CSB Accidental Release Reporting Rule

The enabling statute of the Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board (CSB) provides that the CSB shall establish by regulation requirements binding on persons for reporting accidental releases into the ambient air subject to the Board’s investigative jurisdiction.  On February 5, 2020, the U.S. Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board (CSB) approved a final rule on accidental release reporting. The final rule tracks the legal requirements of the CSB’s enabling statute.  It requires that owners or operators of facilities that experience an accidental release of an extremely hazardous substance into the ambient air from a stationary source which results in a death, serious injury or substantial property damage must be reported to the CSB. The rule balances the statutory requirement for having a reporting rule with an appropriately narrowed scope focused on helping the CSB collect information needed to make informed and timely deployment decisions.  This reporting information will help improve the CBS’s ability to respond promptly to the most significant accidental releases.

Biography

Christopher M. Lyon, Esq.

Associate General Counsel – US Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board

Chris Lyon is an attorney in the CSB’s Office of General Counsel. In his current position, he supports the agency’s core Investigations and Recommendations mission, both on the ground and in the courtroom. His current areas of focus include environmental law, as well as administrative law and litigation.

Chris joined the CSB in December 2000, after serving almost five years as a Captain in the US Air Force JAG Corp. Chris left the CSB in 2005 to pursue other professional interests. He then returned to the CSB in June 2012, where he went to work directly in Investigations, side by side with other CSB investigators of diverse backgrounds and skill sets. Over the next six years, Chris deployed and contributed directly to numerous complex chemical incident investigations and helped to write several highly regarded CSB investigation reports. Chris has also contributed to successful advocacy efforts aimed at implementing CSB recommendations, and he authored a number of important safety guidance and safety spotlight publications. In 2018 he formally returned to the CSB Office of General Counsel.

Chris is a graduate of Fordham University in New York City, Loyola Law School in Los Angeles, and he earned a graduate certificate in administrative management from Cornell University in Ithaca, New York. He lives in Denver, Colorado with his wife and three children.

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