Lemos confirmed as chair of the US Chemical Safety Board

The US Senate confirmed Katherine Lemos to lead the US Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board on March 23. This brings the board’s membership up to two people, three short of the five members required by law. Lemos comes to the CSB—which investigates chemical-related industrial accidents—from Northrop Grumman’s Aerospace Systems sector. Lemos has experience as a regulator at the Federal Aviation Administration and an accident investigator at the National Transportation Safety Board. She holds a doctorate in social psychology. “Dr. Lemos brings years of safety expertise and leadership to her new position,” says CSB member Kristen Kulinowski, who has led the board on an interim basis since mid-2018. Kulinowski’s term expires later this year, at which point the board will be back to one member—Lemos—unless President Donald J. Trump nominates and the Senate confirms additional people. Trump has tried three times to eliminate funding for the board, though Congress has not gone along with that proposal and instead appropriated a $12 million annual budget. Trump proposed $10 million in funding for the agency for fiscal 2021.