U.S. Congressional Legislation: Chemical Facilities

A bill (H.R. 2868) intended to increase security at chemical facilities has been approved by the Senate Homeland Security Committee. The measure must now go before the Senate for a vote.

The Senate replaced H.R. 2868 with a new version of the bill. The version passed by the Senate committee is identical to the House version in some respects. It would extend existing law, and maintain current Department of Homeland Security (DHS) regulations on the subject, by establishing standards and procedures for security vulnerability assessments and site security plans. The Senate and House versions, however, differ with regard to inherently safer technologies.