Senator, State, Local Leaders Announce Lautenberg Chemical Security Provision Becoming Law

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N.J. Senator Returns to Same Location Overlooking Chemical Facility Where He Vowed to Fight Bush Administration's Efforts to Preempt N.J.'s Chemical Security Laws Two years Ago

January 10, 2008 -- JERSEY CITY, N.J. – U.S. Senator Frank R. Lautenberg (D-NJ) today joined Department of Environmental Protection Commissioner Lisa Jackson, Hudson County Executive Tom DeGise, Jersey City Mayor Jerramiah Healy, N.J. AFL-CIO President Charlie Wowkanech, New Jersey Work Environment Council Director Rick Engler and other local leaders to announce the enactment of Sen. Lautenberg’s provision to prohibit the federal government from preempting states’ chemical security laws.

“I made a promise in this same spot that I would fight to make sure that states could protect their residents from chemical attacks, and now they can,” said Sen. Lautenberg. “My provision is essential to all states, especially New Jersey, which has the strongest chemical security laws in the nation. We fought back special interests in Washington and the Bush Administration to preserve the right of states to protect themselves from an attack on their chemical facilities -- and we won.”

In April 2006, Sen. Lautenberg vowed at the same Jersey City location that he would fight back the Bush Administration’s efforts to preempt New Jersey’s chemical security laws. A year later, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) finalized regulations that would allow the Administration to preempt state chemical security protections stronger than those adopted at the federal level. The regulations were put in place last June.

Sen. Lautenberg’s provision, which was signed into law last month, protects states from the Administration’s preemption and allows them to pass laws they need to protect residents from an attack on their chemical facilities.

New Jersey's chemical security laws are the strongest in the country. Sen. Lautenberg's provision rejects the Bush administration's assertion of broad authority to overturn New Jersey's laws.

The co-chairs of the September 11th Commission, former Gov. Tom Kean and former Rep. Lee Hamilton, agreed with Sen. Lautenberg’s chemical security provision, and joined the National Governors Association, the National Conference of State Legislatures and others in supporting it.

Sen. Lautenberg is a long-time advocate for improved chemical security. In 1999, he wrote Congress' first chemical security bill.

In March 2007, Sen. Lautenberg, chairman of the Environment and Public Works subcommittee that has jurisdiction over infrastructure security, chaired a field hearing in Newark on the issue of protecting state and local chemical security laws.

Source: Senator Frank R. Lautenberg