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Bipartisan Progress Balks On Chemical Security
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MILLIONS AT RISK—More than 1 million Americans live close enough to a chemical plant to suffer serious consequences in the event of an accident or attack. Unfortunately, the House of Representatives approved a bill that fails to require safer alternatives to dangerous chemicals.
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In October, the House failed to improve safety protections at chemical facilities. The Chemical Facility Anti-Terrorism Act of 2006 (HR 5695) would have required the most dangerous chemical and manufacturing plants to look for safer ways of doing business, such as using safer alternatives to toxic chemicals whenever those alternatives exist.
Instead, the chemical industry reached a closed-door deal to displace permanent and comprehensive chemical security provisions with weaker, temporary provisions. The House approved the weaker bill in October.
Across the United States, thousands of industrial facilities use and store hazardous chemicals in quantities that put large numbers of Americans at risk of serious injury or death.
The risk is widespread—according to EPA, over 100 facilities each put more than a million people at risk of injury or death in the event of an accident or terrorist attack.
“The industry deal will take real chemical security solutions off the table and replace them with an inadequate temporary program,” said Staff Attorney Alex Fidis.
“Congress is as close as it has ever been to passing permanent chemical security regulations, but a few lawmakers capitulating to the chemical industry’s demands will derail years of work to protect communities from chemical terrorism.”
Despite industry claims of boosted protections, federal studies confirm that security at most chemical facilities ranges from poor to non-existent.
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