Dept. of Homeland Security Reconsiders Chemical Security for College Environments

At a Congressional hearing in late July of 2007, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security established a research committee to explore ways of adapting the regulations for the storage of chemicals and hazardous materials for college campuses. As the cost and effort of complying with federal regulations for chemical storage can be extensive, the working group will review and revise the regulations in order to create a standard appropriate for university laboratories and facilities. The cause of the hearing was the interim final rule on chemical storage that went into effect in June 2007. The rule requires institutions to inventory and monitor specific chemical compounds. If threshold quantity is exceeded, the institution must engage in a risk analysis and possibly face stricter security in the future. The chemicals and their threshold amounts are still currently under revision.