IHMM Today December 19, 2023

INSIDE IHMM

IHMM Government Affairs in 2023

Here are the highlights of what we worked on in 2023, and with a new committee forming will build on for 2024.

• Professional Certification Coalition, 2023 Accomplishments and 2024 Priorities
• More Federal Recognition for the CSHM, CSMP, CHMM, and CHMP – IHMM Comments to OSHA Voluntary Protection Program [VPP]

• Hazardous Materials: Harmonization With International Standards – IHMM Comments Filed 7/31/2023

• PHMSA Seeks Comment on Initiatives to Modernize the HMR

• PHMSA – Hazardous Materials: Harmonization With International Standards – IHMM Comments Submitted – Docket No. PHMSA-2021-0092 (HM-215Q)

• NY Department of Labor rulemaking concerning the recognition of the CSHM and CSMP. IHMM’s comments concerning initiating this rulemaking are here
• Work with Eric Vega in Puerto Rico concerning credential recognition
• Review of the Governor of Nevada’s Executive Order concerning licensing boards and potential for recognition of the CHMM. IHMM’s comments on the Governor’s Executive Order are here
• Scheduling meetings with the Maryland Congressional delegation concerning the Certified Pandemic Preparedness Specialist [CPPS] credential
• PHMSA Recycled Plastics Policy – https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2023/04/14/2023-07869/hazardous-materials-request-for-feedback-on-recycled-plastics-policy
• Ohio EPA Hazardous Waste Rules – https://epa.ohio.gov/about/media-center/events/public-hearing-HazWasteRules
• OSHA, finding the personnel who make the decisions concerning credentials recognized as prerequisites for OSHA training programs
• Maine DEP, 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 IHMM Government Affairs Committee is found here, where you may also join our group.

IHMM and EPA Collaborate on the Continuing Challenge Hazmat Workshop

The Continuing Challenge is the oldest hazmat training workshop by responders by responders and we are entering our 35^th year.  The 2024 event is from September 3-5, 2024 in Sacramento, California.

We are currently looking for instructors for the 2024 workshop in all things hazmat including:

Planning/SARA Title III;

Mental Health for First Responders;

Drug Labs, Incident Command System and Response Management;

WMD/Explosives;

General Hazmat Response;

HAZWOPER;

Chemistry;

Oil Spills;

Hazmat Firefighting, Risk-Exposure Assessment;

Legal Issues for First Responders;

Media and Community Relations;

Radiation Response and Cleanup;

Air Monitoring and Sampling; Sampling; and

Lithium Ion Battery and Other Alternative Fuels Response.

Our students are hazmat team members from local, state, tribal, Federal and International fire and health departments as well as private industry.

Everyone can get more information at Hazmat.org.

Each seminar typically ranges from 2 hours to 8 hours in length. If you are interested in presenting at the Continuing Challenge then let us know by sending an email to [email protected] with a title, name of the program above, and a short description of the material you would like to deliver. Deadline for submissions so we can get them to EPA is February 1, 2024.

IHMM To Create an AHMM Examination Preparatory Course

In late October IHMM issued an RFP soliciting proposals to work with IHMM on the creation of an Associate Hazardous Materials Manager™ [AHMM™] examination preparatory course.

IHMM is pleased to announce that it has selected Columbia Southern University and VUBIZ, both organizations already work with IHMM on delivering other credential prep courses, to work with IHMM on the AHMM project.

A Collaborative Culture

There are 1,174 different conversations going on in the IHMM/HMS Collaboration platform this week.

A collaborative culture is important for every business but is especially important for our hazardous materials, dangerous goods, environment, health, and safety communities of practice. Do you have a problem you need to solve and want the opinions of your colleagues? This is where we come together to help each other.

IHMM credentialed professionals are at the top 1% of their professions and their reach is global. We are at the forefront of environmental protection, health, and safety and this is where collaborating with the best people in their fields, always willing to help one another, lessens the stress of our jobs, and where we strive as a team to make a difference of which we are proud.

We opened COLLABORATION to enable thousands of certificants and supporters to collaborate together.

You can collaborate here.

Access to COLLABORATION is through the same username/password you use to access your MYIHMM account. Having a problem? Contact Jimmy Nguyen at [email protected]

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: Home for the Holidays. The U.S. Congress is wrapping up for the year, and—we know you are going to find this hard to believe—Congress didn’t make much legislative progress during the three-week post-Thanksgiving work period (though the members did manage to pass the fiscal year (FY) 2024 National Defense Authorization Act, a bill that has passed for sixty-three straight years). Our lawmakers continue to spin their wheels on federal government funding, an issue the Buzz has been monitoring for months. Congress will reconvene in the second week of January 2024. Lawmakers will then have just eleven days—including the Martin Luther King, Jr., holiday—before the first funding deadline of January 19, 2024. It appears that government shutdown drama will continue in 2024.

DOL Finalizes Rule for Federal Contractor Successors. On December 14, 2023, the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division published a final rule, “Nondisplacement of Qualified Workers Under Service Contracts.” The rule implements President Biden’s November 18, 2021, executive order of the same name, which states, “When a service contract expires, and a follow-on contract is awarded for the same or similar services, the Federal Government’s procurement interests in economy and efficiency are best served when the successor contractor or subcontractor hires the predecessor’s employees, thus avoiding displacement of these employees.” The final rule addresses issues related to which agencies and contracts are covered, the timing and method of job offers, circumstances related to reduced staffing of a successor, the process for excepting contracts from the requirements, recordkeeping, and remedies. As the Buzz has previously discussed, this is one of those D.C. labor policy issues that has been flipping and flopping, depending on the administration, for at least thirty years. The rule becomes effective on February 12, 2024.

House Committee Tackles Labor Issues. On December 13, 2023, the House Subcommittee on Health, Employment, Labor, and Pensions held a hearing entitled, “Protecting Workers and Small Businesses from Biden’s Attack on Worker Free Choice and Economic Growth.” The hearing focused on a variety of labor and employment matters that should be familiar to Buzz readers: union organizing via card check, defining “independent contractor,” and joint employer status. Republicans and witnesses from the business community discussed how the administration’s position on these issues may be harmful to employers and the economy at large. Witnesses from the business community also criticized the administration’s failure to nominate a Republican to the remaining seat on the Board, which has been vacant for one year. While it is helpful that at least some of our labor leaders are concerned with what is happening at the Board and the Department of Labor, aside from budgets cuts and Congressional Review Act attempts (see immediately below), there isn’t a heck of lot they can about it.

Resolution Blocking Joint Employer Reg. Advances. In addition to the aforementioned hearing, the House Committee on Education and the Workforce also this week advanced a Congressional Review Act resolution rescinding the National Labor Relations Board’s joint employer rule. The resolution now advances to the floor of the U.S. House of Representatives, where it is likely to pass. In the U.S. Senate, the resolution has a chance of passing, as well, as it will only need a majority of votes to pass, and Democrat Senator Joe Manchin is a cosponsor. President Biden, of course, will veto the measure.

H-1B Cap Met. The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services announced this week that it “has received a sufficient number of petitions needed to reach the congressionally mandated 65,000 H-1B visa regular cap and the 20,000 H-1B visa U.S. advanced degree exemption, known as the master’s cap, for fiscal year (FY) 2024.” Nana P. Boakye has the details. The Buzz will be monitoring potential changes in 2024 to the process that may result from finalization of USCIS’s proposed H-1B modernization rule.

New OSHA Electronic Injury and Illness Reporting Requirements for 2024 – Pillsbury Law

As 2023 is swiftly coming to a close, certain employers should begin preparing for electronic submission of injury and illness information to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) in 2024.

A Year of Thanks and Government Relations Accomplishments

In 2023, AIHA’s members have been amazing. This year alone, there have been more than 1,300 instances of volunteerism in government relations, a significant increase compared to last year. This level of activity and AIHA’s reputation as a trusted source of OEHS expertise have had a predictable and exciting result: AIHA was referenced in 508 state and federal rulemakings, comments, and bills—and that’s just in 2023.

There’s a lot to be thankful for. Together, we’ve built, sustained, and grown a community of volunteers dedicated to translating their technical expertise into public policy recommendations to protect workers and their communities throughout the nation.

One example of our activity is the submission of comments to government entities. The topics we addressed this year include:

Read more >>

Pipeline Safety Research and Development Program

Develop and Demonstrate a Remote Multi-Sensor Platform for Right of Way Defense

Objective: The project will improve and deploy additional instances of a pipeline right-of-way (ROW) monitoring system based on stationary sensors mounted on/near the pipeline. Sensor data from multiple locations along the pipe is wirelessly forwarded to a central location for processing and analytics, correlating the data from multiple sensors to rapidly alert operators to events occurring in the ROW. The project will deploy improved field hardware with machine learning analytics.

(Project page and final reporting are available: “Develop and Demonstrate a Remote Multi-Sensor Platform for Right of Way Defense”.)

Meeting Information:

Wednesday, December 20, 2023, 3 p.m. to 4 p.m. ET

Microsoft Teams Meeting:

Teams Meeting Link

Agenda:

Welcome and PHMSA Introduction

Summary Slideshow of Project Results

Open Q&A and Discussion

Adjourn

EPA Begins TSCA Prioritization Process For Five Chemicals

EPA announced on December 14, 2023, that it is beginning the process to prioritize five additional toxic chemicals for risk evaluation under TSCA. The chemicals are acetaldehyde, acrylonitrile, benzenamine, 4,4’-methylene bis(2-chloroaniline) (MBOCA), and vinyl chloride. Between September and November 2023, EPA met with federal partners, industry, environmental organizations, labor organizations, state and local governments, and Tribes to discuss the prioritization process and presented a list of 15 chemicals that EPA was considering for prioritization. The ten chemicals not selected include: 4-tert-Octylphenol(4-(1,1,3,3-Tetramethylbutyl)-phenol); benzene; bisphenol A; ethylbenzene; napthalene; styrene; tribromomethane; triglycidyl isocyanurate; hydrogen fluoride; and N-(1,3-Dimethylbutyl)-N’-phenyl-p-phenylenediamine. Publication of a Federal Register notice announcing the process will begin a 90-day comment period. EPA has posted a prepublication version of the notice. More information will be available in a forthcoming memorandum.

–Bergeson & Campbell

EPA Updates

Key Air, Water Litigation Slated To Restart; Comments Due On Suite Of EPA Rules

Litigation over a range of hot-button topics, including EPA’s definition of “waters of the United States” (WOTUS), new source review (NSR) policies, and EPA stormwater permitting authority, are slated to resume. Comments are due on a suite of proposed EPA rules, including a supplemental proposal regarding power plant greenhouse gas limits, reuse and management of hydrofluorocarbon (HFC), vessel discharge standards and water infrastructure equipment.

GOP Senators Object To EPA’s Oil & Gas Emissions Reporting Proposal

Several Senate Republicans are pressing EPA to reconsider its proposed revisions to greenhouse gas reporting requirements for oil and gas facilities, arguing they would “artificially overestimate” methane emissions and thus companies’ obligations under a looming methane “fee” on excess emissions.

High Court Spurns Latest Bid To Undo EPA GHG Endangerment Finding

The Supreme Court has declined to revisit a lower court decision blocking litigation by free-market groups to reopen EPA’s landmark 2009 greenhouse gas endangerment finding, letting stand a finding that the groups lack standing to challenge the finding that underpins numerous agency greenhouse gas rules.

White House Eyes New Research Alliance To Bolster Cost-Benefit Analysis

The Biden administration is launching a new government-wide initiative to strengthen cost-benefit analyses that EPA and other agencies use to justify key rules, signaling that officials are planning to collaborate with private sector researchers to help identify data gaps and obstacles to improving quantification and monetization of costs and benefits.

Industry Seeks To Preserve Incineration, Landfilling As EPA PFAS Guide Nears

As EPA prepares to issue updated guidance for disposal and destruction of PFAS, the waste treatment and disposal industry is urging officials to set technology neutral standards that will preserve incineration and landfilling as options, pushing back on environmentalists’ calls to limit use of such technologies.

Environmentalists Brace For Chevron Repeal, Fearing ‘Halt’ To Rulemakings

Environmentalists and their supporters are bracing for the likelihood that the conservative-majority Supreme Court will repeal the Chevron doctrine that allows EPA and other agencies to reasonably interpret ambiguous statutory language when it hears two cases that will test the issue early next year, fearing it will halt key rulemakings.

–Inside EPA

Columbia Southern University

The Hazardous Materials Society [HMS] is a partner of Columbia Southern University. Columbia Southern University is an online university based in Orange Beach, Alabama, that strives to change and improve lives through higher education by enabling students to maximize their professional and personal potential.

A subsidiary of Columbia Southern Education Group, CSU offers online degree programs at the associate, bachelor, master, doctorate or certificate levels in a multitude of areas such as occupational safety and health, fire administration, criminal justice, business administration, human resource management, health care administration and more. CSU also features undergraduate and graduate certificate programs to provide focused training in specialized areas for adult learners.

Click on the CSU graphic at left and learn more about the professional development and degree program opportunities at CSU.

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