Federal agencies Manufacturing

House committee proposes funding to preserve Chemical Safety Board

July 13, 2017
4 Comments
budget Budget cuts Chemical Safety Board
CSB board members

The members of the Chemical Safety Board (left to right): Kristen Kulinowski, Manuel "Manny" Ehrlich, Vanessa A. Sutherland (recently resigned) and Rick Engler

Photo: Chemical Safety Board

UPDATE: This story was updated on July 19 after the House Appropriations Committee approved the bill July 18.

Washington – The Chemical Safety Board is a step closer to avoiding elimination after the House Appropriations Committee allocated $11 million for the agency for fiscal year 2018 on July 11.

The Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies Subcommittee approved its appropriations bill, which contains CSB funding, on July 12. The bill also was approved by the House Appropriations Committee on July 18, and moves on to the House of Representatives. Any CSB funding has to get through the Senate Appropriations process and into the final appropriations bills for both chambers of Congress.

CSB is among 19 agencies President Donald Trump is seeking to eliminate in his proposed budget. The $11 million matches the agency’s funding for fiscal year 2017.

“This legislation responsibly supports the agencies and offices we rely on to preserve our natural resources for future generations, and prioritizes our limited funding to programs that protect environmental safety,” House Appropriations Chairman Rodney Frelinghuysen (R-NJ) said in a press release.

Post a comment to this article

Safety+Health welcomes comments that promote respectful dialogue. Please stay on topic. Comments that contain personal attacks, profanity or abusive language – or those aggressively promoting products or services – will be removed. We reserve the right to determine which comments violate our comment policy. (Anonymous comments are welcome; merely skip the “name” field in the comment box. An email address is required but will not be included with your comment.)

Title

Dan
July 14, 2017
I don't feel the POTUS would eliminate a board that is necessary for the safety of the citizens of the US unless it is a duplication of services or really isn't necessary at all. From what I've read in the above articles I don't see a serious need for such a board and I would be interested to know what exactly these investigations involve and when this Board was created.
Post Comment Report Abusive Comment

Title

Teresa
July 14, 2017
The CSB is the definitive voice in chemical incident investigations in the US and I believe it would be hard to find another agency that has the independent professional expertise that the CSB has in this area of safety. Here is the link to their website: http://www.csb.gov/ . Their investigative expertise has lead to many vital recommendations that have prevented future chemical incidents. As a safety professional I find a lot of valuable information from their incident videos and reports.
Post Comment Report Abusive Comment

Title

KARTHIK Bangalore India
July 15, 2017
CSB has investigated many Industrial accidents and disasters at Chemical plants and has come out with valuble recommendations. I hope it continue to exist. We safety professionals, half the world away, have benefitted immensely from the investigation findings. Karthik. Bangalore, India.
Post Comment Report Abusive Comment

Title

Chet
July 18, 2017
@Dan...I respectfully disagree with your line of reasoning. The CSB is not a redundant agency. It not only thoroughly investigates significant industrial disasters, it provides findings and some best practices that others may learn from. As a Safety Professional, I've utilized many of the CSB's past investigations to reinforce concepts and help provide some context for our employees. Recently, I've been able to witness, first-hand, their methods in determining root causes of incidents. This is an agency that is needed and $11 million is a very small price to pay for prevention of future incidents. I sincerely hope that the Senate Appropriations Committee agrees with the bill, as well. I'm off to write my Senators now!
Post Comment Report Abusive Comment