Trump budget proposes to eliminate Chem Safety Board

David Haydon

16-Mar-2017

A column of smoke rises from the site of T2 LaboratoriesHOUSTON (ICIS)–The 2018 budget proposal of President Donald Trump proposed to essentially shut down the US Chemical Safety Board (CSB), the agency charged with investigating accidents at chemical plants and refineries.

“The US Chemical Safety Board (CSB) is disappointed to see the president’s budget proposal to eliminate the agency,” CSB Chairperson Vanessa Allen Sutherland said in the statement on Thursday.

“For over 20 years, the CSB has conducted hundreds of investigations of high consequence chemical incidents, such as the Deepwater Horizon and West Fertilizer disasters,” Sutherland said. “Our investigations and recommendations have had an enormous effect on improving public safety.”  

The CSB is an independent federal agency which conducts investigations on chemical accidents. The agency notes that its board does not issue citations or fines, but does make safety recommendations to companies, industry organisations, labour groups and regulatory agencies.

Sutherland cited the banned natural gas blows in Connecticut, New York City’s updated fire code and increased public safety at oil and gas sites in Mississippi as examples of improvements due to the CSB’s recommendations.

“The CSB has been able to accomplish all of this with a small and limited budget,” Sutherland said. “The American public are safer today as a result of the work of the dedicated and professional staff of the CSB.”

President Trump’s partial 2018 budget outline proposes large spending cuts to most government agencies, which will then be used to pay for increases in military spending.

Source Twitter

Source: Twitter

“Consistent with the president’s approach to move the nation toward fiscal responsibility, the budget eliminates and reduces hundreds of programmes and focuses funding to redefine the proper role of the federal government,” the document states. “The budget also proposes to eliminate funding for other independent agencies, including . . . the Chemical Safety Board.”

Sutherland added as the budget proposal process continues, she hopes the CSB’s mission will be preserved.

Above image: A column of smoke rises from the site of T2 Laboratories, one of the accidents that was investigated by the Chemical Safety Board.

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