BlueGreen Alliance | Over 100 Organizations Call on House, Senate to Fund U.S. Chemical Safety Board in FY 2018

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Over 100 Organizations Call on House, Senate to Fund U.S. Chemical Safety Board in FY 2018

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Over 100 organizations wrote key members of the House and Senate to urge them to guarantee that the critical contribution this agency makes to the people of the United States continues by ensuring that the agency receives requested funding in the FY18 Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies Appropriations bill. Thank you for your consideration.

May 4, 2017
WASHINGTON, DC (May 4, 2017) – Over 100 state and national organizations representing millions of Americans today signed onto a letter to the chairs and ranking members of the U.S. House Committee on Appropriations and Subcommittee on Interior, Enivornment, and Related Agencies and the U.S. Senate Committee on Appropriations and Subcommittee on Interior, Enviornment, and Related Agencies calling on them to support level funding for the U.S. Chemical Safety Board (CSB) during fiscal year (FY) 2018, saying the agency is “critical for the safety of American workers and communities.” President Trump in his budget blueprint for FY 2018 proposed to eliminate funding for the agency. Below is the letter sent to the Senate. A similar letter was sent to the House. *** The Honorable Thad Cochran Chairman, Committee on Appropriations US Senate Washington, DC 20510 The Honorable Lisa Murkowski Chairman, Subcommittee on Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies US Senate Washington, DC 20510 The Honorable Patrick Leahy Ranking Member, Committee on Appropriations US Senate Washington, DC 20510 The Honorable Tom Udall Ranking Member, Subcommittee on Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies US Senate Washington, DC 20510 Dear Chairman Cochran, Ranking Member Leahy, Chairperson Murkowski, and Ranking Member Udall: We write to you on behalf of our millions of members and supporters in support of level funding for the United States Chemical Safety Board (CSB) during fiscal year 2018 (FY18). This small agency, which operates with a staff of about 40 employees and an annual budget of just under $12 million, is critical for ensuring the safety of American workers and communities. The CSB was created under the Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990 as an independent, non-regulatory agency modeled after the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB). The mission of the CSB is to investigate catastrophic chemical accidents to determine the cause or causes of an accident and make recommendations to prevent future incidents. In short, the CSB exists to protect workers and communities by working with facility owners and operators, unions and workers, other government agencies, and voluntary standard-setting organizations. Investigations by the CSB often involve peer review to ensure that facts, conclusions, and recommendations are appropriate. After an investigation, the CSB produces reports and safety videos that are widely used and circulated in the industrial safety community to prevent chemical accidents. Since its inception, the CSB has investigated 130 major chemical incidents in 40 states and made nearly 800 safety recommendations to a wide variety of stakeholders. In recent years, those investigations have included a refinery fire at Chevron in Richmond, CA; a fatal explosion and fire at Horsehead Holding Company in Monaca, PA; a chemical release at Freedom Industries in Charleston, WV; a fatal hot work explosion at Dupont in Buffalo, NY; and a fire at US Ink in Rutherford, NJ. Our members and supporters were disturbed that President Trump’s budget blueprint for FY18 proposed to eliminate funding for this small and vital agency. We urge you to guarantee that the critical contribution this agency makes to the people of the United States continues by ensuring that the agency receives requested funding in the FY18 Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies Appropriations bill. Thank you for your consideration. Sincerely, AFL-CIO American Federation of Teachers Asbestos Disease Awareness Organization BlueGreen Alliance Breast Cancer Prevention Partners Center for Biological Diversity Center for Environmental Health Clean Air Council Coastal Coordination Program, The Ocean Foundation Coming Clean Communications Workers of America Community In-power & Development Association Inc. Earthjustice Ecology Center Environmental and Energy Study Institute Environmental Defense Fund Environmental Justice Health Alliance Friends of the Earth U.S. Green America GreenLatinos Greenpeace Green Science Policy Institute Headwater LLC Healthy Building Network Interfaith Worker Justice International Brotherhood of Teamsters International Campaign for Justice in Bhopal – North America (ICJB-NA) International Chemical Workers Union Council/UFCW International Union, United Automobile, Aerospace & Agricultural Implement Workers of America, UAW League of Conservation Voters Moms Clean Air Force National Center for Environmental Health Strategies, Inc. National Employment Law Project National Resources Defense Council Northwest Atlantic Marine Alliance Occupational Health and Safety Section, American Public Health Association Occupational Health Clinical Centers Physicians for Social Responsibility Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER) Sierra Club Society for Occupational and Environmental Health The 5 Gyres Institute Union of Concerned Scientists UNITE HERE International Union United Steelworkers United Support and Memorial for Workplace Fatalities U.S. PIRG UWUA Women’s Voices for the Earth Alaska Alaska Community Action on Toxics California Apostolic Faith Center Benicians for a Safe and Healthy Community Biomonitoring Resource Center at Commonweal California Communities Against Toxics California KidsIAQ California Safe Schools Coalition For A Safe Environment Communities for a Better Environment Community Dreams Ellen Widess, former Chief of Cal OSHA, Strategic Consulting EMERGE Good Neighbor Steering Committee, Benicia San Pedro-Wilmington Branch 1069 NAACP St. Philomena Social Justice Ministry Worksafe Florida Earth Action, Inc. Georgia Glynn Environmental Coalition Illinois Citizens Against Ruining the Environment Maine Learning Disabilities Association of Maine Maine Labor Group on Health Massachusetts MassCOSH Rafael Moure Eraso, UMass Lowell, Former CSB Chairperson New Hampshire New Hampshire Coalition for Occupational Safety and Health New Jersey American Federation of Teachers New Jersey Burlington County CLC CWA Local 1036 CWA New Jersey GreenFaith Health Professionals and Allied Employees (HPAE) New Jersey Citizen Action New Jersey Education Association NJ State Industrial Union Council NJ Work Environment Council Sierra Club – NJ Chapter New York Clean and Healthy New York Empire State Consumer Project NorthEast New York Coalition for Occupational Safety and Health (NENYCOSH) North Carolina Toxic Free NC Pennsylvania Philadelphia Area Project on Occupational Safety and Health (PhilaPOSH) Unitarian Universalist Climate Action Team Rhode Island RI Committee for Occupational Safety and Health Texas Texas Campaign for the Environment Texas Environmental Justice Advocacy Services Utah Utah Physicians for a Healthy Environment Vermont Vermont Conservation Voters Vermont Public Interest Research Group Virginia Gerald Poje, CSB founding board member Washington Northwest Green Chemistry SafeWork Washington West Virginia Ohio Valley Environmental Coalition People Concerned About Chemical Safety Wyoming Paulson and Associates

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