Washington, DC, December 9, 2004 - The Fiscal Year (FY) 2005 omnibus appropriations bill, which was signed yesterday by President Bush, provides an annual budget of $9.02 million for the U.S. Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board (CSB), representing an increase of 10% above last year' s level.

CSB Chairman Carolyn W. Merritt hailed the increase, commenting: The new budget represents an important vote of confidence for the CSB from Congress and the president, who clearly share our goal of improving chemical safety by preventing major accidents. As I told House appropriators in March 2004, the increases will fund new investigative and outreach staff needed to meet our long-term strategic goals.

The omnibus bill also adds $396,000 to the Board's emergency investigative fund, bringing the total in that account to $843,000. The purpose of this "no-year" fund, established by Congress in FY 2004, is to defray extraordinary costs associated with major chemical accident investigations. Moneys in the fund remain available until expended.

The agency's fiscal year began on October 1; like other agencies, the CSB has been operating under a series of temporary budget resolutions since that date.

The CSB is an independent federal agency charged with investigating industrial chemical accidents. The agency's board members are appointed by the president and confirmed by the Senate. CSB investigations look into all aspects of chemical accidents, including physical causes such as equipment failure as well as inadequacies in safety management systems.

The Board does not issue citations or fines but does make safety recommendations to plants, industry organizations, labor groups, and regulatory agencies such as OSHA and EPA. Further information about the CSB is available from www.csb.gov. For more information, contact Daniel Horowitz, 202-261-7613 / 202-441-6074 (cell), or Kara Wenzel, CSB 202-261-7642 / 202-577-8448 (cell).