Chemical facility safetyHouse approves 4-year extension of chemical facility safety legislation
On 11 December the House approved a 4-year reauthorization of DHS’s Chemical Facility Anti-Terrorism Standardsprogram (CFATS), meant to protect U.S. chemical facilities from terrorist attacks. President Barack Obama is expected to sign the bill(H.R. 4007). Implementing the CFATS program will cost roughly $349 million over fiscal years 2015 to 2019. The CFATS, authorized in Section 550 of the 2007 DHS Appropriations Act, requires industrial facilities with certain levels of use or storage of chemicals to submit information about their chemical holdings to DHS, assess their vulnerabilities, and submit plans to address those vulnerabilities and secure their chemical holdings.
On 11 December the House approved a 4-year reauthorization of DHS’s Chemical Facility Anti-Terrorism Standards program (CFATS), meant to protect U.S. chemical facilities from terrorist attacks. President Barack Obama is expected to sign the bill (H.R. 4007).
“Over the course of the past year, through multiple hearings and countless meetings, we’ve taken a long look at the CFATS program to develop a straightforward, practically minded piece of legislation to improve the program overall,” Representative Patrick Meehan (R-Pennsylvania), sponsor of the House legislation, said on the floor. “We can ensure that proper measures are in place to secure the nation’s vast network of chemical facilities and to keep our communities safe from harm.”
Implementing the CFATS program will cost roughly $349 million over fiscal years 2015 to 2019, as DHS regulates operations at chemical facilities, including those owned and operated by Dow Chemical Co., Exxon Mobil Corp., and DuPont.
The CFATS, authorized in Section 550 of the 2007 DHS Appropriations Act, requires industrial facilities with certain levels of use or storage of chemicals to submit information about their chemical holdings to DHS, assess their vulnerabilities, and submit plans to address those vulnerabilities and secure their chemical holdings. Facilities are then required to take action to address their level of risk. According to the Hill, since CFATS was first passed, almost 3,400 chemical facilities originally identified as high-risk by DHS have eliminated, reduced, or modified their holdings of regulated chemicals. Roughly 3,000 chemical facilities have submitted site security plans for the regulated chemicals they hold. DHS has reviewed and approved more than 1,300 of these plans.
Bloomberg BNA reports that the reauthorization includes Senate modifications to the original version of the bill, including establishment of an expedited security plan approval process for lower-risk facilities, limits to facility worker involvement in the development of security plans for industrial facilities, whistleblower protections, and authority for DHS to order an emergency shutdown of facilities if a terrorist incident creates an “imminent threat.”
Criticism of the program in its early years included poor staffing, wasteful spending, and slow approval of site security plans. After working with DHS officials to improve the program, the chemical industry supports the new legislation. “We applaud Congress for coming together to pass a long-term solution for regulating security that will help create a stronger foundation for CFATS,” the American Chemistry Council said in a statement. “In addition to providing a more solid footing for the Department of Homeland Security to implement CFATS, the bill will help the Department improve its outreach to chemical facilities and the process for vetting personnel.”
