^liwiwilllii^lymffi CHEMICAL
PLANT
SECURITY
HOUSE COMMITTEE PASSES BILL High-risk chemical plants would have to implement inherently safer technologies
O
N JULY 28, THE HOUSE HOME-
land Security Committee, by voice vote, approved chemical plant security legislation (H.R. 5695) that would require some chemical plants to use safer chemicals and processes and would allow states to enact stricter security requirements unless they would "frustrate" the federal law. A Senate committee bill (S. 2145) approved in June contains no explicit provision requiring chemical facilities to adopt socalled inherently safer technologies (1ST). It does, however, track the House bill's language on the issue of federal preemption. S. 2145's lack of language on the use of safer chemicals or processes and the fast-approaching end to the 109th Congress make problematic the enactment of a chemical plant security law this year. The House bill divides facilities into tiers based on risk. Facilities in the high-risk category would have to meet more stringent performance-based standards than those in lower tiers. Plants in the high-risk tier would also have to use 1ST whenever possible. High-risk facilities would have to assess potential use of 1ST and submit their assessments to the Department of Homeland Security. A facility would have to implement 1ST if DHS concludes that it would reduce the consequences of a terrorist attack to humans and the environment, could be "feasibly incorporated," and would not harm the facility's ability to remain competitive. Facilities that believe they are unable to comply with DHS's decision requiring use of 1ST would have 60 days to appeal to WWW.CEN-0NLINE.ORG
a newly created panel. The Panel on Methods To Reduce the Consequences of a Terrorist Attack would rule on the facility's appeal and, if appropriate, offer recommendations to the facility to help it implement 1ST. If a facility did not implement the panel's recommendations, the DHS secretary would be empowered to force the issue. The House bill also creates a clearinghouse on 1ST methods to assist facilities. D H S would chair this new panel, which would be composed of representatives from other federal and state agencies and the chemical industry and private security experts. In a statement, A m e r i c a n Chemistry Council President and CEO Jack N. Gerard faulted the House bill's language on 1ST and preemption. "Unfortunately,
SAFEGUARD A chemical plant is ringed with a barrier of barbed wire. the committee took several steps backwards by adopting language that puts government in a position of mandating changes to our processes and products," he said. "In addition," he said, "we still believe chemical security is a national concern and should be addressed accordingly to avoid a patchwork of inconsistent state requirements." Taking a different view, Greenpeace spokesman Rick Hind says, "If the 1ST language in the House bill is enacted into law and properly implemented, it will protect millions of people currently at risk from a terrorist attack on a U.S. chemical plant."—LOIS EMBER
o3
O
< X
-
Gerard
ENVIRONMENT
Chemical Plant Blast Kills 22 People In China
A
July 28 explosion at a chemical plant in Jiangsu, China, killed 22 people and injured 29 others. The facility was in the process of starting up production of fluorobenzene, an explosive material used in pharmaceutical and agrochemical production. The accident occurred in Linhai County, Sheyang Township, in the eastern province of Jiangsu, at a facility owned by Jiangsu Yancheng Fuyuan Chemical Co. News reports have described Fuyuan as a Sino-German joint venture, but there is no mention of a German partner on the company's website, where the firm calls itself a Chinese entity founded in 1958 and privatized in 1998. Fuyuan says it has secured both ISO 9000 and ISO M000 certifications. Sun Hua Shan, vice director of China's State Administration of Work Safety, visited the scene
of the accident and promised a thorough investigation. He said a top priority was to control contaminated water left at the site. He added that the gravity of the accident showed that Fuyuan had not been operating within the law. Ng Ka Ming, a professor at and former head of the department of chemical engineering of the Hong Kong University of Science & Technology, tells C&EN that fluorobenzene is "exceedingly easy to explode." During the start-up phase of a plant, he says, all equipment is normally purged with nitrogen. "If oxygen somehow gets inside the equipment head space, all it takes is a spark to blow up the place," Ng comments. China's official Xinhua News Agency reports that the family of each person killed by the blast will receive $25,000 in compensation, although it is not clear who is paying.—JEAN FRANCOIS TREMBLAY
C&EN
/ AUGUST
7,
2006
1 7
