Washington — Carrying on with solely certainly one of its 5 board seats crammed “impairs the function” of the Chemical Safety Board and “continues to be the biggest risk” to company operations, the Environmental Safety Company Workplace of Inspector Basic contends in a new report.
CSB Chair and CEO Katherine Lemos has operated as the sole member of the board since Might 2020.
In accordance to the report, issued Nov. 10, “workload limitations arising from one board member attempting to perform the work of five impair the board’s ability to fulfill its responsibilities without risk of internal control concerns.” As well as, the lack of a full board “may prevent the CSB from achieving its stated mission to ‘drive chemical safety change through independent investigation to protect people and the environment.’”
In September, the Senate Atmosphere and Public Works Committee approved the nominations of Sylvia Johnson, Steve Owens and Jennifer Sass as members of CSB. The trio is awaiting affirmation from the full Senate.
EPA OIG states that though the Senate is making progress towards potential confirmations, “the underlying circumstance has not changed since our last report,” issued in July 2020.
Throughout a Sept. 29 hearing earlier than the Home Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee, Lemos testified that CSB is “on an upward trend” regardless of its long-standing and well-documented operational and staffing challenges.
Lemos’ opening remarks included updates that CSB, in fiscal yr 2021, closed two of its 20 ongoing investigations and issued 19 new security suggestions, in contrast with zero the earlier fiscal yr. She additionally stated CSB is finalizing the hiring of 4 investigators and increasing its contractor base in specialised fields resembling tools testing and blast modeling, maintaining CSB on monitor to attain an company excessive for investigation and technical specialists by the finish of FY 2023.
EPA OIG says it not classifies an absence of steering on board member obligations, together with “maintaining safe and effective operations” throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, as prime administration challenges going through CSB.