The House Appropriations Committee on Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies will hold a mark-up on Wednesday, July 12 on the FY 2018 budget which includes the budget for the Chemical Safety Board. You may remember that the President’s proposed budget calls for the elimination of the CSB. A mark-up is where they take the proposed bill and change language or add amendments before it’s voted on by the Full Committee, and then the full House of Representatives.

The Chemical Safety Board is a unique agency in charge of investigating major chemical incidents (explosions, leaks) independent of enforcement. CSB focuses on root cause analysis and preventing future major chemical incidents that affect workers and communities surrounding chemical plants. There seems to be little organized support for eliminating the CSB, so your voice in support of the Board should be heard loud and clear.

What Should I Do?

As we’ve said before, your Senators and Congresspersons will need to know that the CSB should not be eliminated.

Tell your representatives to save the Chemical Safety Board. Eliminating the CSB would eliminate root-cause investigations for chemical incidents like Deepwater Horizon and the West Texas fertilizer explosion that help prevent future accidents. Killing the Board will leave workers, first responders and communities near chemical plants at higher risk of injury and death.

For more background on the CSB, I’ve written several times about the importance of the Chemical Safety Board: