Following a disastrous ammonium nitrate explosion on April 17, 2013, at the West Fertilizer 
Company storage and distribution facility in West, Texas, President Obama signed the Executive Order 13650, entitled “Improving Chemical Facility Safety and Security.” The motive behind the executive order was to further the safety and security of the operators, owners, communities and the workers associated with large-scale chemical manufacturing facilities. At present this mission is overseen by a Federal Interagency Working Group, led by the Assistant Secretary of Homeland Security for the Office of Infrastructure Protection (part of the Department of Homeland Security/DHS), and it includes a number of agencies including the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA); the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA); the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF); the Department of Transportation (DOT); and the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA)
The Executive Order (EO 13650) instructed the federal government to:
- Enhance operational coordination with local and state partners;
- Upgrade information sharing and Federal agency coordination;
- Modernize standards, policies and regulations; and
- Identify the best practices working with stakeholders.
Creating Awareness
The importance of informing workers about safety issues and regulations at a high-risk chemical facility cannot be overstated. You cannot successfully implement essential safety measures through basic job training and signage. OSHA requires that you put these regulations into action through regular safety meetings and worker involvement in devising safety standards – with their active participation you make safety “the way things are done around here.”
Regulatory Authorities
There are many regulatory authorities as that are involved in the safety of chemical facilities.
OSHA, one of the regulatory agencies, develops and enforces many safety and health standards that apply to the chemical processing industry. These applicable regulations include a standard on lockout/tagout, standards for storage and handling of flammable and combustible liquids, use and design of storage tanks, fire protection, permissible exposure limits for 600 air contaminants and requirements for the use of respiratory protection and other personal protective equipment. OSHA’s Hazard Communication Standard and the Standard on Process Safety Management of Highly Hazardous Chemicals (PSM) are two of the most important regulations for this industry.
Of course, OSHA is not the only regulatory body of those involved in chemical industry safety to release standards applicable to manufacturing plants. The DHS’s Chemical Facility Anti-Terrorism Standards (CFATS) program is also a major program for chemical facility safety that was put in place by Congress in 2007 and signed into law as the CFATS Act of 2014 by President Obama in December of 2014. It identifies high-risk chemical facilities, establishes risk-based performance standards for their security, and requires them to prepare assessments of the security vulnerabilities at these facilities. Furthermore, high-risk chemical facilities are required under CFATS to develop and implement plans for the site’s security which must be evaluated according to the CFATS risk-based performance standards.
Updated Policies
Folowing EO 13650, many of the regulatory agencies in this field—including OSHA, the EPA, and others—are working towards modernizing their standards and policies in order for the various agencies to more easily collaborate and monitor high-risk chemical manufacturing facilities. Particularly important is the question of collaboration, because at the time of the West Fertilizer Company explosion, the EPA knew the facility stored 240 tons of ammonium nitrate, but according to Janet Napolitano, at that time the Secretary of Homeland Security, the company had not disclosed its stock to the DHS, required when anyone stocks more than one ton of the material. Further cooperation between the two agencies might have enabled more oversight for the plant. The issue of chemical facility safety and security is expected to be a high priority for the rest of the Obama Administration, with regulations implemented throughout the rest of the decade.
Staying Prepared
Therefore, if you are a chemical industry professional, owner or safety in charge, it is of vital importance to you to stay updated on the chemical industry regulations and rules as they are reshaped throughout the end of this decade. One way to stay updated with how industry regulations are changing is to seek out expert advice. For instance, Lowell Randel, an expert in regulatory compliance with the Global Cold Chain Alliance, is presenting a live webinar on how EO 13650 is reshaping regulations in the industry. During this session, you will learn strategies for the chemical industry to get involved in the regulatory process as well as best practices with regard to compliance.
