The House Homeland Security Committee on March 6 approved the Chemical Facility Anti-Terrorism Act of 2008 by a vote of 15 to 7. The legislation (HR 5577), which would permanently authorize the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s Chemical Facility Anti-Terrorism Standards (CFATS) regulations, included a controversial provision requiring chemical facilities to assess the feasibility of using inherently safer technologies (IST) at their plants.
According to the Agricultural Retailers Association, a large portion of the committee debate centered on the IST provision, which ARA and The Fertilizer Institute have vehemently opposed in past Congressional efforts at chemical security legislation. ARA said an amendment offered by Rep. Dan Lungren (R-Calif.), ranking member of the Subcommittee on Transportation Security and Infrastructure Protection, to require only “high-risk” tiered facilities to conduct an IST assessment was defeated.
ARA was part of a coalition of industry groups that sent a letter on Feb. 26 to committee members opposing the inclusion of the IST provision in the current bill. ARA said it “supports permanently authorizing the current DHS chemical security regulations, but expressed strong concerns to committee members that an IST mandate could jeopardize the availability of lower-cost sources of plant nutrient products or certain agricultural pesticides used by farmers and ranchers.”
HR 5577 is now expected to be referred to the House Energy & Commerce Committee for consideration.