LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP)--Farmers should be required to register with their state departments of agriculture if they want to buy ammonium nitrate fertilizer, a compound that also can be used to make bombs, U.S. Sen. Mark Pryor says.

Pryor said June 8 he was co-sponsoring legislation to add such a requirement to federal law.

"It's a fairly minimal burden on our economy and on our farmers and on the ag industry and the chemical industry," the Democrat from Arkansas said in a teleconference with news reporters. "But I think it could pay big benefits down the road if we're able to pass this."

Pryor, co-sponsoring of the bill along with Sen. Thad Cochran, R-MS, said it gives the U.S. Department of Homeland Security access to state records. He called it a common sense approach to making sure fertilizer doesn't get into the wrong hands.

Ammonium nitrate is one of the most common farm fertilizers in the world. More than 1.5 million tons of it was sold in the United States in 2003. It was a key ingredient in the bomb that killed 168 people in the Oklahoma City bombing 10 years ago.

Gerald Fulbright, the assistant director of the Arkansas State Plant Board, said the board and the fertilizer industry generally support the proposal. He said members of the industry recommended the idea to the senators.

"There's a lot of places already keeping some records," Fulbright said. In Arkansas, the state Plant Board would be in charge of the records. A law passed by the state Legislature this year created a state Agriculture Department, which goes into operation in August and will have oversight of the plant board.

Pryor surmised that most farmers and users of ammonium nitrate fertilizer would gladly provide the information for the records and that the bill does not bring up privacy concerns.

"We feel it's a very minimal request, and we don't think it invades anyone's privacy," he said.

While the majority of the people use the fertilizer properly, Pryor said, he's hoping the bill will heighten awareness with reports from merchants.

"If retailers could help us keep an eye out for some unusual activity, some unusual requests," Pryor said. "It's not going to be the government that recognizes a problem. It probably will come from a citizen out there. If they see something suspicious."

Also June 8, Pryor said he was co-sponsoring a bill with Sen. George Allen, R-VA, to add a bitter-tasting chemical to antifreeze. Pryor said that would prevent children and pets from accidentally ingesting antifreeze.

Date: 6/23/05

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