EHS Professional – February 8, 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

House Advances Bipartisan Tax Package. On January 31, 2024, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the Tax Relief for American Families and Workers Act of 2024 (H.R. 7024) by a vote of 357–70. The bill combines an expansion of the child tax credit with business-friendly tax provisions, and would pay for this, in part, by terminating the CARES Act Employee Retention Credit (ERC) program. While the overwhelming vote in the House might portend easy passage in the U.S. Senate, this might not necessarily be the case. In addition to the usual political negotiations, the Senate is preoccupied with legislation relating to the southern border and foreign aid, federal government funding, and a potential impeachment trial of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas. The Buzz will be monitoring the bill’s progress in the Senate as these debates unfold.

Fed Contractors: Salary History Ban, Pay Posting Requirement Proposed. On January 30, 2024, the administration published a notice of proposed rulemaking on “Pay Equity and Transparency in Federal Contracting.” The proposed rule would:

“(1) prohibit contractors and subcontractors from seeking and considering information about job applicants’ compensation history when making employment decisions about personnel working on or in connection with a government contract; and

(2) require contractors and subcontractors to disclose, in all advertisements for job openings involving work on or in connection with a government contract placed by or on behalf of the contractor or subcontractor, the compensation to be offered to the hired applicant, for any position to perform work on or in connection with the contract.”

The proposed changes would be “applicable to acquisitions at or below the SAT [simplified acquisition threshold] and to acquisitions for commercial products and commercial services, including COTS [commercially available off-the-shelf] items.” The proposal would instruct potentially aggrieved applicants to file complaints with the “central collection point of the agency that issued the solicitation or awarded the contract or order” and would provide that following investigation of such a complaint, the contracting agency may “take action as appropriate.” Comments are due on or before April 1, 2024. Leigh M. Nason and Cameron W. Ellis have the details.

USCIS Issues Final Rule on Increased Fees. On January 31, 2024, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) issued a final rule that increases the fees it charges for processing certain immigration and naturalization benefit requests. As just one example, the rule increases registration fees for H-1B visas from $10 to $215. USCIS has also created a frequently asked questions (FAQ) guidance page on the fee increase rule. USCIS last amended its fee schedule in 2016. The rule becomes effective on April 1, 2024. Jennifer M. Cofer has the details.

USCIS Issues Final Rule on H-1B Modernization. On February 2, 2024, USCIS issued a final rule entitled “Improving the H-1B Registration Selection Process and Program Integrity.” According to a press release accompanying the rule, it is intended “to strengthen the integrity of and reduce the potential for fraud in the H-1B registration process.” Accordingly, the rule only implements certain proposals from the agency’s notice of proposed rulemaking, “Modernizing H-1B Requirements, Providing Flexibility in the F-1 Program, and Program Improvements Affecting Other Nonimmigrant Workers.” Those remaining provisions are being reviewed and can be expected to be finalized in the future.

The final rule focuses on the beneficiary-centric selection procedure for H-1B visa holders, which will work as follows:

“Each unique beneficiary who has a registration submitted on their behalf will be entered into the selection process once, regardless of how many registrations are submitted on their behalf. If a beneficiary is selected, each registrant that submitted a registration on that beneficiary’s behalf will be notified of the beneficiary’s selection and will be eligible to file a petition on that beneficiary’s behalf during the applicable petition filing period.”

The final rule also provides USCIS with new tools to combat fraud in the H-1B program, such as clarifying the agency’s ability to deny or revoke the H-1B petition if statements contained in the underlying paperwork “were inaccurate, fraudulent, or misrepresented a material fact.” The new system will be in effect for the fiscal year (FY) 2025 H-1B cap season, and registration will be open from March 6, 2024, to 12:00 p.m. on March 22, 2024. Geeta M. Shah has the details.

EEOC to Increase Outreach to Vulnerable Workers. On January 29, 2024, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) launched its REACH initiative, which “is focused on enhancing the agency’s outreach to vulnerable workers and underserved communities.” The REACH Initiative builds on the EEOC’s Strategic Enforcement Plan for Fiscal Years 2024–2028 (SEP), which prioritizes “protecting vulnerable workers and persons from underserved communities from employment discrimination.” According to the SEP, “the Commission views the category of vulnerable workers as including: immigrant and migrant workers and workers on temporary visas; people with developmental or intellectual disabilities; workers with mental health related disabilities; individuals with arrest or conviction records; LGBTQI+ individuals; temporary workers; older workers; individuals employed in low wage jobs, including teenage workers employed in such jobs; survivors of gender-based violence; Native Americans/Alaska Natives; and persons with limited literacy or English proficiency.” The REACH initiative is being led by Commissioner Kalpana Kotagal, who will be a keynote speaker at Ogletree Deakins’ 2024 National Workplace Strategies Seminar in Washington, D.C., from May 1–4, 2024.

Senators Introduce Bipartisan Paid Leave Bill. Senators Angus King (I-ME) and Deb Fischer (R-NE) introduced legislation to encourage more employers to offer paid family and medical leave to their employees. Currently, pursuant to a provision in the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, employers may take a tax credit when they provide employees with up to twelve weeks of paid family and medical leave. This provision is set to expire in 2025. The new bill, called the Paid Family and Medical Leave Tax Credit Extension and Enhancement Act, would make this existing business tax credit for employers permanent. The bill is separate from the “four pillar” framework concept the Buzz discussed recently.

OSHA Comprehensive Proposed Rule on Emergency Response

Emergency response workers in America face considerable occupational health and safety hazards in dynamic and unpredictable work environments. Current OSHA emergency response and preparedness standards are outdated and incomplete. They do not address the full range of hazards facing emergency responders, lag behind changes in protective equipment performance and industry practices, conflict with industry consensus standards, and are not aligned with many current emergency response guidelines provided by other federal agencies (e.g., DHS/FEMA). In recognition of the inadequacy of the outdated safeguards provided by the current OSHA standards, the proposed rule seeks to ensure that workers involved in Emergency Response activities get the protections they deserve from the hazards they are likely to encounter while on the job.

Read more by clicking here.

Request for Nominations of OSHA’s Federal Advisory Council on Occupational Safety and Health (FACOSH)

As you may be aware, OSHA is requesting nominations for membership on its Federal Advisory Council on Occupational Safety and Health (FACOSH). Nominations for FACOSH must be submitted by February 23, 2024.

Individuals may submit nominations and supporting materials, identified by Docket No. OSHA-2023-0012, electronically at https://www.regulations.gov, which is the Federal e-Rulemaking Portal. For more information, see the Federal Register Notice.

OSHA – Advisory Committee on Construction Safety and Health (ACCSH) Meeting Notice

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) Advisory Committee on Construction Safety and Health (ACCSH) will meet in person and virtually on February 22, 2024, from 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., ET.  ACCSH Workgroups will meet on February 21, 2024.

Individuals may submit comments and requests to speak, identified by Docket No. OSHA- OSHA-2024-0002, electronically at https://www.regulations.gov/, which is the Federal e-Rulemaking Portal, by February 15, 2024.

For more information, including tentative agenda items and registration information for the in-person meeting, see the Federal Register Notice, Press Release, and ACCSH website. Virtual meeting attendance information will be posted in the Docket (Docket No. OSHA-2024-0002) and on the ACCSH website prior to the meeting

Using Data to Prioritize School-Based CVI Efforts – STOP Specialized TTA Webinar

Join LISC on 2/16 from 1:00 PM – 2:00 PM for an insightful webinar on Community Violence Intervention (CVI) strategies. Discover effective ways to address the challenge of deploying resources in schools and communities to intervene, prevent violence, and foster safer learning environments for students. This webinar will highlight how schools can utilize the vast data they collect to help prioritize who and where to deploy CVI resources.

Register Now

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

An Immersive Inventory of Impulse Noise

Impulse noise may be as quiet as the pop of a can opening. The phenomenon ranges through the snap of a pencil, the beat of a snare drum, the crack of a bullwhip, and the blast of a rifle. What these events share is rapid change in sound pressure within a very short period, often less than a hundred milliseconds. The high peaks and very brief sampling windows make impulse noise difficult to measure with current dosimeters and sound level meters. Since impulse noise is more likely than normal noise to cause noise-induced hearing loss, this difficulty is cause for concern among occupational and environmental health and safety professionals.

Read more here.

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

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