IHMM Today December 13, 2022

IHMM RECENT NEWS

• NIOSH Respirator User Notices Issued by Manufacturers

• Milwaukee-area company fined $1.6M for hazardous waste violations

• Federal settlement paves way for continued work at New Hampshire superfund site

• Scientists Shine a Light on What Comes Up When You Flush

• New Manufacturing Process Produces Better, Cheaper Cathodes for Lithium-Ion Batteries

• Economical Eco-Friendly Fabrication of High Efficiency Chalcopyrite Solar Cells

• Call for Information on the Integrated Science Assessment for Oxides of Nitrogen-Health Criteria

• Delaware: Final Authorization of State Hazardous Waste Management Program Revisions

• Community Right-to-Know; Adopting 2022 North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) Codes for Toxics Release Inventory (TRI) Reporting; Correction

• Advisory Committee on Construction Safety and Health

• NEWS UPDATE #2: TC Energy Pipeline Oil Discharge Near Washington, Kansas

• EPA Issues Guidance to States to Reduce Harmful PFAS Pollution

• Registration Open for EPA Virtual Public Hearing on EPA’s Supplemental Proposal to Cut Methane Pollution to Protect Communities, Combat Climate Change, and Bolster American Innovation

• Rocks and Hard Places: Noteworthy Developments in Climate Change Regulation for Us Insurers

• EPA Proposes SNURs for 35 PFAS, Advancing Key Action in PFAS Strategic Roadmap

• Beware Before You Flare: EPA Revamps Rulemaking to Pave the Way for Methane Emission Reductions

• Investing in EHS saves your facility time and money

• New reports says illness, injury, fatalities, and $100 billion is the cost of heat stress inaction by employers each year

• Workplace safety professionals invited to DEI Summit

• Construction industry confronting job hazards with smart technology and cutting-edge PPE

• On-demand video empowers employee safety training

• The need for sustainable waste management in the construction industry

• Investigation into two workers’ deaths in Edmund finds Arkansas contractor failed to test oxygen level in confined space, provide rescue equipment

• COVID-19 task force calls for tougher indoor air standards

• Federal vs. state OSHA: Do you understand the difference?

• Effective Chemical Safety Training Through Safety Engineering Training

• The Great Reengagement: How Chemical Companies can Build a Positive and Safe Employee Culture

• How to Make an Impact as Safety Professionals

• Dos and Don’ts of Surprise OSHA Inspections

• Construction Industry Remains Constrained, Marcum Index Shows

• On-demand Webinar: The Importance of Environmental Management Systems for Aviation

• Paper on Seaborne Ammonium Nitrate Safety Published

• OSHA COVID-19 Rule for Health Care Workers Sent to White House

• Four Unexpected Things Wastewater Can Teach Us About Ourselves

• EPA finds Denver’s unique Lead Reduction Program effective

• A Legal Playbook on How to Manage DE&I Workplace Programs

• Construction planning numbers increase for third consecutive month

• OSHA fines Arkansas contractor $287K for confined space deaths

Thank you, Richie, Mark, Pinkie, and Sarath

The recent IHMM Board of Directors meeting marked a milestone for 4 Board Members and IHMM is deeply indebted to their commitment and contribution to the mission and leadership of IHMM. These are exemplary volunteers and their presence on our Board will be missed.

Ending 2 terms as the CDGP representative and Chair of the Board, Richie Spangler, shown at left receiving an award from newly elected Chair Bill Diesslin. Ending 2 terms as a CHMM on the Board, Mark Baumgardner, shown at center receiving an award from newly elected Chair Bill Diesslin. Ending a term as the CSMP representative on the Board, Pinkie Wood, shown at right receiving an award from newly elected Chair Bill Diesslin.

Sarath Seneviratne could not be with us as he and his wife have a newborn. We hope all is well Sarath.

Thank you, all and have a Merry Christmas and well-deserved rest.

2023 IHMM Certificant Survey

This is our 2023 IHMM certificant survey. Your feedback allows us to gather broad based information about the needs and preferences of our certificants that leads to improving our services and credentials.

Please take a few minutes and answer the 19 questions posed in this survey and help us improve our services.

Take the short survey here >> https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/IHMM2023

IHMM Has its 100th Student CHMM Applicant

New rules will have a significant impact on shippers using the USPS to ship dangerous goods

The post office has published a final rule and a proposed rule (NPRM) that will both significantly affect the way that its customers using the service to ship hazardous materials will prepare and consign such goods. Shippers using the post office for hazmat shipments should carefully examine these new requirements.

The final rule:

The Postal Service is amending Publication 52, Hazardous, Restricted, and Perishable Mail (Pub 52), to incorporate new requirements for mailers to separate, into identifiable containers, all hazardous material (HAZMAT) requiring hazardous marks or labels from other mail when tendering to the Postal Service. Additionally, the Postal Service will now require used, damaged, or defective electronic devices (excluding devices that are new in original packaging, and manufacturer certified new/refurbished) containing or packed with lithium batteries to be mailed only via surface transportation and to bear specified markings. This rule is effective December 1, 2022.

The rule is HERE

NIOSH Resource on Protecting Temporary Workers: Best Practices for Host Employers

The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) and the National Occupational Research Agenda (NORA) Services Sector Council—in partnership with the American Society of Safety Professionals (ASSP), the American Staffing Association (ASA), and the Safety and Health Assessment and Research for Prevention (SHARP) Program within Washington State’s Department of Labor and Industries—have released a new set of best practices, Protecting Temporary Workers: Best Practices for Host Employers, to help host employers better protect the safety and health of temporary workers.

Research shows that the risk of experiencing a work-related injury may be higher for temporary workers compared to non-temporary workers. This new resource provides detailed best practices for host employers that are applicable across industries and occupations. It is organized into three areas:

1) How to evaluate and address workplace safety and health in a written contract

2) Training for temporary workers and their worksite supervisors

3) Injury and illness reporting, response, and recordkeeping

NIOSH Toolkit HERE

Creating the Water Workforce of the Future:

Webinar Series

Transforming the Water Workforce

December 15, 2022

1:00 p.m. – 2:30 p.m. Eastern Time

Register Here

In today’s world, water sector utilities need to work with many partners to recruit and retain a motivated and sustainable 21st century workforce—they can’t do it alone! Partners can include employment and training organizations, educational institutions, contractors, and others. There is also a pressing need to help current utility leaders develop the transformative skills they will need to lead the water workforce in the 21st century. Please join us on December 15, 2022, to hear from two leading utility workforce leaders from DC Water and AWWA as they take steps to develop a truly sustainable workforce for their utility and also help leaders across the sector develop the skills to address the myriad of challenges they will face moving forward.

This webinar is part of an ongoing webinar series hosted by EPA, in partnership with leading water sector organizations around the country. More information on this webinar series can be found at 

https://www.epa.gov/sustainable-water-infrastructure/water-sector-workforce-webinars

In 2019 Mark Bruce from AHMP and Gene Guilford from IHMM worked on a project to get the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania to recognize the CHMM and CDGT credentials. With Mark’s work on the ground in  Pennsylvania, we succeeded.

• We have already succeeded in 13 states – New York, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, Indiana, California, Colorado, Nebraska, Minnesota, Arkansas, Oklahoma. Ohio, North Dakota, and Georgia. [Red states in the map above]. These are states where IHMM credentials are cited or 40 CFR 312.10 is cited by reference.
• We have partially succeeded in another 16 states – Alaska, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Arizona, Kansas, Iowa, Missouri, Illinois, Kentucky, Florida, Delaware, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, Vermont, and Maine. [Orange/Black Stripe states in the map above] These are states where the requirements of an “environmental professional” or QEP are cited that coincide with an IHMM credential so that relatively little work would need to be done to clarify the desired outcome.
• We have 21 states where no reference to an IHMM credential is made in either statute or regulation, nor is there anything defined in the area of an environmental professional. These states will require legislation or regulatory work. [Yellow states in the map above].

In January 2021 Mark at AHMP and Gene at IHMM has launched 45 in 5, getting the other 45 states to recognize our credentials in 5 years. If we can find a volunteer like Mark in other states [see above] we can work with those volunteers on crafting the right message to the right agencies in state governments across the country. If we find enough volunteers we can get this done in less than 5 years.

In January 2022 Gene Guilford released the 40 CFR § 312.10 EPA regulation that states a private certification that meets or exceeds the requirements of the regulation is an Environmental Professional under the regulation. Here is the crosswalk between the 40 CFR § 312.10 EPA regulation and the Certified Hazardous Materials Manager [CHMM] blueprint. The CHMM meets or exceeds the requirements of an Environmental Professional. 

Here’s what we ask each volunteer to do:

• Watch legislative and regulatory developments in your state that provide an opportunity for us to create amendments or other interventions
• Be willing to speak with regulators and legislators in your area about the recognition efforts we craft together

PHMSA Notice of Enforcement Policy for International Standards

EPA Finds Florida Water Quality Standards Unprotective Of Human Health

EPA has notified Florida officials that the state’s water quality standards (WQS) are unprotective of human health and is ordering them to both revise some human health criteria (HHC) and issue new criteria to protect against dozens of priority toxic pollutants in surface waters within a year, or face a federally imposed plan.

EPA’s decision — spelled out in a Dec. 1 determination from EPA water chief Radhika Fox to Shawn Hamilton, secretary of the state’s Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) — renews focus on the agency’s recent efforts to increase fish consumption rates (FCR) in water quality decisions as a way to protect subsistence fishermen and other seafood consumers.

“Without an updated FCR, Florida is not keeping pace with the current practices of Florida residents, who appear to be eating far more fish than the 6.5 g/day input indicates. Moreover, EPA has placed an emphasis on increased consumption of healthy fish for its human health benefits and is particularly concerned that people eating fish they catch for their sustenance are being disproportionately impacted,” Fox told Hamilton.

The determination is the second major EPA action over state WQS in recent weeks. On Nov. 18, EPA issued final water quality criteria to protect human health from toxics in Washington state and, over industry objections, set 141 HHC for 72 different pollutants.

–Inside EPA

New supporting scientific information on chemical persistence and bioaccumulation

Our Persistence, Bioaccumulation and Toxicity (PBT) Expert Group has published a discussion paper on the use of toxicokinetic data for assessing bioaccumulation in air-breathing mammals. The paper is based on discussions from a working group with leading experts from academia, industry and government.

The expert group has also published two notes on sterile controls in biodegradation studies and assessing the persistence of volatile substances.

Discussion paper | Note on sterile controls | Note on persistence of volatile substances | Management of PBT/vPvB substancesNew intention to identify a substance of very high concern

An intention has been received for bis(4-chlorophenyl) sulphone (EC 201-247-9, CAS 80-07-9).

Registry of SVHC intentions until outcome

European General Court Annuls Harmonized Classification and Labeling of Titanium Dioxide

UNSCOE TDG 61st Session

The United Nations Subcommittee of Experts on the Transport of Dangerous Goods (UNSCOE TDG) is holding their 61^st Session November 28 – December 6, 2022 in Geneva, Switzerland. There are 32 formal and 39 informal papers submitted for discussion as of Day 1. This session is the final of four sessions during the 2021-2022 biennium.

All daily sessions are to be held formally (interpreted). Therefore, papers are to be reviewed as listed on the agenda (INF.2) and final decisions will be taken when appropriate.

This summary is provided to assist you in following the discussions of the papers and is not intended as a full summary of document that was presented. Links to individual papers are provided to allow you to read the papers directly. Note that the Official report of the session will be made available by the UN Secretariat 3-4 weeks after the session concludes.

• Day 1 Summary

• Day 2 Summary

• Day 3 Summary

• Day 4 Summary

• Day 5 Summary

• Day 6 Summary

Congress Grapples With EPA’s FY23 Budget, States Weigh SDWA’s Future

Congressional leaders are scrambling to reach a spending deal for EPA and other agencies ahead of a Dec. 16 deadline. State regulators are beginning to consider possible reforms to the safe drinking water law ahead of its 50th anniversary in 2024.

FY23 Budget

The fate of EPA’s fiscal year 2023 budget hangs in the balance as Congress scrambles to either reach a deal ahead of a Dec. 16 deadline or extend the current continuing resolution that has been funding the agency at FY22 levels since Oct. 1. Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-VT) announced last week that Democratic leaders will release a new funding proposal on Dec. 12 as they remain at odds with Republicans over top-line spending for EPA and other non-defense programs.

Drinking Water

The Association of State Drinking Water Administrators is holding a Dec. 16 webinar to begin considering how their members may want to revise the Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA) as the law approaches its 50th anniversary in 2024. The webinar will include a “forward look towards the 50th anniversary of the SDWA on December 16, 2024, to get the water sector to start thinking about what’s worked, what hasn’t worked so well, and what data or information would be needed to make informed decisions on what might need to be revised in the SDWA sometime in the future.”

Petrochemical Sector Rules

The Senate environment committee’s chemical safety, waste management, environmental justice and regulatory oversight subcommittee is slated to hold a Dec. 15 hearing that will examine “the impact of plastic use and [identify] solutions for reducing plastic waste.”

The hearing appears likely to focus on new legislation, introduced by subcommittee Chairman Jeff Merkley (D-OR) and other Democratic lawmakers, that aim to limit use of plastics and to significantly strengthen regulation of manufacturing facilities, including deadlines for nationwide phaseouts of single-use plastics, steeper reuse targets, tougher emissions standards, a temporary permitting moratorium and mandatory consideration of environmental justice (EJ) concerns in permitting.

–Inside EPA

IHMM Scholarship Program

The Institute of Hazardous Materials Management is pleased to have created $32,000 in academic scholarships, divided equally between $16,000 for students enrolled in undergraduate or graduate education in approved schools and who are also Student CHMMs, and $16,000 for students enrolled in undergraduate or graduate education in approved schools and who are also Student ASHMs.

IHMM seeks to foster the growth and academic success of students whose courses of education, and participation in one of our Student certifications, will lead to those students becoming fully-certified IHMM credential holders later in their professional lives.

Go to >  https://ihmm.org/scholarship/

IHMM CHMMⓇ 2022 Salary Survey

IHMM is pleased to release its 2022 salary survey for Certified Hazardous Materials ManagersⓇ [CHMMⓇ] across a broad range of position titles in the CHMMⓇ community of practice.

You may download the CHMM survey here.

IHMM CSHMⓇ 2022 Salary Survey

IHMM is pleased to release its 2022 salary survey for Certified Safety and Health Managers Ⓡ [CSHMⓇ] across a broad range of position titles in the CSHMⓇ community of practice.

You may download the CSHM survey here.

Sponsored content

IHMM  – 26 Fellows Are Mentors 

IHMM Fellows Committee Chair Atanu Das, CHMM, is leading the effort within the IHMM Collaboration networking platform to provide instruction to the more than 75 IHMM Fellows in becoming mentors.

Given the extraordinary experience Fellows have, this is a unique opportunity for IHMM Fellows to help guide more recent certificants in their professional development activities.

IHMM’s Collaboration platform contains a “Mentor Match” module [see below at right] that allows mentors to signup designating the hours, number of mentees, subject areas, and length of time they wish to mentor – as well as allowing mentees to signup requesting assistance in specified areas. The mentor match module does the rest by matching mentors and mentees.