The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has pulled its proposed plan to require screening of chemical-plant workers for terrorist ties, a move that followed complaints from industry opponents of the plan.

 

Under the plan, chemical plants would have been required to submit information (name, date, place of birth, passport, and visa information) on employees and visitors with access to “restricted areas or critical assets” so DHS could check the data against the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Terrorist Screening Database.

 

Industry trade groups, including the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the American Chemistry Council, and the American Petroleum Institute, sent a letter to the White House in April calling for the administration to reject the plan. They claimed the effort duplicated others in existence and would have required needless extra paperwork for companies.

 

When it first crafted the plan in 2011, the DHS said the objective was to prevent terrorists from gaining access to facilities that house dangerous chemicals.

-Noel Brinkerhoff

 

To Learn More:

DHS Drops Plan To Screen Chemical-Plant Workers For Terrorist Ties (by Douglas P. Guarino, Government Executive)

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