New Jersey begins chemical plant inspections

New Jersey—the first state in the union to have chemical plant security legislation—is to begin inspecting its 140 chemical plants for compliance with the law's guidelines this month. For security reasons, the state's Department of Environmental Protection, the agency conducting the inspections, would not release information about inspection dates or any other specifics. At the end of March, chemical companies had to submit assessments of their security vulnerabilities and plans to ameliorate those risks. Of the 140 plants, 43 are also covered by the state's Toxic Catastrophe Prevention Act and are required to craft site-specific plans for using inherently safer technologies. These 43 plants must map out ways to use safer, less toxic chemicals in their process lines and safer ways to store and handle chemicals.