Statement

ACC: Congress Takes Significant Action on Chemical Security

Many Positive Changes to Legislation but Concerns Remain Over IST Provision

ARLINGTON, VA (October 14, 2009) — The House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Energy and Environment today marked up HR 2868, the “Chemical Facility Anti-Terrorism Act of 2009.”  ACC’s President and CEO, Cal Dooley, released the following statement:

“Today the Energy and Environment Subcommittee took an important step toward making the Chemical Facility Anti-Terrorism Standards (CFATS) permanent, and building on the success of the current program.  For several months ACC and its members have been engaged in constructive and substantive dialog with the committee in an effort to improve HR 2868.  I want to commend Chairman Waxman, Chairman Markey and their staffs for a willingness to invite us to the table to consider our views and for their focus on our common, security-focused goals.

“While we were able to reach agreement on many important concerns – including meaningful roles for employee and union representatives, employee training requirements, and unannounced inspections – we continue to seek common ground over what authority should be granted to the government when it comes to requiring process changes or product substitutions.  We remain committed, however, to working with this committee, the Congress, and the Administration to move forward with a strong, smart regulatory program to protect our facilities, our employees, the communities in which we operate, and the products we supply throughout our economy.”

ACC has testified before Congress several times this year in support of establishing permanent chemical security regulations.  After 9/11, ACC and many others in the chemical industry stepped up and implemented serious, stringent security programs at their facilities before there was any government direction.  To date, our members have invested nearly $8 billion in security enhancements under our own Responsible Care Security Code.

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