I

106TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 1790

To provide for public disclosure of accidental release scenario information

in risk management plans, and for other purposes.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

MAY 13, 1999

Mr. BLILEY (by request) introduced the following bill; which was referred to

the Committee on Commerce, and in addition to the Committees on Government Reform, and the Judiciary, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions

as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned

A BILL

To provide for public disclosure of accidental release scenario

information in risk management plans, and for other

purposes.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Chemical Safety Infor5 mation and Site Security Act of 1999’’.

6 SEC. 2. PUBLIC AVAILABILITY OF ANALYSIS.

7 (a) DEFINITIONS.—
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1 (1) ADMINISTRATOR.—The term ‘‘Adminis2 trator’’ means the Administrator of the Environ3 mental Protection Agency.

4 (2) RISK MANAGEMENT PLAN.—The term ‘‘risk

5 management plan’’ means a risk management plan

6 submitted by an owner or operator of a stationary

7 source pursuant to section 112(r)(7)(B) of the Clean

8 Air Act.

9 (3) OFF-SITE CONSEQUENCE ANALYSIS INFOR10 MATION.—The term ‘‘off-site consequence analysis

11 information’’ means those portions of a risk manage12 ment plan, excluding the executive summary of such

13 plan, consisting of an evaluation of one or more

14 worst-case scenario or alternative scenario accidental

15 releases of extremely hazardous substances listed

16 pursuant to section 112(r)(3) of the Clean Air Act.

17 (4) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ means a State,

18 the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of

19 Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, Guam, American

20 Samoa, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana

21 Islands, and Indian tribes as defined in section

22 102(2) of the Federally Recognized Indian Tribe

23 List Act of 1994 (25 U.S.C. 479a(2)).

24 (b) EXEMPTION FROM FREEDOM OF INFORMATION

25 ACT.—Off-site consequence analysis information or infor-
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1 mation derived therefrom, shall not be made available

2 under section 552 of title 5, United States Code. Nothing

3 in this section shall affect the obligation of the Adminis4 trator under section 112(r)(7)(B)(iii) of the Clean Air Act

5 to make available off-site consequence analysis informa6 tion, or information derived therefrom, except as provided

7 in subsection (c) of this section.

8 (c) DISTRIBUTION OF OFF-SITE CONSEQUENCE

9 ANALYSIS INFORMATION.—

10 (1) No officer or employee of the United States

11 shall make available in an electronic form off-site

12 consequence analysis information except as provided

13 in paragraphs (2), (6), and (7) of this subsection

14 and subsection (e) of this section.

15 (2) The Administrator may make available in

16 an electronic form off-site consequence analysis in17 formation to a State or local government officer or

18 employee only for official use.

19 (3)(A) In response to any request for off-site

20 consequence analysis information, including a re21 quest for risk management plans, the Administrator

22 shall provide a copy of off-site consequence analysis

23 information, but only in paper form. The conditions

24 under which it shall be made available, including,

25 but not limited to, the maximum number of requests
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1 any single requester can make, and the maximum

2 number of stationary sources for which off-site con3 sequence analysis information may be made available

4 in response to any single request, shall be deter5 mined by the Administrator in implementing guid6 ance, pursuant to subsection (d)(1) of this section.

7 An officer or employee of the United States may not

8 otherwise distribute off-site consequence analysis in9 formation in paper form, except as provided in para10 graphs (4) and (6) of this subsection, and subsection

11 (e) of this section.

12 (B) Consistent with this paragraph, the Admin13 istrator shall promptly respond to off-site con14 sequence analysis information requests. The Admin15 istrator may levy a fee applicable to processing re16 quests that recovers the Administrator’s cost of

17 processing such requests and reproducing such infor18 mation in paper form.

19 (4) At the request of a State or local govern20 ment officer acting in his or her official capacity, the

21 Administrator may provide to such officer in paper

22 form, only for official use, the off-site consequence

23 analysis information submitted for the stationary

24 sources located in the State in which the State or

25 local government officer serves.
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1 (5) Notwithstanding any provision of State or

2 local law, and except as provided in subsection (e)(2)

3 of this section, an officer or employee of a State or

4 local government may make off-site consequence

5 analysis information available only to the extent offi6 cers or employees of the United States would be per7 mitted to make such information available, con8 sistent with the guidance and any regulations issued

9 pursuant to this section, except that a State or local

10 government officer or employee may only make

11 available such information that concerns stationary

12 sources located in the State in which the officer or

13 employee serves.

14 (6) The Administrator shall ensure that every

15 risk management plan submitted to the Environ16 mental Protection Agency is available in paper or

17 electronic form for public inspection, but not copy18 ing, during normal business hours, including in Gov19 ernment Printing Office depository libraries. For

20 purposes of this paragraph, the Administrator may

21 make risk management plans available in electronic

22 form only if the electronic form does not provide an

23 electronic means of ranking stationary sources based

24 on off-site consequence analysis information. The

25 Government Printing Office shall assist the Adminis-
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1 trator in implementing this paragraph. There are

2 authorized to be appropriated to the Administrator

3 and to the Government Printing Office such sums

4 as may be necessary, to be available until expended,

5 to carry out this paragraph.

6 (7) After consulting with other appropriate

7 Federal agencies, the Administrator may make off8 site consequence analysis information available to

9 the public in an electronic form that does not in10 clude information concerning the identity or the lo11 cation of the stationary sources for which the infor12 mation was submitted. No other officer or employee

13 of the United States, nor any officer or employee of

14 a State or local government, may make off-site con15 sequence analysis information available to the public

16 in such form except as authorized by the Adminis17 trator.

18 (8) Any officer or employee of the United

19 States, or any officer or employee of a State or local

20 government, who knowingly violates a restriction or

21 prohibition established by this subsection shall be

22 fined under section 3571 of title 18, United States

23 Code, imprisoned for not more than one year, or

24 both.
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1 (9) The Administrator may collect and main2 tain records that reflect the identity of individuals

3 and persons seeking access to information under this

4 section only to the extent that such collection and

5 maintenance is relevant and necessary to accomplish

6 a legal purpose of the Environmental Protection

7 Agency that is required to be accomplished by stat8 ute or by executive order of the President. Any such

9 records shall be subject to section 552a of title 5,

10 United States Code. An officer or employee of a

11 State or local government may collect and maintain

12 records identifying individuals and persons seeking

13 access to information under this section only to the

14 extent that such collection and maintenance is rel15 evant and necessary to accomplish a legal purpose of

16 their employing agency that is required to be accom17 plished by State statute.

18 (d) IMPLEMENTING GUIDANCE AND ADDITIONAL AU19 THORITIES.—

20 (1) Within 60 days of the enactment of this

21 provision, the Administrator shall issue guidance set22 ting forth procedures and methods for making off23 site consequence analysis information available to

24 the public consistent with the provisions of this sec25 tion. The Administrator shall consult with other ap-
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1 propriate Federal agencies in developing the guid2 ance. The Administrator may revise such guidance,

3 as circumstances warrant, in consultation with the

4 appropriate Federal agencies. Guidance issued pur5 suant to this subsection, and any revision thereof,

6 shall not be subject to judicial review. The Adminis7 trator may issue regulations in place of such guid8 ance to the extent the Administrator deems appro9 priate.

10 (2) The Administrator is authorized to pre11 scribe such regulations as are necessary to carry out

12 the Administrator’s functions under this section.

13 The Administrator may delegate to any officer or

14 employee of the Environmental Protection Agency

15 such of the Administrator’s powers or duties under

16 this section as the Administrator may deem nec17 essary or expedient. Regulations issued pursuant to

18 this subsection shall be subject to judicial review to

19 the same extent and in the same manner as regula20 tions issued pursuant to section 112(r)(7) of the

21 Clean Air Act.

22 (e) AGENTS AND CONTRACTORS.—

23 (1) An officer or employee of the United States

24 may make off-site consequence analysis information

25 available in any form to officers and employees of
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1 agents and contractors of a Federal Government of2 fice only for official use. For purposes of this sec3 tion, such officers and employees of agents and con4 tractors shall be treated as officers and employees of

5 the United States and shall be subject to the same

6 restrictions and sanctions as apply to officers and

7 employees of the United States under this section.

8 (2) An officer or employee of a State or local

9 government may make off-site consequence analysis

10 information available in any form to officers and em11 ployees of agents and contractors of the State or

12 local government only for official use. For purposes

13 of this section, such officers and employees of agents

14 and contractors shall be treated as officers and em15 ployees of the State or local government and shall be

16 subject to the same restrictions and sanctions as

17 apply to officers and employees of the State or local

18 government under this section.

19 (f) ORDER AUTHORITY.—The Administrator may ex20 ercise the authority provided under section 112(r)(9) of

21 the Clean Air Act to withhold, or prevent the release of,

22 off-site consequence analysis information when the Admin23 istrator determines that release of such information may

24 present an imminent and substantial endangerment to

25 human health or welfare or the environment.
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1 (g) SEPARABILITY OF PROVISIONS.—If any provision

2 of this section is held invalid, the remainder of this section

3 shall not be affected thereby.

4 SEC. 3. SITE SECURITY STUDY AND RECOMMENDATIONS.

5 Subject to the availability of appropriations, the At6 torney General, utilizing available data to the extent pos7 sible and in consultation with appropriate governmental

8 agencies, affected industry, and the public, may review

9 current industry practices regarding site security and the

10 effectiveness of this Act. The Attorney General may peri11 odically report to Congress regarding recommendations re12 lated to enhancing site security practices and the need for

13 continued implementation or modification of this Act.

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