A possible change to the nation’s chemical security laws was the major topic at the three-day 2009 Chemical Sector Security Summit held in Baltimore last week, where some 400 attendees gathered to discuss a wide array of topics. The Fertilizer Institute, the Agricultural Retailers Association, and the Society of Chemical Manufacturers and Affiliates (SOCMA), along with several other chemical associations, participated in the meeting.
Front and center was the recent party line (18-11) passage of the Chemical Facility Anti-Terrorism Act of 2009 (HR 2868) by the House Homeland Security Committee (GM June 29, p. 1). Clyde Miller, BASF director, corporate security, who moderated one of the panels, termed the bill the “Son of CFATS.” CFATS, the current Chemical Facility Anti-Terrorist Standards, was enacted in 2007 and is set to expire in October.
The industry supports the current CFATS, as does President Obama, who has endorsed its extension for another year. The “son,” however, brings with it mandated inherently safer technologies (IST) provisions and the allowance of lawsuits by uninjured plaintiffs. Even though the new bill contains an economic hardship exemption, industry wants to nip the bill in the bud so it will not have to prove its hardship to government bureaucrats.
William Allmond IV, SOCMA vice president, government relations, told a press conference that CFATS is focused on the hardening of facilities on the outside and inside, not environmental impacts. He said those and workplace issues are handled by EPA and OSHA.
While the comments over IST were pretty intense, Allmond was hopeful that the original CFATS will stay in place. He said only one House committee has approved the bill and the Senate hasn’t begun writing one. With health care and all the other issues before Congress, extending the current bill would be an easy option with only about four months left to go. He also credited President Obama for supporting a one year extension as taking the wind out of the momentum for the new bill.
While the Democrats now hold a 60-40 edge in the Senate, Allmond and others cited the Senate’s lack of action on the issue. In addition, Sen. Joe Lieberman heads the Senate Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee, and Allmond said Lieberman is more careful and cautious on the issue. It should be noted that TFI has also argued about the dangers of IST and its possibly dire impacts to the fertilizer industry. There are several farm state senators on the Democratic side of the aisle.
DHS Senior Intelligence Officer Daniel Cooler pretty much summed up why we have CFATS in the first place. He said that while DHS knows of no specific threat to the chemical industry, it does have intelligence that the industry is of interest to Al Qaeda. He said they are interested in any event that would be dramatic, economic, and cause mass casualties in an urban area.
DHS said proposed rules for ammonium nitrate regulation and record-keeping should be out this fall. They are expected to soon be handed over to the DHS Office of General Counsel for review, and will involve the recording of AN purchases and registration of buyers. One question to be answered is how DHS will handle the buyer background checks. Will buyers be compared to a list of terrorists, a list of criminals, or both?