The U.S. House Energy and Commerce Committee advanced legislation Wednesday that could potentially allow the federal government to go into privately owned chemical plants and mandate certain processing changes and even make product substitutions—all in the name of fighting terrorism. To say the bill has caught the attention of a number of interests in Louisiana would be an understatement, as there are nearly 100 chemical plants in the state employing somewhere in the neighborhood of 24,000 workers, according to the Louisiana Chemical Association.
The Chemical Facility Anti-Terrorism Act of 2009 would identify plants that contain “substances of concern” and permit the Homeland Security Department to make changes to reduce security risks, such as telling plant operators to switch to processing a less-volatile chemical. Like other Republicans on the committee, U.S. Rep. Steve Scalise of Metairie voted against the proposal and cautioned that it could result in a loss of jobs. “Even the Department of Homeland Security, the agency charged with overseeing these new federal mandates, testified that they do not have the expertise to determine what would be safer for those facilities,” Scalise says. “These types of radical environmental policies cost American families thousands of jobs, and could leave our chemical plants more vulnerable to attack.”
American Chemical Council President Cal Dooley says the bill has a number of strong points for the industry, like an employee-training provision to help protect sensitive information and portion that protects chemical companies from frivolous lawsuits. Still, ACC has chosen not to endorse the legislation. “Our members are concerned that providing government with authority to direct process changes or product substitutions could result in making critical products unavailable throughout our economy, with potentially significant impact on our companies and our customers,” he says.
U.S. Rep. Charlie Melancon of Napoleonville, who also serves on the committee, voted in favor of the legislation along with other Democrats. Melancon says he was initially worried about the bill and passed an amendment that would force the feds to focus on the facilities with the highest risk and create a “stronger appeals process” for chemical plants faced with mandates. “When negotiations first began on this bill, I had some concerns regarding the balance between protecting those vulnerable communities that surround chemical facilities and protecting the jobs at those same facilities,” Melancon said. “Both provisions will moderate the bill so that it would not pose an undue financial burden for facilities in Louisiana, which could lead to job losses.”
The Energy and Commerce Committee passed the bill by a vote of 29-18. It will next be voted on by the full House.
