The Senate Environment and Public Works (EPW) Committee will markup chemical storage facility oversight legislation on April 2, panel chairman Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) announced during a March 6 hearing.
The EPW Committee will consider S. 1961, the “Chemical Safety and Drinking Water Protection Act,” which West Virginia Democratic Senator Joe Manchin introduced in the aftermath of January’s chemical spill in Charleston, West Virginia. The spill contaminated the community’s drinking water supplies with the chemical MCHM, and left Charleston residents unable to drink or bathe in their tap water for several days.
S. 1961 would require regular state inspections of any chemical storage facility that “poses a risk of harm” to a nearby public water system. Chemical facility owners would have to meet minimum leak detection, spill control, and employee training standards, and would have to provide information to nearby water utilities about “the potential toxicity” of each chemical held on-site. Companies would also be expected to detail “safeguards or other precautions … to detect, mitigate, or otherwise limit the adverse effects” of a chemical release.
Speaking at this month’s hearing on chemical threats and President Obama’s chemical facility security executive order, Chairman Boxer said she and Sen. Manchin are engaging EPW Republicans in discussions to reach an agreement on S. 1961. EPW ranking Republican David Vitter (R-La.) also said he is “committed to continuing to work” together with Democrats on the bill, but still has “serious, substantive concerns” about the bill’s current version.
AMWA has not taken a formal position on S. 1961, but spent much of March discussing recommended improvements to the bill with staff to Sen. Manchin and EPW Committee members. These suggestions include requiring chemical facilities to immediately notify downstream water systems after discovering chemical spills, and clarifying that a water utility’s receipt of information about chemicals stored upstream confers no new responsibilities or liabilities on the utility. At this point, however, it is not known to what extent EPW Committee leaders will incorporate AMWA’s suggestions into the legislation.