Rockefeller Seeks More Funding Resources for Chemical Safety Board

Press Release

As officials from the Chemical Safety Board arrive in Charleston to investigate the cause of a massive chemical spill last week, Senator Jay Rockefeller asked the Senate Appropriations Committee to boost the funding request for the CSB. Currently, Senate and House appropriators are working to finalize the 2014 spending
package.

Rockefeller, who called for a Chemical Safety Board (CSB) investigation immediately following the spill, said the agency's proposed 2014 budget was slashed by the Republican-controlled House of Representatives earlier this year. The Senate and House Appropriations Committees are now working on a compromise spending measure that Rockefeller hopes will strengthen funding for an agency that is over-worked and under-staffed.

"I'm grateful for the Chemical Safety Board's quick response to my call for an investigation despite serious strains on their budget and resources as a result of the sequester," Rockefeller said. "The agency has served West Virginia well and, sadly, we are relying on their help and expertise now more than ever in the wake of last week's chemical spill in Charleston. It's a time like this when we need the federal government step in and help, but like all federal agencies, they're struggling to meet demand because of horribly misguided budget cuts. West Virginians are looking to the federal government to help get answers to the root cause of the chemical spill, so it's critical that this agency has the necessary resources to conduct their critically important work."

The Republican-controlled House cut nearly $2 million from the CSB's budget. Rockefeller asked that the Senate Appropriations Committee consider boosting the CSB's bottom line from $10.5 million to nearly $11.5 million.

"No community should ever have to experience an emergency of this magnitude again," Rockefeller wrote. "It is my strongest hope that the (Committee) will be able to adhere to its Senate mark for the CSB so that it can fully carry out its investigative and advisory missions for the Freedom Industries event and other chemical disasters across the country."

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