After back-and-forth spending maneuvers in the chaotic days following the government shutdown, funding for the U.S. Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board was never fully settled.
Now, as members of Congress are contemplating challenges in the new year, two questions remain: at just what level will what is known as the CSB be funded? And, ultimately, is the CSB on its way to extinction?
Created in 1990 under an amendment to that year’s Clean Air Act, the CSB has been tasked with investigating major chemical accidents to ascertain their causes. The agency has been involved in fact-finding work in everything from the Deepwater Horizon explosion of 2010 to the massive Philadelphia Energy Solutions refinery explosion in the summer of 2019.
President Trump has indicated in his first term and during his current term that he would like to do away with the agency altogether, arguing that it duplicates the work of both the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, as well as the Environmental Protection Agency.
But White House moves to finally end the CSB have run up against the opposition of such groups as the American Chemistry Council and the National Society of Professional Engineers, prompting many members of Congress to support further funding for the agency.
Just weeks ago the House voted to approve some $8.2 million in CSB funding, while the Senate signed off on a larger $14.4 million. The differences in those funding levels have yet to be addressed.
Meanwhile, in a lifeline to the agency, a continuing resolution has extended funding for the agency up to January 30 of next year.
In a story published on December 16, the publication Safety & Health noted that the agency has processed 586 accidental chemical release reports in the last five years, with 46 undertaken during the third quarter of this year.
December 18, 2025
By Garry Boulard
