Federal agencies would take steps to promote consideration of “inherently safer technologies” (IST) and urge Congress to end the exemption of drinking water and wastewater facilities from a DHS chemical facility security program under recommendations a federal interagency working group delivered to President Obama this month.
These are among the dozens of proposals included in a report that is expected to guide implementation of Executive Order 13,650, which President Obama issued last year following a fertilizer plant explosion in West, Texas. The order aims to strengthen the safety and security of chemical plants through improved communication and information sharing, modernized policies, and new rules and standards. An interagency working group led by EPA, DHS, and the Department of Labor has spent the past several months collecting stakeholder input and developing the final recommendations.
Among the policy strategies in the 121-page report that could affect drinking water systems is the working group’s plan for EPA and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) to “encourage chemical facilities to integrate safer technology and alternatives” – also known as IST – into safety oversight programs. EPA and OSHA would initially publicize IST options to stakeholders and develop voluntary guidance to help chemical operators reduce risks, but could go on to consider regulatory IST options in the future. The task force says this may include steps such as requiring entities subject to EPA’s Risk Management Plan (RMP) regulations (including water treatment facilities) to carry out an IST analysis, though “EPA or OSHA would not … determine specific technology, design, or process selection by chemical facility owners or operators.”
Several public interest organizations had earlier encouraged the task force to recommend RMP reforms that would require covered facilities to adopt IST and eliminate inventories of hazardous chemicals like gaseous chlorine. The task force’s subsequent finding that EPA should not select IST measures for particular facilities suggests reluctance by federal agencies to mandate IST adoption in the absence of further congressional action.
Another task force recommendation is to remove the exemption of drinking water and wastewater facilities from regulation through DHS’ Chemical Facility Anti-Terrorism Standards (CFATS) program. According to the task force, water facilities make “attractive terrorist targets due to their large stores of potentially high-risk chemicals and their proximities to population centers,” and should therefore be subject to CFATS oversight. The report says the task force will “work with Congress” to remove the drinking water/wastewater facility exemption – with efforts beginning within the next year – but offers no timeline for moving such legislation to the President’s desk.
The Obama Administration has previously gone on record in favor of subjecting drinking water and wastewater facilities to CFATS-like regulations, but has run into strong opposition from lawmakers who fear that adding this layer of regulation to the water sector could conflict with EPA’s existing oversight of water facility security. For example, an FY15 DHS spending bill approved by the House Homeland Security Committee last month would extend CFATS for one year without amending the water sector exemption. A more comprehensive three-year CFATS reauthorization bill (H.R. 4007) passed by the House Homeland Security Committee in April would also leave the status of water and wastewater facilities unchanged, though committee members approved an amendment to study the security implications of continuing the exemption. So while the task force’s recommendation will bring additional attention to the status of water and wastewater facilities, it appears unlikely to dramatically alter the debate on Capitol Hill in the near term.
Other sections of the task force report explain that EPA will work with State Drinking Water Administrators to “review and update” source water assessments completed under Section 1453 of the Safe Drinking Water Act. According to the task force, these activities will help states determine whether sufficient measures are in place to help communities prepare for and respond to future chemical spill incidents.
Initial reaction to the report was fairly muted on Capitol Hill, but Senate Environment and Public Works Committee Chairman Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) announced plans to hold an oversight hearing “to make sure that solutions are put in place to protect communities across the nation.”