenges in Preparedness and Response," says the U.S. plan merely presents options for dealing with a pandemic rather than laying out specific steps. For example, the plan does not list priority groups who would be given the limited supplies of vaccines and antiviral medications available in the early stages of a pandemic. Until such key federal decisions are made, public health officials at all levels may find it difficult to plan for an influenza pandemic, GAO says. According to GAO, a medium-level influenza pandemic could kill 89,000 to 207,000 people in the U.S. and cost the economy $71 billion to $167 billion.