IHMM Today May 9, 2023

INSIDE IHMM

IHMM Board of Directors Nominations

IHMM Directors and Officers are volunteers who serve without pay. They may serve up to two, four-year terms. Directors are responsible for the governance of IHMM, including establishing the overall direction of IHMM, the appointment of Executive Director, policy-making, and financial management.

IHMM has two Board seats expiring at the end of 2023. IHMM is soliciting candidates for these two seats; one an At-Large Director seat that may be held by a CHMM, CHMP, CDGP, CSHM or CSMP. One a CSMP Director seat that must be held by a CSMP.

The composition of the present Board is here > https://ihmm.org/board-of-directors/

Qualified candidates may submit nomination papers [self nomination is acceptable] on or before June 30, 2023. The documents for this announcement, procedures, and nomination form are here:

• 2024 IHMM Nominations and Elections Process

• 2024 IHMM Call for Nominations

• 2024 IHMM Fillable Nominations Form

IHMM Excellence in EHS Management Award

The Excellence in EHS Management Award recognizes an individual who has excelled in their role as an EHS manager. The Institute for Hazardous Materials Management [IHMM] will present the award at the annual National Safety Council Expo.

The honoree will receive a commemorative plaque and be recognized in a press release and in IHMM member communications. Travel expenses to the award ceremony will be subsidized. If traveling from overseas IHMM will pay travel expenses from the nearest port of entry.

Nominations will be accepted from March through July of each year and the presentation to the winner will be in conjunction with the National Safety Council Congress and Expo, this year on October 23-25, 2023 in New Orleans.

Make your nominations here >>  https://ihmm.org/ehs-management-award/

See previous award winners here >> https://ihmm.org/past-honorees/

IHMM Needs Volunteers

“There’s nothing stronger than the heart of a volunteer.” — Jimmy Doolittle. We all benefit from the expertise, knowledge sharing, content creation and mentoring that our volunteer leaders share with our communities of practice.

IHMM has a wide variety of ways that our certificants and members can volunteer their time, make a substantial contribution to their communities of practice, and earn valuable Continuing Maintenance Points [CMPs].

Volunteering with IHMM is a deeply rewarding and giving endeavor, ranging from being a subject matter expert on a scheme committee to leading discussions in our COLLABORATION engagement platform to becoming a mentor for a college student.

Take a few minutes and review How to Become An IHMM Volunteer, and then scroll down and take the volunteer self-assessment.

CHMP Scheme Committee

• Must be a CHMP > https://ihmm.org/chmp-scheme-committee/

Government Affairs Committee

• Open to all certificants, We need volunteers in these 16 states – Alaska, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Arizona, Kansas, Iowa, Missouri, Illinois, Kentucky, Florida, Delaware, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, Vermont, and Maine. 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.
• > https://ihmm.org/government-affairs-committee/

IHMM Certifications in Development Update

• The Certified School Safety Manager [CSSM] credential has now had its examination questions loaded into the Kryterion system and we will be ready to deliver exams for this important credential. The draft website is here > https://ihmm.org/cssm/  and the only element left to complete is a 60-second video.
• The Certified Pandemic Preparedness Specialist [CPPS] credential had a review by the IHMM Board on April 21st and IHMM will be able to start to build the website. The examination questions for the CPPS exam are being loaded into the Kryterion system at this writing. Dan Blankfeld and Gene Guilford have met with the Maryland Congressional delegation on this credential and look forward to more meetings.
• The Associate Hazardous Materials Manager [AHMM] credential had a review by the IHMM Board on April 21st and other than an edit to the professional experience section of an option for eligibility, this credential’s examination questions are completed and is scheduled for launch by Memorial Day, 2023.

A Collaborative Culture

There are 956 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]

IATA DGR 64th Edition Addendum II

The European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) announced on April 12, 2023, that it has recommended that the EC add the following substances to the Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemicals (REACH) Authorisation List:

• Ethylenediamine;

• 2-(4-Tertbutylbenzyl)propionaldehyde and its individual stereoisomers;

• Lead;

• Glutaral;

• 2-Methyl-1-(4-methylthiophenyl)-2-morpholinopropan-1-one;

• 2-Benzyl-2-dimethylamino-4′-morpholinobutyrophenone;

• Diisohexyl phthalate; and

• Orthoboric acid, sodium salt.

ECHA states that it prioritized these substances from the Candidate List of Substances of Very High Concern (SVHC) for this recommendation “as they are of the highest priority, following the agreed approach of 2014.” The European Commission (EC) will determine which substances are added to the Authorisation List and what conditions apply for each substance. If a substance is included on the Authorisation List, it can only be placed on the European Economic Area (EEA) market or used after a given date, if an authorization is granted for a specific use.

Robust study summaries effectively support hazard assessment

The final report of the OECD’s project, led by ECHA, on the role of robust study summaries for the hazard assessment of chemicals finds they are fit for purpose. The report also highlights a number of areas for improvement to further increase the trustworthiness and usefulness of robust study summaries.

Member States back microplastics restriction

The EU Member States have voted in favour of restricting intentionally added microplastics on 26 April 2023 in the European Commission’s REACH Committee. The Commission’s draft regulation will still be scrutinised by the European Parliament and Council before it can be adopted.

RAC opinions on restriction proposals available

Save the Date for “TSCA Reform — Seven Years Later” on June 29, 2023

Bergeson & Campbell, P.C. (B&C^®), the Environmental Law Institute (ELI), and the George Washington University Milken Institute School of Public Health are pleased to announce the seventh annual Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) conference, “TSCA Reform — Seven Years Later,” to occur Thursday, June 29, 2023. This complimentary virtual conference featuring speakers from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and non-governmental and industry stakeholders will provide updates on a host of topics, including the interface of science and policy under TSCA, new chemicals, risk evaluation and management, the regulation of articles, and more.

Materials from the 2022 “TSCA Reform — Six Years Later” conference are available to ELI Members at https://www.eli.org/events/tsca-reform-six-years-later.

• WEBINAR — TOP TSCA TOPICS: Cumulative Risk, NAMs, Risk Evaluations, CBI, And More!, May 17, 2023, 11:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. (EDT), Via Webinar: Panelists Anna Lowit, Senior Science Advisor, Office of Pollution Prevention and Toxics (OPPT), and Richard E. Engler, Ph.D., Director of Chemistry, Bergeson & Campbell, P.C. (B&C^®), will discuss New Approach Methodologies (NAM), cumulative risk assessment methodologies, systematic review procedures, new approaches to new chemical reviews, per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) reporting, and confidential business information (CBI) protections. Register now.
• RECORDED WEBINAR ON-DEMAND — “Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) Regulations”: Panelists discuss the history and evolution of EPR legislation, expected developments that will affect the chemical and chemical product industry, and what companies need to know to prepare for these changes. Panelists included LeRoy (Lee) C. Paddock, Distinguished Professorial Lecturer of Environmental Law at the George Washington University Law School; Edith G. Nagy, Regulatory Consultant, B&C; and Lynn L. Bergeson, Managing Partner, B&C. Watch now.

EPA Releases Congressional Justification For FY 2024 Budget: EPA has posted the justification for its fiscal year (FY) 2024 appropriation estimates for the Committee on Appropriations (Congressional Justification (CJ)). According to the CJ, EPA’s FY 2024 budget includes $470.7 million and 1,677 full-time equivalents (FTE) for Objective 7.1, “Ensure Chemical and Pesticide Safety.” The CJ includes the following target dates for actions under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA):

• By September 30, 2026, complete at least eight high-priority substance TSCA risk evaluations annually within statutory timelines compared to the FY 2020 baseline of one;
• By September 30, 2026, initiate all TSCA risk management actions within 45 days of the completion of a final existing chemical risk evaluation; and
• By September 30, 2026, review 90 percent of risk management actions for past TSCA new chemical substances reported to the 2020 Chemical Data Reporting (CDR) Rule compared to the FY 2021 baseline of none.

EPA Will Hold GenRA Training On May 23, 2023: EPA will hold training on May 23, 2023, on Generalized Read-Across (GenRA), a publicly available tool that uses an automated approach to make reproducible read-across predictions of toxicity. EPA states that read-across “is a commonly used data gap filling technique whereby endpoint information for one substance is used to predict the same endpoint for another substance, supported by structural or other feature similarities.” Specifically targeted for decision-makers, EPA has divided the training into two parts to accommodate a variety of interests and schedules. Registration for one or both sessions is free but required.

• Session 1 (Presentation and Questions and Answers (Q&A)) 11:00 a.m. – 12:30 p.m. (EDT)

This session will provide an overview of GenRA content and function with opportunities for participation and Q&A.

• Session 2 (Breakout Sessions) 12:30 – 1:30 p.m. (EDT)

This session will break participants into breakout rooms to work on exercises in small groups, aided by facilitators.

High Court Weighs CWA Cases, EPA Readies Power Plant GHG Rules

The Supreme Court is slated to consider whether to review Clean Water Act cases dealing with citizen suit requirements and state mandates to review federally permitted projects. EPA is slated to release its closely watched greenhouse gas standards for power plants. And the Senate continues to debate environmental permitting requirements.

Supreme Court

The justices are slated to hold a May 11 conference whether they will consider whether to review two Clean Water Act cases that test the scope of the citizen suit provisions and states’ section 401 authority to review water impacts of federally approved projects.

Power Plant Rules

EPA is poised to release its highly anticipated greenhouse gas standards governing new and existing power plants, while also formally repealing the Trump-era Affordable Clean Energy rule. The standards could vary depending on several factors including whether a plant is fueled by coal or natural gas, as well as whether it operates nearly continuously or only intermittently.

But EPA’s rules are facing potential legal issues ahead of their release, legal experts say, including whether the Supreme Court’s recent decision to review the landmark Chevron doctrine could affect the rule — with key issues centering on the agency’s expected reliance on carbon capture and storage (CCS) and other emerging technologies.

Permitting Legislation

The Senate Energy & Natural Resources Committee will hold a May 11 hearing to discuss opportunities to improve permitting for energy and mineral projects, adding to ongoing debate on the topic over the past several months. The hearing comes as key senators have offered a series of competing plans aimed at overhauling permitting practices, with Senate Republicans floating a plan that would scale back numerous environmental permitting requirements for a variety of energy and other projects.

WOTUS & Wetlands

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit’s preliminary injunction on EPA’s revised rule defining “waters of the United States” (WOTUS) in Kentucky is slated to end on May 10, open the door for the court to either extend the injunction pending appeal, or make a permanent decision on whether or not to grant enjoin the rule in the Commonwealth.

Kentucky marks the 27th state where a court has enjoined the Biden administration’s WOTUS rule, but the circuit court only granted temporarily granted the injunction pending appeal until May 10, giving parties in the litigation time to file their respective arguments on the rule’s injunction.

–Inside EPA

Senate GOP Seeks To Ease Environmental Rules As Permit Talks Heat Up

op Senate Republicans are floating legislation that would scale back numerous environmental permitting requirements for a variety of energy and other projects, adding to multiple plans that are being considered as lawmakers strive to reach a bipartisan agreement with the White House on permitting concerns.

The May 4 proposal, offered by Senate Environment & Public Works Committee (EPW) ranking member Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV) and joined by several other Republicans, reprises and elaborates on several elements of legislation that Capito floated last fall on the topic.

Among other issues, the Capito-led bill would streamline reviews and court challenges under the National Environmental Protection Act (NEPA); codify Trump-era policies defining the scope of the Clean Water Act (CWA), limiting states’ clean water review authority under CWA section 401, and streamlining nationwide permits related to section 404 of the water law, according to a section-by-section summary.

The bill would also bar EPA from issuing a retroactive “veto” of a prior section 404 dredge-and-fill approval; reduce the need for certain projects to obtain a Clean Air Act new source review permit; prohibit the use of the Biden administration’s social cost of carbon (SCC) metric used to calculate the policies’ climate benefits; and bar EPA’s current requirement to review other agencies’ NEPA reviews.

Many of those provisions were included in Capito’s prior legislation that she floated last September.

–Inside EPA

Regan Seeks High Court Clarity In Sackett As Courts Block WOTUS Rule

As courts block EPA from enforcing its definition of “waters of the United States” (WOTUS) in more than half the states, Administrator Michael Regan is looking to the Supreme Court to provide clarity on the issue in its upcoming ruling in Sackett v. EPA, though many are warning the justices may not provide the kind of certainty officials are seeking.

“The Sackett case will provide some clarity” to many of the questions that have been raised regarding the agency’s authority over the scope of the Clean Water Act (CWA), Regan told the Senate Appropriations Committee May 3.

His calls come amid significant uncertainty over the Biden administration’s 2023 WOTUS rule, which officials finalized before the high court ruled in Sackett hoping to create a “durable” definition, but which courts have already blocked in 27 states.

Amidst the uncertainty, other EPA officials are also looking to the high court for clarity and are publicly calling for a “clear majority” from the high court in the hopes of avoiding the kind of uncertainty that stemmed from the high court’s split 2007 decision in Rapanos v. United States, where a split court offered two competing tests for determining jurisdiction.

“If we get another opinion where there isn’t a clear majority… just from a jurisprudential point of view, we could have another badly split opinion where, again, it’s not clear quite what the standard is that people are supposed to be applying in cases,” Sylvia Quast, EPA Region 9’s regional counsel, told an environmental law conference last month.

–Inside EPA

OSHA’s Safe + Sound Campaign is a nationwide opportunity to raise awareness and understanding of the value of proactive occupational safety and health (OSH) programs in all workplaces. Mark your calendars! Safe + Sound Week will take place from August 7-13, 2023. Safe + Sound Week is a nationwide event held each August that recognizes the successes of workplace health and safety programs and offers information and ideas on how to keep America’s workers safe. Registration for Safe + Sound Week opens in early July.  We look forward to your participation!

Safe + Sound emphasizes the need for safety programs at small- and mid-sized businesses, which are more likely to have limited resources dedicated to safety. As you know, effective OSH programs can help organizations identify and manage workplace risk before they cause injury or illness, improving sustainability and the bottom line. Safety and health management systems are a critical best practice to ensure that OSH programs achieve significant results and lower risk exposure.

Earn a Challenge Coin

Workers are an important resource for identifying workplace hazards and implementing changes. Safety reporting systems allow ideas and suggestions for improving safety to be captured.

Take the Speak Up for Safety Challenge! Review your safety reports with a team to find common themes and opportunities to improve your overall workplace safety and health performance.

Complete the challenge and earn your virtual challenge coin! Then, share the results in your workplace and on social media to show how you encourage workers to #SpeakUpForSafety to be #SafeAndSoundAtWork.

Your Partner Punch List

We would appreciate if you could support Safe + Sound by doing the following:

• Promote the Speak Up for Safety Challenge to your stakeholders

Sponsored Content

Respiratory Protection Program Management – Susan Harwood Training Grant

University of Texas Medical Branch, William J. Pate, CHMM

This training course is intended to educate participants on the requirements of developing and implementing a compliant Respiratory Protection Program. The focus of this course will be on topics related to preparation for an infectious disease pandemic. At the end of this training the attendee should be able to:
1) Manage an effective respiratory protection program through proficient application of 29 CFR 1910.134
2) Compare potential routes of exposure
3) Identify and implement potential controls (engineering, administrative, and PPE)
4) List the equipment needed to support fit testing
5) Explain the difference between qualitative and quantitative fit testing
6) Discuss the different types of respiratory protection available
7) Demonstrate correct donning/doffing of respiratory protection

This training course is 7.5 hours and participants will receive a certificate of completion that may be suitable for professional certification maintenance (CSP, CIH, CHMM, CHSP, etc.).

This course will provide 7.5 Continuing Nursing Education (CNE) contact hours. Accreditation statement: University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston is approved with distinction as a provider of nursing continuing professional development by Louisiana State Nurses Association –  Approver, an accredited approver by the American Nurses Credentialing Center’s Commission on Accreditation. LSNA Provider No. 4002176

This training is available only to employees and employers who are subject to OSHA regulatory requirements.  Grant-funded training is not available to state or local government employees unless they have occupational safety & health responsibilities (e.g. occupational safety and health trainers, program managers, committee members, or employees responisble for abating unsafe and unhealthy working conditions for their organization).  Registration in this course confirms that meet these conditions.  This training will include the opportunity to don, doff, and fit test respiratory protection including N95, half-face, full-face, and powered air-purifying respirators.  Anyone participating in this training and wanting to put on a respirator agrees that they have been medically cleared by their employer to do so in accordance with OSHA’s Respiratory Protection Standard.

The 8-hour training program is offered at various dates from March through September. For more information and registration for this FREE program go here >> https://www.utmb.edu/ehs/programs/radiation-occupational-safety-program/RPPSHTG2023

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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