8/10/2019 U.S. Sen Barbara Boxer Statement on Chemical Safety Progress_Dec. 11 2014

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U.S. Senate Committee on

Environment and Public Works

Statement of Senator Barbara Boxer

Joint Hearing of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee and

the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee

!versight of the "m#lementation of the President$s Executive !rder on

"m#roving Chemical %acilit& Safet& and Securit&'

(ecember )), *+)

(Remarks as prepared for delivery)

Today, the Environment and Public Works Committee joins the Committee on Health, Education,

Labor and Pensions to continue critical oversight of efforts to improve the safety and security ofchemical facilities across the country

!n "pril #$%&, a massive e'plosion at a fertili(er distribution plant in West, Te'as, killed %)people, injured hundreds more, and damaged or destroyed homes, businesses, and three

unoccupied schools

Chemical facilities can be a threat to communities, including schools, across the nation " recent

report by the Center for Effective *overnance found that % out of & school children in "merica

today attends a school +ithin the vulnerability (one of a ha(ardous chemical facility, and asmany as ten million children go to school under the shado+ of t+o ha(ardous (ones

"fter the disaster in West, Te'as, ! spoke +ith President bama about the need to act, and in

"ugust #$%&, he issued E'ecutive rder %&-)$ . !mproving Chemical /acility 0afety and

0ecurity This E'ecutive rder established a Working *roup to conduct a comprehensive revie+of our chemical safety and security programs and develop recommendations for improving these

programs

!n the -$# days since the West, Te'as, tragedy, there have been &)) chemical accidents, resulting

in 12 deaths and almost %,)$$ hospitali(ations according to Chemical 0afety 3oard data !n my

home state of California, there have been #& chemical incidents and 2- people have beenhospitali(ed

! am very concerned that despite the clear risks posed by our nation4s chemical facilities, very

little progress has been made to improve safety

The E'ecutive rder directed that %) actions be taken, including proposing changes to safety

measures for ammonium nitrate, proposing changes to the list of chemical ha(ards under EP"4s

8/10/2019 U.S. Sen Barbara Boxer Statement on Chemical Safety Progress_Dec. 11 2014

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program to reduce risks of chemical accidents, and providing more information to first

responders and accident investigators

f the %) actions directed by the E'ecutive rder, only four have been completed 0i' actions

+on4t be complete until #$%) or later, and five have no timeline at all for completion 5o agency

has proposed changes to its chemical safety program, and not a single facility faces ne+ federalre6uirements to adopt safety precautions to reduce chemical ha(ards

ne chemical that ! have repeatedly e'pressed concern about is ammonium nitrate, +hich +as

the cause of the West, Te'as, accident and +as a key ingredient used in the klahoma City

bombing and the %22& World Trade Center bombing

!n response to a *" re6uest submitted by 0enators Casey and 7urray, 8epresentatives 7illerand Courtney, and myself, *" said that federal regulation of ammonium nitrate contains gaps

that may make certain facilities unsafe to operate The Chemical 0afety 3oard reached similar

conclusions, and said that EP" should address ammonium nitrate under its chemical safety

standards "ccording to C03, the West, Te'as, accident could have been prevented had those

measures been in place "lthough an update to a %221 safety advisory on ammonium nitrate +asissued in "ugust #$%&, more action needs to be taken

"lthough the Working *roup established in the E'ecutive rder has convened months of

meetings, its 9une report merely recommended more meetings and information gathering Thetime for meetings and deliberation about chemical safety is over .. +hat +e need is meaningful,

measurable action to improve protections for +orkers, first responders, and local residents

Today, ! hope to hear from our +itnesses a rene+ed commitment to 6uickly finali(e and

implement key safety improvements so +e can avoid another tragedy like the one in West,

Te'as

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