Lawmakers Urge EPA to Institute New Rules for Nation's Chemical Plants

Statement

All six Democratic members of Colorado's congressional delegation today sent a letter -- led by U.S. Rep. Diana DeGette (D-CO) -- calling on the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to institute strict new safety measures at chemical plants across the country to better protect the health and safety of nearby residents.

In the letter to EPA Administrator Michael Regan, the lawmakers urged the agency to put in place new rules that would require U.S. chemical and petrochemical facilities -- including Suncor's refinery located outside Denver -- to take additional steps to actively monitor the amount of potentially harmful toxins emitting from their plant; and to make that information available to the public.

Instituting such requirements, the lawmakers wrote, "is especially important in Colorado, with thousands of workers in the energy sector and where communities -- often minority, low-income and otherwise disenfranchised -- directly abut petrochemical and other industrial facilities."

The Clean Air Act of 1990 gave EPA the power to require that refineries and other regulated facilities prepare and implement a risk management plan designed to prevent and detect the accidental release of potentially harmful chemicals; and to promptly respond to any emergencies that may arise.

As EPA works now to update the requirements that each facility must adhere to under the risk management program, the lawmakers are urging the agency to add several new requirements and require that each facility:

* Provide nearby communities with information about the specific risk they face from the plant's activities so they can be prepared to respond in the event of an emergency;

* Establish independent fence-line air monitoring systems to provide nearby communities reliable information about any potential exposures;

* Use "Inherently Safer Technologies" to mitigate, or even eliminate, the risk hazardous chemicals pose to nearby communities; and

* Take into account the risk posed by a changing climate and prepare accordingly.

In addition to DeGette, the letter was signed by U.S. Sens. Michael Bennet (D-CO) and John Hickenlooper (D-CO), as well as U.S. Reps. Jason Crow (D-CO), Joe Neguse (D-CO) and Ed Perlmutter (D-CO).

Source