“Right To Know” Hearings – Taking Away Terrorist Tools

Washington, D.C., November 7, 2001— Separate hearings in the House and Senate are being held this week to reassess the safety of chemical and industrial facilities in the light of recent terrorist attacks.  A key policy at stake is the so-called “right to know” [2] law, which requires the federal government to publicly disclose sensitive information about facilities around the country that could be used by terrorists to target the most dangerous locations.  The law is a result of an amendment to the Clean Air Act.<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" />

The Environmental Protection Agency is still making this information publicly available in reading rooms across the country, even as the rest of the federal government is scrambling to limit the tools and information to which potential terrorists have access.

“Since the events of September 11, the case is stronger than ever to repeal this right to know [2] law,” said Angela Logomasini, director of risk and environmental policy at CEI.  “The original goal of these regulations – educating communities about the proper response to an industrial accident or chemical release – can be accomplished in ways that don’t put a new weapon in the hands of our nation’s enemies.”

CEI is a non-profit, non-partisan public policy group dedicated to the principles of free enterprise and limited government.  For more information about CEI, please visit our website at www.cei.org [3].