OSHA, EPA ‘outgunned,’ Chemical Safety Board chief says

Washington – Industry interests have left “under-resourced” federal and state agencies unable to ensure refinery safety, Chemical Safety Board Chair Rafael Moure-Eraso testified during a March 6 Senate hearing.

Speaking before the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, Moure-Eraso applauded executive order 13650, which directed various government agencies to improve chemical facility safety and security following a series of deadly incidents. However, the CSB chief lamented a lack of resources for those agencies, which include the Environmental Protection Agency and OSHA.

The agencies are “outgunned by a powerful industry that seeks to blunt and sometimes even roll back the already inadequate regulatory system in the U.S.,” Moure-Eraso said in his testimony.

In related news, a working group that was formed in response to the executive order has released its second progress report on improving chemical safety and security.