New anti-terrorism security measure and fertilizer dealers

Farm and Ranch June 2, 2010 The Department of Homeland Security has introduced a new security measure for chemical facilities and it could eventually directly impact producers. The new Personnel Surety program would apply to chemical facilities regulated under the Chemical Facility Anti-Terrorism Standards. That includes fertilizer manufacturers and agricultural retailers.

Pam Guffain, President of Member Services for the Fertilizer Institute, says agricultural producers are currently exempt from the program’s regulations but that is only temporary. She says the Department of Homeland Security’s decisions could make a big difference given that it is not unusual for example, for producers to come to a facility to fill up the nurse tank with ammonia.

Guffain: “What we have tried to explain to DHS is that normally farmers do not load the tank themselves. An employee of the facility would load the tank. At that point we feel they should be considered escorted. Now on the other hand, if there is no employee there would the facility be required to stop the producer from entering that area until somebody returns, or is a retailer going to have to tell his farmer customer that we are going to have to submit your name to the terrorist creating database and have you cleared so that if you do come in and no one is there it doesn‘t create a violation for us.”

Guffain says retailers don’t like that approach.

I’m Bob Hoff and that’s the Northwest Farm and Ranch Report on Northwest Aginfo Net.