U.S. Chemical Safety Board

The U.S. Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board, generally referred to as the Chemical Safety Board, is an independent U.S. federal agency charged with investigating industrial chemical accidents. Headquartered in Washington, D.C., the agency's board members are appointed by the president and confirmed by the United States Senate. The CSB conducts root cause investigations of chemical accidents at fixed industrial facilities.
President Donald Trump plans to defund and close the USCSB by 2026.

History

The U.S. Chemical Safety Board was authorized by the Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990 and became operational in January 1998. According to the Senate legislative history, the board’s main role is to investigate chemical accidents, determine their causes, and help prevent similar incidents. Congress gave the CSB an independent mandate, specifying that no other agency or executive branch official may direct its activities.
Following the successful model of the National Transportation Safety Board and the Department of Transportation, Congress directed that the CSB's investigative function be completely independent of the rulemaking, inspection, and enforcement authorities of the Environmental Protection Agency and Occupational Safety and Health Administration. Congress recognized that board investigations would identify chemical hazards that were not addressed by those agencies. Also similarly to the NTSB, the CSB performs "investigations identify the root causes of chemical incidents and share these findings broadly across industries to prevent future incidents."
Following criticism from lawmakers and allegations of mismanagement, the former chairman of the CSB, Rafael Moure-Eraso, resigned in March 2015. He was replaced by Vanessa Allen Sutherland in August 2015. Sutherland resigned with two years left in her five-year term after the Trump administration proposed shutting down the CSB as part of the 2019 United States federal budget which ultimately would not occur.

Leadership

The board consists of five members who are appointed by the president with the advice and consent of the Senate. The terms of office are five years. The president designates one of the members as chairperson, again with the advice and consent of the Senate. The chairperson is the chief executive officer of the board, and exercises the executive and administrative functions of the board.

Chairs

No.	Portrait	Director	Took office	Left office
1		Paul L. Hill, Jr.	October 7, 1994	January 12, 2000
2		Carolyn W. Merritt	August 2002	August 2, 2007
3		John S. Bresland	March 14, 2008	June 2010
4		Rafael Moure-Eraso	June 23, 2010	March 26, 2015
5		Vanessa Allen Sutherland	August 2015	June 2018
6		Katherine A. Lemos	April 23, 2020	July 22, 2022
7		Steve Owens	January 5, 2023	present

Current members

The current board members as of 2025:

Position	Name	Party	Took office	Term expires
Chair		Democratic
Member		Democratic
Member	Vacant
Member	Vacant
Member	Vacant

Investigations

Since its establishment in 1998, the CSB has investigated many major industrial chemical accidents in the United States. The agency is known for its detailed technical analyses of incidents and for its transparent communication practices. These often include in-depth reconstructions of events, root cause analyses, and safety recommendations. Unusually for a government agency, the CSB frequently produces video reports featuring narrated explanations and high-quality computer animations. Their videos are narrated by Sheldon Smith.
The agency publishes its videos on a public YouTube channel, which as of 2025 has over 400,000 subscribers. The CSB's videos have been lauded for their quality, with experts encouraging their use in teaching process safety fundamentals.
USCSB's notable investigations include: