News Clips

From: Inside OSHA “Despite Democrats’ control of the House next year, the U.S. Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board (CSB) faces continued uncertainty about its future as its supporters fear the Trump administration may deprive it of a quorum to operate by not nominating ...

From: E&E News “Prominent Senate Republicans have added themselves to the list of lawmakers calling for the White House to nominate a new Chemical Safety Board chair. The Trump administration has repeatedly proposed eliminating CSB, which investigates industrial chemical accidents, ...

From: Greenwire “A government watchdog is criticizing the Chemical Safety Board for lacking transparency and spending hundreds of thousands of dollars in a personnel case involving a former managing director of the agency. CSB will hold a closed-door meeting tomorrow on a “legal ...

From: The National Memo “Public employees are pushing the EPA to rewrite its regulations which have helped enable crises like Flint, Mich., and now Newark, N.J. An estimated 15 million to 22 million people, or 5% to 7.5% of our nation’s population, drink water delivered through lead ...

From: The Hill “At least one Conservation group regarded the report and its numbers with heavy skepticism–nothing that fiscal 2017 extends into the Obama administration. The year begins October 2016. “This report contains no evidence that ‘smart regulatory reforms and ...

From: Lake County News “Well-intentioned BLM whistleblowers have not stopped the slaughter. Even years of media investigative reporting, which has chronicled widespread abuses, have not stopped the slaughter. Countless nationwide horse protection and advocacy groups, who have mobilized ...

From: Centre Law & Consulting “For exactly three years Daniel Horowitz was paid his full GS-15 salary of $161,000 to do – well – exactly nothing. That delicious gravy train finally ended. We can now say that Dr. Horowitz was employed (past tense) by the Chemical Safety Board (CSB ...

From: The Daily Caller “A federal board tasked with investigating chemical accidents is “hemorrhaging” taxpayer money on a years-long personnel case that has not yet gone to trial, according to Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER). PEER attorneys are representing ...

From: The Daily Caller “The CSB’s satisfaction score plummeted in the 2018 survey results, showing one of the largest decreases for a single agency across the federal government, according to FEVS results reviewed by Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility. After the 2017 ...

From: Sierra “Not everyone is excited about the prospect of Vela heading the agency. Some environmental watchdogs are concerned about Vela’s track record on wilderness management, transparency, and park planning. And Vela is facing tough questions from the American Civil Liberties ...

From: Wired “Capitol Hill observers and advocacy groups, however, say it’s not clear that a more science-friendly House will result in any new legislation getting passed or in stopping Cabinet heads that report to President Trump. “The attempt to embarrass the Trump White House ...

From: KFSK “Petersburg’s borough assembly Monday voted to send a letter to the chief of the U.S. Forest Service asking the federal agency to fix problems with oversight and administration of timber sales on the Tongass National Forest. Area residents who have been pushing the municipal ...

From: Wyoming Public Media “An agency spokesperson wouldn’t comment on why she is being investigated. But Lehnertz is being temporarily replaced by Woody Smeck, current superintendent of Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks, on November 11th. “That suggests that the investigation ...

From: E&E News “Job satisfaction at the Chemical Safety Board has declined again after a brief turnaround under the leadership of former Chairwoman Vanessa Allen Sutherland, leading government watchdogs to question the management of the long-troubled agency. Sixty-one of 72 questions ...

From: E&E News “In the past, EPA has used a “screening threshold” of 1 percent of the standard, which in this case equates to 0.7 ppb, Peter Tsirigotis, head of EPA’s Office of Air Quality Planning and Standards, wrote in the memo. But in examining other options, ...

From: The Daily Caller “Obama administration appointees are “working toward a union takeover” of the U.S. Chemical Safety Board (CSB), two sources familiar with the matter told The Daily Caller News Foundation. CSB board members are expected to vote an Obama administration appointee ...

From: CNN “The Environmental Protection Agency has quietly signaled it may allow states to release more ozone air pollution, commonly known as smog, dirtying the air in those states and neighboring ones, but the agency did not review the health impact of such a move. The Trump ...

From: Bloomberg Environment “Leaders at a small federal agency that probes major industrial disasters Oct. 31 scrapped an unusual closed-door meeting that had been announced with little notice. The closed meeting—thought to be the first in the U.S. Chemical Safety and Hazard ...

From: JD Supra “PEER’s October 29th Overfile Request states that Venice operates a wastewater discharge facility (“Facility”) pursuant to an NPDES permit. The Facility is stated to be a major discharger whose effluent reaches two waterbodies that are Class III fresh waterbodies as ...

From: Tampa Bay Times “But his campaign for the U.S. Senate seat held by incumbent Bill Nelson has been haunted by scenes of environmental disaster from around the state: Gulf and Atlantic beaches covered with dead marine life thanks to Red Tide. Lake Okeechobee erupting with massive ...