The Chemical and Water Security Act, H.R. 2868, now under consideration in the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, as well as the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, establishes a permanent comprehensive program that would require high-hazard chemical plants to review methods to reduce the consequences of a terrorist attack. It would require the very highest hazard facilities to implement such techniques where cost effective, technically feasible, and risk reducing. And also it would provide limited funding for facilities that upgrade to safer, more secure technologies.
These measures would help secure our nation’s chemical facilities and keep Americans safer. And in fact, reports from the Center for American Progress show that many companies already use intrinsically more secure technologies that remove the danger of a major toxic gas release.
Organizations would adopt an alternate chemical or process, use a chemical in a less dangerous or less concentrated form, or generate a chemical only as needed without storage. For water utilities eliminating bulk chlorine gas by using liquid bleach, ozone, and ultraviolet light are good choices. These changes remove unnecessary dangers and avoid certain costs related to regulatory compliance, liability insurance, personal protective equipment, community notification, site security, and emergency planning.
