Did you know that there is rulemaking regarding accidental release reporting of hazardous materials to the Chemical Safety Board (CSB)?  According to the Clean Air Act, Section 112(r), owners/operators of facilities are required to report accidental releases of hazardous materials that result in significant property damage, serious injury, or fatality to the CSB.  The Clean Air Act empowers the EPA to establish enforcement actions against entities that fail to report an accidental release.  The first of its kind enforcement actions were levied against Pacific Gas and Electric Company on July 28, 2025.

The incident involving the enforcement action occurred on June 8, 2023, when a pipeline worker suffered serious injury due to an accidental release of natural gas.  The CSB was aware of the incident and advised the company to complete the accidental release report, but they failed to do so.  The CSB then turned the incident over to the EPA for enforcement.  The cooperative effort resulted in a civil penalty of $45,273 and the company had to submit the report to the CSB.

This may end up being the first and only collaborative enforcement action of this type as the Federal Government is proposing to shut down the CSB by October of this year.  If the CSB is shutdown, the rule will likely be amended to address accidental reporting procedures for the EPA. For more information, you can read the EPA news release on the settlement here.  To review the reporting rule, click here.