PT Notes
Executive Order Status Report - Incorporating Stakeholder Feedback and Developing Best Practices
PT Notes is a series of topical technical notes provided periodically by Primatech for your benefit. Please feel free to provide feedback.
Executive Order 13650, Improving Chemical Facility Safety and Security, was issued on August 1, 2013 owing to continued catastrophic chemical facility incidents. The Executive Order has the objective of enhancing the safety and security of chemical facilities and reducing risks associated with hazardous chemicals to owners and operators, workers, and communities. A Working Group was appointed to oversee work on the Executive Order.
The Working Group published a status report on June 6, 2014. An analysis of the current operating environment, existing regulatory programs, and stakeholder feedback resulted in immediate actions and a plan for future actions to further minimize risks, organized by five thematic areas:
- Strengthening Community Planning and Preparedness
- Enhancing Federal Operational Coordination
- Improving Data Management
- Modernizing Policies and Regulations
- Incorporating Stakeholder Feedback and Developing Best Practices
This PT Note addresses Incorporating Stakeholder Feedback and Developing Best Practices. Several issues were identified:
- Community partners expressed a strong desire for continued stakeholder engagement and a mechanism to share information in a simple, coordinated manner.
- Community residents and organizations believe they should be included in the majority of efforts described in the executive order to ensure the local perspective is represented. They also want to share their perspectives on alignment with the Executive Order 12898 – Federal Actions to Address Environmental Justice in Minority Populations and Low Income Populations.
- Stakeholders promoted their best practices, including stewardship programs, safer alternatives, community engagement, and effective State and local planning efforts.
- Stakeholders believe there are lessons they can learn from one another, enabling all facilities around the Nation to be safer and more secure.
The Working Group took a number of actions to address these issues, including:
- Solicited feedback via listening sessions, Webinars, meetings with stakeholder groups, attending stakeholder conferences and collecting information through public dockets, engaging participants across the country, and generating input from over 25 States.
- Development and launch of an online repository such that stakeholders involved in chemical facility safety and security can submit and access best practices. The newly launched repository can be found at:
https://www.llis.dhs.gov/topics/chemical-facility-safety-and-security.
The Working Group identified two priority action areas to ensure stakeholder feedback continues to be incorporated and best practices are shared, to include:
- Continue to solicit stakeholder feedback and conduct regular outreach as planned actions are pursued.
- Capture and share best practices with all stakeholders.
The Working Group report is available at: https://www.osha.gov/chemicalexecutiveorder/
