The President’s newest Executive Order, Improving Chemical
Facility Safety and Security (EO 13650) was published in today’s Federal
Register (78 FR
48029-48033). There are large number of deadlines listed in this EO. I’ll
put some dates to the deadlines.
45 Days – September 21st,
2013
The Working Group shall deploy a
pilot program, involving the EPA, Department of Labor, Department of Homeland
Security, and any other appropriate agency, to validate best practices and to
test innovative methods for Federal interagency collaboration regarding
chemical facility safety and security.
90 Days – November 5th,
2013
The Attorney General, through the
head of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), shall assess the
feasibility of sharing data related to the storage of explosive materials with
SERCs, TEPCs, and LEPCs.
The Secretary of Homeland Security shall assess the
feasibility of sharing Chemical Facility Anti-Terrorism Standards (CFATS) data
with SERCs, TEPCs, and LEPCs on a categorical basis.
The Working Group shall consult with
the Chemical Safety Board (CSB) and determine what, if any, changes are
required to existing memorandums of understanding (MOUs) and processes between
EPA and CSB, ATF and CSB, and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration
and CSB for timely and full disclosure of information.
The Working Group shall develop an
analysis, including recommendations, on the potential to improve information
collection by and sharing between agencies to help identify chemical facilities
which may not have provided all required information or may be non-compliant
with Federal requirements to ensure chemical facility safety.
The Working Group shall develop
options for improved chemical facility safety and security that identifies
improvements to existing risk management practices through agency programs,
private sector initiatives, Government guidance, outreach, standards, and
regulations
The Secretary of Homeland Security,
the Secretary of Labor, and the Secretary of Agriculture shall develop a
list of potential regulatory and legislative proposals to improve the safe and
secure storage, handling, and sale of ammonium nitrate and identify ways in
which ammonium nitrate safety and security can be enhanced under existing
authorities.
The Administrator of EPA and the
Secretary of Labor shall
review the chemical hazards covered by the Risk Management Program (RMP)
and the Process Safety Management Standard (PSM) and determine if the RMP or
PSM can and should be expanded to address additional regulated substances and
types of hazards.
The EPA and the Department of Labor
shall develop a
plan, including a timeline and resource requirements, to expand, implement, and
enforce the RMP and PSM in a manner that addresses the additional regulated
substances and types of hazards.
The Secretary of Homeland Security shall identify a
list of chemicals, including poisons and reactive substances, that should be
considered for addition to the CFATS Chemicals of Interest list.
The Secretary of Labor shall identify
any changes that need to be made in the retail and commercial grade exemptions
in the PSM Standard.
The Secretary of Labor shall issue a
Request for Information designed to identify issues related to modernization of
the PSM Standard and related standards necessary to meet the goal of preventing
major chemical accidents
135 Days – December
20th, 2013
The Working Group shall develop a
plan to support and further enable efforts by State regulators, State, local,
and tribal emergency responders, chemical facility owners and operators, and
local and tribal communities to work together to improve chemical facility
safety and security.
180 Days – February 3rd,
2014
The Working Group shall produce a
proposal for a coordinated, flexible data-sharing process which can be utilized
to track data submitted to agencies for federally regulated chemical
facilities, including locations, chemicals, regulated entities, previous
infractions, and other relevant information.
The Working Group shall identify and
recommend possible changes to streamline and otherwise improve data collection
to meet the needs of the public and Federal, State, local, and tribal agencies
(including those charged with protecting workers and the public), consistent
with the Paperwork Reduction Act and other relevant authorities, including
opportunities to lessen the reporting burden on regulated industries.
The Working Group shall engage key
stakeholders to discuss the risk management improvement options identified by
the Working Group and other means to improve chemical risk management.
270 Days – May 4th,
2014
Chemical Facility Safety and
Security Working Group shall provide a
status report to the President through the Chair of the Council on
Environmental Quality and the Assistant to the President for Homeland Security
and Counterterrorism.
The Working Group shall create
comprehensive and integrated standard operating procedures for a unified
Federal approach for identifying and responding to risks in chemical facilities
(including during pre-inspection, inspection execution, post-inspection, and
post-accident investigation activities), incident reporting and response
procedures, enforcement, and collection, storage, and use of facility
information.
The Working Group shall develop
a plan for implementing practical and effective improvements to chemical risk
management.
Communications
It will be interesting to see how well the various
Departments do with meeting their deadlines and with communicating with the
public and the regulated community on their progress.
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