I
106TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
H. R. 2257
To provide for a 1-year moratorium on the disclosure of certain submissions
under section 112(r) of the Clean Air Act to provide for the reporting
of certain site security information to the Congress, and for other pur-
poses.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
JUNE 17, 1999
Mr. GREEN of Texas (for himself, Mr. DINGELL, Mr. BROWN of Ohio, Mr.
WAXMAN, Mr. STRICKLAND, Mr. BARRETT of Wisconsin, Mr. PALLONE,
Mr. STUPAK, Mr. TOWNS, Mrs. CAPPS, Ms. DEGETTE, Mr. DEUTSCH,
Ms. ESHOO, and Mr. HALL of Texas) introduced the following bill; which
was referred to the Committee on Commerce, and in addition to the Com-
mittees on Government Reform, and the Judiciary, for the period to be
subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration
of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee con-
cerned
A BILL
To provide for a 1-year moratorium on the disclosure of
certain submissions under section 112(r) of the Clean
Air Act to provide for the reporting of certain site secu-
rity information to the Congress, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Chemical Security Act
of 1999’’.
SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS.
For purposes of this Act:
(1) The term ‘‘Administrator’’ means the Ad-
ministrator of the Environmental Protection Agency.
(2) The term ‘‘Off-site Consequence Analysis
Submission’’ means only the off-site consequence
portion of a risk management plan submitted to the
Administrator under section 68.165 of title 40 of the
Code of Federal Regulations, as in effect on the date
of the enactment of this Act.
(3) The term ‘‘covered stationary source’’
means a stationary source of any air pollutant that
is required to submit a risk management plan under
section 112(r)(7)(B) of the Clean Air Act.
(4) The term ‘‘official use’’ means any action
that is intended to carry out a function of a Federal,
State, or local agency or entity having responsibility
for planning for or responding to chemical releases
at a stationary source. Such term includes disclosing
the results of an Off-site Consequence Analysis Sub-
mission in any format different than that used in
the Submission.
(5) The term ‘‘authorized contractor’’ means a
person having responsibility for handling risk man-
agement plans under subparagraph (B) of section
112(r)(7) of the Clean Air Act under contract with
the Administrator, the Chemical Safety and Hazard
Investigation Board, a State, or a local agency or
entity referred to in clause (iii) of such subpara-
graph (B).
SEC. 3. ONE-YEAR MORATORIUM FOR CONGRESSIONAL
CONSIDERATION.
(a) PROHIBITION.—
(1) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other
provision of any Federal, State, or local law that
provides for freedom of information or public disclo-
sure of governmental information, in order to pro-
vide for Congressional consideration of the effects of
the public disclosure required under clause (iii) of
section 112(r)(7)(B) of the Clean Air Act and for
consideration of the reports under section 4 of this
Act, no Off-site Consequence Analysis Submission
shall be disclosed, or made available, to the public or
to any person or entity by the Administrator, the
Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board, a
State, a local agency or an entity referred to in such
clause (iii), or any authorized contractor.
(2) ONE-YEAR
PERIOD.—The prohibition set
forth in paragraph (1) shall apply only for a period
ending 1-year after the date of the enactment of this
Act.
(3) PERMITTED DISCLOSURE.—The prohibition
set forth in paragraph (1) shall not apply to disclo-
sure of an Off-site Consequence Analysis Submission
for official use only pursuant to clause (iii) of sec-
tion 112(r)(7)(B) of the Clean Air Act to the Ad-
ministrator, the Chemical Safety and Hazard Inves-
tigation Board, a State, a local agency or an entity
referred to in such clause (iii), or any authorized
contractor.
(b) PENALTY.—The violation of the prohibition set
forth in subsection (a) shall be an infraction punishable
under section 3571 of title 18 of the United States Code.
In any case in which more than one Off-site Consequence
Analysis Submission has been disclosed or made available
in violation of subsection (a), the violation with respect
to each such Submission shall be considered a separate
violation for purposes of such section 3571. The total of
all penalties imposed on a single person or organization
for violations of subsection (a) shall not exceed $100,000.
(c) DISCLOSURE
WITHOUT FACILITY IDENTIFICA-
TION.—Notwithstanding the moratorium under subsection
(a), after June 21, 1999, the Administrator shall make
information from risk management plans, including infor-
mation from the Off-site Consequence Analysis Submis-
sions, available to the public in accordance with section
112(r)(7)(B)(iii) of the Clean Air Act in a form which does
not include any information concerning the identity or lo-
cation of the covered stationary sources for which such
plans were prepared.
(d) EMERGENCY PLANNING MEETINGS.—Not later
than 180 days after the date of enactment of this Act,
each owner or operator of a covered stationary source shall
convene a meeting with community representatives, em-
ployees and contractors working at the covered stationary
source and with local emergency planning committees and
other appropriate emergency responders to discuss the
measures necessary to prevent, and protect the source
from, attacks by terrorists and other criminals. Not later
than 10 months after the date of enactment of this Act,
each such owner or operator shall send a certification to
the Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation stat-
ing that such meeting has been held within one year prior
to, or within 10 months after, the date of the enactment
of this Act.
SEC. 4. SITE SECURITY STUDY AND REPORTS TO CON-
GRESS.
(a) SITE SECURITY.—The Attorney General, using
available data to the extent possible, and analyzing a sam-
pling of covered stationary sources selected at the discre-
tion of the Attorney General, and in consultation with ap-
propriate State, local, and Federal governmental agencies,
affected industry and the public, shall review the vulner-
ability of covered stationary sources to criminal and ter-
rorist activity, current industry practices regarding site se-
curity, security of transportation of extremely hazardous
substances, and the effectiveness of this Act. Six months
after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Attorney
General shall submit a report to the Congress containing
the results of the review, together with recommendations
for reducing vulnerability to criminal and terrorist activity
through inherently safer practices and site security, and
the need for additional legislation. If the report rec-
ommends information security measures, it shall describe
the means by which any individual shall be guaranteed ac-
cess to risk management information without a geo-
graphical restriction. The Attorney General shall submit
updates of such report biennially after the submission of
the first report.
(d) COMPTROLLER GENERAL REPORT.—Not later
than 180 days after the enactment of this Act, the Comp-
troller General of the United States shall submit a report
to the Congress on the health and environmental effects
of public disclosure of information. In preparing such re-
port the Comptroller General shall consult with the Ad-
ministrator and appropriate representatives of the States,
local governments, affected industries, emergency respond-
ers, and public interest groups and shall undertake a spe-
cific examination of the reduction in toxic chemical re-
leases associated with the reporting requirements of sec-
tion 313 of the Superfund Amendments and Reauthoriza-
tion Act of 1986 (Toxics Release Inventory).
SEC. 5. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.
There are authorized to be appropriated such sums
as may be necessary to carry out this Act.
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