80 FR 46822 - Organization and Functions of the Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board

CHEMICAL SAFETY AND HAZARD INVESTIGATION BOARD

Federal Register Volume 80, Issue 151 (August 6, 2015)

This rule amends the quorum and voting regulations of the Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board (CSB). The amendments add a requirement for the Chairperson to place notation votes that have been calendared for discussion at a Board Meeting to the agenda of a public meeting within 90 days of the calendared notation vote. The rule also adds a requirement for the Chairperson to conduct a minimum of four public meetings per year in Washington, DC.

[Federal Register Volume 80, Number 151 (Thursday, August 6, 2015)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 46822-46824]
From the Federal Register Online  [www.thefederalregister.org]
[FR Doc No: 2015-18318]


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CHEMICAL SAFETY AND HAZARD INVESTIGATION BOARD

40 CFR Part 1600


Organization and Functions of the Chemical Safety and Hazard 
Investigation Board

AGENCY: Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board.

ACTION: Final rule.

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SUMMARY: This rule amends the quorum and voting regulations of the 
Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board (CSB). The amendments 
add a requirement for the Chairperson to place notation votes that have 
been calendared for discussion at a Board Meeting to the agenda of a 
public meeting within 90 days of the calendared notation vote. The rule 
also adds a requirement for the Chairperson to conduct a minimum of 
four public meetings per year in Washington, DC.

DATES: Effective August 6, 2015.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This final rule will promote increased 
transparency and accountability for Board activities. It aligns with 
the Open Government principles of transparency, participation, and 
collaboration, as outlined in the Memorandum on Transparency and Open 
Government (74 FFR 4685, Jan. 26, 2009).
    The Board conducts most votes through a process of notation voting. 
In notation voting, Board Members may vote to approve, disapprove, or 
calendar a notation item for discussion at a public meeting. In recent 
years, notation items have been calendared but then not placed on the 
agenda for discussion at a public meeting of the Board. The addition of 
language to 40 CFR 1600.5(b) will ensure that calendaring is used in 
the way it was intended. It will require the consideration of 
calendared notation votes at a public meeting within 90 days of the 
calendaring action. Prior to the adoption of this amendment to the 
rule, calendaring

[[Page 46823]]

could amount to a veto by a single Member even when other Members 
wished to vote on the item. This added language will prevent that 
action and preserve only the original intent of calendaring. 40 CFR 
1600.5(b) of this rule was amended to state that a ``notation vote to 
schedule a public meeting may not be calendared.'' This change is 
intended to require a straight vote when one or more members may be 
reluctant to schedule a public meeting. The result is intended to 
provide an opportunity for important substantive business of the Board 
to be discussed publicly.
    New paragraph (c) adds provisions to ensure that the Board meets at 
least quarterly to review important CSB mission work and reaffirms the 
authority of all Board Members to add items for discussion to the 
agendas of such CSB public meetings. This provision reinforces the 
policy of the Board (in Board Order 1, Section 9.b.2) that permits 
members to request public meeting agenda additions or changes. The 
amended rule also requires that the Board's quarterly meetings 
consider, at a minimum, calendared notation votes, important mission-
related activities, and quarterly agency action plan progress. This 
portion of the rule is also intended to increase the transparency of 
Board actions, to promote the Board's accountability to the public, and 
to ensure regular, relevant feedback is received from the public 
related to the agency's mission work.
    Although not required for this action, the Board published the 
proposed amendments in the Federal Register and provided thirty days 
for public comment.
    The CSB received two written comments during the written comment 
period and several oral public comments at a meeting on June 18, 2015. 
The written comments have been posted to the CSB Web site at http://www.csb.gov/about-the-csb/public-comments/, and the oral comments 
concerning the rule are in the transcript of the discussion which took 
place on June 18, 2015.
    One written comment and each of the oral comments were favorable. 
The written comment from the United Steel, Paper and Forestry, Rubber, 
Manufacturing, Energy, Allied Industrial and Service Workers 
International Union (USW), supported the rule because it will increase 
the transparency of the Board's actions and facilitate stakeholder 
involvement and CSB accountability. The USW fully supports the decision 
to hold regular quarterly business meetings, but noted that a method 
for participation by phone for those not in the Washington area is 
important. The comment also supported the rule's new requirements that 
calendared notation items be discussed in public within 90 days and 
that all Board Members may add items to public meeting agendas.
    The USW also noted that Board Members should not cancel any 
investigation without sufficient notification to stakeholders. Earlier 
this year, the CSB voted to terminate three investigations at a meeting 
on January 28, 2015, even though the Federal Register notice (80 FR 
2392 (Jan. 16, 2015)) did not provide specific notice that the Board 
might take such an action. The Board received criticism for providing 
inadequate notice. New section (ii) of this rule provides in pertinent 
part that each quarterly meeting shall include as an agenda item a 
``review by the Board of the schedule for completion of all open 
investigations, studies, and other important work of the Board.'' If 
the Board were considering the cancellation of a particular 
investigation, such a discussion should occur at a quarterly meeting 
under this general agenda item. Without specifically stating such a 
possibility, interested members of the public might not be aware that 
the Board could vote to cancel a specific investigation at a quarterly 
public meeting.
    An oral public comment from the American Chemistry Council was 
supportive of the amended rule.
    The CSB also received a negative comment from Public Employees for 
Environmental Responsibility (PEER). PEER commented that the thirty day 
comment period was insufficient. However, as noted above, this rule 
could have been published as a final rule without any public comment 
period, and the Board also scheduled a public meeting to discuss the 
proposed changes and to provide an additional opportunity for public 
input.
    PEER also noted that the rule could force the Board to hold a 
public meeting every single workday to accommodate this requirement to 
consider calendared notation items within ninety days. The Board does 
not share this concern. Because the Board will hold quarterly and other 
public meetings, the Board would rarely need to convene a special 
meeting solely to consider a calendared notation item.
    PEER expressed concern that the Washington, DC, location for 
business meetings was not convenient to all stakeholders. With respect 
to this concern, the CSB has provided and plans to continue to provide 
an opportunity for teleconference or webcast participation in the four 
meetings in Washington, DC. The CSB will also continue to conduct 
public meetings, as appropriate, throughout the United States.
    PEER recommended undertaking a cost benefit analysis of the rule 
before finalizing it due to a concern that the proposed rule could 
negatively impact public meetings held in communities in which an 
accident has occurred. PEER noted that the CSB appears to lack the 
personnel and resources to hold both Washington, DC and community-based 
meetings effectively. The Board shares this important concern. However, 
the Board has determined that this concern is a basis for caution, not 
a reason to delay adoption of the rule.
    The Board contemplates that the cost of regular business meetings 
in Washington, DC, will be minimal as such meetings will be conducted 
at CSB headquarters, limited in scope, and should not involve excessive 
staff time to prepare and to conduct. The Board will evaluate per 
meeting costs over the next year to ensure that these costs are 
reasonable in relation to the anticipated benefits, and consider the 
need to seek additional resources to ensure that the new rule does not 
negatively impact community based public meetings.
    Having considered these comments, the Board has determined that the 
rule should be finalized without additional changes at this time. The 
Board plans to review the rule a year from its adoption to ensure the 
revisions have succeeded in accomplishing the primary objectives of 
improving transparency and accountability to stakeholders.

    Statutory Authority:  5 U.S.C. 301, 552(a)(1); 42 U.S.C. 
7412(r)(6)(N).

Regulatory Impact

    Administrative Procedure Act: 5 U.S.C. 553(b)(3)(A), provides that 
when regulations involve matters of agency organization, procedure, or 
practice, the agency may publish regulations in final form without 
notice and comment. Because this rule is intended to promote public 
participation and transparency for Board activities, however, the Board 
provided thirty days for public comment and an opportunity for public 
comments on June 18, 2015, when Board Members met in Washington, DC (80 
FR 32339 (June 8, 2015)).
    Small Business Regulatory Enforcement Fairness Act: This regulation 
is not a major rule under 5 U.S.C. 804(2), the Small Business 
Regulatory Enforcement Fairness Act. Because this regulation involves 
internal agency procedures and quarterly business meetings, this 
regulation: a. Does not have an annual

[[Page 46824]]

effect on the economy of $100 million or more. b. Will not cause a 
major increase in costs or prices for consumers, individual industries, 
Federal, State, local government agencies or geographic regions. c. 
Does not have a significant adverse effect on competition, employment, 
investment, productivity, innovation or the ability of U.S.-based 
enterprises to compete with foreign-based enterprises.
    Regulatory Flexibility Act: The Regulatory Flexibility Act (5 
U.S.C. 601 et seq.) requires that a rule that has a significant 
economic impact on a substantial number of small entities, small 
businesses, or small organizations must include an initial regulatory 
flexibility analysis describing the regulation's impact on such small 
entities. This analysis need not be undertaken if the agency has 
certified that the regulation will not have a significant economic 
impact on a substantial number of small entities. 5 U.S.C. 605(b). The 
CSB has considered the impact of this rule under the Regulatory 
Flexibility Act, and certifies that a final rule will not have a 
significant economic impact on a substantial number of small entities.
    Paperwork Reduction Act: The CSB reviewed this rule to determine 
whether it involves issues that would subject it to the Paperwork 
Reduction Act (PRA). The CSB has determined that that the rule does not 
require a ``collection of information'' under the PRA.
    Unfunded Mandates Reform Act of 1995: The rule does not require the 
preparation of an assessment statement in accordance with the Unfunded 
Mandates Reform Act of 1995, 2 U.S.C. 1531. This rule does not include 
a federal mandate that may result in the annual expenditure by state, 
local, and tribal governments, in the aggregate, or by the private 
sector, of more than the annual threshold established by the Act ($128 
million in 2006, adjusted annually for inflation).

List of Subjects in 40 CFR Part 1600

    Administrative practice and procedure.

    Dated: July 22, 2015.
Rick Engler,
Board Member.

    Accordingly, for the reasons set forth in the preamble, the 
Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board amends 40 CFR part 1600 
as follows:

PART 1600--ORGANIZATION AND FUNCTIONS OF THE CHEMICAL SAFETY AND 
HAZARD INVESTIGATION BOARD

0
1. The authority citation continues to read as follows:

    Authority:  5 U.S.C. 301, 552(a)(1); 42 U.S.C. 7412(r)(6)(N).


0
2. Amend Sec.  1600.5 by revising paragraph (b) and adding a new 
paragraph (c) to read as follows:


Sec.  1600.5  Quorum and voting requirements.

* * * * *
    (b) Voting. The Board votes on items of business in meetings 
conducted pursuant to the Government in the Sunshine Act. 
Alternatively, whenever a Member of the Board is of the opinion that 
joint deliberation among the members of the Board upon any matter at a 
meeting is unnecessary in light of the nature of the matter, 
impracticable, or would impede the orderly disposition of agency 
business, such matter may be disposed of by employing notation voting 
procedures. A written notation of the vote of each participating Board 
member shall be recorded by the General Counsel who shall retain it in 
the records of the Board. If a Board member votes to calendar a 
notation item, the Board must consider the calendared notation item at 
a public meeting of the Board within 90 days of the date on which the 
item is calendared. A notation vote to schedule a public meeting may 
not be calendared. The Chairperson shall add any calendared notation 
item to the agenda for the next CSB public meeting if one is to occur 
within 90 days or to schedule a special meeting to consider any 
calendared notation item no later than 90 days from the calendar 
action.
    (c) Public Meetings and Agendas. The Chairperson, or in the absence 
of a chairperson, a member designated by the Board, shall schedule a 
minimum of four public meetings per year in Washington, DC, to take 
place during the months of October, January, April, and July.
    (1) Agenda. The Chairperson, or in the absence of a chairperson, a 
member designated by the Board, shall be responsible for preparation of 
a final meeting agenda. The final agenda may not differ in substance 
from the items published in the Sunshine Act notice for that meeting. 
Any member may submit agenda items related to CSB business for 
consideration at any public meeting, and the Chairperson shall include 
such items on the agenda. At a minimum, each quarterly meeting shall 
include the following agenda items:
    (i) Consideration and vote on any notation items calendared since 
the date of the last public meeting;
    (ii) A review by the Board of the schedule for completion of all 
open investigations, studies, and other important work of the Board; 
and
    (iii) A review and discussion by the Board of the progress in 
meeting the CSB's Annual Action Plan.
    (2) Publication of agenda information. The Chairperson shall be 
responsible for posting information related to any agenda item that is 
appropriate for public release on the CSB Web site no less than two 
days prior to a public meeting.

[FR Doc. 2015-18318 Filed 8-5-15; 8:45 am]
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