Synthetic Organic Chemical Manufacturers Association
www.socma.com
http://joesblog.socma.com
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
February 27, 2008
For More Information:
Gregory Minchak
Manager, Public Relations & Communications
202.721.4182 (o)
minchakg@socma.com
SOCMA Urges Congress to Avoid Hasty Changes to
Chemical Site Security Standards
Washington, DC –Siegfried (USA), Inc., a member of the Synthetic Organic Chemical Manufacturers
Association (SOCMA), testified yesterday before the House Committee on Homeland Security on the
Committee’s proposed chemical site security legislation, specifically provisions related to inherently safer
technology (IST). Representing Siegfried (USA), Inc. was David C. Pulham, Ph.D., the Director of
Compliance at Siegfried (USA), Inc.’s Pennsville, New Jersey, facility.
SOCMA played an active role in the previous Congress to enact meaningful and practical legislation to
regulate security at the nation’s chemical plants. After successfully doing so, we have worked closely
with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and our members to develop comprehensive site security
standards under the Chemical Facility Anti-Terrorism Act. SOCMA members have invested
tremendously to safeguard their facilities and their products. Managing environmental, health, safety and
security risks is a daily responsibility for our members enhanced by their adherence to SOCMA’s
ChemStewards® program.
SOCMA cautions the House Homeland Security Committee on adopting new legislation that would
significantly differ from the current rules, as the Committee’s discussion draft does. As DHS Assistant
Secretary Robert Stephan stated at yesterday’s hearing, the Department is still in the process of
implementing the standards under the Chemical Facility Anti-Terrorism Act and with limited resources.
We urge Congress to be prudent and wait to evaluate the effectiveness of the existing set of standards
before hastily designing additional requirements that may disrupt them.
SOCMA applauds the Committee’s intention to make these standards permanent and we have no
objection to select portions of the discussion draft; however, we are concerned with substantive portions,
particularly the draft’s IST provisions. No matter how simple IST concepts appear on paper, they are
quite complicated in practice, as Dr. Pulham testified yesterday. In some cases, a mandated change under
the auspices of security “IST,” could delay by two years or more the availability of consumer products
that the public relies on every day, such as pharmaceuticals. Furthermore, many SOCMA members are
highly regulated under existing environmental and process safety standards that incorporate principles of
IST. We urge Congress to spend more time thoroughly studying the IST provisions being proposed while
immediately ensuring that DHS receives the necessary funds to carry out the current authority Congress
gave it in 2005 under the Chemical Facility Anti-Terrorism Act.
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SOCMA is the leading trade association representing the specialty-batch and custom chemical industry since 1921. SOCMA’s nearly 300
members employ more than 100,000 workers across the country and produce 50,000 products valued at $60 billion annually. For more
information please visit www.socma.org.
ChemStewards® is SOCMA’s flagship environmental, health, safety and security (EHS&S) continuous performance improvement program.
ChemStewards was created from industry’s commitment to reducing the environmental footprint left by member’s facilities. Industry created
ChemStewards to meet the unique needs of the batch, custom, and specialty chemical industry. As a mandatory requirement for SOCMA members
engaged in the manufacturing or handling of synthetic and organic chemicals, ChemStewards is helping participants reach for superior EHS&S
performance. To learn more visit www.chemstewards.com.