ACS Urges Congress to Appropriately Fund the U.S. Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board

Dear Chairwoman Pingree and Ranking Member Joyce,

The American Chemical Society (ACS) urges you to support robust funding of no less than $13.4 million for the U.S. Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board (CSB) for FY23 so the agency can fulfill its vital mission. This is in-line with funding in the FY22 Omnibus. The ACS represents over 150,000 chemists and chemical engineers and was chartered by the U.S. Congress in 1937 to provide well-founded recommendations on issues of importance to the nation and scientific community.

CSB has a critical mission to drive chemical safety change that reduces the risk of accidents that threatens lives and costs millions of dollars of damage. The ACS strongly supports safety in the chemistry enterprise, and the CSB provides an essential safety resource by conducting root cause investigations of chemical incidents. Since its inception, the Board has deployed to more than 130 incidents and issued over 800 recommendations to make the chemical enterprise and our communities safer. The Board also performs investigations of general chemical hazards, providing an important preventative function to supplement their incident investigations. Safety organizations, trade associations, corporations, educational institutions, and many others rely on CSB recommendations to improve the safety of processes for workers, students, and the public.

The CSB has been funded at $12 million for FY19-21, and it requires an increase in funding to ensure adequate staff for investigations, to continue implementing a court-ordered incident reporting requirement, and on board two new board members. CSB deployed to five incidents in FY21 while closing three investigations. As the appropriations process begins, the ACS hopes that the House and Senate can work together to provide sufficient funding for CSB to continue protecting the public, workers, and the environment. Should you have any additional questions, please feel free to contact me or Will Hartwig.

Sincerely,

Anthony Pitagno
Senior Director, ACS Government Affairs