Chemicals play an important role in many Koch companies’ products and processes. From petrochemicals made by Flint Hills Resources that are key ingredients in plastics and packaging, to chemicals used by Georgia-Pacific to make building materials and paper, and INVISTA intermediates used for carpeting, apparel and more, chemicals are at the heart of many of our businesses. While chemicals improve the quality of our lives, adding to our comfort, safety and security, the ones used in our facilities are handled with care and by trained professionals. By choosing to work with chemicals, Koch companies accept the responsibility and are committed to providing a safe, secure and healthy environment for our employees, our neighbors, our contractors and our customers. Whether a company is manufacturing, storing or transporting chemicals, its processes and facilities can be vulnerable to human error, acts of nature, theft and sabotage. Although it is impossible to completely eliminate every threat, Koch companies’ commitment to Principled Entrepreneurship™ places compliance and safety before profit and demands that we take appropriate precautions, in full cooperation with government authorities, to limit our vulnerability. In 2007, the Department of Homeland Security under authority provided by Congress, set strict standards for chemical facility security through a regulation known as Chemical Facility Anti-Terrorism Standards or CFATS. The CFATS regulation prompted a review of chemicals stored at nearly 40,000 facilities across the United States including warehouses and university laboratories. This review will determine whether these sites would present a high security risk because they possess or plan to possess chemicals that terrorists may use or target for acts of terrorism. CFATS inspectors will inspect facilities to ensure compliance and will be empowered to apply strict penalties for regulatory violations. As of August 2011, almost 4,000 facilities across the United States have been designated as presenting a high level of security risk. More than 600 others are under final consideration for inclusion in the program. In 2011, Congress will again consider this issue due to the expiration of the one-year extension. The Senate Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee passed essentially the same reauthorizing legislation as last year. S. 473, the Continuing Chemical Facilities Antiterrorism Security Act of 2011, would authorize the existing CFATS program for three years and direct DHS to develop a few voluntary programs that operators could use for additional evaluations and testing of facilities. The bill is now pending consideration by the full Senate. In the House of Representatives two committees have jurisdiction on DHS’s implementation of CFATS. The Energy and Commerce Committee passed H.R. 908 and the Homeland Security Committee passed H.R. 901. The bills have minor differences but would essentially reauthorize the current CFATS program for seven years with very minor changes. The next step is for the committees to reconcile the differences and send a bill for consideration by the full House of Representatives. In the current economic environment, regulatory and policy certainty is more critical than ever. All three of the bills being considered would provide regulatory and policy certainty while building on the success of the current CFATS model in strengthening the safety and security of chemical facilities. Koch companies supported the one-year extension of the current CFATS regulations. We also support these bills because they affirm the current program without imposing dramatic and costly interruptions to ongoing implementation efforts by business and government. These bills do not mandate additional measures that fail to produce a marginal security benefit relative to their significant cost. They would also preserve the current exemption for facilities already regulated under the Maritime Transportation Security Act (MTSA), allowing the U.S. Coast Guard to continue its effective and robust implementation of that program.
CHEMICAL SAFETY
Chemical Facility Anti-Terrorism Standards
Legislative Update
Our position on chemical safety
