The state of chemical industry security five years after 9/11

Sep 13, 2006 12:22 PM

           

The fifth anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks has prompted the American Chemistry Council (ACC) to report on how far its member companies have come, and the additional steps necessary for enhanced security.
"Since 9/11, ACC members have taken aggressive steps toward further securing their communities, facilities and products against terrorist attacks,"" says ACC President and CEO Jack N. Gerard. "After 9/11, our members didn't wait for an act of Congress. They immediately took up the task of identifying new vulnerabilities and implementing security plans to address them under [ACC's] Responsible Care Security Code, mandatory for all members."
In the five years since the Code was implemented, Gerard continues, ACC member companies have invested nearly $3 billion to enhance security.
"However, the federal government must play its role to be sure other chemical facilities take the same types of aggressive steps we've taken voluntarily to protect this critical part of our national infrastructure," Gerard says.
ACC, which represents 133 chemical manufacturers that encompass approximately 85 percent of the chemical production capacity in the United States, is urging Congress to pass comprehensive, federal chemical security legislation and will continue to support and expand the public and private partnerships that are essential to maintain and enhance chemical sector security.
To be effective, the group says, a bill must grant the Department of Homeland Security clear authority to set and enforce national standards that will make sure all facilities that make or use chemicals have taken the same steps ACC members have taken under the Responsible Care Security Code.
This bill must:
* Require facilities to conduct vulnerability assessments and implement security plans;
* Provide oversight, inspection, and enforcement authority to the Department of Homeland Security;
* Ensure that standards are risk- and performance-based;
* Focus on securing and protecting chemistry-based products that are vital to the economy -- rather than eliminating or restricting their use under the guise of improving security; and
* Create a uniform national "playing field" and avoid a patchwork of state or local standards.
One-hundred percent of ACC member facilities are in compliance with the mandatory Responsible Care Security Code that includes 13 management practices addressing facility, supply chain and cyber security.
ACC wants legislation to clearly focus on security and not on extraneous issues and agendas, and its members have made a commitment and will continue to enhance security -- with or without federal legislation.

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