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       US Lawmakers Call for Chemical Facilities Review After Texas Blast

   by Reuters

   Democratic lawmakers are seeking a federal review of security at
   industrial chemical facilities after the deadly explosion at a West,
   Texas, fertilizer plant in April. The blast killed 15 people and
   injured scores more.

   U.S. Representative Henry Waxman of California, ranking member of the
   Energy and Commerce Committee, and Bennie Thompson of Mississippi, his
   counterpart on the House Homeland Security Committee, asked President
   Barack Obama on Thursday to set up an expert commission to assess
   security risks at chemical plants, refineries and related facilities.

   Those committees have jurisdiction over the Chemical Facility
   Anti-Terrorism Standards (CFATS) program, a regulatory program for
   high-risk chemical facilities.

   Waxman and Thompson cited a "distressing lack of progress" in securing
   such facilities since the program was established in 2007.

   Recent reports by the Inspector General of the Department of Homeland
   Security and the Government Accountability Office, Congress'
   investigative arm, have also found that the program is failing.

   Since the April blast, it has been determined that the facility in
   Texas had never submitted required documentation under the CFATS
   program. But Homeland Security took no action and was unaware that the
   West plant had chemicals of concern at levels above the regulation
   threshold, the lawmakers noted.

   "We ask you to consider steps that can be taken in response to the
   explosion to reduce the security risks of chemical plants, refineries,
   water treatment facilities, and other facilities holding large stores
   of industrial chemicals," the lawmakers wrote to Obama.

   On Tuesday, U.S. Senator Barbara Boxer, head of the Environment and
   Public Works Committee, said she plans a hearing soon on the Texas
   disaster and will probe for gaps in the enforcement of chemical safety
   laws.
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References

   1. http://www.voanews.com/content/us-lawmakers-call-for-chemical-facility-review-after-texas-blast/1653492.html