{"id":10252,"date":"2025-08-25T12:24:09","date_gmt":"2025-08-25T16:24:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/oshadefensereport.com\/?p=10004"},"modified":"2026-03-20T13:36:28","modified_gmt":"2026-03-20T17:36:28","slug":"chemical-safety-board-marks-first-enforcement-action-under-reporting-rule","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.connmaciel.com\/osha-defense-report\/chemical-safety-board-marks-first-enforcement-action-under-reporting-rule\/","title":{"rendered":"Chemical Safety Board Marks First Enforcement Action Under Reporting Rule"},"content":{"rendered":"

By\u00a0Beeta B. Lashkari<\/a><\/span>\u00a0<\/strong>and\u00a0Darius Rohani-Shukla<\/a><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Despite the U.S. Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board (CSB) not requesting a budget in its FY 2026 Budget Request<\/a><\/strong><\/span> \u2013 instead stating that \u201c[t]he President\u2019s Budget proposes $0 for CSB\u2019s FY 2026 budget with the expectation that CSB begins closing down during FY 2025[,]<\/em>\u201d \u2013 there has been no shortage of activity at the agency over the past few months.\u00a0 Indeed, the CSB successfully enforced its Accidental Release Reporting Rule for the first time ever, published a new volume of incident reports, updated its reportable events dataset, and deployed investigators to investigate three new incidents, among other things.\u00a0 It also looks like the agency will be getting funding.\u00a0 So, although it has closed the doors on its Pennsylvania Avenue office, like previous terms where the CSB was up for elimination, it looks like the CSB will continue operating, at least in the near future.<\/p>\n

CSB\u2019s First Enforcement Action Under its Accidental Release Reporting Rule<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

On July 28, 2025, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced a settlement with a California-based utility company for its failure to submit an accidental release report to the CSB<\/a><\/strong><\/span> following a June 8, 2023, natural-gas release in San Jose, California that seriously injured a worker.\u00a0 Although the company filed a report concerning the release with the National Response Center (NRC) on June 8, 2023 and a follow up report on June 10, 2023, it did not report the incident to the CSB through the mechanisms available under the rule \u2013 that is, by either:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. \n
      \n
    1. submitting the NRC identification number to the CSB within 30 minutes of submitting the report to the NRC; or<\/li>\n
    2. submitting a separate report directly to the CSB within eight hours of the accidental release.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

      Per the CSB announcement, this was despite the company being advised by the CSB that they were required to report the release.\u00a0 Accordingly, the CSB referred the matter to EPA for enforcement.<\/p>\n

      Although the Accidental Release Reporting Rule states that \u201c[i]t is unlawful for any person to fail to make [required] reports . . . and suspected violations [] will be forwarded to the Administrator of the EPA for appropriate enforcement action[,] and that violations \u201cmay include [a]dministrative penalties; [c]ivil action; or [c]riminal action[,]<\/em>\u201d the settlement<\/a><\/strong><\/span>, imposing a civil penalty and requiring submission of the report, marks the first enforcement action resolved under the CSB\u2019s Accidental Release Reporting Rule since it was promulgated in February 2020.\u00a0 More broadly, the case stands out for creating an enforcement precedent and demonstrating the way the CSB\u2019s investigative mandate and the EPA\u2019s enforcement powers operate in coordination.<\/p>\n

      Incident Reports Volume 3 and the Database<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

      In July 2025, the CSB released Volume 3<\/a><\/strong><\/span> of its Incident Reports, summarizing 30 serious events that occurred between April 2020 and January 2025 across 15 states.\u00a0 Collectively, those incidents resulted in two fatalities, 25 serious injuries, and approximately $1.8 billion in property damage.\u00a0 Two individual events – one in Maine and one in Oklahoma – account for particularly significant losses (approximately $350 million and $930 million, respectively). \u00a0Around the same time, the agency updated its database covering all reported incidents since the rule\u2019s effective date of March 23, 2020.\u00a0 (Although the reporting rule was promulgated in February 2020, there was a 30-day window for the rule to take effect.)\u00a0 As of July 28, 2025, the CSB had received reports of over 500 serious chemical incidents in 43 states.<\/p>\n

      Recent Deployments<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n