CSB’s Subpoena Power Extends to Potential Chemical Releases

The authority of the U.S. Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board (CSB) to subpoena information relating to potential future risks was affirmed by a panel of judges with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit. The defendant in the case had contended that the CSB’s subpoena authority was limited to information about the cause or probable cause of an accidental chemical release that occurred in 2015, not about any event that hasn’t happened. A U.S. District Court judge agreed that some of the information requested by the CSB had little connection to the accident and refused to enforce the relevant subpoenas. But looking at the broader context of the Clean Air Act (CAA), which established the CSB, the 9th Circuit panel found that the investigatory power Congress granted the CSB encompassed effects and potential harm if a similar incident were to occur in the future.