March 11, 2008 -- Today, Chairman Bennie G. Thompson (D-MS) and all Homeland Security Democrats introduced H.R. 5577, “The Chemical Facility Anti-Terrorism Act of 2008.”

In his remarks upon introducing the legislation, Chairman Thompson stated, "This bill will extend and strengthen the Department of Homeland Security's current authority to regulate security practices at our Nation's chemical facilities. This legislation must be enacted to ensure that there is no lapse in our efforts to protect the Nation's chemical infrastructure from the threat of terrorism. The Chemical Facility Anti-Terrorism Standards regulations currently in effect will sunset in October 2009. The passage of this legislation is needed to update and improve those regulations and to make them permanent."

"This legislation does not seek to reinvent the wheel, as the Democratic Members of this committee believe that the fundamental approach taken under the existing chemical security regulations is the correct one. At the same time, the bill seeks to make several improvements to the program after the sunset expires. For instance, the current chemical security regulations exempt water treatment facilities regulated under the Safe Drinking Water Act and port facilities regulated under the Maritime Transportation Security Act. This bill does not have such an exemption and calls for the CFATS to work smoothly with the existing authorities."

"The bill also protects the rights of States to pass their own regulations to secure chemical facilities so long as they do not directly conflict with this legislation; requires employee training and involvement of employees and their representatives in creating vulnerability assessments and security plans; creates strong whistleblower protections, and protects against illegitimate use of background checks."