ACD Press Release

Arlington, VA – Today, National Association of Chemical Distributors (NACD) President and CEO Eric R. Byer released the following statement after House Committee on Homeland Security member Representative Laurel Lee’s (R-FL) bill, H.R.4470, a clean, two-year reauthorization of the Chemical Facility Anti-Terrorism Standards (CFATS) program, passed unanimously out of the Committee:

“For more than 15 years, the CFATS program has played a vital role in managing and safeguarding high-risk chemical facilities against security threats. Chemicals are used in nearly every U.S. industry and are essential to our economy and the everyday lives of Americans. Congressional CFATS reauthorization before the program’s expiration on July 27 ensures the continuation of this critical industry-government partnership, safeguarding chemical facilities with the highest security standards.

“NACD applauds Rep. Lee for introducing H.R.4470 and Chairman Mark Green (R-TN) for cosponsoring this bill. We also commend the House Committee on Homeland Security for unanimously passing the bill out of Committee, bringing us one step closer to CFATS reauthorization.

“During the markup, Chairman Green expressed interest in establishing a bipartisan task force of Committee members to explore long-term reforms to the CFATS program. Once CFATS is reauthorized by Congress, NACD is prepared to collaborate with this task force to ensure the program effectively safeguards against security threats, fulfilling its intended purpose. We now urge Congress to swiftly reconcile the House and Senate bills and promptly deliver a clean CFATS bill with an extended reauthorization period to President Biden for his signature.”

Last week, Eric Byer spoke with Homeland Security Today about the importance of reauthorizing CFATS.

###

NACD and its over 400 member and Affiliate companies are vital to the chemical supply chain providing products to over 750,000 end users. NACD members are leaders in health, safety, security, and environmental performance through implementation of Responsible Distribution, established in 1991 as a condition of membership and a third party-verified management practice. For more information on NACD, visit www.nacd.com.