Containing the Threat from Illegal Bombings An Integrated National Strategy for Marking, Tagging, Rendering Inert, and Licensing Explosives and Their Precursors (1998) / Chapter Skim
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5 Limiting Criminal Access to Explosives and Precursor Chemicals
5 Limiting Criminal Access to Explosives and Precursor Chemicals
Pages 116-158
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~ >;>22 .'::::::::::::::::: .22 ~ ~ S: :-::::::::3 ~? :,: :.:.:.: :,:.:.:,3 Wreckage of New York World Trade Center, February 1993.
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More realistic are controls that could make it more difficult for would-be bombers to carry out their crimes and could increase the probability of their being caught an approach taken by the British and others in their efforts to thwart terrorist bombers. In weighing the possible costs and benefits of legislative controls on access to precursor chemicals, the committee concluded that there would be no substantial benefit to law enforcement if only precursor chemicals were regulated without also imposing adequate controls on criminal access to the commercial explosives themselves.
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The list, which includes commercial and military explosives, black and smokeless powders above a minimum quantity, pyrotechnic compositions and special fireworks, many explosive chemicals, detonators and blasting caps, propellants, ammonium nitrate explosive mixtures, and urea nitrate, is quite comprehensive for materials that are themselves explosive. It does not include nonexplosive precursor chemicals or pure ammonium nitrate.5 Applicants for a federal license or permit (ATF Form 5400.13/5400.16)
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transactions made during calendar year 1993 and the quantity of explosives purchased. The responding companies reported that more than 47,000 separate ATF Form 5400.4 transactions took place, more than 455 million pounds of explosives were purchased, and well over 1 million detonators were included in the explosive materials purchased.9 The opportunity for illicit activity is clearly significant.
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, and severe threat (Northern Ireland, Great Britain, and Israel)
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Thus, federal law governs most aspects of the sale and custody of explosives in Canada, although the exemption for mines and quarries leaves a large gap in federal control. No background checks are conducted of licensed magazine owners, blasters, truck drivers, or anyone else with access to explosives.
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The much tighter controls in Great Britain ensure that there are few incidents involving commercial high explosives. Northern Ireland In Northern Ireland, explosives are controlled under the Explosives (Northern Ireland)
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the more costly and inconvenient the controls. Northern Ireland, Great Britain, and Israel, all of which have a high threat level, have made commercial explosives less accessible to terrorists, who must then improvise, steal, or otherwise obtain these materials from out-of-country sources.
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At a minimum, the recommended uniform national regulations would extend current interstate controls (i.e., federal requirements for licensing and for verifi
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Experts contacted by the committee believe that in most cases, the high explosives used in bombings are stolen.21 Commercial explosives are particularly attractive as initiators and boosters for improvised bombs such as the one that produced such devastating effects at the Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City.22 20Such a change occurred in both Switzerland and Northern Ireland under similar conditions, as indicated in the section titled "Regulation of Explosives in Other Countries." 21J. Christopher Ronay, president of the Institute of Makers of Explosives, and Kevin Stadnyk, former federal explosives inspector, British Columbia, Canada, personal communications, June 1997.
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COMMON PRECURSOR CHEMICALS POTENTIALLY SUBJECT TO CONTROLS DEVELOPING A SHORT LIST Chemical Precursors to Explosives A very large number of precursor chemicals that can be used to make effective bombs are not listed explicitly by the ATF as explosive materials and so are not currently controlled as explosives under federal law (Federal Register, 1997~. To define which of these should be considered for controls, the committee compiled a relatively long list of common precursor chemicals and then applied defined criteria to produce a "short list" of precursor chemicals that appear to pose the greatest risks in terms of their potential for use in bomb making.25 The committee considered three kinds of chemical precursors to explosives: those that are explosive on their own, those that can be physically mixed to produce 23Magazines may be owned by manufacturers, dealers, permitters, and users.
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Precursors That Can Be Physically Mixed to Produce Explosives Most military explosives contain both the oxidizer (oxygen atoms) and the fuel (usually carbon and hydrogen atoms)
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Before any specific regulations were developed, it would be advisable to obtain additional input from concerned manufacturers and distributors. 29The azeotropic material obtained by distillation of aqueous nitric acid is 68 percent nitric acid.
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This is not to belittle the effects of the considerable number of smaller bombs used, but rather to emphasize that in terms of casualties, physical damage, and public perception of vulnerability, the large-scale bombs require more concentrated preventive effort. Accordingly, the committee used the following three criteria for selecting the explosive precursor chemicals that may pose the greatest risks: 1.
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Some Yes Yes Urea Yes Yes Yes NOTE: The qualitative results expressed are based on testimony of Richard Strobel, ATE, before the committee, March 24, 1997, subsequent personal communications from Richard Strobel, and the committee's judgment. aAlthough sodium nitrate has not been seen as often as potassium nitrate in improvised explo sives, it is a common ingredient (often in combination with ammonium nitrate)
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To minimize the inconvenience and cost to legal users, the committee believes that every effort should be made to avoid TABLE 5.2 Short List of Explosive Precursors Most Likely to Be Used in Bomb Making Type Precursors Explosive chemicals Oxidizers Fuels Reactant chemicals Ammonium nitrate Nitromethane Sodium nitrate, potassium nitrate Sodium chlorate, potassium chlorate Potassium perchlorate None Acetone Hydrogen peroxide (concentrated) Nitric acid (concentrated)
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The committee discusses the economic implications of controls on access to the short-list precursor chemicals in the section below titled "Costs and Benefits of Recommended Controls." POTENTIAL MODELS FOR CONTROL OF EXPLOSIVES PRECURSORS in considering ways in which explosives or their precursors might be more effectively controlled, the committee received briefings on both the Chemical Diversion and Trafficking Act and the Chemical Weapons Convention.30 Chemical Diversion and Trafficking Act31 The purpose of the Chemical Diversion and Trafficking Act (CDTA) is to regulate both "precursor" and "essential" chemicals that are needed for the manufacture of illicit drugs.
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The CMA used a standard wage rate estimate of $50/hour to calculate an overall annual cost of about $2.5 million. The Chemical Weapons Convention The Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC)
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,- ~, treaty to apply to all conceivable chemical warfare agents, including production of novel chemicals that might be developed in the future, even if they are not now listed in the treaty. Furthermore, the CWC bans or controls certain intermediate compounds or precursors that can be converted to chemical warfare agents in one or a few steps in a reaction.
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f -- i -- bli -- ~ -- i-~ ~Ot~ T i-j~ '' ' ' 'ti i' -- b d ~t i cal warfare agents to key final-stage precursors and more distant precursors. Depending on their utility for producing chemical weapons and the extent to which they have legitimate commercial uses, these compounds or groups of compounds are categorized into three schedules.
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Clearly the chief benefit expected from adherence to the Chemical Weapons Convention is reduced availability of chemical warfare agents for use by nationstates and for diversion to individual terrorist groups. The committee received no information on costs.
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~ -- - - ................................................... Applicability of the Chemical Drug Trafficking Act and Chemical Weapons Convention as Models Of the two models discussed above, the CDTA and the CWC, the CDTA appears to be more relevant to the case of explosives precursors.
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Facilities that produce the more widely used chemicals are subject to fewer requirements. By analogy, explosive precursor chemicals that have a wide range of commercial uses might be controlled less strictly than those with only a few applications beyond use as explosives.
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Also during this period, tighter controls were placed on access to high explosives and low explosives such as black and smokeless powders and pyrotechnic mixtures. The general strategy used in Northern Ireland for choosing explosive precursor chemicals to control was to identify vigorous oxidizing agents36 and then consider the quantities in which they were available to terrorists.
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The program and publicity materials were developed collaboratively by the Fertilizer Institute; the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms; the Association of American Plant Food Officials; and the Agricultural Retailers Association. The program's purpose is to alert all fertilizer distributors to customers who do not appear to be buying fertilizer for a legitimate use, and it covers ammonium nitrate as well as sodium nitrate and potassium nitrate fertilizers sold in bulk.
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The NLECTC-RM offered several suggestions for accomplishing these goals, including one that a partnership be established between the fertilizer industry and national law enforcement organizations (e.g., the National Sheriffs Association and the International Association of Chiefs of Police) to increase members' awareness of the program.
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The committee urges that these shortcomings be addressed. RECOMMENDED CONTROLS ON SHORT-LIST PRECURSOR CHEMICALS AT VARIOUS THREAT LEVELS Options to Be Considered For very large bombs (hundreds to thousands of pounds)
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In many cases, current sales and control practices are adequate, but for some materials and market segments the committee recommends significant increases in controls for the current threat level. In considering options for controlling access to its short-list precursor chemicals that are currently of greatest concern, the committee tried to strike an appropriate balance between making these chemicals easier to trace to the last legal purchaser and more difficult to obtain by individuals and groups with terrorist intentions, while still preserving maximum freedom and minimum costs for legitimate users.
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The committee supports this initiative but does not believe that the means are in place to ensure that the program is being carried out effectively by all distributors. Consequently, the committee recommends that the "Be Aware for America" program for sales of bulk nitrate fertilizers be strengthened by more rigorous implementation and by establishing partnerships with local and national law enforcement agencies.
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Thus this major part of the home-use market would be unaffected. Increased Threat At an increased threat level, tighter controls on sales of bulk ammonium nitrate fertilizer offer the greatest near-term opportunity for restricting access to this bomb ingredient.
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Other Key Short-List Precursor Chemicals In addition to ammonium nitrate, a number of other chemicals can be used to improvise bombs. Those posing the greatest threat in the United States are presented in the committee's short list in Table 5.2.
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Although much of the nitric acid produced is used in on-site chemical processes, a large amount is shipped in tank cars to chemical processing plants or packaged in drums for sale to commercial businesses such as etchers and metal platers. All of these uses are amenable to good sales record keeping.
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As in the case of nitric acid and urea, controlling access to TATP is achieved more readily by limiting the availability of hydrogen peroxide than by controlling acetone. As with controls on nitric acid, controls on hydrogen peroxide would be preferred because hydrogen peroxide can be reacted with chemicals other than acetone to produce explosives.
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Therefore, at the present threat level, the committee recommends no new controls on sales of nitric acid, nitromethane, hydrogen peroxide, sodium nitrate and potassium nitrate, sodium chlorate and potassium chlorate, and potassium perchlorate, and thus by extension, acetone and urea. Increased Threat At an increased threat level, large-volume sales of the following chemicals should be documented by record keeping that requires the purchaser to produce identification and the seller to maintain records of the transaction for a specified period of time in a form accessible to law enforcement: bulk nitrate fertilizers, concentrated nitric acid, concentrated hydrogen peroxide, nitromethane, sodium nitrate, potassium nitrate, sodium chlorate, potassium chlorate, and potassium 48Richard Strobel, ATE, personal communication, September 9, 1997.
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Under conditions of extreme threat, sales of the chemicals could be banned in all but carefully controlled markets. Summary of Recommended Controls The committee' s recommendations for controls on access to precursor chemicals are summarized in Table 5.3.
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Furthermore, if criminals were aware that sellers were actively engaged in record keeping and efforts supporting detection, they might be less likely to use these materials for illegal activities. In that case, law enforcement officers would be relieved of the burden of investigating significant numbers of incidents involving the use of precursor chemicals, especially "nuisance" bombs created by individuals experimenting for amuse ment.
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For example, laws enacted at either the federal or state level (or both) to track the sale and purchase of explosive materials and certain precursor chemicals may affect the civil liability of those in the explosives and relevant chemical industries.
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281-282~. Constitutionality of Proposed Regulatory Controls As in the case of the sales restriction on packaged ammonium nitrate discussed in Chapter 4, the committee's recommendations here (i.e., to extend the present federal licensing scheme to reach purely intrastate purchases and to institute positive purchaser identification and other controls on retail sales of concentrated nitric acid, high-strength hydrogen peroxide, and pure nitromethane)
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Finally, the committee also recommends that uniform national regulations for the purchase of explosives be developed and implemented. One way of achieving uniformity is for the federal government to enact legislation that would preempt all additional or different state laws.
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Efforts to control access should focus on the chemicals identified by the committee as current candidates for control in the United States. These chemicals are ammonium nitrate, sodium nitrate, potassium nitrate, nitromethane, concentrated nitric acid, concentrated hydrogen peroxide, sodium chlorate, potassium chlorate, and potassium perchlorate.
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14. The options below should be considered for controlling criminal access to the precursor chemicals listed by the committee: ammonium nitrate, sodium nitrate, potassium nitrate, nitromethane, concentrated nitric acid, concentrated hydrogen peroxide, sodium chlorate, potassium chlorate, and potassium perchlorate.
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· Sellers of sodium nitrate, potassium nitrate, nitromethane, packaged concentrated nitric acid, concentrated hydrogen peroxide, sodium chlorate, potassium chlorate, and potassium perchlorate should be required to have licenses and purchasers should be required to obtain permits. Alternatively, sales of these chemicals in some markets should be banned.
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