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NPRA Comments on the House Homeland Security Committee's Approval of Facility Security Legislation

Posted on: Monday, 31 July 2006, 15:01 CDT

NPRA, the National Petrochemical & Refiners Association, today issued a statement on H.R. 5695, the Chemical Facility Anti-Terrorism Act of 2006, approved on a voice vote by the House Homeland Security Committee on Friday, July 28, 2006. The legislation includes amendments requiring facilities to implement what are sometimes incorrectly described as "inherently safer technologies" as well as a provision that allows states to adopt security measures that may differ from and actually conflict with federal regulations.

NPRA President Bob Slaughter said, "NPRA has cautioned from the start of this process that any chemical facility legislation must reflect the fact that much has already been done to strengthen security at U.S. petrochemical and oil refining facilities. The committee-approved bill seems to go in the opposite direction. The Committee adopted several amendments which give the Department of Homeland Security, state and federal agencies and even environmental activists the opportunity to dictate to owners and operators what chemical processes and technologies they should employ. We strongly believe that effective measures to improve facility security should continue and promote the strong existing public-private partnership rather than establishing a potentially adversarial relationship that could retard efforts to maintain and expand facility security.

"In addition, the committee-approved bill explicitly allows states and local governments to require security measures that conflict with the federal program. NPRA believes that allowing individual states to impose competing regulatory requirements risks creating a confusing 'patchwork' of regulations that will also impede facility security protection efforts.

"The petrochemical and refining industries have long considered security at their facilities their single most important priority. Since 9/11, both industries have spent billions of dollars to further ensure the protection of these assets, including employees and the surrounding communities. Much of this effort has been accomplished in partnership with the Department of Homeland Security and the U.S. Coast Guard. Industry is proud of its accomplishments and takes a back seat to no one in promoting facility security.

"Despite our concerns, NPRA and its member companies will continue to work with Congress on reasonable chemical security legislation that sets national standards for security and allows companies to manage their own facilities. We believe that overly prescriptive regulations will smother initiative and complicate industry's basic task of making petroleum and petrochemical products that are critical to the nation's economic well-being."

NPRA is a national trade association whose members include more than 450 companies, including virtually all U.S. refiners and petrochemical manufacturers.

Source: Business Wire

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