More than 8 years since the 9/11 terrorist attacks, the House on Friday, November 6th, the House passed by a vote of 230 to 193 the Chemical and Water Security Act of 2009 (H.R. 2868), a bill to to enhance security and protect against acts of terrorism against chemical facilities, to amend the Safe Drinking Water Act to enhance the security of public water systems, and to amend the Federal Water Pollution Control Act to enhance the security of wastewater treatment works. The bill, if enacted, will enhance the safety of 100 million Americans who live in proximity to high-risk chemical plants. The legislation must now be considered in the Senate.
Despite the fact that, according to the Congressional Research Service, there are 53 such plants in Illinois that each put more than 10,000 people at risk, the 6th District’s Republican Congressman, Peter Roskam, voted against the bill.
Among the provisions of H.R. 2868 are the following:
- Conditionally require the highest risk plants to use safer chemical processes where feasible and cost-effective and requires the remaining high risk plants to “assess” safer chemical processes;
- Eliminate the current law’s exemption of thousands of chemical facilities, such as waste water and drinking water plants and port facilities;
- Involve plant employees in the development of security plans and provides protections for whistleblowers and limit background check abuses;
- Preserve state’s authority to establish stronger security standards;
- Provide funding for conversion of plants, including drinking water facilities and wastewater facilities, and
- Allow citizen suits to enforce government implementation of the law.
The bill was endorsed by a coalition more than 50 environmental, labor and health groups including Association of Metropolitan Water Agencies, the United Auto Workers, Steelworkers, Teamsters, Fire Fighters, Sierra Club, Physicians for Social Responsibility, U.S. Public Interest Research Group, Environmental Defense Fund and Greenpeace.
That endorsement meant little to Peter Roskam, however, because the bill was opposed by his owners: the National Association of Manufacturers and the U.S. Chamber.
Republican opposition to this important security measure seems to have been based in its requirement that manufacturers take action rather than be allowed to proceed at their own pace. But according to Greenpeace, while more than 200 chemical facilities have converted to safer chemical processes since 9/11, eliminating poison gas risks to more than 30 million Americans. Yet 300 other chemical plants together put 110 million Americans at risk.
The Republicans are also opposed to the provision for citizen lawsuits. This is just another part of their project to end democracy in favor of corporate rule. The tort reform that Peter Roskam is always peddling and the tightening of consumer bankruptcy regulations are other key elements. That is the Republican plan in a nutshell: deregulation for big corporations and take away the rights of consumers to fight them. We’ve already seen the horrible results of deregulation in the present economic crisis. I don’t want to be around when they take away our right to redress in the courts.
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