National Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board Created

(3 Nov., 1997 - Washington, D.C.) President Clinton signed into law funding for the first-ever Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board over the weekend. Chemical accidents occur on average 21 times a day in the United States, costing human lives, causing untold damage to property and the environment, and increasing health care and environmental clean-up costs. To investigate the root causes of chemical accidents and to prevent future accidents, Congress created the Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board under the Clean Air Act, modeling it on the respected National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) which investigates airplane and rail crashes. The Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) had urged the Clinton Administration to support and fund this new mechanism to enhance chemical safety.

Congress gave the Board explicit authority that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) do not currently have to investigate the causes of chemical accidents, and the Board is independent of these agencies. The Board has explicit inspection authority allowing it to enter property after accidents and “do all things necessary for a proper investigation.” Moreover, EPA and OSHA have a disincentive to identify problems that stem from weaknesses in their own agencies.

“An independent Chemical Safety Board is needed to protect American workers, their families, and the general public from chemical accidents,” said Carol Andress, EDF economic development specialist. “As a non-regulatory agency, the Board is likely to receive more cooperation from industry in identifying the root causes of chemical accidents than EPA or OSHA. Its accident investigation specialists should also do a better job of identifying weaknesses in the actions of the regulatory agencies. The Board has received broad and bipartisan support, and continues to present the best opportunity for investigating the causes of accidents and recommending preventive measures.”

President Clinton appointed members to the Board in 1994 , but until now funds had not been appropriated to operate the board.

The new Board will perform investigative functions that EPA and OSHA have been ill-equipped to carry out. As regulatory agencies, EPA and OSHA have had problems getting detailed information or access to facilities where accidents have occurred. For example, EPA officials were kept out of a refinery in Martinez, California last January following a fatal explosion. In another instance, OSHA declined to investigate the May 1997 chemical explosion at the Hanford weapons facility writing that OSHA “lacks the regulatory authority to intervene in this matter.” Additional accident investigation reports have been delayed, including an accident which killed several workers in Lodi, New Jersey over two years ago.