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106th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. R. 5623
To amend the Clean Air Act to ensure that adequate actions are taken to
detect, prevent, and minimize the consequences of accidental releases
that result from criminal activity that may cause substantial harm to
public health, safety, and the environment and to ensure that the
public has access to information regarding hazardous chemicals in the
community and the potential for accidental releases of those chemicals,
and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
November 2, 2000
Mr. Holt introduced the following bill; which was referred to the
Committee on Commerce
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To amend the Clean Air Act to ensure that adequate actions are taken to
detect, prevent, and minimize the consequences of accidental releases
that result from criminal activity that may cause substantial harm to
public health, safety, and the environment and to ensure that the
public has access to information regarding hazardous chemicals in the
community and the potential for accidental releases of those chemicals,
and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Chemical Security and Right to Know
Act of 2000''.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
Congress finds that--
(1) the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Agency for
Toxic Substances and Disease Registry believe that the
possibility of terrorist and criminal attacks on chemical
plants poses a serious threat to human health, safety, and the
environment;
(2) limiting public access to chemical accident information
does not address the underlying problem of the vulnerability of
chemical plants to criminal attack; on the contrary, providing
public access to chemical accident information may create
substantial incentives to reduce such vulnerability;
(3) there are significant opportunities to prevent criminal
attack on chemical plants by employing inherently safer
technologies in the manufacture and use of chemicals; such
technologies may offer industry substantial savings by reducing
the need for site security, secondary containment, buffer
zones, mitigation, and liability insurance;
(4) chemical plants have a general duty to design and
maintain safe facilities to prevent criminal activity that may
result in harm to human health, safety and the environment; and
(5) if the Attorney General determines that chemical plants
have not taken adequate actions to protect themselves from
criminal attack, the Attorney General must establish a program
to ensure that such actions are taken.
SEC. 3. PREVENTION OF CRIMINAL RELEASES.
(a) Purpose and General Duty.--Section 112(r)(1) of the Clean Air
Act (42 U.S.C. 7412(r)(1)) is amended by striking the second sentence
and inserting the following: ``Each owner and each operator of a
stationary source that produces, processes, handles, or stores such a
substance has a general duty in the same manner and to the same extent
as the duty imposed under section 5 of the Occupational Safety and
Health Act of 1970 (29 U.S.C. 654) to identify hazards that may result
from an accidental release or criminal release using appropriate hazard
assessment techniques, to ensure design and maintenance of safe
facilities taking such actions as are necessary to prevent accidental
releases and criminal releases, and to minimize the consequences of any
accidental release or criminal release that does occur.''.
(b) Definitions.--Section 112(r)(2) of the Clean Air Act (42 U.S.C.
7412(r)(2)) is amended--
(1) by redesignating subparagraphs (B) and (C) as
subparagraphs (E) and (F), respectively; and
(2) by inserting after subparagraph (A) the following:
``(B) Criminal release.--The term `criminal
release' means--
``(i) a release of a regulated substance
from a stationary source into the environment
that is caused, in whole or in part, by a
criminal act; and
``(ii) a release into the environment of a
regulated substance that has been removed from
a stationary source, in whole or in part, by a
criminal act.
``(C) Design and maintenance of safe facilities.--
The term `design and maintenance of safe facilities'
means, with respect to the facilities at a stationary
source, the practices of--
``(i) preventing or reducing the
vulnerability of the stationary source to a
release of a regulated substance through use of
inherently safer technology to the maximum
extent practicable;
``(ii) reducing any vulnerability of the
stationary source that remains after taking the
measures described in clause (i) through
secondary containment, control, or mitigation
equipment to the maximum extent practicable;
``(iii) reducing any vulnerability of the
stationary source that remains after taking the
measures described in clauses (i) and (ii) by--
``(I) making the facilities
impregnable to intruders to the maximum
extent practicable; and
``(II) improving site security and
employee training to the maximum extent
practicable; and
``(iv) reducing the potential consequences
of any vulnerability of the stationary source
that remains after taking the measures
described in clauses (i) through (iii) through
the use of buffer zones between the stationary
source and surrounding populations (including
buffer zones between the stationary source and
residences, schools, hospitals, senior centers,
shopping centers and malls, sports and
entertainment arenas, public roads and
transportation routes, and other population
centers).
``(D) Use of inherently safer technology.--
``(i) In general.--The term `use of
inherently safer technology' means use of a
technology, product, raw material, or practice
that, as compared to the technology, products,
raw materials, or practices currently in use--
``(I) reduces or eliminates the
possibility of release of a toxic,
volatile, corrosive, or flammable
substance prior to secondary
containment, control, or mitigation;
and
``(II) reduces or eliminates the
hazards to public health and the
environment associated with the release
or potential release of a substance
described in subclause (I).
``(ii) Inclusions.--The term `use of
inherently safer technology' includes input
substitution, process redesign, product
reformulation, procedure simplification, and
technology modification so as to--
``(I) use less hazardous or benign
substances;
``(II) moderate pressures or
temperatures;
``(III) reduce the likelihood and
potential consequences of human error;
``(IV) improve inventory control
and chemical use efficiency; and
``(V) reduce or eliminate storage,
transportation, and handling of
hazardous chemicals.''.
(c) Determination and Regulations.--Section 112(r) of the Clean Air
Act (42 U.S.C. 7412(r)) is amended by adding at the end the following:
``(12) Prevention of criminal releases.--
``(A) Determination of adequacy.--Not later than 1
year after the date of enactment of this paragraph, the
Attorney General, in consultation with the
Administrator, shall determine whether the owners or
operators of stationary sources have taken adequate
actions, including the design and maintenance of safe
facilities, to detect, prevent, and minimize the
consequences of criminal releases that may cause
substantial harm to public health, safety, and the
environment.
``(B) Chemical security regulations.--If the
Attorney General determines, under subparagraph (A),
that adequate actions have not been taken, the Attorney
General, in consultation with the Administrator, shall
promulgate, not later than 2 years after the date of
enactment of this paragraph, requirements to ensure
that owners or operators of stationary sources take
adequate actions, including the design and maintenance
of safe facilities, to detect, prevent, and minimize
the consequences of criminal releases that may cause
substantial harm to public health, safety, and the
environment.''.
(d) Public Right-to-Know.--Effective 3 years after the enactment of
this Act section 112(r)(7)(H) of the Clean Air Act is amended to read
as follows:
``(H) Public access to risk management plans.--The
Administrator shall make each risk management plan
submitted to the Administrator by an owner or operator
of a stationary source under subparagraph (B) available
to the public in electronic form on the Internet. The
Administrator shall also make a paper version of each
such plan available to the public at appropriate
offices of the Environmental Protection Agency and
permit members of the public to make copies of such
plan or any portion thereof.''.
SEC. 4. REGULATIONS.
The Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency and the
Attorney General may promulgate such regulations as are necessary to
carry out this Act and the amendments made by this Act.
SEC. 5. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.
There are authorized to be appropriated to the Administrator of the
Environmental Protection Agency and the Attorney General such sums as
are necessary to carry out this Act and the amendments made by this
Act, to remain available until expended.
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