EHS Professional – February 22, 2024

IHMM Enters Its 40th Year

On December 3, 1984 the Institute of Hazardous Materials Management was created with the Certified Hazardous Materials Manager® [CHMM®] credential.  John H. Frick, Harold M. Gordon, John J. McCambridge, and Richard A. Young created what would become an Institute that offers 11 professional credentials across Hazardous Materials/Dangerous Goods and EHS Work Place Safety communities of practice in all 50 of the United States and 85 other countries.

IHMM thanks its hundreds of volunteer leaders, thousands of certificants and companies who support IHMM through strengthening its ability to extend its reach and allow us all to live up to why we exist our vision, and our mission…

Why We Exist

Our Vision

Our Mission

IHMM Organizing Broader Government Affairs Activities – Call for Volunteers

In strategic planning on August 17, 2023 IHMM created a strategic imperative to create a broader government affairs operation on behalf of, and with the assistance of, all of IHMM’s certificants.

If you want to make a difference in the recognition of your credentials and build on the successful record we have achieved thus far – we need you to volunteer. Learn more by visiting our Government Affairs Committee page, and get involved with government affairs. You can volunteer for one, two, three or all four of the segments of the committee’s work. That’s up to you!

IHMM To Propose Changes in Government Recognition of Credentials

State of Maine Department of Environmental Protection is proposing to update Chapter 851, Standards for Generators of Hazardous Waste. In the current regulation work is required by a professional engineer. IHMM is proposing to include an environmental professional as defined by 40 CFR §312.10.

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration has a number of courses in occupational safety and health within which OSHA credits “A degree in occupational safety and health, a Certified Safety Professional (CSP) or a Certified Industrial Hygienist (CIH) designation.” IHMM will propose including the CHMM, CSHM, and CSMP.

Beltway Buzz, Ogletree Deakins

Congress: House Departs With Funding Deadline on the Horizon. This week, the U.S. Senate passed a $95 billion aid package for Ukraine, Israel, and Taiwan that did not include the immigration-related provisions the Buzz discussed last week. It is unclear at this moment how the U.S. House of Representatives plans to address the bill. It may be a while before we know more, too, as the House is out for its Washington’s Birthday recess and not scheduled to return until February 28, 2024. (The Senate returns two days earlier on February 26.) This leaves little time for legislators to pass legislation to keep the federal government from partially shutting down on March 1, 2024. And funding for the remainder of the federal government—including the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL), National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), and U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS)—is set to expire one week later, on March 8, 2024.

OSHA Walkaround Reg. Moves Forward. On February 9, 2024, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) transmitted its final “walkaround” regulation to the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs for review. This is the final step in the rulemaking process and indicates that publication of the final rule will happen shortly. The Buzz expects one or more employer groups to file a legal challenge to the final rule. In addition to the employer community, the proposal remains controversial among Republicans on Capitol Hill. In a February 12, 2024, letter to Acting Secretary of Labor Julie Su, Representative Virginia Foxx (R-NC), chair of the House Committee on Education and the Workforce, wrote the following:

The proposed walkaround rule puts politics first by promoting Big Labor’s interests, interferes in labor-management relations, increases costs, puts union bosses ahead of workers, and overturns longstanding regulations. DOL should stop putting its political goal of promoting unionization at all costs ahead of keeping workers safe.

Top Senate HELP Committee Republican Wants Hearing for Su. Senate Republicans continue to express concerns that President Biden’s renomination of Julie Su to be secretary of labor circumvents their advice and consent function. This week, Senator Bill Cassidy (R-LA) requested that Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT), the chair of the U.S. Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP), hold a hearing on Su’s renomination:

Therefore, I respectfully request that you hold a hearing for Ms. Su’s renomination so that Senators may question her record, and that you hold a public mark-up on her nomination. Any other act will circumvent this Committee’s constitutionally mandated advice and consent role for Presidentially-appointed, Senate-confirmed (PAS) positions.

Senator Cassidy maintains that a hearing is necessary because “Ms. Su’s tenure as Acting Secretary has been plagued by ill-advised policy decisions and consistent mismanagement.” According to Senator Cassidy’s letter, examples of these missteps include delayed H-2B visa approvals, “missed red flags of exploitative child labor practices,” a $127 million overpayment to the Teamsters pension fund, the aforementioned walkaround regulation, Davis-Bacon prevailing wage regulations, and the DOL’s new independent contractor rule and overtime proposal.

DOL Extends Comment Period for Schedule A Listed Occupations. On February 15, 2024, the DOL’s Employment and Training Administration (ETA) published a notice extending the comment period for its request for information (RFI) regarding potential changes to its Schedule A list of occupations for the permanent labor certification process. The original comment period was scheduled to close on February 20, 2024 (sixty days after publication of the RFI), but that period has been extended to May 13, 2024. According to the notice, ETA is extending the comment period because it “has received a very limited number of comments, many of which do not provide the information requested or address the questions raised in the RFI.” Additionally, the notice states that the AFL-CIO requested an extension.

Democratic AGs Petition OSHA for Heat Rule. As the administration works to advance its regulatory agenda ahead of the November elections, late last week a group of Democratic attorneys general petitioned OSHA “to issue an emergency temporary standard for occupational heat exposure for farmworkers and construction workers, at minimum, beginning May 1, 2024.” (Many of the same attorneys general petitioned OSHA last year with the same request for an occupational heat ETS for agricultural and construction workers.) Readers who remember OSHA’s failed “vax-or-test” COVID-19 emergency temporary standard likely recall that to issue such a standard—which would not require prior input from stakeholders—OSHA must demonstrate that heat presents a “grave danger” to employees and that an emergency temporary standard (ETS) is necessary to protect employees (and the ETS would expire after six months). The petition maintains that “extreme heat poses a disproportionately grave danger to farmworkers and construction workers, especially during the summer months, and an emergency temporary standard is necessary to protect these workers from such danger.” While OSHA has completed its required Small Business Advocacy Review (SBAR) panel, the most recent regulatory agenda does not set a target date for issuance of a heat stress notice of proposed rulemaking.

House Committee Examines Wage and Hour Issues. On February 14, 2024, the House Committee on Education and the Workforce’s Subcommittee on Workforce Protections held a hearing entitled “Examining the Policies and Priorities of the Wage and Hour Division.” The sole witness at the hearing was the DOL’s Wage and Hour Division (WHD) administrator, Jessica Looman. Republican members focused on many of the same issues raised in Senator Cassidy’s letter but with an obvious focus on WHD matters, such as the independent contractor, overtime, and Davis-Bacon Act regulations, as well as child labor issues, particularly when they’ve involve immigrant minors. The hearing will likely help to lay the groundwork for the introduction of Congressional Review Act resolutions.

Political Reality Check. While the current political acrimony on Capitol Hill appears to be at an all-time high, it can be helpful to remember that our national politics have always been rancorous (there was a Civil War, after all) and at times have devolved into physical altercations. There was, of course, Representative Preston Brooks’s brutal attack on Senator Charles Sumner in 1856. And even prior to that, there was an unfortunate altercation that occurred this week in 1798 in the U.S. House of Representatives. The incident arose when, during deliberations surrounding the impeachment of Senator William Blount, Representative Matthew Lyon of Vermont loudly insulted the Connecticut delegation on the House floor. Connecticut Representative Roger Griswold responded by alleging that Lyon’s military service during the Revolutionary War was less than admirable, to which Lyon responded by spitting tobacco juice in Griswold’s face. When a subsequent vote to expel Lyon for “disorderly behavior” failed, Griswold took matters into his own hands and attacked Lyon with a cane on the morning of February 15, 1798, and a brawl ensued. Amazingly, both Lyon and Griswold were allowed to keep their seats in the House. Later that year, Lyon was imprisoned for violation of the Alien and Sedition Acts (for writings critical of President John Adams) but still managed to win reelection—the only member of Congress to ever win an election while in jail.

Professional Certification Coalition

IHMM is a member of the PCC. The PCC monitors state and federal legislative and regulatory activity affecting professional certification on an ongoing basis. The PCC has compiled several “Watchlists” identifying and analyzing provisions in pending legislation at both the state and federal level that, under applicable rules, may still be enacted in the current legislative session.  Depending on the carry-over rules in the relevant legislature, the charts listing current legislation may include bills introduced in a prior year.  In addition, the PCC compiles each year a chart of enacted legislation that affects certification. The charts include hyperlinks to every bill or executive order. Note that the Watchlist and the Enacted Legislation document do not include profession-specific legislation and do not include regulatory initiatives. The charts will be updated as needed based on new developments.

State legislation tracked this week…

• 2023 Accomplishments and 2024 Priorities

Did you know you can register for a free webinar on OSHA’s injury reporting requirements?

OSHA is hosting a two-part webinar on the employer requirement to electronically submit workplace injury and illness data using the Injury Tracking Application. You can register for the free event here and Spanish and Portuguese translation will be available for both.

February 28, 9-10:15 a.m. EST: This presentation will be an overview of OSHA’s recordkeeping requirements and address common mistakes made by employers, incentive and disincentive programs, and tips on how an employer can effectively audit their recordkeeping program.

IHMM CHMM, CHMP, CSHM, and CSMP certificants may receive up to 2 certification maintenance points [CMPs] for attending these webinars.

Creating the Water Workforce of the Future: Webinar Series

Veterans in the Water Workforce 

February 29, 2024
12:00 p.m. – 1:30 p.m. Eastern Time

Register Here

As part of EPA’s commitment to helping build a diverse and sustainable water workforce, today’s veterans can provide a very important set of skills as well as benefit from a range of programs designed to help them build a meaningful career in water. Please join us on February 29th to hear from organizations that are reaching out to and training these veterans so they can play a key role in protecting our nation’s critical water infrastructure.

 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

For any questions related to this announcement, please contact [email protected]

Preparation and Response Strategies: Lessons Learned From a Mass Shooting at The Covenant School in Nashville, TN Webinar

Join the Institute for Intergovernmental Research’s (IIR) Knowledge College session on “Preparation and Response Strategies: Lessons Learned From a Mass Shooting at The Covenant School in Nashville, Tennessee” on 2/29, from 2:30 PM to 4:00 PM ET. Captain Steven Bowers, the former commanding officer of MNPD’s School Safety Division, will provide insights into the 2023 mass shooting incident, sharing valuable lessons on prevention, response, and recovery strategies.

Limited to sworn law enforcement personnel, this session aims to help participants identify specific opportunities for preventing and responding to school violence, enhance local critical response planning, and build collaboration for improved emergency preparedness.

Register Now

• 2/29 – Preparation and Response Strategies: Lessons Learned From a Mass Shooting at The Covenant School in Nashville, TN Webinar
  Hosted by the Institute for Intergovernmental Research
• 3/8 – Enhancing School Safety Using Behavioral Threat Assessment Webinar
  Hosted by The National Center on Safe Supportive Learning Environments
• 4/4 – Preventing Mass Attacks in Our Communities Webinar Hosted by the U.S. Secret Service National Threat Assessment Center

School Threat Assessment Toolkit

The School Threat Assessment Toolkit, releasing 3/6, offers schools guidance on employing behavioral threat assessment (TA) and management to prevent violence. Developed with input from various experts and organizations, it provides training, implementation, and assessment tools for school TA teams while safeguarding student rights. Learn more here.

Mental Health: Ending the Stigma

The evidence is overwhelming: so many Americans are struggling with their mental health. In 2021, CDC reported that the percentage of adults with recent symptoms of anxiety or depression increased from 36.4 percent to 41.5 percent between August 2020 and February 2021. According to the American Psychological Association (APA), two-thirds of adults say they experienced increased stress over the course of the COVID-19 pandemic. And just two months ago, another CDC report found that the suicide rate in 2021 was more than 30 percent higher than it was 20 years ago. The conclusion reached by APA is that “we are facing a national mental health crisis that could yield serious health and social consequences for years to come.”

Read more here.

IHMM Credential Recognition

The highest priority of IHMM’s Government Affairs Committee is the recognition of IHMM’s credentials by government. We have made substantial progress in the two years we have undertaken this endeavor, as outlined in detail here > https://ihmm.org/credential-recognition/

In this project we have 45-in-5, increasing the number of states that recognize IHMM credentials.

• 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 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