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New chemical possession rule requires registrationUnder a recently announced rule by the Department of Homeland Security, a facility that possesses significant quantities of "chemicals of interest" must register with the government by Jan. 22. This may affect some large farming operations and agricultural chemical dealers. "The intent of the rule is to manage terrorism risk associated with chemical facilities, but some of the chemicals are found on farms," said John Lory, University of Missouri Extension agronomist. "The threshold amounts of these chemicals make it unlikely that farmers are affected. Yet, they should be aware of the rule," he said. The rule includes a list of regulated chemicals and the "threshold quantity" above which an entity is required to register. The rule also requires any operation that obtains more than the threshold quantity of any chemical of interest to register with the government within 60 days of possession. Ammonium nitrate is the most likely to affect crop farmers. The rule requires anyone possessing more than one ton of any material that contains 23 percent or more of nitrogen in the form of ammonium nitrate to register in the program. The rule does not differentiate based on time of possession so a person handling more than 1 ton of ammonium nitrate for a few hours or for a month is equally affected, Lory said. Other chemicals on the list include propane and anhydrous ammonia. The threshold amount should not affect many farmers, but they should at least be aware of the rule, he said. Limits are 60,000 pounds for propane (material in containers less than 10,000 pounds do not count toward the total) and 10,000 pounds for anhydrous ammonia. Potassium nitrate and sodium nitrate are both chemicals of interest and have the low threshold of 400 pounds. These two chemicals are infrequently used on conventional row crops, but may be found on some farms, Lory said. Farmers who expect to exceed the possession limit for any of these chemicals are required to register at a government Web site and undergo a preliminary screening process using the Chemical Security Assessment Tool, which is called Top Screen. To learn more about Top Screen and register to gain access to the Top Screen assessment process, visit the Homeland Security website www.dhs.gov/xprevprot/programs/gc_1169503302924.shtm. "The registration process and review will take more than one sitting. Don't wait until the last minute to start the process," Lory said. Fertilizer dealers may be a helpful source of information, he said. 1/21/08 Date: 1/15/08
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