The Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board (CSB) has issued a new rule governing its internal operations that curtails the power an individual board member can exercise as the only Senate-confirmed member of the panel, in an apparent effort to avoid a repeat of the period in 2020-21 when a single appointee operated as a “quorum of one.”
The Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board (CSB) is preparing to ask the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to renew its expiring information collection request (ICR) that allows industrial facilities to notify the board in the event of an “accidental release” that could be subject to investigation and prompt advice to EPA and OSHA on how to prevent such incidents.
The Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board (CSB) is urging EPA to tighten its risk management program (RMP) to account for “reactive hazards” and extreme weather events driven by climate change, reiterating a swath of prior recommendations in its new report on a Gulf Coast chemical spill set off by 2020’s Hurricane Laura.
OSHA’s enforcement chief has issued a letter of interpretation stating that the process safety management (PSM) standard allows host employers to train contract workers on requirements for handling hazardous chemicals, holding that host-led instruction satisfies the rule as long as the contractor’s direct employer ensures its adequacy and maintains records.
A new report from the Environmental Integrity Project (EIP) claims the expansion of nitrogen fertilizer production since the 2013 West, TX, explosion is endangering public safety and the environment due in part to lax rules for the sector, urging EPA and OSHA to bolster facility-safety requirements for storing ammonium nitrate among other policy changes.
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is floating a draft plan to overhaul its years-old chemical security program, seeking to break from EPA methods that were the basis for its 2007 rule for determining which chemicals and facilities to regulate, though the program’s future hinges on Congress reauthorizing it before it expires in July.
With new support from 18 more lawmakers, a group of House and Senate Democrats is renewing its call for EPA to toughen its proposed risk management program (RMP) rule when it finalizes the rule later this year, seeking to shore up the rulemaking just days after one of their key supporters announced plans to leave EPA after failing to win Senate confirmation.
Officials with the Society of Chemical Manufacturers and Affiliates (SOCMA) say the group is pushing both OSHA and EPA to prioritize enforcing their Risk Management Program (RMP) and process safety management (PSM) standard facility safety policies rather than overhauling and expanding them through pending rules.
OSHA is citing Amazon over a wide range of alleged safety violations at three of the retailer’s warehouses in Florida, Illinois and New York, marking the latest step in an investigation prompted by rare referrals from the Department of Justice (DOJ) to the agency.
EPA will collect $600,000 in penalties for alleged Risk Management Program (RMP) violations by a Denver chemical distribution site under a newly announced settlement that also includes a $200,000 supplemental environmental project (SEP) -- just as the agency is readying a new RMP rule that would tighten many of its requirements.