Posted with permission from Confined Space, a newsletter of workplace safety and labor issues.

Good news! The House Appropriations Committee released its FY 2018 Interior and Environment Appropriations budget bill today and it fully funds the Chemical Safety Board. The Trump administration had recommended that the Board be eliminated. The sub-committee will vote on the bill tomorrow.

House Appropriations Chairman Rodney Frelinghuysen stated that “This legislation responsibly supports the agencies and offices we rely on to preserve our natural resources for future generations, and prioritizes our limited funding to programs that protect environmental safety, such as the Chemical Safety Board.” Frelinghuysen is from New Jersey which has more than its share of refineries and chemical facilities.

The full House and the Senate still need to vote on the CSB’s budget, but things are looking good. Great work everyone who’s been calling their representatives.

Now let’s save the Harwood grants.

For more background I’ve written several times about the importance of the Chemical Safety Board:

• Save The Chemical Safety Board: Call Your Representatives NOW
• If CSB Swims with the Fishes; American People Suffer the Consequences
• “Human Error?” Don’t Believe Everything Your Read
• Chemical Safety Board: RIP or WTF?
• Houston Chronicle: Trump Budget will cause “Death and Destruction”

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