The U.S. Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board (USCSB), generally referred to as the Chemical Safety Board or CSB, is an independent U.S. federal agency charged with investigating industrial

chemical accident A chemical accident is the unintentional release of one or more chemical hazard substances which could harm human health and the environment. Such events include fires, explosions, leakages or release of toxic or hazardous materials that can cause ...

s. Headquartered in

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, the agency's board members are appointed by the president and confirmed by the

United States Senate The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and pow ...

. The CSB conducts root cause investigations of chemical accidents at fixed industrial facilities.U.S. Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board Website - Mission
/ref>

History

The U.S. Chemical Safety Board is authorized by the

Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990 The Clean Air Act (CAA) is the United States' primary federal air quality law, intended to reduce and control air pollution nationwide. Initially enacted in 1963 and amended many times since, it is one of the United States' first and most infl ...

and became operational in January 1998. The Senate legislative history states: "The principal role of the new chemical safety board is to investigate accidents to determine the conditions and circumstances which led up to the event and to identify the cause or causes so that similar events might be prevented." Congress gave the CSB a unique statutory mission and provided in law that no other agency or executive branch official may direct the activities of the Board. Following the successful model of the National Transportation Safety Board and the Department of Transportation, Congress directed that the CSB's investigative function be completely independent of the rulemaking, inspection, and enforcement authorities of the Environmental Protection Agency and

Occupational Safety and Health Administration The Occupational Safety and Health Administration'' (OSHA ) is a large regulatory agency of the United States Department of Labor that originally had federal visitorial powers to inspect and examine workplaces. Congress established the agenc ...

. Congress recognized that Board investigations would identify chemical hazards that were not addressed by those agencies.U.S. Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board Website - History
/ref> Also similarly to the NTSB, the CSB performs "investigations

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identify the root causes of chemical incidents and share these findings broadly across industries to prevent future incidents."

Controversy

Following criticism from lawmakers and allegations of mismanagement, the former chairman of the CSB, Rafael Moure-Eraso, resigned in March 2015. He was replaced by

Vanessa Allen Sutherland Vanessa Lorraine Allen Sutherland is a corporate lawyer and former chairperson of the U.S. Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board (CSB). Early life Sutherland was born at Sibley Memorial Hospital in Washington, D.C. She lived in Tantall ...

in August 2015. Sutherland resigned with two years left in her five-year term after the Trump administration proposed shutting down the CSB as part of the

2019 United States federal budget The United States federal budget for fiscal year 2019 ran from October 1, 2018, to September 30, 2019. Five appropriation bills were passed in September 2018, the first time five bills had been enacted on time in 22 years, with the rest of the g ...

. (Which ultimately would not occur.)

Investigations

The USCSB has investigated many of the most devastating industrial accidents in the U.S. since its inception. It is known for its highly detailed and technically oriented post mortem analyses of individual incidents, as well as its transparent public relations practices. The latter include at length reconstructions of an incident, alongside root cause analysis and subsequent recommendations the Board has made; unusually for a governmental agency, they are often attended by a video form safety report, with careful narration and high quality computer graphics. Their videos are narrated by Sheldon Smith. The agency publishes its videos on a public YouTube channel, which has some 250 thousand subscribers. In the mid to late 2000s, many of the USCSB's videos have centered on explosive dust hazards, and OSHA's response to USCSB's recommendations on the issue. Of the 8 investigations () concerning explosions and fires caused by combustible dust conducted by the USCSB, 5 of them had their final report released from 2004 to 2009. Below is a list of the USCSB's notable investigations: * Texas City Refinery explosion, March 2005 * Xcel Energy Cabin Creek Hydroelectric Plant Fire, October 2007 * Port Wentworth Imperial Sugar plant explosion, February 2008 * Deepwater Horizon explosion, 2010 * Chevron Refinery fire, August 6, 2012Chevron Refinery fire, August 6, 2012
/ref> * West, TX, Fertilizer Fire and Explosion, April 17, 2013West, TX, Fertilizer Fire and Explosion, April 17, 2013
/ref> * Philadelphia Energy Solutions refinery explosion, June 21, 2019

Notes

External links

* * {{Authority control Independent agencies of the United States government 1998 establishments in Washington, D.C. Chemical safety United States Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board

History

Controversy

Investigations

See also

Notes

External links