This is part of a continuing series of blog posts discussing
President Obama’s executive order on “Improving
Chemical Facility Safety and Security” (EO 13650). The other posts in the
series are:
I have been writing a series of blog posts on the request
for information published last month seeking public input on areas that the
organizations represented on the Working Group should be doing to improve
chemical safety and security. This is all in support of §6(a) requirements from
the EO. What about the other 90-day deadline requirements? What were they? Here
is my list from an earlier blog:
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. No Public
Action.
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. No Public Action.
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. No Public Action.
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. No Public Action.
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. This is being addressed
under the §6(a)
RFI.
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. Partially addressed by EPA
guidance document.
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. Partially addressed by
OSHA
PSM RFI and §6(a)
RFI.
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. Partially
waiting on public feedback from OSHA
PSM RFI and §6(a)
RFI.
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. No Public Action.
The Secretary of Labor shall identify
any changes that need to be made in the retail and commercial grade exemptions
in the PSM Standard. Partially addressed
by OSHA
PSM RFI and §6(a)
RFI.
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. Fully covered
by OSHA
PSM RFI; just a month late.
Some work is obviously being done, though extremely slowly
since it is over two months since the November 5th deadline and
Friday it will be two months after the deadline plus a reset for the Federal
funding fiasco (FFF). The reason for the delay, in most cases, is that the
level of complexity for the identified problems is very high and there is need
for coordinated activities across too many government agencies.
Another Deadline
Missed
On December 20th (or January 8th if
you accept the FFF excuse) the third deadline was missed. This one was even
more obviously going to be missed because it included more agencies and
organizations. I described the requirement this way:
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. No Public Action.
No Public Action
I have been careful to characterize the activity level on
many of these objectives as “No Public Action”. Most of these activities did
not specifically require public input or cooperation to meet the deadline
requirements so there was no specific requirement to complete the work in
public. I suspect (and more than suspect in a couple of instances) that there
has been on-going work on the objectives; just no reportable results.
There was no way that the time objectives of the EO were
ever going to be met, even ignoring the FFF. The topics were just too complex
and there was no single person put in charge. Anyone with any organizational
experience had to realize that it was going to take at least a month for the
Working Group to get organized and actually start working.
It is becoming more and more obvious that this effort is
bogging down because of a combination of bureaucratic infighting, a way too
complex agenda, and the fact that it is going to take legislation to correct
most of the problems identified. And we all know that most of these issues will
not be dealt with by Congress in an election year. In fact, they probably will
not be dealt with by Congress until there is a veto proof (internal and
external) single party majority in both the Senate and House.
Unless, of course, someone blows up something much larger
than West, Texas.
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