Dallas Morning News
Marissa Barnett
AUSTIN—The Senate gave final approval Thursday to new regulations for ammonium nitrate. The changes are in response to a 2013 explosion at a fertilizer plant in West that killed 15 people. Now it’s left to Gov. Greg Abbott to approve the legislation in order for it to become law.
“What we’ve done in the bill were the right steps to swing the pendulum to the middle,” Sen. Brian Birdwell, R-Granbury, said describing the balance between protecting health and safety and keeping minimal regulation.
In the short debate, Birdwell emphasized that the changes would not be burdensome to business.
In the aftermath of West, authorities and health and safety experts identified myriad ways a lax and disjointed regulatory system contributed to the explosion. The legislation aims to address some of those issues. But it doesn’t require sprinkler systems or other chemical safety measures recommended after West.
Under the approved changes, the state and local fire marshals would have the authority to inspect facilities that store ammonium nitrate, a common ingredient in fertilizer, and issue citations for violations in code. It would also require that the chemical be stored separate from combustible materials.
Operators would submit “Tier II reports,” forms about chemicals stored or used at their facilities, to the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, instead of the Department of State Health Services. Facilities would still also be required to submit a copy to local fire departments, but the bill also would require that fire departments be given copies by the state.
Robin Schneider, executive director of Texas Campaign for the Environment, said she was grateful the new regulations were approved. But the “same lawmakers have gutted other basic protections this year on a variety of other dangerous operations,” she said.
Other legislation approved this session would make it more difficult for Texans to object when chemical plants get permits to build near homes and schools.
“We need lawmakers that are not just motivated to protect their reputations when high profile dangers are shown on TV. We need a commitment to common sense laws which protect human health, public safety, and the environment for all communities in Texas,” Schneider said.
While lawmakers proposed a handful of other bills this session responding to the West blast, the measure approved by the Senate Thursday is the only legislation to make it through the Legislature. Other proposals, including one that would require facilities that store ammonium nitrate to maintain liability insurance stalled in committee. Currently, state law does not require such companies to have insurance.
The West Fertilizer Co. carried $1 million in liability insurance, but the cost of damaged property there has reached up to $240 million, according to testimony from the consumer-protection group Texas Watch.
Tags: safer chemicals
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