Jim Inhofe: “Mr. President I will briefly talk about a provision in the Commerce title of the highway bill. We have the Commerce…”

“Mr. President I will briefly talk about a provision in the Commerce title of the highway bill. We have the Commerce title, Banking, Finance, and EPW title. Section 7370 creates a hazardous material cooperative research program. It authorizes $2 million a year for each year, including 2006 through 2009, for hazardous material transport research projects on topics that are ``not adequately addressed by existing Federal private sector research programs.'' The section goes on to require that at least one of the studies ``provide an assessment of the need and feasibility of substituting less lethal substances than toxic inhalation hazards in the manufacturing process.'' I oppose the provision and hope it can be removed in conference. I will be actively opposing it in conference to see it is removed. There is no such language in the House portion. The concept at the heart of this provision is called inherently safer technology and it is not about transportation but a longstanding wish of some of the environmental extremist communities. The EPW has spent the last 4 years working on the issue of chemical security and this issue of FIST has arisen several times in the context of the security debate. The idea of inherently safer technology predates September 11. It was around long before the tragedy of September 11. It has never been about security. It has never been about transportation.…”