Green Buckeye RN

 The House Homeland Security Committee passed legislation June 23 that would greatly reduce the risks and consequences of a terrorist attack on a chemical facility. The bill also includes small but important improvements in the accountability of the nation’s chemical security program. However, industry-sponsored amendments and the continued risk of excessive secrecy during implementation diminish the value of the bill.

The legislation, the Chemical Facility Anti-Terrorism Act of 2009, would reauthorize and enhance existing security rules that are due to expire in October. The current security rules, the Chemical Facility Anti-Terrorism Standards (CFATS), were developed following passage of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Appropriations Act of 2007. Section 550 of the appropriations act required DHS to develop a temporary program for instituting security performance standards for high-risk chemical facilities.

Thousands of chemical facilities around the country represent potential terrorist targets – storing and processing chemicals that, if released, could become deadly clouds of gas drifting through communities. For many of these plants, there are safer alternatives to the chemicals and processes now in use.

 Read the article at http://www.ombwatch.org/node/10161/