Citing security, EPA to limit online information

It is a rare occurrence when House Commerce Committee Chairman Tom Bliley, R-Va., and President Clinton stand together on an issue, but when it comes to information the Environmental Protection Agency may post on the Internet with regard to potential chemical disasters, the two are on the same page.

The Clinton administration on Thursday published proposed regulations limiting what information related to the consequences of a chemical facility accident or attack in the "worst-case-scenario." The 1990 Clean Air Act mandates that chemical companies must make that information available. But when the EPA proposed putting it on the Internet, federal security officials protested that the information could too easily fall into the hands of terrorists.

Bliley responded by introducing a White House backed bill, H.R. 1790, last year that pre-empted freedom of information laws to prevent the dissemination of the "worst-case-scenario" information. The bill passed after several committee hearings, and then Congress passed legislation requiring the Justice Department and the EPA to develop regulations that would restrict what information is available on the Internet. A committee spokesman said Bliley is "pleased with the administration decision" to formally propose the regulations.

The EPA still has to make a limited amount of the chemical hazard information available but only in hard copy in reading rooms with restricted access.

Free speech and community environmental groups are opposed to the legislation. Ari Schwartz, policy analyst with the Center for Democracy and Technology, said the regulations tip the balance unfairly toward government security interests and away from the community's right to know the information.

"The law was supposed to be a balance between the public's right to know and the possibility of a terrorist attack on a chemical plant, and the terrorist threat won out over the public's right to know, despite the fact that 250 people a year die from chemical accidents and not one has died from a terrorist attack on chemical plant," said Schwartz.

Paul Orum, head of the Working Group on Community Right-to-Know, criticized the administration for writing the regulations while failing to begin a congressionally-mandated site security study of chemical plants designed to ensure that industries are taking the right steps to prevent accidents.

An EPA official said critics of the rule should make their opinions known during the comment period.

According to the Federal Register, comments on the proposed rule are due to the EPA by June 8 and a public hearing will be held May 9.