U.S. Senator Robert Byrd wants to know which federal agency is in charge of safety at the nation's chemical plants following the deadly explosion last August at the Bayer CropScience Plant in Institute.

Byrd posed the question to U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano during a congressional subcommittee hearing Wednesday.

"During the months since the explosion we learned that no one federal agency is responsible for the safety of chemical plants," Byrd said. "That leaves you and me with the classic Washington question, who is in charge here?"

Byrd says right now several agencies have a hand in it including Homeland Security, U.S. Coast Guard, EPA, OSHA and the U.S. Chemical Safety Board.

The senior senator asked Secretary Napolitano to look into the situation and see if there's a better way for the federal government to secure chemical facilities and investigate accidents.

The secretary promised to look into the Bayer CropScience explosion and also to continue work on new rules governing chemical and chemical storage facilities. "We are working with the private sector all over the country on rules that would allow us to have greater knowledge on what is contained in these various plants around the country," she said.

She added the rules have multiple uses including forewarning to first responders about what they are dealing with.

Senator Byrd told Napolitano the Bayer CropScience explosion has caused a "resurgence of anxiety" about the chemical industry in the Kanawha Valley.