The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) issued a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking in order to implement the Secure Handling of Ammonium Nitrate Act of 2007.

DHS has established a 120 day comment period which ends on December 1, 2011. This new regulation will require sellers and purchasers of ammonium nitrate to:

1. Acquire a registration number from DHS in order to sell, transfer, and/or purchase ammonium nitrate.

2. Requires applicants who sell, transfer or purchase ammonium nitrate to conduct a background check using the Terrorist Screening Database

3. Requires DHS to issue an ammonium nitrate registration number for each ammonium nitrate seller or purchaser upon completion of an application to DHS

4. Requires ammonium nitrate sellers to verify each potential ammonium nitrate purchaser's identification and registration number prior to selling product

5. Requires all ammonium nitrate facilities to keep records of sales or transfers of ammonium nitrate for at least two years after each transaction

6. Certain ammonium nitrate sellers must report the theft or loss of certain quantities of ammonium nitrate to Federal authorities within 24 hours of discovering the theft or loss

Illinois Fertilizer and Chemical Assn (IFCA)

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