Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board

The CSB Clears Its Investigations Backlog With a Flurry of Holiday Season Investigation Reports

Eric J. Conn Leave a comment

By: Beeta B. Lashkari, Eric J. Conn, and Valerie Butera

As we begin the new year, we wanted to look back and report out on a rather remarkable year at the US Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board (the “CSB”).  Most notably, the CSB set and met a goal of clearing out its investigations backlog before the end of CY 2023.  By any measure, the CSB just closed its most productive year ever, issuing a record-setting eleven investigation reports.  For context, the CSB issued only six reports in 2022, three in 2021, none in 2020, and four in 2019.  Currently, the CSB has only two open investigations for incidents that just occurred within the last year and a half.

As we discussed in our December 13, 2022 Process Safety Update Webinar, on May 20, 2021, the Congressional Committee on Energy and Commerce sent the CSB a letter, calling on the CSB to clear out its “investigations backlog,” which, at that time, included 20 open investigations, including at least one that was more than five years old.  The letter specifically instructed the CSB to:

“Provide a copy of the CSB’s most recent investigation plan, including the status of all open investigations, the expected timeframe for completing each investigation, and the number of investigators assigned to each investigation.”

A day later, the CSB released one investigation report, so that, by the time the agency replied to Congress’ letter on June 10, 2021, it reported that there were 19 open investigations, and provided a status for each one: five were noted as being in the early investigation report-writing phase, and 14 were in a mid- or advanced phase.  However, the CSB did not at that time provide a specific timeframe for completing each report, stating only that:

“[t]he timeframe for completing investigations is a dynamic re-assessment based on numerous factors. The Agency plans to continue closing investigations with increased transparency through the public board meeting process . . . and to improving the timelines as the Agency rebuilds our staff and processes.”

Three months later, on September 24, 2021, the CSB issued a couple more investigation reports, and a few days after that, on September 29, 2021, then-CSB Chairperson Katherine Lemos testified before the Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations of the Committee on Energy and Commerce, emphasizing the progress the CSB was making on the release of investigation reports.  Specifically, Chairperson Lemos testified that the CSB had completed three investigations in 2021, compared to only one in 2020.

Then, on October 7, 2021, the CSB sent another letter to Congress, this time providing a specific timeline for all remaining open investigations.  Per the (very ambitious) timeline, with older investigations prioritized, all open CSB investigations of incidents occurring prior to calendar year 2020 would be completed in fiscal year 2022. Although the CSB was not able to meet its initial timeline, it updated its investigations closure plan in October 2022, committing to another very ambitious timeline to complete all of its then-remaining fourteen open investigations by the end of calendar year 2023.  With a new and nearly full slate of Board Members and renewed life at the agency under the Biden Administration, including the hiring of additional staff, the CSB met that timeline, barely. Continue reading →

U.S. Chemical Safety Board Issues Guidance to Clarify its Accidental Release Reporting Rule

Beeta B. Lashkari Leave a comment

By Beeta Lashkari, Eric J. Conn, and Micah Smith

Earlier this month, on September 1, 2022, the U.S. Chemical Safety Board (CSB) announced the release of a new guidance document about the agency’s still-relatively new Accidental Release Reporting Rule.  The Accidental Release Reporting Rule, which went into effect in March 2020, requires owners and operators of stationary sources to report accidental releases that result in a fatality, a serious injury, or substantial property damage to the CSB within eight hours. Just a few months ago, the CSB published its first list of incidents that had been reported to the agency pursuant to the rule.

Of the new guidance document, CSB Interim Executive Steve Owens said:

“Our goal is to make sure that owners and operators report chemical releases to the CSB as required by law. While many companies already have been complying with the rule and submitting their required reports, this guidance should help resolve any uncertainties about the reporting requirement. If someone is unsure about what to do, they should report, rather than risk violating the rule.”

The new guidance has been a long time coming. Indeed, the agency Continue reading →

CSB Releases Accidental Release Reporting Rule Data

Beeta B. Lashkari Leave a comment

By Darius Rohani-Shukla and Beeta B. Lashkari

Last month, the Chemical Safety Board (“CSB”) published its first list of incidents that had been reported to the agency pursuant to its Accidental Release Reporting Rule.

The CSB’s Reporting Rule was published in the Federal Register on February 21, 2020, and took effect a month later, on March 23, 2020.  As we previously reported, the rule requires that owners and operators of stationary sources report accidental releases that result in a fatality, serious injury, or substantial property damage to the CSB within eight hours.  That accidental release report must indicate:

  1. The name and contact information for the owner/operator;
  2. The name and contact information for the person making the report;
  3. The location information and facility identifier;
  4. The approximate time of the accidental release;
  5. A brief description of the accidental release;
  6. An indication whether one or more of the following has occurred:
    • (1) Fire;
    • (2) Explosion;
    • (3) Death;
    • (4) Serious injury; or
    • (5) Property damage.

Continue reading →

Update about the Chemical Safety Board [Webinar Recording]

Theresa Jordan Leave a comment

On March 16, 2021, Eric J. Conn, Micah Smith and Beeta B. Lashkari presented a webinar regarding “Update about the Chemical Safety Board.”

For a small agency, a lot happened at the U.S. Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board (the CSB) last year – and not all related to the COVID-19 pandemic. For example, the CSB promulgated an accidental release reporting rule, requiring employers to report certain chemical incidents to the CSB. Although the rule went into effect last Spring, the CSB set a 1-year enforcement “grace period” to allow time for the regulated community to become familiar with the rule, and for the Agency to develop guidance about the new rule. With the grace period ending later this month, on March 23, 2021, it is critical for employers to understand their new compliance obligations.

In addition, with expired terms, early departures, and the swearing in of a new Chairperson (but no other Board members), the CSB’s Board became a “quorum of one” for the first time, begging questions about its authority to vote on mission-critical work product, such as investigation reports, and its ability to conduct the agency’s business. Although Pres. Biden will likely nominate new Board Members, the Senate confirmation process can be a slog, meaning the CSB may maintain a quorum of one for an extended period.

Participants in this webinar learned about: Continue reading →

[Webinar] Update about the Chemical Safety Board

Theresa Jordan Leave a comment

On Tuesday, March 16, 2021 from 1:00 P.M. to 2:15 P.M., join Eric J. Conn, Micah Smith and Beeta B. Lashkari for a webinar regarding “Update about the Chemical Safety Board.”

For a small agency, a lot happened at the U.S. Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board (the CSB) last year – and not all related to the COVID-19 pandemic. For example, the CSB promulgated an accidental release reporting rule, requiring employers to report certain chemical incidents to the CSB. Although the rule went into effect last Spring, the CSB set a 1-year enforcement “grace period” to allow time for the regulated community to become familiar with the rule, and for the Agency to develop guidance about the new rule. With the grace period ending later this month, on March 23, 2021, it is critical for employers to understand their new compliance obligations.

In addition, with expired terms, early departures, and the swearing in of a new Chairperson (but no other Board members), the CSB’s Board became a “quorum of one” for the first time, begging questions about its authority to vote on mission-critical work product, such as investigation reports, and its ability to conduct the agency’s business. Although Pres. Biden will likely nominate new Board Members, the Senate confirmation process can be a slog, meaning the CSB may maintain a quorum of one for an extended period.

Participants in this webinar will learn about: Continue reading →

BREAKING – CSB Issues Final Accidental Release Reporting Rule

Beeta B. Lashkari 2 Comments

By Eric J. Conn and Beeta Lashkari

Last week, on the day of a federal district court-mandated deadline — Wednesday, February 5, 2020 — the Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board (the CSB) announced its Final Rule on Accidental Release Reporting. The CSB posted a prepublication version of the Final Rule last week, on February 5th.  The official version should be published in the Federal Register within the next few days.

As we previously reported, on December 12, 2019, the CSB issued a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking for its new reporting rule, which set out the circumstances when facility owners and operators are required to file reports with the CSB about certain accidental chemical releases and what must be communicated in the reports.Picture1

As stated in the NPRM, the purpose of the rule is “to ensure that the CSB receives rapid, accurate reports of any accidental release that meets established statutory criteria.”

The rule requires owners and operators of stationary sources to report accidental releases that result in a fatality, a serious injury, or substantial property damage to the CSB within eight hours.  The specific information required to be provided in the accidental release report includes:

  1. A brief description of the accidental release;
  2. Whether the release resulted in a fire, explosion, death, serious injury, or property damage;
  3. The number of fatalities and/or serious injuries, and the estimated property damage at or outside the stationary source;
  4. The name of the material involved;
  5. The amount of the release; and
  6. Whether the accidental release resulted in an evacuation order impacting members of the general public and other details associated with the evacuation.

Issuance of the CSB’s reporting rule has been a long time coming.  Although the CSB did not become operational until 1998, its enabling legislation – the Clean Air Act Amendments – was enacted in 1990.  That statute, from nearly thirty years ago, expressly required the agency to issue a rule governing the reporting of accidental releases to the CSB.  Although the CSB submitted an Advanced Notice of Proposed Rulemaking for Chemical Release Reporting in 2009, that effort died on the vine.  Accordingly, the CSB has never had its own reporting rule, relying instead on other sources to receive incident information.  In February 2019, however, Continue reading →

Coalition to Comment on CSB’s Proposed Accidental Release Reporting Rule

Eric J. Conn Leave a comment

Last week, the CSB issued a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking for its accidental release reporting rule, which establishes the criteria for when facility owners and operators are required to report to CSB accidental chemical release incidents and what must be included in those reports.  Here is a link to an article we posted that summarizes the CSB’s proposal and background about the situation. If promulgated, the rule would require owners and operators of stationary sources to report to the CSB within four hours any accidental chemical releases that results in a:

  • Fatality;
  • Serious injury; or
  • Substantial property damage.

A release reporting rule was mandated by the CSB’s enabling statute (decades ago), but the Agency had never issued such a rule. In February of this year, however, a federal court ordered the CSB to promulgate a final reporting rule within 12 months of the  court’s ruling—by mid-February 2020.  With CSB waiting until the 11th hour to publish this NPRM, interested stakeholders have only a very small window to make sure their concerns about the proposed rule are heard.  Comments are due to the CSB by January 13, 2020, and because the deadline to promulgate the rule is court-mandated, there likely will be no extension of the comment period.

Although the proposal indicated that CSB contemplated some of the duplicative effort that a separate CSB reporting rule would require, the proposed rule does not come close to addressing employers’ legitimate concerns about the burden this reporting requirement will place on employers at a time when their attention should be focused on emergency response. To compound the problem, the scope of reportable incidents and criteria for reportability aligns neither with CSB’s investigative jurisdiction nor with other agencies’ already-existing reporting requirements, and, as formulated, could create disincentives for robust internal reporting of incidents.

Conn Maciel Carey’s national OSHA • Workplace Safety Practice Group is coordinating an ad hoc coalition of employers to prepare a set of comments to submit to the CSB. Continue reading →