| About This Archive | | DCHAS-L 2007 Index | | DCHAS-L Yearly Index | |
Check out Safety Emporium for your N95, N99, and face shield needs.
|
Previous by Date: Subject: Re: Chemical Inventory Date: Thu, 26 Jul 2007 09:05:36 -0700 Author: Robert Blomberg |
Next by Date: Subject: Re: Chemical Inventory Date: Thu, 26 Jul 2007 12:20:28 -0400 Author: ILPI |
This was in the chronicle of higher ed yesterday. Federal Panel Will Discuss Modifying Chemical-Security Regulations to Suit Needs of Colleges [ mailto:lauren.smith**At_Symbol_Here**chronicle.com ]By LAUREN SMITH Colleges worried about the costly burden of complying with proposed federal regulations on storing hazardous chemicals got some good news at a Congressional hearing on Tuesday. The U.S. Department of Homeland Security, which had proposed the rules, has responded to those worries by establishing a working group to consider reasonable ways to tailor the regulations to campuses, said a witness testifying at the hearing. The department announced last Wednesday that it would form the group, said Ara Tahmassian, associate vice president for research compliance at Boston University and the witness representing higher education at the hearing. The group will begin meeting within the first two weeks of August to review and revise the regulations, he said. Members of the panel will include representatives of the Association of American Universities, the American Council on Education, the Campus Safety, Health and Environmental Management Association, the Council on Government Relations, the National Association of College and University Business Officers, and the National Association of State Universities and Land-Grant Colleges. Mr. Tahmassian will also be a member, as well as anyone else the representatives believe could make a significant contribution. The other members are not yet settled, but they are likely to include people from leading research universities, said Ada Meloy, director of legal and regulatory affairs at the American Council on Education. Department officials apparently were receptive to complaints from academe that regulations designed for manufacturing plants and other industrial settings would not work well on university campuses. "They are absolutely open to anything and everything," Mr. Tahmassian said. "They have heard what our concerns are, and they accepted they were not familiar with our format." No official from the department testified at the hearing about the regulations' impact on higher education, and calls to the department for comment on Tuesday were not returned. The hearing, held by the House of Representatives Committee on Homeland Security's Subcommittee on Transportation, Security, and Infrastructure Protection, convened to discuss the department's antiterrorism standards for chemical facilities and their effect on the public and private sectors. "We are not asking to be exempt from these regulations," said Mr. Tahmassian. "We are asking that there is a different standard adopted." The "interim final rule," announced by the department in April, would require colleges and others to inventory 342 "chemicals of interest." If a college exceeded the "threshold quantity" for any of the chemicals, it would be required to undergo a risk analysis and possibly submit to stricter security requirements. The rule became effective in June, but a list of the chemicals and their threshold amounts is still being revised. University officials were "surprised" by the new standards because the list included a number of compounds that are common in laboratories, said Mr. Tahmassian. "In our estimation, as originally published, the rule would have applied to virtually every college and university in the country, and probably to many hospitals, doctors' offices, and secondary schools as well," he said. Boston University and its medical center, for example, have about 600 labs in 25 buildings on two campuses two miles apart. "On any given day, some portion of the chemicals housed in these laboratories is consumed in experiments, and others are purchased or prepared as mixtures," he said. "Most of these chemicals are stored in small containers, typically ranging in size from tiny vials holding a few milliliters up to five-gallon bottles." Documenting each amount, and setting up a tracking device for them, would take longer than the department's 60-day deadline would allow, he said. Other witnesses also criticized the deadline and called for sufficient time to carry out the regulations efficiently. Suzanne Howard Director, EHS Wellesley College 781-283-3882
Previous post | Top of Page | Next post