IHMM Today November 21, 2023

ASHM Committee To Create Pathway for ASHMs

The IHMM Associate Safety and Health Manager [ASHM] committee, chaired by Jan Rosenberg, CSHM, will soon begin to create a clear pathway of courses to better prepare an ASHM to become a CSHM.

Starting with the Certified Safety and Health Manager [CSHM] blueprint, the committee will outline a recommended curriculum of courses to strengthen the ASHM and better prepare the ASHM holder to take and pass the CSHM examination, as well as to become a stronger and more valuable professional.

The CSHM blueprint has 6 domains and 45 subdomains, providing the pathway of critical competencies the ASHM should develop in order to become a successful CSHM. Look for these developments in the new year!

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.

On August 29, 2023 IHMM’s Executive Director made a presentation of this strategic imperative to the AHMP annual conference. Here is what IHMM intends to organize over the next few months:

• Federal Government  – Regulatory. We need a group of people watching Federal regulatory developments to advise when taking action can be helpful and raise our visibility in the agencies.

• Federal Government – Congress. We need a group of people watching legislation to advise us when taking action can be helpful and raise our visibility in Congress.

• State Governments  – Regulatory. We need a group of people watching state regulatory developments to advise when taking action can be helpful and raise our visibility in the agencies.

• State Governments – Legislatures. We need a group of people watching legislation to advise us when taking action can be helpful and raise our visibility in state legislatures.

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. Please see > https://ihmm.org/join-the-government-affairs-committee/  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!

The full presentation may be viewed here.

OSHA announces National Advisory Committee on Occupational Safety and Health will meet Dec. 12

The Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration will hold an in-person and online meeting of the National Advisory Committee on Occupational Safety and Health on Tuesday, Dec. 12, 2023, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. EST. Committee members will meet in person and the event will be open to the public either in person or online.

The meeting will include new member introductions, updates from OSHA and the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, and discussions about the NIOSH Mental Health for Healthcare Workers Campaign, safety as a core value and whistleblower protection.

Register to attend the meeting in person or online. Once registered, online attendees will receive a link for remote meeting access and in-person attendees will receive directions for participation. In-person attendance by the public is limited to 25 people.

Submit comments and requests to speak to the Federal eRulemaking Portal, Docket Number OSHA-2023-0003, by Nov. 27, 2023. Be sure to include the docket number on all submissions. Read the Federal Register notice for submission details.

Supreme Court sets argument in Chevron challenges

The Supreme Court will hear oral argument on Jan. 17 in a pair of linked suits that could overturn or sharply limit the long-standing Chevron doctrine that gives deference to EPA and other agencies on their “reasonable” interpretations of ambiguous statutory text.

The justices on Nov. 17 released their oral argument calendar for January, with the two Chevron cases — known as Loper Bright Enterprises, et al., v. Raimondo, et al., and Relentless, Inc., et al., v. Department of Commerce, et al. — both set for Jan. 17, the final day of hearings that month.

Both suits were brought by fishing companies seeking to overturn the National Marine Fisheries Service’s (NMFS) stance that the Magnuson Stevens Act allows it to force domestic vessels to pay the salaries of monitors they are required to carry.

Lower courts have so far upheld the rule as a matter of Chevron deference, finding that the law is ambiguous and NMFS’ reading is reasonable.

Petitioners in the NMFS suits are asking the high court to either overturn Chevron entirely or “clarify that statutory silence concerning controversial powers expressly but narrowly granted elsewhere in the statute does not constitute an ambiguity requiring deference to the agency.”

–Inside EPA

Sources Doubt EPA Vows To Issue PFAS Drinking Water Rule This Year

EPA Administrator Michael Regan is reiterating the Biden administration’s pledge to finalize Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA) limits for six PFAS by the end of the year, though observers say that timeline is highly unlikely as the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) has yet to begin formal review the final rule.

A state source is “hearing both end of the year and January” for a final rule but says “neither is likely,” in part because the rule is not under OMB review.

Another source notes says the agency may be facing resource limits, noting that the same team that is crafting the agency’s high-profile lead and copper rule improvements (LCRI), which is currently undergoing OMB review, is also crafting the SDWA rule for per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS).

While EPA did not respond to a request seeking comment, Regan and other officials continue to promise the rule will be issued by the end of the year.

During a Nov. 8 event in Eau Claire, WI, the administrator said the agency is committed to finalizing by the end of the year, according to reporting by Wisconsin Public Radio.

–Inside EPA

EPA to label PV panels, lithium-ions as universal waste

In response to electric power industry requests, the EPA is looking to classify solar panels as universal waste. The agency is also working to create a category of universal waste specifically for lithium-ion batteries. 

The Resource Conservation and Recovery Act allows the EPA to regulate management of hazardous waste. Within those regulations, the EPA also developed the classification of “universal waste,” which allows for an alternative set of regulations for certain hazardous wastes. The alternative regulations reduce the regulatory burden by allowing for longer storage of the materials and reduced recordkeeping. 

“EPA supports the increased use of solar power and electric vehicles as integral emissions-free sources of energy and transportation in the fight against climate change,” a press release noted. “Like all energy production technologies, when solar panels and electric vehicle and other lithium batteries reach the end of their useful lives, their associated wastes must be responsibly recycled and managed.” 

Read more here.

–E-Scrap News

EPA Proposes to Amend TSCA Risk Evaluation Framework Rule

EPA announced on October 19, 2023, a proposed rule that would amend the procedural framework rule for conducting risk evaluations under TSCA. Published in the Federal Register on October 30, 2023, the proposed rule states that the purpose of risk evaluations under TSCA is to determine whether a chemical substance presents an unreasonable risk of injury to health or the environment, without considering costs or non-risk factors, including unreasonable risk to potentially exposed or susceptible subpopulations identified as relevant to the risk evaluation by EPA, under COUs. 88 Fed. Reg. 74292. EPA states that it has reconsidered the procedural framework rule for conducting such risk evaluations and determined that certain aspects of that framework should be revised to align better with applicable court decisions and the statutory text, to reflect its experience implementing the risk evaluation program following enactment of the 2016 TSCA amendments, and to allow for consideration of future scientific advances in the risk evaluation process without the need to amend further the Agency’s procedural rule. Comments are due December 14, 2023. EPA notes that under the Paperwork Reduction Act, comments on the information collection provisions are best assured of consideration if OMB receives a copy of the comments on or before November 29, 2023. B&C encourages interested parties to review carefully EPA’s proposed rule and to provide comments as appropriate. This is potentially the most impactful TSCA rule proposed to date this year. For more information on the proposed rule, please read the full memorandum.

Read more >> https://www.lawbc.com/epa-proposes-to-amend-tsca-risk-evaluation-framework-rule/?p=12022

EXTENDED: HM-265A: Modernizing Regulations to Improve Safety and Efficiency

On July 5, 2023, PHMSA published the Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (ANPRM) “HM-265A: Modernizing Regulations to Improve Safety and Efficiency” to the Federal Register. Based on feedback from industry stakeholders, internal PHMSA review, NTSB safety recommendations, and modal safety partners, the ANPRM addresses 46 separate areas where the requirements of the HMR may need to be updated to increase efficiency while improving safety. Topics addressed in the ANPRM include those related to UN Performance Oriented Package testing, tank car safety, hazardous material employee training, and updates to standards incorporated by reference, among others.

The public comment period for this ANPRM has been extended, in response to a request from the American Short Line and Regional Railroad Association. Comments are now due by December 4, 2023. For questions, please contact Mr. Eamonn Patrick at [email protected].

• ECHA identifies research needs for regulating hazardous chemicals
• Call for evidence: restriction of octocrilene
• Assessment of regulatory needs reports published
• New proposals to harmonise classification and labelling
• Enforcement Forum: November highlights

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.

• 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

Regulatory Updates

PHMSA’s Office of Hazardous Materials Safety 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:

• The 29th session of the ICAO TDG, scheduled for November 13 to 17, 2023, in Montreal, Canada
• The 63rd session of the UNSCOE TDG, scheduled for November 27 to December 6, 2023, in Geneva, Switzerland

Each of these public meetings will be held approximately two weeks before the corresponding international meeting. Specific information for each meeting, including date, time, conference call-in number, and details for advance registration will be posted when available on the PHMSA website under “Upcoming Events.” These meetings will be virtual, with hybrid options available as possible, pending public health guidelines.

The Federal Register announcement can be found here.

IHMM CONFERENCES FOR 2023

IHMM will attend and support a number of conferences and trade shows throughout 2024, virtually as well as in-person as resources allow. In 2023 IHMM participated in the Bay Area ASSP conference, Ohio Safety conference, COSTHA Annual Meeting, AIHA Conference & Trade Show, ASSP Annual Conference, CUHMMC, AHMP, National Safety Conference and FET

Are there conferences you believe IHMM should attend that are not named here? If so, let us know by sending an email to [email protected]