Trump lost, won on plant safety

Abstract

INDUSTRIAL SAFETY Trump lost, won on plant safety ShareShare onFacebookTwitterWechatLinked InRedditEmail C&EN, 2017, 95 (49), p 36December 18, 2017Cite this:C&EN 95, 49, 36The Chemical Safety Board is currently investigating this 2016 release of chlorine from an MGPI Processing plant in Kansas. (Credit: Chemical Safety Board)Figure1of1The Trump Administration sought to weaken safety measures for the U.S. chemical industry in 2017, with mixed results.In March, the Administration recommended defunding the Chemical Safety & Hazard Investigation Board (CSB), a small, independent agency that investigates industrial chemical accidents. But Congress has shown support for the agency and, as of C&EN deadline, planned to provide it $11 million for 2018.That amount would match past funding for CSB. Even this funding level, however, is inadequate, according to an oversight office. In a July report, the EPA’s Office of Inspector General noted that CSB’s funding has been flat for 15 years, hindering the purchase of needed equipment and the training and hiring of staff. The report added that the economic impact of a single accident would be far greater than the agency’s budget. Nevertheless, the Administration is expected to try to kill CSB again in 2019.The Administration also set its sights on overturning an update of a 27-year-old safety regulation. In this case, it succeeded.The update was triggered by a 2013 Texas accident that killed 15 people, mostly firefighters, when a warehouse containing ammonium nitrate fertilizer exploded. After a three-year review, EPA finalized a regulation to strengthen risk-management-plan provisions in the 1990 Clean Air Act. The regulation, released in the last weeks of the Obama Administration, would have toughened provisions for companies that handle hazardous materials, requiring them to develop better plans to avoid or mitigate accidents.However, in March, EPA sought another review and put the regulation on hold until February 2019.