IHMM Today July 16, 2024

Inside IHMM

A Collaborative Culture

There are 1,389 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 Proposes Changes in Government Recognition of Credentials

IHMM Signs Letter Opposing Reductions in OSH Worker’s Pay – The IHMM Government Affairs Committee has agreed to sign a coalition letter opposing reductions in pay for IH and OSH employees. Here is the coalition letter we signed.

IHMM submitted comments on OSHA Advisory Committee on Construction Safety and Health (ACCSH): Notice of Meetings concerning OSHA-2024-0002-0007, and highlighted the creation of IHMM’s Certified Pandemic Preparedness Specialist [CPPS] credential.

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.

Beltway Buzz – Ogletree Deakins

CRA “Lookback” Deadline: August 1, 2024? The Buzz recently discussed the importance of the Congressional Review Act (CRA) to the administration’s regulatory agenda and how the CRA’s “lookback” provision allows a new Congress to review and rescind regulations finalized within sixty days of the previous Congress’s adjournment. This week, the Congressional Research Service provided some more clarity as to when that sixty-day marker might fall, though it was quick to point out that “[i]t is not possible to know with certainty what date the 2024 lookback period will begin until the end of the 118th Congress.” CRS wrote:

CRS unofficially estimates that Biden Administration rules submitted to the House or Senate on or after August 1, 2024, until the end of the second session of the 118th Congress are likely to be subject to the CRA lookback provisions and will qualify for additional periods of CRA review in the first few months of the first session of the 119th Congress (2025).

This means that regulations finalized after August 1, 2024, will likely be subject to the CRA’s sixty-day lookback provision in the next Congress. This also means that final rules, such as the U.S. Department of Labor’s (DOL) independent contractor, overtime, and walkaround regulations, will likely be inoculated from a CRA challenge in 2025—though they are all currently being challenged in federal court and could, of course, be reviewed by a new administration using traditional rulemaking processes.

2024 Spring Regulatory Agenda Released. On the afternoon of July 5, 2024, when absolutely nobody was paying attention, the administration released its Spring 2024 Unified Agenda of Regulatory and Deregulatory Actions. The semiannual agendas, which are customarily released in the fall and spring of each year, set forth the administration’s planned regulatory activity for the next sixth months. This most recent agenda is of particular significance because it is a presidential election year and because it might be the last agenda issued by the Biden administration. Some administrative regulatory priorities have already been finalized, such as the Wage and Hour Division’s overtime and independent contractor rules, and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s (OSHA) walkaround regulation. Some others—such as OSHA’s proposed heat standard—are just getting started and represent second-term goals. Here is what some of our favorite agencies have planned, according to the agenda:

Workplace Safety (OSHA)

• Powered Industrial Trucks. This rule is scheduled to be finalized in August 2024.
• Personal Protective Equipment in Construction. The final rule is slated for September 2024.
• Infectious Diseases. A proposal to “protect employees from exposure to pathogens that can cause significant infectious disease” has been pushed back to November 2024.
• Workplace Violence in Health Care and Social Assistance. This proposed rule is scheduled to be issued in December 2024.
• Tree Care Standard. A proposed rule “that would best address [tree care] industry safety and health concerns” is scheduled for December 2024.
• Lock Out/Tag Out. Changes to the lock out/tag out standard, in light of new technology, are projected for December 2024.

Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP). OFCCP’s proposal, “Modernizing Affirmative Action and Nondiscrimination Obligations for Federal Contractors and Subcontractors,” was most recently scheduled to appear in September of this year. Under this latest agenda, the proposal is projected all the way to May 2025.

Office of Labor-Management Standards (OLMS). In August 2024, OLMS is scheduled to issue a notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) relating to a new reporting method called “split income reporting.” According to OLMS, “Under split-income reporting, the employer would be required to report, for example, its supervisors’ income on a split basis, that is, the pro rata share of the supervisor’s wages that were spent undertaking the reportable activity.”

Employment and Training Administration (ETA). The agenda does not list any follow-up activity on its request for information on updating Schedule A of the permanent labor certification process.

National Labor Relations Board. In September 2024, the Board is scheduled to finalize its so-called “election protection” rule.

U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC). On multiple occasions, the Buzz predicted that the EEOC would seek to revise its short-lived effort to collect employee wage data from employers. In this agenda, the EEOC indicates that in January 2025, it will issue a proposed rulemaking “regarding the EEOC’s authority to collect pay data or related information as reasonable, necessary, or appropriate for the enforcement of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Equal Pay Act of 1963.”

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services

• H-1B Modernization. The first part of this bifurcated rulemaking was finalized on February 2, 2024. Remaining elements of the proposed rule—though it is unclear whether this includes all or just some of these provisions—are scheduled to be finalized by December 2024.
• EAD Extension. A final rule providing for automatic extension period for certain Employment Authorization and Documentation (EAD) applicants is projected to be issued in December 2024.
• Adjustment of Status to Lawful Permanent Residence. In August 2024, USCIS expects to issue a proposal to amend its regulations governing the adjustment of status to lawful permanent residence in the United States in order “to reduce processing times, improve the quality of inventory data provided to partner agencies, reduce the potential for visa retrogression, and promote the efficient use of immediately available immigrant visas.”
• Modernizing Regulations Governing Nonimmigrant Workers. In January 2025, USCIS plans to release a proposal “updating the employment authorization rules regarding dependent spouses of certain nonimmigrants; increasing flexibilities for certain nonimmigrant workers … and modernizing policies and procedures for Employment Authorization Documents.”

U.S. Department of State

• Personal appearance waiver. In October 2024, the State Department intends to finalize its amendments “regarding the general requirement for immigrant visa applicants to personally appear before a consular officer.”
• The agenda does not list any future plans regarding the State Department’s pilot program for domestic visa renewal for qualified H-1B nonimmigrant visa applicants.

EPA Grants TSCA Section 21 Petition Seeking Section 6 Rule Prohibiting Three PFAS Found in Fluorinated Plastic Containers

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced on July 11, 2024, that it granted a petition filed under Section 21 of the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) requesting that EPA establish regulations under TSCA Section 6 prohibiting the manufacturing, processing, use, distribution in commerce, and disposal of three per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) formed during the fluorination of plastic containers. EPA “will promptly commence an appropriate proceeding under TSCA Section 6.” According to EPA’s announcement, EPA intends to request information, including the number, location, and uses of fluorinated containers in the United States; alternatives to the fluorination process that generates perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), perfluorononanoic acid (PFNA), and perfluorodecanoic acid (PFDA); and measures to address risk from PFOA, PFNA, and PFDA formed during the fluorination of plastic containers. The action reflects a growing trend to optimize TSCA’s citizen petition provision, a topic discussed at length at our TSCA Reform — Eight Years Later program held on June 26, 2024. For more information, please read the full memorandum.

Federal Register Here

Read more here

Hazardous Materials FAST Act Requirements- HM-263

On February 3, 2023, more than a dozen rail cars derailed on the outskirts of East Palestine, OH, near the Pennsylvania border. Eleven of those carried hazardous materials, including UN1086 Vinyl chloride, a flammable gas that is also a carcinogen and reproductive hazard. Toxic fumes, including hydrogen chloride and phosgene, were released into the air, forcing the evacuation of homes in the area.

When emergency responders arrived on scene, they had no real-time information on the hazardous materials the train was carrying.

As a result of the safety recommendation of the National Transportation Safety Board the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) has amended the 49CFR regulations (Parts 171, 174, and 180) to require railroads that carry hazardous materials to generate in electronic form, maintain, and provide to first responders, emergency response officials, and law enforcement personnel, certain information regarding hazardous materials in rail transportation to enhance emergency response and investigative efforts. This information must be given to authorized federal, state, and local first responders.

Read more at the ICC Compliance Center

Transport Canada

The Ministry has created a new portal as part of the opening portion of its new “TDG Online” service provision initiative. This first part will allow users to engage in electronic registration in the CANUTEC emergency reporting system. See the link here for details and help with registration for affected stakeholders.

OSHA Heat Standard Coming

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has released a proposed rule that would protect approximately 36 million workers in indoor and outdoor work settings from extreme heat. The proposed rule would require employers to develop an injury and illness prevention plan to control heat hazards in workplaces affected by excessive heat. Among other things, the plan would require employers to evaluate heat risks and — when heat increases risks to workers — implement requirements for drinking water, rest breaks and control of indoor heat. It would also require a plan to protect new or returning workers unaccustomed to working in high heat conditions.

Perhaps the biggest takeaway is a new requirement that affected employers (there’s a list of exemptions, which are mostly office and telework employee related) must develop and deploy a written heat safety plan. Once the formal proposal is published, there will be a comment period and plenty of opportunity to provide feedback to OSHA before any rule is finalized.

Federal Register Notice

Supreme Court Overturns Chevron

PHMSA Issues New Rule Requiring Electronic Tracking of Hazardous Materials on Trains After East Palestine Incident

Attention Transporters of Hazardous Materials: PHMSA Proposes Registration Fee Updates

PHMSA

In an NPRM, the agency, to account for what it contends are increased transport of hazardous materials as well as what it says are the burdens such transport places on first responders, proposes updates to the registration fees under the statutorily mandated registration and fee assessment program for persons who transport, or offer for transportation, certain categories and quantities of hazardous materials.

PHMSA’s proposed rulemaking would increase the annual fee by $125 for those registrants qualifying as a small business or not-for-profit organization (an increase from $250 to $375) and those registrants not qualifying as a small business or not-for-profit organization by $425 (an increase from $2,575 to $3,000).

Other proposed amendments in the NPRM include:

• Implementing an electronic-only registration fee payment process, based on changes to the payment processes implemented by the Department of Treasury
• Revising requirements to clarify that a Certificate of Registration may be carried in either electronic or paper form, for both motor carriers and those who transport hazardous materials by vessel.

The proposed update to fees will generate the estimated $6.4 million dollars necessary to fund PHMSA’s Hazardous Materials Emergency Preparedness (HMEP) grants program at newly authorized levels in accordance with the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (2021).

Comments are due no later than August 22^nd, 2024. See details and how to comment here.

Federal Register Notice

Notice of Public Meetings: International Standards on the Transport of Dangerous Goods

PHMSA’s OHMS will be hosting public forums in advance of four international meetings to allow the public to give input on current proposals being considered by the International Civil Aviation Organization’s (ICAO) Dangerous Goods Panel (DGP) and the United Nations Sub-Committee of Experts on the Transport of Dangerous Goods (UNSCOE TDG). The international meetings include:

• ICAO TDG Working Group 24 (WG/24), tentatively scheduled for October, in Montreal, Canada.
• The 65th session of the UNSCOE TDG, scheduled for November 25 to December 3, 2024, in Geneva, Switzerland.

Each of these public meetings will be held approximately two weeks before the corresponding international meeting at U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) Headquarters in Washington, DC (1200 New Jersey Avenue SE, West Building), with a remote participation option available. Specific information for each meeting, including date, time, conference call-in number, and details for advance registration will be posted when available on PHMSA’s website under “Upcoming Events.”

Federal Register here.

2024-2025 Hazardous Materials Registration Brochure

Offerors and transporters of certain quantities and types of hazardous materials are required to file an annual registration statement with DOT and pay a designated fee. These fees are used to fund PHMSA’s Emergency Preparedness grants, which support hazardous materials emergency response planning and training activities by states, local governments, and Native American Tribes.

This brochure, updated for the 2024-2025 registration year, details PHMSA’s Hazmat Registration program by explaining who must register, and when and how to register, and providing key dates, registration cost, and other important information.

Link: https://www.phmsa.dot.gov/registration/registration-mail-brochure

Note: Each registration year spans from July 1 to June 30, with early registration beginning May 1. Completed registration statements and payment must be submitted before July 1, 2024, or before engaging in any of the activities requiring registration, whichever is later.

Contact [email protected] for more information.

Safe + Sound Week 2024

Safe + Sound Week will be held from August 12-18, 2024.

Registration will open in July. Resources on how to participate will be released in the coming months. Stay tuned for more information! In the meantime, visit the Safe + Sound event archive to view participation from previous years.  

NIOSH Mental Health Resources

NIOSH launched an Impact Wellbeing Guide: Taking Action to Improve Healthcare Worker Wellbeing. This Guide offers six concrete Action Steps that hospital leaders can take to accelerate or supplement professional well-being efforts in their hospitals. It was developed in partnership with the Dr. Lorna Breen Heroes Foundation and tested in six CommonSpirit hospitals across the U.S.

Participate in the Fall Stand-Down

The 11^th Annual National Safety Stand-Down to Prevent Falls in Construction will take place from May 6-10, 2024. Join us to help prevent fall hazards in the workplace by participating in the Stand-Down.

8 Lessons Learned From a Real-Life Swatting Incident

Last fall we hosted a live webinar with staff from the city of Franklin, New Hampshire, and the Franklin School District. The discussion highlighted their response to a swatting incident in 2022.

With these crises becoming more common nationwide, preparation is crucial. Our latest blog post shares valuable insights from the Franklin team that may help school districts address potential security issues.  Learn more here.

__________

Are You Prepared for Any School Emergency?

We are excited to invite you to the next crucial step on the Path to Safer Schools: “Be Prepared”. Join us for this empowering conversation, designed to equip school leaders, teachers, and safety professionals with essential skills and knowledge for comprehensive emergency preparedness.

Webinar Details:

• Date: July 16, 2024
• Time: 2 PM EST
• Panelists: Guy Bliesner, Daniel Dluzneski, Gabrielle Morquecho
• Register Here

______________

Networking Drop-In

BJA/COPS STOP grantees, join our monthly Networking Drop-In session 7/17 from 12-1 PM ET and 3-4 PM ET. This is your opportunity to connect and engage with fellow grantees.

These sessions are not recorded. A Zoom link will be sent out via email (Note: the link remains the same every month). If you are a grantee and do not receive these emails, please reach out and let us know.

_____________

• 8/7 – Preventing Mass Attacks in Our Communities Webinar
  Hosted by the U.S. Secret Service National Threat Assessment Center
• 9/25-26 – 2024 National Summit on K-12 School Safety and Security

____________

Explore Our School Threat Assessment Toolkit:

Now Available in Interactive Web Format!

PFAS — Determining PFAS Content in Your Supply Chain and Expanding Data Collection Practice

July 23, 2024
11:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. (EDT)

REGISTER NOW

Register now to join Bergeson & Campbell, P.C. (B&C^®) for “Determining PFAS Content in Your Supply Chain and Expanding Data Collection Practice,” a complimentary webinar covering the basics of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) reporting rule for per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS). With Chemical Data Reporting (CDR) wrapping up this fall, companies still have time to gather the necessary information regarding PFAS to begin reporting as early as this November.

The fiscal year (FY) 2020 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) amended the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) to require that all manufacturers (including importers) of PFAS and PFAS-containing articles in any year since 2011 report information related to chemical identity, uses, volumes made and processed, byproducts, environmental and health effects, worker exposure, and disposal to EPA. According to EPA, at least 1,462 PFAS that are known to have been made or used in the United States since 2011 will be subject to its October 2023 final reporting rule, but the actual number may be very much higher. The six-month reporting period will begin November 12, 2024, and end May 8, 2025. Small businesses that are solely reporting data on importing PFAS present as components in articles have an additional six months to report, until November 10, 2025.

Ergonomics Is About More Than Assessments

So many people talk about ergonomics assessments that you might be forgiven for mistakenly thinking that ergonomics is entirely about assessments. The truth is that while it’s important to get assessments right, most real benefits of ergonomics come from everything that happens afterward.

You may remember a classic episode of Seinfeld in which Jerry finds that the auto rental company has lost his reservation, but they claim they’ve done their job by taking the reservation. Jerry sets them straight, telling them, “That’s really the most important part of the reservation—the holding. Anyone can just take them.” Similarly, the most important part of assessments isn’t the doing, it’s the using. Anyone can do assessments, and unfortunately, many who do them stop there because their tools don’t enable them to go any further.​

Read more here.

IHMM-HMS Event Calendar