CSB Will Hold May 6 Public Business Meeting in Washington, DC to Discuss Key Agency Issues

Washington, DC, May 1, 2015 - The U.S. Chemical Safety Board (CSB) will hold a public business meeting onWednesday, May 6, 2015, to address several mission related issues including the status of an investigation plan, protocol and governance policies.

Board Member Mark Griffon said, “This is the first CSB public business meeting in some time devoted to how we can best achieve our mission to help prevent major chemical incidents and I encourage participation by all our stakeholders.”

The meeting will be from 9:30 am to 1 pm EDT at the CSB’s offices located at 2175 K St. NW, 4th floor, Washington, DC, 20037.  Those unable to attend may use the following call-in:

Toll-Free Access Number: 1.800.920.7487, Participant Code: 44665662#

At the public meeting, the Board will discuss and may vote on motions related to the following issues:

1. Proposed amendments to 40 CFR 1600 to provide for regular Sunshine Act meetings and to address timely voting on calendared notation item votes;

2. Proposed schedule for regular CSB public business meetings;

3. Notation Item 2015-07 relating to Board governance, the issuance of two Board Orders on Scoping and Investigations, respectively, and the administrative closure of three investigations (calendared on March 10, 2015); and the

4. 2015 CSB Action Plan;

Additionally, the Board will hear status reports on the development of an overall CSB investigations plan and the process for updating the CSB's investigation protocol.

Members of the public attending the meeting can make brief statements to the Board concerning the agenda items. The time provided for public statements will depend upon the number of people who wish to speak. Speakers should assume that their presentations will be limited to five minutes or less.

The CSB is an independent federal agency charged with investigating industrial chemical accidents. The agency's board members are appointed by the President and confirmed by the Senate. CSB investigations look into all aspects of chemical accidents, including physical causes such as equipment failure as well as inadequacies in regulations, industry standards, and safety management systems.

The Board does not issue citations or fines but does make safety recommendations to plants, industry organizations, labor groups, and regulatory agencies such as OSHA and EPA.