Moure-Eraso faced increasing pressure from the Hill over his management of the agency and charges that he stood in the way of EPA inspector general investigations. Recently, an EPA IG report found that Moure-Eraso and two top executives used personal email accounts to conduct official business.
Fourteen members of the House Oversight Committee called on Obama to oust Moure-Eraso last week, as did two Republican members of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee. The letter from Sens. Jim Inhofe and Mike Rounds said CSB "can no longer continue to operate credibly under this leadership."
In a statement Thursday, Inhofe and Rounds, who heads the Superfund, Waste Management, and Regulatory Oversight subcommittee, applauded the White House for requesting the resignation and urged quick action to fill the board.
"During his time serving as chairman, we believe he violated his oath of office and violated the law," Inhofe and Rounds said. "Moure-Eraso's leadership created an environment of dysfunction within the agency and it was no longer operating with credibility in conducting meaningful investigations of industrial incidents."
In a joint statement issued Wednesday, Oversight Committee chairman Jason Chaffetz and ranking member Elijah Cummings said they were "pleased that the president has recognized the importance of making key changes with the Chemical Safety Board."
"Dr. Moure-Eraso's mismanagement of the CSB, abuse of power, employee retaliation, and lack of honesty in his communications with Congress are among the many reasons why his resignation is the right next step for this federal agency," they wrote. "We remain hopeful that progress will continue to be made with regards to improving leadership and morale issues within the CSB."
The Oversight Committee also charged that a CSB employee had been removed from an outside contract and demoted after working with a consulting firm on a report that criticized management at the agency. There have also been questions about a board order that passed in a late-night January meeting that wiped away several management reforms and appeared to consolidate power with the chair, although the member who introduced it said it was a streamlining measure.
Industry and labor observers also said that under Moure-Eraso, the agency had faltered on its core work of investigating and preventing chemical accidents. Until recently, there was a hefty backlog of open investigations, although CSB has issued eight reports in the past nine months and now has just six open investigations (three others were eliminated without a final report). Still, critics say the CSB has not been as quick or as nimble as it had in the past.
Several investigators left under Moure-Eraso, citing a toxic work environment and a management style that discouraged open discussion and debate.
The White House this month nominated Vanessa Allen Sutherland, the chief counsel at the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration, to chair the CSB for a term that would begin in June.
