U.S. chemical arms sites inspected

The U.S. remains technically out of compliance with the Chemical Weapons Convention, which it ratified on April 24. But this state of affairs hasn't stopped the international group implementing the treaty from conducting inspections at U.S. military installations. As it was required to do under the treaty, the U.S. on May 29 reported its chemical- weapons-related military facilities to The Hague-based Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW). The U.S. was also required, but unable, to declare its civilian chemical facilities because the legal and regulatory framework for implementing the treaty domestically was not then—and is not yet—in place. Without implementing legisla- 8 tion, the Commerce Department a cannot issue regulations requiring I commercial chemical companies to submit data on treaty-listed chemicals they make, use, or store. The Senate has passed the necessary legislation, the House has not. The legislation is bottled up in the House Committee on International Relations, ...