By Eric J. Conn and Beeta B. Lashkari
Earlier this week, on December 12, 2019, the U.S. Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board (CSB) issued a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) for its long-awaiting chemical incident reporting rule, which sets out the circumstances when facility owners and operators are required to file reports with the CSB of accidental chemical releases and what must be communicated in the reports.
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.”
If promulgated, the rule would require owners and operators of stationary sources (chemical facilities) to report accidental releases that result in a fatality, serious injury, or substantial property damage to the CSB within four hours. The proposed rule also identifies the specific information required to be included in the accidental release report:
- A brief description of the accidental release;
- Whether the release resulted in a fire, explosion, death, serious injury, or property damage;
- The number of fatalities and/or serious injuries, and the estimated property damage at or outside the stationary source;
- The name of the material involved;
- The amount of the release; and
- Whether the accidental release resulted in an evacuation order impacting members of the general public and other details associated with the evacuation.
Importantly, recognizing that some or all of this information may not be known within four hours of an accidental release, the CSB decided to include the qualifier — “if known” — for much of the information that would be required in the report.
If, however, the owner/operator submits a report to Continue reading