Senate passes bill that would delay access to information on chemical plants
The Senate unanimously passed the Fuels Regulatory Relief Act (S. 880) at the end of June. The measure would “amend the Clean Air Act to remove flammable fuels from the list of substances with respect to which reporting and other activities are required under the risk management plan.”
In effect, the bill, sponsored by Sen. James Inhofe (OK), would postpone for one year the electronic publication of worst-case scenario disaster information from 66,000 chemical plants. Under an agreement worked out by Senate Environment Committee Chairman John Chafee (RI), Max Baucus (MT), and Inhofe, “off-site consequences” (OCA) information would be provided to state and local emergency management organizations but would be exempt from the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). The measure is retroactive to June 20 so that the information is not publicly disseminated before the measure is enacted.
Fire and emergency services and government agencies responsible for the country`s security had told Congress that they were concerned that making this information easily accessible on the Internet could increase the risk of terrorist attacks. If this measure is passed, the administration would have one year to adopt a rule governing restriction on disclosure of OCA information to the public. If the administration fails to adopt a rule, the information would be subject to the Freedom of Information Act.
According to the Congressional Fire Services Institute (CFSI), the measure also requires the General Accounting Office to conduct a nine-month study to assess the threat of criminal activity at chemical facilities and instructs the administration to draw up a plan within six months to allow access for “qualified researchers.” (For additional information, see “Electronic release of dangerous chemical site data challenged,” News in Brief, March 1999.)
