National security???

[Steve]

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Lawmakers Weigh National Security Issues and the Net

Jeri Clausing
NY Times 2/11/99


In a preview of what promises to be increasing clashes between
national security interests and the Internet, House Commerce
Committee members on Wednesday began debating whether or not
Congress should limit the posting online of unclassified but
sensitive information about potential disasters at the nation's
chemical plants. 

The committee's chairman, Thomas J. Bliley, concerned that plans by
the Environmental Protection Agency to post "worst-case" risk
management plans on the Internet would provide a roadmap for
terrorists, called for the hearing, saying he wanted input for
drafting legislation that would balance public safety concerns with
the public's right to access such information. 

But other committee members at the hearing on Wednesday questioned
whether limiting the electronic dissemination of the information,
which was mandated for public release by the Clean Air Act, would
instead limit the ability of communities and citizens to prepare for
and try to avert a much greater risk -- that of accidental spills of
dangerous chemicals. 

Representative Ron Klink, a Democrat from Pennsylvania, said there
have been no terrorist attacks against chemical plants to date, and
no evidence that they are being targeted. However, he said, there
are 8,000 serious releases every year from chemical plants in this
country, which result in 300 to 400 deaths. 

"This is the known, the documented danger that EPA has been told to
address," he said of the Clean Air Act provision, which also
mandates that the information be available to the public, so
communities and emergency officials know the risks and can plan for
emergencies. 

At issue is a plan developed by the EPA last year to post on the
Internet information about worst-case scenarios in the event of an
accident at one of 66,000 chemical plants and storage sites in the
U.S. The Web site would have offered a searchable database that
would have included potential casualty estimates. The agency dropped
its plans to post the information in November, after Bliley and the
intelligence community expressed fears that making the data so
easily available would make the chemicals plants susceptible to
terrorism. 

But Bliley said the EPA has failed since to "propose a suitable plan
for providing this information to third parties." 

The FBI has suggested making the data available to local and state
emergency and disaster officials through secure government computer
systems. 

Timothy Fields, an emergency response official with the EPA, said
the agency is exploring other options, including the possibility of
releasing the information in a "read-only" CD-ROM that could not be
copied, duplicated or posted on the Internet. 

Other committee members, however, questioned the need for Congress
to interfere. 

Representative Diana DeGette, a Colorado Democrat, said the rules,
which require companies to file the data with the EPA by the end of
June, "were designed to prevent pollution and accidents." 

It is crucial, she said, for residents of rural areas and volunteer
fire departments to have easy access to the information. 

"Are we willing to forsake the health and safety of people who live
near these plants?" she asked. "The benefit to the communities far
outweighs the small risk." 

Advocates of releasing the information are also concerned that any
proposals to limit the distribution of the data electronically will
set a dangerous precedent for picking and choosing how the public
can access non-classified government documents. 

Several committee members pointed out the irony of discussing the
threat in detail in a public committee meeting, referring to written
testimony from E. James Monihan, national volunteer fire council
director for the State of Delaware. 

Monihan called the outskirts of Wilmington a "potential terrorist's
dream" because of a major cluster of industrial structures,
protected solely by volunteers, that includes several chemical
plants, an oil refinery and an electric generator. 

"The information in that testimony will paint an exact roadmap" for
terrorists, said Representative Bart Stupak, a Michigan Democrat.
"The testimony will go on the committee's Web site, which can then be
accessed by anyone in the world." 

On Tuesday a coalition of advocacy groups wrote Bliley a letter
asking that he reconsider plans for introducing legislation to limit
the posting of the EPA data. 

"Rather than taking advantage of the Internet's democratic potential
to allow citizens the ability to access public information, these
proposals view the Internet and its power to distribute information
as a threat," said Ari Schwartz, a policy analyst at the Center for
Democracy and Technology, which sent the letter along with the
American Association of Law Libraries, the American Civil Liberties
Union, the Association of Newspaper Editors, the Electronic Frontier
Foundation and OMB Watch. 

"I think that there are broader issues here," said Rick Blum of OMB
Watch, a government watchdog group based in Washington. 

"I think what this really is is a wedge by industry to restrain
communities' right to know," Blum said. "They are bringing up this
terrorism threat, which is a red herring." 

Bliley, however, insisted he is not trying to limit public access to
hazard prevention information, but is simply trying to strike a sound
balance. 

"Reasonable people can debate how much the terrorist threat to these
communities will be increased by posting worst-case scenarios on the
Internet. But I believe the consequences of a just a single actual
attack could be so deadly, so tragic, that we cannot ignore even a
small increased risk. We are talking about the life or death of real
people, fellow Americans," Bliley said. 

A committee spokesman said Bliley will likely file legislation fairly
soon after reviewing all the testimony from Wednesday's hearing. In
addition to his concerns about what information the EPA posts on its
Web site, Bliley has expressed strong concerns that environmental
groups will get the information through the Freedom of Information
Act and post the data on their own Web sites. Eric J. Wohlschlegel,
deputy press secretary for the committee, said it was too soon to say
whether the proposed legislation would attempt to address the posting
of the sensitive data by third parties.

Copyright 1999 The New York Times Company 






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