Last week, President Trump offered his FY 2018 budget submission to Congress for its consideration. While I applaud the president for attempting to trim this country’s ballooning fiscal footprint, his proposal takes whacks at several programs important to NACD members, most importantly the potential shuttering of the U.S. Chemical Safety Board (CSB).
Much of the president’s proposed cuts are redirected towards increases in defense and homeland security spending, certainly more than justifiable in today’s world. And a number of the spending cuts that the president proposes, including a dramatic 31 percent reductions in Environmental Protection Agency funding, definitely merit serious consideration in the wake of eight years of overregulation for this industry.
But the most alarming cut was certainly that of funding for the CSB. While some might debate that over the last 10-15 years the agency has been less than efficient with investigations, taking too much time to conclude them, CSB is definitely getting its act together with Vanessa Sutherland in charge. Investigations that should have been closed years ago have been concluded and current investigations are being completed in a more timely and efficient manner. The agency has issued new safety videos, completed a new strategic plan and really broadened its outreach to stakeholders in the chemical industry. These are all important factors when weighing a budget proposal that warrants consideration for a funding increase, not an all-out shuttering of the agency.
As Chairperson Sutherland said in her press statement about the president’s FY 2018 budget, “The American public is safer today as a result of the work” performed by the folks at CSB. We at NACD agree and have asked leaders of the House and Senate Appropriations Committee to continue adequately funding the CSB in FY 2018 and beyond.