In the budget justification the Board said $9 million "represents the funding necessary to maintain a stable operating program and perform a modest number of accident investigations. It will also allow the Board to evaluate and revise its incident selection criteria, investigation protocol, and procedures for tracking recommendations. In addition, the Board will be able to initiate one safety study to complement its investigation and related activities. Finally, the increase will permit the Board to conduct monthly public meetings and hire two additional staff members in its Office of Investigations and Safety Programs."

The FY 2001 Performance Plan Focuses on Investigative Staff
According to the current strategic plan, key personnel were hired without the benefit of a strategic plan to guide the addition of staff. As a result of hiring efforts, the size of the Board's staff has increased from 4 to 27 since the beginning of operations in January 1998.

Help Wanted
One of the Board's most difficult challenges is to recruit staff that bring with them the unique chemical safety skills and work experiences needed to carry out the mission of the Board. The small talent pool available for the Board's recruitment needs is primarily found in the oil and chemical-process industries. These potential recruits are highly paid and they are typically living in areas located far from Washington, DC. The Board, therefore, must now devote extensive time and resources to recruit in order to hire and retain staff with chemical-process safety expertise. It takes six months or longer to identify potential candidates, convince them to accept a job with the federal government, and to have them relocate to the Washington, DC area. Even highly qualified recruits typically require additional extensive training in conducting the Board's root cause investigations. These investigations have a much broader scope and go into far more depth than those normally conducted in the private sector or by other government agencies. In order to meet the training needs of the staff, the Board is establishing an extensive training program in FY 2000.

Internal Governance Responsibilities
The Board unanimously agreed to delegate functions of the Chair as follows:

• Paul Hill: The oversight, preparation and submission of an annual report to the President and Congress.
• Gerald Poje: Authority over personnel matters and personnel actions, including, but not limited to the appointment and supervision of staff employed by the Board, except that the appointment of the head of any major administrative unit of the Board requires a majority vote of the Board and authority over the distribution of business among personnel.
• Irv Rosenthal: Supervision and oversight of the use and expenditure of minor funds.
• Andrea Kidd Taylor: The authority to preside at meetings of the full Board.