Chemical plant safetyDHS slow to inspect high-risk chemical plants
Congress passed the $595 million Chemical Facility Anti-Terrorism Standardsprogram in 2006 to help regulate high-risk chemical facilities, but nearly a year after the massive chemical explosion at a West, Texas, fertilizer plant, a new report found little improvement in securing threats from the U.S. 4,011 high-risk chemical facilities.As of 30 June, DHS has not yet conducted security compliance inspections on 3,972 of the 4,011 high-risk chemical facilities.
A yearlong investigation commissioned by Senator Tom Coburn (R-Oklahoma) suggests that DHS is underestimating the threat of a chemical attack on densely populated cities, and the department has failed to inspect a majority of the chemical facilities it considers vulnerable to terrorists.
Congress passed the $595 million Chemical Facility Anti-Terrorism Standards program in 2006 to help regulate high-risk chemical facilities, but nearly a year after the massive chemical explosion at a West, Texas, fertilizer plant, the report found little improvement in securing threats from the U.S. 4,011 high-risk chemical facilities. Almost half of the facilities are in ten states with dense metropolitan areas: California, Texas, Ohio, Illinois, Pennsylvania, New York, North Carolina, Florida, Michigan, and New Jersey.
Yahoo News notes that the Senate report, citing a 2013 DHS study, raised concerns that the list of 4,011 high-risk facilities could be inaccurate. DHS grants “high-risk label” exemptions to some industries, including water and waste treatment, although they use large amounts of chlorine, a toxic chemical. The report also notes that while the program regulates ammonium nitrate, it does not regulate twelve other chemicals that could be used to make explosives.
The U.S. effort is “a broken program that is not making us measurably safer against the threat of a terrorist attack,” Coburn said. “Today — eight years later — there is little, if any, evidence to show that the more than half a billion dollars DHS has spent created an effective chemical security regulatory program.” The report prepared by Republican staff on the Senate Homeland Security Committee, is based on internal DHS documents, including an unreleased terror program assessment completed last year, and a classified federal database of high-risk facilities.
According to the report, as of 30 June, DHS has not yet conducted security compliance inspections on 3,972 of the 4,011 high-risk chemical facilities. DHS claims that the department has increased monitoring efforts since the program began, having approved security plans for 750 facilities in the last two years. Officials have asked Congress to authorize the program over multiple years to allow for longer term planning and stable monitoring schedules.
The Senate committee on Wednesday approved legislation to give DHS a four-year funding period to monitor and set guidelines for chemical facilities. Funding for the program is currently authorized by Congress on an annual basis. Once approved by the full Senate, the legislation will allow lower-risk chemical facilities in the program to self-certify that they meet DHS guidelines, allowing the department to focus on inspecting more vulnerable facilities. “These facilities, and the chemicals they hold, could pose significant risks to our communities if they were exploited by those who seek to do us harm,” committee chairman Senator Tom Carper (D-Delaware) said. He added that the legislation “should go a long way in making it better and more efficient.”
