HR 251 Introduced – CFATS Extension

Yesterday Rep. Thompson (D,MS) introduced HR 251, the Chemical Facility Anti-Terrorism Standards Program (CFATS) Extension Act. While an official copy of the bill is not currently available, a copy is available from the Majority Leader’s web site as the bill will be considered on the floor Tuesday under suspension of the rules. This is essentially a re-introduction of HR 7188 from the last session with a change in the sponsor. That late bill did not see any action in the House.

This bill is a ‘clean extension’ of the CFATS program. It would amend 6 USC 621 Note (Effective and Termination Dates) by changing “4 years” to “6 years”. This would change the program expiration date from January 17^th, 2019 to January 17^th, 2021.

Moving Forward

Thompson is the Chair of the House Homeland Security Committee and his seven cosponsors include:

• Rep. Rogers (R,AL) – Ranking Member, HS Committee;

• Rep. Richmond (D,LA) – Chair, Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Protection Sub-Committee;

• Rep. Pallone (D,NJ) – Chair, House Energy and Commerce Committee;

This bill will have widespread, bipartisan support in the House and the Senate. The bill will pass in the House this week. The big question is will it be stalled in the Senate by Sen. Johnson, the Chair of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee. Johnson made it clear last session that he opposed any CFATS extension that did not include program reforms. At this point it is not clear what his intentions are with respect to this bill.

Commentary

The two-year clean extension is almost certainly necessary to provide time for the three committees (two in the House) to work out a deal so that a long-term extension of the bill can be passed in both houses.

Johnson clearly want business friendly reforms to the program including a removal of explosives from the chemicals covered by CFATS and the use of industry recognition programs to reduce inspection requirements. The first of those is opposed by DHS. We have not had any recent public declarations of the House Democrats desires for program reforms, but in the past there has been interest in provisions that would address whistleblower protections, employee involvement in facility security planning, and implementation of inherently safer technology to reduce risk. Last year in the House Energy and Commerce Committee hearing there was also a lot of interest in expanding the emergency response planning and community communication processes in the CFATS program.

It is going to be interesting to see how the House and Senate work together on these issues. For the next two years, at least, the Senate will be tending to represent the interests of business organizations and the House will be supporting advocates for workers and the environment. Unfortunately, too many people think this makes for a zero sum game where a win for one side must be a loss for the other.

And we cannot forget the wildcard that hangs over all of this; President Trump. Anyone that thinks that they can predict how the President will react when legislation is placed before him for signature is kidding themselves. Currently, the President has made no comment about the CFATS program and may not even know that it exists. Keeping the conflicts between the House and Senate low-key will go a long way to keeping the President out of the conflict.

NOTE: I found the copy of HR 251 while going through and updating my links to House web sites for the 116^th Congress. Lots of changes already made; more to come.

HR 7188 Introduced – CFATS Extension

Last week Rep. Ratcliffe (R,TX) introduced HR 7188, the Chemical Facility Anti-Terrorism Standards Program Extension Act. The bill is a ‘clean’ extension of the current authority for the Chemical Facility Anti-Terrorism Standards (CFATS) program adding two years to the expiration in the current legislation.

While the original description of the bill included the phrase “and for other purposes”, there are no other provisions in the bill.

The bill is not currently on the schedule for consideration in the House, but the schedule this close to the end of the session is a tad bit more flexible than we normally see in the House.

This bill has the right sponsorship to see broad bipartisan support if/when the bill comes to the floor. As it currently stands there is one Senator firmly standing in the way of this bill being considered in the Senate, Sen. Johnson (R,WI). He said last week on the floor of the Senate that he would rather see the CFATS program shut down than see this bill pass.

Hopefully, the behind the scenes wrangling continues. And the possibility still remains that the same extension could find its way into the DHS spending bill that will probably be considered this week.

Bills Introduced – 11-29-18

Yesterday with both the House and Senate in Washington, there were 52 bills introduced. Three of those bills may see future coverage in this blog:

HR 7188 To extend by two years the Chemical Facility Anti-Terrorism Standards Program of the Department of Homeland Security, and for other purposes. Rep. Ratcliffe, John [R-TX-4]

HR 7192 To enhance the early warning reporting requirements for motor vehicle manufacturers, and for other purposes. Rep. Cartwright, Matt [D-PA-17] 

S 3677 A bill to provide for certain programs and developments in the Department of Energy concerning the cybersecurity and vulnerabilities of, and physical threats to, the electric grid, and for other purposes. Sen. Gardner, Cory [R-CO] 

With the Chair and Ranking Member of both the House Homeland Security and House Energy and Commerce Committees as cosponsors, HR 7188 will move to the floor of the House early next week. It will be interesting to see what “and for other purposes” are included in this bill. Needless to say this means that HR 6992 and S 3405 are effectively dead.

I would normally be watching HR 7192 specific cybersecurity reporting requirements, but this bill has little to no chance of being considered in the 115^th Congress. We may see this again next year.

S 3677 could be interesting, but it will not see any action this year. Again, this will probably be reintroduced next year.