Chemical Sites To Assess Terror Risks
EPA to Require Self-Reviews, Possibly Third-Party Audits  

June 7, 2002

Every chemical plant in the country is expected to have to review its terrorism vulnerability, including sites located along with oil refineries outside of Houston, Texas.  

WASHINGTON, —  The Environmental Protection Agency plans to begin requiring each of the nation’s 15,000 chemical facilities to assess their vulnerability to terrorism and criminal attacks and take steps to reduce any risks, The Associated Press has learned. Earlier reports said the EPA had been reluctant to require assessments, but the chemical industry last Wednesday said it would start its own mandatory program.
     

‘Both industry and government are making an unprecedented commitment to protect the homeland from those who seek to harm us.’ — MICHAEL CAMPBELL, American Chemistry Council
       THE EPA wants mandatory “vulnerability assessments” from all chemical manufacturing plants, storage containers, and water and waste treatment plants, a senior EPA official said Friday, speaking on condition of anonymity. All those facilities already are required under the Clean Air Act to submit a risk management plan against accidental releases of toxins.
       EPA Administrator Christie Whitman has been developing the plans as part of an interagency group chaired by the White House’s Office of Homeland Security. She expects to announce within days the new “principles” for chemical site security modeled after guidelines developed by the American Chemistry Council, a trade group.
       “These all build on things industry has identified to decreasing their vulnerability,” the official said.
       The Wall Street Journal reported last week that the EPA was circulating chemical safety guidelines but was still reluctant to make such changes mandatory. Still, one agency source told the Journal, “the world changed on 9/11 and everybody is looking at things in ways they may not have looked at them before.”
       
SELF-ASSESSMENTS
     The self-assessments would cover factors such as site security, including the number of guards and data now available via the Internet; access control — who is allowed onto the site and the checks they must go through — and other issues like inventory controls, storage practices and the availability of inherently safer technologies.
       Each of the 15,000 facilities would then be required to develop and implement steps for reducing vulnerability and hazards.
       The EPA hopes to put in place a process for certifying and documenting that the vulnerability assessments were completed and done thoroughly and appropriately, the official said.

LATEST DEVELOPMENTS
       The agency also is considering involving third-party audits, possibly by nongovernment entities such as insurance companies or by other federal agencies.
       The agency has not yet determined whether a new law is needed to carry out the plan or whether EPA can order the measures on its own under the clean air law, the official said.
       
INDUSTRY’S ANNOUNCEMENT
       The American Chemistry Council on Wednesday announced it would require members to assess site vulnerabilities.
       “Both industry and government are making an unprecedented commitment to protect the homeland from those who seek to harm us,” said Michael Campbell, chairman of Arch Chemicals and a council official.
 
The council said it expects companies to have prioritized their sites for assessment by mid-June. Priorities will be assigned into one of four tiers based on risk.
       “Once companies implement the security measures identified in the assessment, independent third parties will verify that the physical site security measures have been implemented,” the council said in a statement.

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