For the second time in less than three months, the Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board (CSB) is pressing EPA to prioritize hydrofluoric acid (HF) for TSCA evaluation, and to also boost inspections of facilities that work with the chemical, following the board’s investigation of a Wisconsin refinery explosion.
The Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board (CSB) has released its report on a 2019 accident at a butadiene production facility in Texas, recommending that both the operator and the American Chemistry Council (ACC) strengthen their policies for the chemical to prevent similar incidents, just as EPA is evaluating its risks under TSCA.
The Senate has confirmed former EPA chemicals chief Steve Owens as chairman of the Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board (CSB) and former California utility regulator Catherine J.K. Sandoval as the panel’s third member, moving it a step closer to full strength after years of shorthanded operations.
The United Steelworkers (USW) is urging OSHA to quickly propose and enact a sweeping overhaul of its process safety management (PSM) standard, arguing that the current “activity-based” model is inadequate and that the agency instead should require employers to show they have eliminated process safety dangers “to the greatest extent feasible.”
Leaders of the Chemical Sector Coordinating Council (CSCC), an industry coalition that works with the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), are urging Congress to swiftly reauthorize the Chemical Facility Anti-Terrorism Standards (CFATS) program before it expires in 2023, emphasizing what they say has been valuable public-private collaboration and successful work preventing cybersecurity and other chemical incidents.
Leaders on the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee (EPW) appear likely to support President Joe Biden’s latest nominees to the Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board (CSB), after lawmakers on both sides of the aisle appeared to praise their qualifications and welcomed their promises to focus on hiring at the short-staffed agency.
Employers and trade groups are warning OSHA against moving forward with planned reforms to the process safety management (PSM) standard, arguing that they would make the rule less flexible without proof they are needed for safety, and that it must ensure the PSM program remains aligned with EPA’s risk management program (RMP) facility safety rule.
A coalition of 20 Democratic attorneys general (AGs) is calling on EPA to strengthen its proposed risk management program (RMP) rule, saying it should require facilities to adopt inherently safer technologies and other measures that the proposal would make optional, and bolster consideration of natural disasters worsened by climate change.
Chemical and other facility operators are urging EPA to reconsider its proposed rule strengthening the risk management program (RMP), charging that the agency has failed to consult adequately with its own experts, resulting in a plan that is “legally vulnerable” because the agency has underestimated its costs and failed to show it will reduce risks.
In response to warnings from federal agency watchdogs, the Chemical Safety Board (CSB) has hired a chief information officer (CIO) to improve information-technology efforts, as well as bolster cybersecurity at the board.