For Immediate Release
Thursday
May 21, 2009
Contact Information:
Steve Higley 202-552-8455
NPRA Applauds Proposal to Extend Chemical Facility Anti-Terrorism Standards
“The current CFATS regulations are still in the process of implementation, and the success or failure of the existing law has yet to be determined. By allowing current CFATS requirements to be fully implemented, H.R. 2477 will ensure that measures already underway to continue strengthening chemical site security are not undermined.”
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Charles T. Drevna, President of NPRA, the National Petrochemical & Refiners Association, today commented on legislation introduced by Rep. Charles Dent (R-Pa.), Ranking Member of the House Subcommittee on Transportation Security and Infrastructure Protection, to extend the Chemical Facilities Anti-Terrorism Standards (CFATS), currently scheduled to expire October 1, 2009. H.R. 2477, the Chemical Facility Security Authorization Act of 2009, provides for an extension of the Department of Homeland Security’s chemical facility regulatory authority through October 1, 2012.
“This legislation, which would extend our existing chemical facility laws until 2012, makes good public policy sense by providing badly needed regulatory certainty that will allow plant operators and security professionals to continue working toward elevating the already high security standards at our nation’s chemical facilities,” said Drevna. “The current CFATS regulations are still in the process of implementation, and the success or failure of the existing law has yet to be determined. By allowing current CFATS requirements to be fully implemented, H.R. 2477 will ensure that measures already underway to continue strengthening chemical site security are not undermined.”
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NPRA members include more than 450 companies, including virtually all American refiners and petrochemical manufacturers. Our members supply consumers with a wide variety of products and services used daily in their homes and businesses. These products include gasoline, diesel fuel, home heating oil, jet fuel, lubricants and the chemicals that serve as “building blocks” in making everything from plastics to clothing to medicine to computers.