WASHINGTON, October 1—The Energy and Environment Subcommittee held a legislative hearing on the H.R. 2868, the Chemical Facility Anti-Terrorism Act of 2009, introduced by Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-MS), Rep. Henry Waxman (D-CA), Rep. Sheila Jackson-Lee (D-TX) and Rep. Edward Markey (D-MA) and H.R. 3258, the Drinking Water System Security Act, introduced by Reps. Waxman and Markey. At the hearing, the Obama Administration endorsed the requirement in both bills that the most dangerous chemical facilities be required to implement safer technologies to reduce the consequences of an attack on or accident at a facility.
U.S. PIRG Public Health Advocate Liz Hitchcock had the following statement:
"One hundred U.S. chemical facilities endanger more than a million people in the event of an accident or attack; more than 7000 facilities endanger thousands. Together, the Chemical Facility Anti-Terrorism Act (H.R. 2868) and the Drinking Water System Security Act (H.R. 3258) will begin to address the deficiencies in chemical plant safety and security, long identified by experts as a national security lapse.
"Safer and cost-effective alternatives are readily available and already in use for many of the most dangerous chemicals. We should not tolerate unnecessary risk to millions of Americans when we know that we can do better, and we should not tolerate further delay in passing this already long overdue protection for America’s communities.
"U.S. PIRG strongly supports the bill’s requirement that the highest risk facilities use cost effective and feasible safer and more secure technologies, including safer chemicals, to reduce the consequence of a chemical release. Using safer and more secure chemicals and processes is the common-sense way to make chemical plants and therefore our communities safer and more secure.
"We applaud Chairman Markey for his steadfast support of measures to protect American communities from chemical plant dangers. We applaud the Obama administration for speaking forcefully in favor of expanding the existing program to require the most dangerous facilities to implement safer alternatives and include water treatment facilities in the program.
"We look forward to working with the sponsors and the Obama Administration as this legislation moves forward in Congress. The American public deserves a chemical security law that protects communities by replacing outmoded dangerous chemical operations with feasible safer modern technologies, integrates employee participation in safety and security initiatives, and protects the ability of state and local governments to implement more stringent health, safety and security requirements."
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U.S. PIRG is the federation of state Public Interest Research Groups. State PIRGs are non- profit, non-partisan public interest advocacy organizations. For more on our campaign to build Safer Communities, click here.
