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U.S. ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
OFFICE OF INSPECTOR GENERAL
FY 2018
U.S. Chem ical Safety and Hazard
Investigation Board
Management Challenges
18-N-0208
June 4, 2018
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Abbreviations
CSB U.S. Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board
EPA U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
FY Fiscal Year
OIG Office of Inspector General
U.S.C. United States Code
Cover photos: Left: The CSB Chairperson making a presentation in September 2017 before the
Contra Costa County (California) Community Awareness and Emergency
Response Group. Right: A public meeting that the CSB held in September 2015
in Houston, Texas, regarding an accident. (CSB photos)
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U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Office of Inspector General
At a Glance
18-N-0208
June 4, 2018
What Are Management
Challenges?
According to the GPRA
Modernization Act of 2010
("GPRA" stands for
"Government Performance and
Results Act"), major
management challenges are
programs or management
functions, within or across
agencies, that have greater
vulnerability to waste, fraud,
abuse and mismanagement,
where a failure to perform well
could seriously affect the ability
of an agency or the federal
government to achieve its
mission or goals.
As required by the Reports
Consolidation Act of 2000, the
Office of Inspector General is
providing the issues we
consider as the U.S. Chemical
Safety and Hazard
Investigation Board's (CSB's)
major management challenges
for fiscal year 2018.
This report addresses the
following CSB goal:
• Create and maintain an
engaged, high-performing
workforce.
Send all inquiries to our public
affairs office at (202) 566-2391
or visit www.epa.gov/oiq.
Listing of OIG reports.
Fiscal Year 2018 U.S. Chemical Safety and Hazard
Investigation Board Management Challenges
Based on our continuous audit work, we have
identified two management challenges for the CSB
that were not in our fiscal year 2017 report: the lack
of authority that the position of CSB Chairperson
has over board members, and the impact of budget
uncertainties on the morale of staff.
The CSB faces two
management challenges
that, if not addressed,
may seriously impede the
agency's ability to
achieve its mission
efficiently and effectively.
The Position of CSB Chairperson Lacks Authority to Hold Board Members
Accountable
Historically, the CSB has been plagued with leadership issues such as tension
among board members, disputes over the Chairperson's authorities, and
complaints of alleged abuses by board members or the Chairperson. The
position of CSB Chairperson does not have the statutory authority to take
corrective action against other board members for inappropriate behaviors or to
hold them accountable. The CSB intends to add enforcement mechanisms to its
internal policies. However, because the CSB structure was established by law
and its board members and Chairperson are presidential appointees, the
authority to address these issues and make changes lies with Congress. The
CSB should strengthen its internal policies and also request that Congress
assess these issues and make the necessary changes to provide the
Chairperson with the authority to correct inappropriate or destabilizing behaviors
by board members.
Budget Uncertainties and the President's Proposals to Eliminate the CSB
Negatively Impact Efforts to Attract, Hire and Retain Staff
The CSB should continue to work with Congress toward achieving funding needs
wherever possible. The President's budget for fiscal year 2019 proposed
eliminating the CSB. Although Congress has continued to fund the CSB and the
CSB Chairperson stated that Congress has no plans to eliminate the CSB, this
budget uncertainty impedes the CSB's ability to attract, hire and retain staff.
Prior Management Challenge Removed
As a result of corrective actions taken by the CSB and additional justification
provided by the CSB, we removed the challenge cited in our fiscal year 2017
report that the CSB should address human resources management issues. The
CSB provided documents and information supporting that it has completed all but
one of the 18 recommendations from a 2015 Office of Personnel Management
report. This included revising its Performance Management System. For the
remaining recommendation—to establish a Human Capital Plan—the CSB has
developed and drafted such a plan and intends to implement it in fiscal year
2019.
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UNITED STATES ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
WASHINGTON, D.C. 20460
THE INSPECTOR GENERAL
June 4, 2018
The Honorable Vanessa Allen Sutherland
Chairperson and Board Member
U.S. Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board
1750 Pennsylvania Avenue NW, Suite 910
Washington, D.C. 20006
Dear Ms. Sutherland:
Enclosed is the Office of Inspector General's (OIG's) fiscal year 2018 management challenges for
consideration as part of the U.S. Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board's (CSB's)
Federal Managers' Financial Integrity Act review. The Reports Consolidation Act of 2000 requires our
office to report what we consider the most serious management and performance challenges facing the
CSB. We used audit, evaluation and investigative work and additional analysis of CSB operations to
arrive at the issues presented.
We added the challenges "The Position of CSB Chairperson Lacks Authority to Hold Board Members
Accountable" and "Budget Uncertainties and the President's Proposals to Eliminate the CSB Negatively
Impact Efforts to Attract, Hire and Retain Staff to this report. We removed the human resources
management challenge cited in the fiscal year 2017 management challenge report as a result of the
CSB's responsiveness in addressing the issue.
You are not required to provide a written response to this final report. Should you choose to provide a
final response, we will post your response on the OIG's public website. Your response should be
provided as an Adobe PDF file that complies with the accessibility requirements of Section 508 of the
Rehabilitation Act of 1973, as amended. The final response should not contain data that you do not want
to be released to the public; if your response contains such data, you should identify the data for
redaction or removal along with corresponding justification. We will post this report to our website at
www.epa.gov/oig.
Sincerely.
Arthur A. Elkins Jr.
Enclosure
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cc: Mr. Manuel H. Ehrlich Jr., Board Member, CSB
Mr. Rick Engler, Board Member, CSB
Dr. Kristen M. Kulinowski, Ph.D., Board Member, CSB
Ms. Anna Brown, Director of Administration and Audit Liaison, CSB
Ms. Kara Wenzel, Acting General Counsel, CSB
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CHALLENGE: The Position of CSB Chairperson Lacks Authority to
Hold Board Members Accountable
BACKGROUND
The U.S. Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board (CSB) was created under the Clean
Air Act Amendments of 1990.1 The board is composed of five members2 who are appointed by
the President and confirmed by the U.S. Senate. The statute permits only the President to remove
a member, for inefficiency, neglect of duty or malfeasance in office.3 Board members serve fixed
terms of 5 years. The board's Chairperson serves as the Chief Executive Officer and is
responsible for agency administration. The full board is responsible for major budgeting
decisions, strategic planning and direction, general agency oversight, and approval of
investigation reports and studies.
The Clean Air Act provisions creating the board require that board members be appointed on the
basis of technical qualification; professional standing; and demonstrated knowledge in the fields
of accident reconstruction, safety engineering, human factors, toxicology or air pollution
regulations. Board members may participate in accident investigations. All investigation report
findings, determinations of root cause, and safety recommendations must be approved by the
board.
CSB Board Order 028 establishes the Chairperson's executive and administrative functions,
including authority over all personnel matters and the ability to supervise or authorize CSB
official communications except those that require full board approval. Board members serve as
the principal spokespeople at accident sites and conduct community meetings, hearings and
boards of inquiry during accident investigations. The day-to-day conduct of investigations and
the preparation of draft reports is largely delegated to the CSB's professional staff, which
includes engineers, safety specialists and attorneys. Following board approval of accident
investigation reports, board members play significant roles in advocating the adoption of
recommendations by industry, labor, government agencies and other organizations. Board
members regularly participate in conferences and safety forums and on committees, and meet
with leaders of other federal agencies. Board members also contribute written works to scholarly
journals and trade publications and present papers at professional meetings and other venues.
CHALLENGE FOR THE CSB
President Obama nominated the current CSB Chairperson in March 2015 and the Senate
confirmed the Chairperson's nomination in August 2015. During the nearly 3 years since the
Chairperson was confirmed, CSB board members and managers said there have been multiple
instances when a board member acted inconsistently with established practices or inappropriately
provided information to entities outside the CSB.
1 42 U.S.C. § 7412(r)(6).
2 There are currently four CSB board members; the fifth position is vacant.
3 42 U.S.C. § 7412(r)(6)(B).
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We reviewed correspondence between CSB board members, managers and staff, including
emails and associated attachments such as internal memorandums. The correspondence also
included messages between a board member and external parties, such as a labor union worker
and a news reporter, that discussed or made reference to news articles related to the CSB. The
materials reviewed illustrated the inappropriate actions by the board member, and the materials
also contained responses conveying frustration from CSB personnel impacted by those
behaviors. For example, a board member sought to post information to the CSB website and send
it to a specific stakeholder instead of allowing responsible staff to post the information so that it
was available to all stakeholders. On another occasion, a board member made independent
comments on a rule proposed by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), which were
then publicly shared by the EPA as a part of the rulemaking process. These independent
comments were made prior to the CSB drafting an official position and could have given the
impression that the comments represented the board's position as a whole. The individual board
member, on the advice of the CSB's acting General Counsel, wrote to the EPA that the prior
submission did not reflect the comprehensive view of the CSB. Later, the CSB developed and
submitted to the EPA docket an official comprehensive comment letter. The behaviors
mentioned above by the board member were counter to maintaining transparency and respecting
CSB staff and their responsibilities.
More recently, based on information provided by CSB managers, a party inside the CSB
"leaked" the CSB's fiscal year (FY) 2019 budget request to a news reporter in early February
2018 before it was officially released to Congress. Some CSB managers believe that the person
who leaked the budget request was a board member. These behaviors did not follow the proper
chain of command, were potentially unethical, and showed a lack of accountability.
The Chairperson is the recognized chief executive officer of the board. However, the CSB's
authorizing legislation does not create a supervisory role for the Chairperson with respect to the
other board members. Without the authority for the Chairperson to take corrective actions against
board members, an environment exists that may enable "rogue" behaviors that can potentially
impede the CSB's mission and lower the morale among the CSB's career staff. Based on the
documentation we reviewed, the CSB career staff are frustrated and feel disrespected.
WHAT REMAINS TO BE DONE
Historically and to date, the CSB has been and continues to be plagued with leadership issues
such as tension among board members, disputes over the Chairperson's authorities, and
complaints of board members. There were also extensive complaints regarding alleged abuses by
a prior Chairperson.
According to the Chairperson, the board plans to finalize board member roles and responsibilities
in an official policy to include internal enforcement guidelines for situations in which board
member behavior deviates from established policy. Also, the board intends to improve
onboarding materials for incoming new members, which will include clear guidance on
expectations, roles and responsibilities.
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The CSB should complete its plans to finalize board member roles and responsibilities and
improve onboarding materials for incoming new members. However, because the CSB structure
was established by law and its board members and Chairperson are presidential appointees, the
authority to fully address these issues and make changes lies with Congress. The CSB should
request that Congress assess these issues and make the necessary changes to provide the position
of the CSB Chairperson with the authority to address inappropriate or destabilizing board
member behaviors.
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CHALLENGE: Budget Uncertainties and the President's Proposals to
Eliminate the CSB Negatively Impact Efforts to Attract, Hire and
Retain Staff
BACKGROUND
In March 2017, the President released his Budget Blueprint for FY 2018 and proposed to
eliminate funding for the CSB. In March 2018, the President's proposed budget for FY 2019
called for eliminating the CSB and any funding to be provided would only be used to close the
agency. For FY 2018, Congress provided the CSB with $11 million in funding, about $600,000
less than the prior year. There were no provisions for closing or eliminating the CSB. Based on
interactions with staff of the House and Senate Appropriations Committees, the CSB
Chairperson said the committees have no current plans to eliminate the CSB but the FY 2019
budget may reduce its funding.
CHALLENGE FOR THE CSB
Although proposed long-term budget cuts have had an impact across the federal government, the
CSB feels additional negative impact from the President's continued proposal to eliminate the
agency. The CSB Chairperson said that the budget uncertainty has made staff consider leaving
the CSB to work elsewhere or retire before they otherwise would. Further, the heightened budget
concerns make the already difficult tasks of staff retention and recruitment even more
challenging. According to the Chairperson, the CSB has been unsuccessful in recent months in
filling several positions. The potential candidates cited the possible elimination of the agency as
a risk factor in their decision not to accept a position with the CSB. Further, recent retirements of
senior investigators are being factored into the Human Capital Plan to be implemented in
FY 2019, but there is little else CSB officials believe they can do to relieve the situation.
A news media article published in April 2018 stated that CSB employees were voting to unionize
and join the American Federation of Government Employees. The President's repeated plans in
his budget requests to abolish the agency were cited by a union representative as a primary
reason that CSB employees wanted to unionize. In early May 2018, the majority of CSB
employees voted to unionize, and all non-supervisory, non-managerial employees will be
represented by the American Federation of Government Employees. The CSB Chairperson said
the board will interact with the union on issues that are subject to collective bargaining.
According to the CSB Chairperson, the CSB plays a unique and valuable role in contributing to
chemical safety. The Chairperson noted that the CSB identifies root causes of chemical incidents
and shares the findings broadly across industries to prevent future accidents. Also, the CSB
investigations complement those of regulatory agencies such as the EPA or the Occupational
Safety and Health Administration, as the root causes of an incident go beyond whether there was
a violation of a regulation.
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WHAT REMAINS TO BE DONE
The CSB should continue to work with Congress toward achieving funding needs wherever
possible. We included this issue as a management challenge to highlight staffing and recruiting
challenges that the CSB will continue to face.
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