Plant Security Bill Advances

A Senate committee unanimously approved legislation on June 15 that would give the Department of Homeland Security broad authority to establish security regulations for the 15,000 U.S. facilities that manufacture, process, store, or sell chemicals and to penalize facilities for noncompliance.

The Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee voted 10???0 to send the Chemical Facility Anti-Terrorism Act, S.2145, to the Senate floor for consideration later this year.

The bill, cosponsored by Chairman Susan M. Collins (R-Maine) and ranking member Joseph I. Lieberman (D-Conn.), would for the first time require such facilities to assess their vulnerabilities and to develop security and emergency response plans. Rep. Daniel Lungren (R-Calif.), a member of the House Homeland Security Committee, is expected to introduce similar chemical plant security legislation by early July.

The chemical industry's chief spokesman called the Senate committee's action a positive step forward. "ACC is encouraged by the direction of the debate in which the panel clarified the bill???s essential focus on security by limiting government's ability to mandate chemistry processes," American Chemistry Council President Jack N. Gerard said in a statement.

Lawmakers rejected an amendment offered by Lieberman that would have required chemical facilities that DHS deemed "high risk" to use inherently safer technologies if they were cost-effective and feasible and would improve security. "Safer chemicals, improved storage, and safer operations make a facility less inviting as a target for terrorists and will limit the loss of life or other damage if an attack occurs," Lieberman argued.

But Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) said such a requirement reminded him of "Soviet-style mandates" and would create a "litigation nightmare" between chemical companies and the government. The committee defeated the amendment on a vote of 5–11.

Gerard said chemical manufacturers are still concerned that the bill allows "a potential patchwork of discordant and confusing state-level regulations which will weaken security." Plant-site security, he said, is a national issue that requires a uniform national response, which is why the industry has called for federal pre-emption of chemical security measures passed at the state and local levels. "We will continue working with Congress to ensure that federal pre-emption is included in the bill," Gerard said.

The committee narrowly rejected, 7–9, an amendment by Sen. George V. Voinovich (R-Ohio) that would have stripped states and localities of their authority to establish stricter security standards than the federal government has.

However, the committee also passed, 10–5, another controversial amendment from Voinovich that would prevent activists from suing chemical companies for alleged violations of the act and exempt information about facility compliance with the bill???s requirements from public disclosure.

Lieberman called the provisions "unwise and unfair" and said he would try to eliminate the amendment when the bill reaches the Senate floor. "People who live in the shadow of chemical plants should have the right to know how safe those plants are, and they should be allowed to challenge DHS actions, or inactions, if they believe their safety is in jeopardy," Lieberman argued. Proponents said the measures would keep sensitive information out of the hands of terrorists.

Lawmakers also agreed to an amendment by Sen. Mark Pryor (D-Ark.) that would direct DHS to regulate the purchase and handling of ammonium nitrate fertilizer, which has been used by terrorists as a component in homemade bombs. The House Homeland Security Committee approved the ammonium nitrate measure earlier in the week.