[Federal Register Volume 67, Number 173 (Friday, September 6, 2002)]
[Notices]
[Pages 56982-56983]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 02-22853]


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CHEMICAL SAFETY AND HAZARD INVESTIGATION BOARD


Sunshine Act Meeting; Public Meeting: Reactive chemical hazards, 
CSB business

AGENCY: Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board (CSB).

ACTION: Notice announcing Sunshine Act public meeting.

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SUMMARY: The CSB will hold a public meeting on September 17, 2002 in 
Houston, Texas at the Hilton Houston Hobby Airport, to deliberate and 
vote on a series of findings and recommendations arising from a two-
year investigation into reactive chemical hazards. The Board will also 
conduct other business as more fully described below.

DATES: The Public Meeting will be held on Tuesday, September 17, 2002, 
beginning at 9 a.m. at Hilton Houston Hobby Airport, 8181 Airport 
Boulevard, Houston, TX 77061, Telephone number: (713) 645-3000.
    Pre-Registration: The event is open to the public and there is no 
fee for attendance. However, attendees are strongly encouraged to pre-
register, to ensure adequate seating arrangements. To pre-register, 
please e-mail your name and affiliation by September 12th, to 
[email protected]. Please notify CSB if a translator or interpreter is 
needed 5 business days prior to the public meeting.
    The public meeting will be broadcast live and without charge over 
the Internet from the CSB Web site, www.chemsafety.gov. The broadcast 
can be viewed using the Windows Media Player, available from 
www.microsoft.com. Closed captioning service will be provided.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Robert Wager at (202)-261-7636, or e-
mail at: [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

    On August 24, 2000 the CSB approved an investigative report on the 
April 1998 explosion at the Morton Specialty Chemical's (now Rohm and 
Haas) Paterson, New Jersey facility. The report stated that the 
incident might not have occurred had the company's safety program for 
reactive chemicals followed recommended industry safety practices. The 
blast injured nine workers and released chemicals into the neighboring 
community. The Board adopted a number of recommendations, including two 
to both the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the 
Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA). The first 
recommendation requested that EPA and OSHA issue joint guidelines for 
the management of reactive chemical process hazards. The Board believed 
that existing federal safety standards did not provide sufficient 
guidance for reactive chemical process safety, in such areas as 
reporting and investigating deviations from normal operations, the use 
of chemical screening techniques and the proper design for pressure 
relief, emergency cooling and safety interlock systems.
    The other recommendation involving OSHA and EPA urged the two 
agencies to join the CSB, and other chemical safety organizations, 
including industry, in a CSB ``hazard investigation'' of reactive 
chemical processes.

Current Investigation

    The objectives of CSB's investigation included: evaluation of the 
impacts of reactive chemical incidents; examination of how OSHA and EPA 
authorities and regulations address reactive hazards; analysis of the 
appropriateness and consideration of alternatives to reliance on the 
National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) instability rating system 
to define reactive substances covered under OSHA's process safety 
management (PSM) regulation; examination of how industry and other 
private sector organizations address reactive hazards; and development 
of recommendations for reducing the number and severity of reactive 
chemical incidents.
    During its study, the CSB staff examined 167 chemical incidents and 
held a public hearing on May 30th, 2002, in Paterson, New Jersey, City 
where the staff presented findings and preliminary conclusions from 
this investigation to the Board. The hearing also provided a forum for 
interested parties to provide input prior to CSB's formulation of final 
recommendations and issuance of a report.

[[Page 56983]]

Other Board Business

    After the conclusion of the presentation of the reactives 
investigation report, Board Members will also meet in open session on 
the following topics: (a) Revisions to CSB strategic plan, (b) update 
by the Chief Operating Officer on current CSB investigative efforts, 
and (c) status changes to selected CSB recommendations.

Christopher W. Warner,
General Counsel.
[FR Doc. 02-22853 Filed 9-4-02; 3:45 pm]
BILLING CODE 6350-01-P