[Congressional Record Volume 160, Number 156 (Friday, January 2, 2015)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1856]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




 CHEMICAL FACILITY ANTI-TERRORISM STANDARDS PROGRAM AUTHORIZATION AND 
                       ACCOUNTABILITY ACT OF 2014

                                 ______
                                 

                               speech of

                          HON. HENRY A. WAXMAN

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                      Thursday, December 11, 2014

  Mr. WAXMAN. Mr. Speaker, since before the terrorist attacks of 
September 11, 2001, experts have been concerned about the vulnerability 
of chemical plants to attack. These facilities hold large stores of 
industrial chemicals which pose a safety and security risk to the 
American people if they are released or detonated. A recent report 
found that more than 134 million Americans live in the vulnerability 
zones around chemical facilities. I have such a facility in my 
district, which is a very serious concern for the surrounding 
community.
  These risks have not been adequately addressed, and this bill falls 
short of what is needed. The version of the bill before us now also 
includes a significant and unvetted change to the program that could 
make many high risk chemical facilities less secure. The self-
certification provisions have not been evaluated in hearings or 
piloted. I am concerned about these provisions and I caution my 
colleagues that their implementation will require close oversight from 
Congress.
  But this bill is a step forward. For far too long, this important 
program has been authorized in the appropriations process for the 
Department of Homeland Security. During last year's government 
shutdown, the authority for this program lapsed. Looking ahead to next 
Congress, the risk of another lapse is too great. When we voted on a 
previous version of this bill in July, I expressed my hope that the 
Senate could improve the legislation to strengthen this important 
program.
  On some issues, the Senate was successful. The bill now includes an 
expanded role for workers and labor unions in developing site security 
plans and some important whistleblower protections.
  However, this bill would leave significant problems in the underlying 
program in place.
  The Chemical Facility Anti-Terrorism Standards program at the 
Department of Homeland Security has not been successful. The original 
rider that created the program blocked effective enforcement, leading 
to a lack of compliance. We saw the dangers of noncompliance when the 
West Fertilizer Company facility in West, Texas, exploded. 
Unfortunately, those limitations on enforcement would be preserved by 
this bill.
  The original statute blocked the Department from requiring measures 
to reduce the consequences of a terrorist attack, and in the process 
created serious obstacles to disapproving site security plans that 
failed to meet the program's standards. This led to an approval process 
so complicated that it took more than five years for the Department to 
complete its review of the first facility. This bill preserves those 
obstacles.
  Both of these challenges may be complicated further by the new self-
certification program.
  I expect this bill to pass today, and I welcome this step forward. 
But I call upon all of my colleagues who will be here in the next 
Congress to continue the important oversight of this program to provide 
the American people with the protection they expect and deserve.

                          ____________________