Helicopter Association International (HAI) reports the House Homeland Security Committee suspended action yesterday, April 17, on legislation to regulate the sale of a popular fertilizer chemical that has been used in past terrorist attacks after Members of Congress would not agree on an amendment to the bill.

The legislation being considered, as reported yesterday on HAI’s RotorNews, requires the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to regulate the purchase and sale of the chemical most often used in farm fertilizers and that its purchasers and manufacturers register with DHS.

The legislation stalled when Congressman Dan Lungren (R-California) proposed that anyone registered with DHS as owners or purchasers of ammonium nitrate be crosschecked with the terrorist watch list.  The chairman of the committee then recessed the hearing until further notice, expressing a desire to work out a deal so the bill could be approved unanimously.

Among the incidents where ammonium nitrate has been used as bomb-making material are the 1993 attack on the World Trade Center, the 1995 bombing of the Federal Building in Oklahoma City, the 1998 bombings of U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania, and the 2002 Bali, Indonesia nightclub bombing.

HAI will continue to closely monitor the status of this legislation and provide updates as developments occur.