Proficiency Day Awards Architects & Engineers 3 Professional Development Hours - PACNY's 23rd Annual Environmental Conference - Day One

This year's Proficiency Day of the Professional Abatement Contractors of New York's (PACNY's) 23rd Annual Environmental Conference was approved to award three (3) professional development hours (PDH) for architects and engineers.  This was the first time the first day of the conference was recognized for this purpose.  The first day is typically short with two or three presenters allowing us to get the presentations to the Practicing Institute of Engineers for their review.  Attendees had to sign the attendance sheet and attend the presentations to receive the 3 PDHs.  Ms. Lisa Brown, Executive Secretary of PACNY sent out the certificates to those that attended the presentations.

Karen Cummings, MPH presenting on the Asbestos Safety Training Program

Starting the conference and the proficiency day was Ms. Karen Cummings, MPH presenting on the Asbestos Safety Training Program  "Overview and Updates".  Her presentation gave us insights into the asbestos training industry.  For a copy of her presentation visit our Dropbox folder on the Resources page of our website.  Ms. Cummings has been the Director of the New York State Department of Health's Asbestos Safety Training Program for just over a year and has been getting to know the program.  Her presentation gave asbestos training providers, an important opportunity to meet with her and her staff (Ms. Jessica Pierce, reviewer of training submittals, and Ms. Ida Berry, many of us have met her when she has audited our training courses, were both in attendance).  Her department in 2018 regulated 62 training providers that provided 26,251 training certificates.  Her presentation included several graphics providing us with a glimpse of the NYS asbestos training industry.  The high water mark for training was 2000 when approximately 3,838 training classes (refreshers and initials total) were held (in 2018, 3,401 training classes were held).  Ms. Cummings also informed us that the high water mark for training certificates was 2013 with 29,130 certificates issued.  We learned that the busy season for training providers runs from January to April with over a third of all classes being held in that time period.  Some other interesting points from Ms. Cumming's presentation: 15% of providers (training providers holding 100+ classes per year) taught over half the classes and issued two-thirds of the certificates; average exam scores by discipline were typically higher for refresher classes than initial classes (not surprising) except for the air sample technician discipline (surprising).

Angelo Garcia, III, CIEC, CEOP, presenting on Asbestos Inspections & NYCDEP Changes

The next presentation was a "Review of Asbestos Inspection Requirements" presented by Mr. Angelo Garcia, III, CIEC, CEOP, of Future Environment Designs with significant assistance from Mr. Peter Delucia and Mr. Greg Mance, both from AAC Contracting.  Mr. Delucia worked on the content and did the polling of the audience, while Mr. Mance assisted with the content and questions to the audience.   Our group effort paid off with a well-received presentation that provided the audience with interactivity and information on the various requirements for performing asbestos inspections.  This presentation can also be found in the Dropbox folder.

The final presentation was "New York City Title 15 Amendments" also presented by Mr. Angelo Garcia, III, CIEC, CEOP, and again this presentation can be found in the Dropbox folder.  This presentation was on the recent changes to the New York City Department of Environmental Protection's (NYC DEP's) Title 15 Asbestos Regulation (formerly known as Local Law 76).  These changes were made because of the arrest of 17 NYC asbestos investigators (see the above video on the press conference on the arrests) and the recommendations of the New York City Department of Investigations (NYC DOI).   These changes included additional requirements for NYC Asbestos Investigators and some changes to other parts of the asbestos regulations.  See our previous blog post on these new requirements.

TS Steakhouse Waitress making the "Gotham"

Overall it was a good start to the three-day conference.  Of course, what is a PACNY conference without snow?  It was snowing by the end of the presentations.  Though it did not seem to deter people from attending the President's Reception that evening or prevent us from getting the Gotham at the TS Steakhouse.  Stay tuned for Days Two & Three!

Related Articles:

• NYCDEP Asbestos Rule Amendment Goes Into Effect January 6, 2019
• Countdown to PACNY's 23rd Annual Environmental Conference Begins!

Countdown to PACNY's 23rd Annual Environmental Conference Begins!

It's that time again!  If you haven't registered to attend the Professional Abatement Contractors of New York's (PACNY's) 23rd Annual Environmental Conference, its time to do so (It is only 21 days away, from this posting).  The Conference will be held on February 27, 28, and March 1, 2019, at the Turning Stone Casino & Resort in Verona, NY.  This three-day conference, as usual, will include the Wednesday Proficiency Day with the PACNY President's Reception, the Thursday Technical Sessions with the Vendor Hall, and the Vendor Cocktail Party, and completing Friday with the Regulatory Session including a panel from New York State Department of Labor and lunch.  Registration and sponsorship information can be found here.

It all begins on Wednesday, February 27, 2019, at 12:30 PM with a presentation from Ms. Karen Cummings, M.P.H., New York State Department of Health's (NYSDOH's) Director of the Asbestos Safety Training Program.  Her presentation will update us on the status of asbestos training in NYS.  Along with some failings of training providers.  It will continue with presentations from Pete Delucia & Gregg Mance, both of AAC Contracting and myself, Angelo Garcia, III, of Future Environment Designs (#FEDTC), discussing asbestos inspection requirements, and polling of the audience to make this presentation interactive.  Finishing the session will be a presentation of the amendments to the New York City Department of Environmental Protection (NYDEP's) Title 15 Asbestos Regulations (NYCDEP has been invited to present by teleconference).  We have also submitted the information regarding this day of the conference to the Practicing Institute of Engineering (PIE) for the purpose of being able to award three (3) Professional Development Hours (PDH) to the attendees. The President's Reception is later that evening.

The second day will include presentations by Ms. Sue Rossi, of Waste Management, discussing "Waste Management NY Landfills with acceptance of waste streams"; Adam Schrader of Ecospect with George Schanbach, of NYS AARST, discussing Radon and DOH Regulations Update"; Brian Sampson, of Unshackle Upstate, discussing Albany 2019 What You Need to Know and How it Will Impact Your Business"; Mike Rubin Esq., Partner at Goldberg Segalla, discussing "Best Practices for Abatement Contractors"; Mike Waller, of Rochester Regional Health, discussing "Sustainability?solutions and How to Balance"; and a representative of EIA discussing the "TSCA Update".  The vendor reception/networking will follow the presentations on Thursday.

NYSDOL Panel 2018

The final day will be Friday morning with a Lead (Pb) panel discussion followed by the NYSDOL panel discussion.  Friday ends with lunch and few stragglers discussing the week in review.

Sheryl Esposito Will Be Back at the FEDTC booth this year!

 #FEDTC will have a booth, again, this year and Ms. Sheryl Esposito will be womaning the booth.  We will also have the book I wrote "Do As I Say, Not As I Did! What I've Learned After 30-Years of Being in Business." available at the booth.  You can follow the conference on Twitter, Facebook, & Linked-In by searching for the #FEDTCPACNY.     We are looking forward to teaming with Peter and Greg to do our presentation on Wednesday and hope all of you will join us!

Related Articles:

• Winter Storm Impacts PACNY Conference, Part One.
• PACNY's Second Day, Part Two - A Storm is Coming!
• PACNY's Environmental Conference, Part Three-Bomb Cyclone Hits

NYC DEP Seeks Public Comments on Mold Notification Requirement

New York City Department of Environmental Protection (NYCDEP) is requesting public comments on a Notice of Mold Remediation Work.  A public hearing is being held on Wednesday, February 6, 2019, at 11:00 AM in the NYCDEP's 8th-floor conference room at 59-17 Junction Boulevard, Flushing, New York 11373.  The public comment period closes Wednesday, February 6, 2019.

Mold Growth in Corridor

Local Law Number 61 of 2018 (also known as Intro 978-D) amended the Administrative Code by adding a new Section 24-154, which provides that, before the performance of mold remediation work in certain buildings, the New York State-licensed mold remediation contractor must file a notice of mold remediation with NYCDEP no later than two business days before the project start date.  Section 24-154(c)(3)(b) further provides that notice may be filed within 24 hours after the project starts, instead of at least two days before, if the mold condition to be remediated poses an immediate risk of harm to any person or damage to property.  The purpose of the above public comment period is to establish a rule when such risk of harm exists.  In other words what the exception for two-day notification would be.  NYCDEP is proposing that projects that have at least 30 square feet or more of visible mold within one room or excessive water accumulation or flooding exists could notify NYCDEP 24 hours after the project starts with appropriate documentation that the condition exists.

Mold Abatement/Remediation/Assessment Course for Article 32 Licensing

Local Law 61 of 2018 went into effect on January 1, 2019.  The law requires licensing pursuant with New York State Department of Labor's Article 32 "Licensing of Mold Inspection, Assessment, and Remediations Specialists and Minimum Work Standards Law" to assess, remediate, and abate for mold incidents larger than 10 square feet.  The bill applies to residential buildings containing 10 or more units or commercial buildings larger than 25,000 square feet.  This law prohibits the owners or their direct employees from performing mold remediation or assessment work, which Article 32 allows.  Under this law, the person holding a mold assessment license must file with the NYCDEP a mold remediation form and work plan as well as a mold post assessment form and a mold certification form.  These forms are located at NYCDEP's Air Pollution website under Mold Remediation and Assessment.  It appears it will be an electronic submission and consists of a 6-page form for the mold remediation plan and a 4-page form for the mold post-assessment. 

Most Frequently Cited OSHA Standards in Fiscal Year 2018

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) annually publishes the top ten most frequently cited OSHA standards violated in the previous fiscal year.  OSHA has published the stats for the fiscal year (FY) 2018 (which runs from October 1, 2017, to September 30, 2018).  Here is the list of most frequently cited OSHA standards:

1. Fall Protection, construction (1926.501)
2. Hazard Communication Standard, general industry (1910.1200)
3. Scaffolding, general requirements, construction (1926.451)
4. Respiratory Protection (1910.134)
5. Control of Hazardous Energy (lockout/tagout), general industry (1910.147)
6. Ladders, construction (1926.1053)
7. Powered Industrial Trucks, general industry (1910.178)
8. Fall Protection - training requirements, construction (1926.503)
9. Machinery & Machine Guarding, general requirements, general industry (1910.212)
10. Eye and Face Protection (1926.102)

OSHA performed a total of 32,020 inspections in FY 2018.  In 2017, there were 971 fatalities in the construction industry which were 20.7% of total private industry fatalities.  The fatal four (falls, struck by, electrocution, & caught-in/between) were responsible for 59.9% of construction worker deaths in 2017.

The top 10 violations in the Remediation Servies Industry (which includes asbestos abatement, lead abatement, crime scene cleanups, oil spill cleanup, mold remediation, and hazardous materials remediation companies) were:

1. Asbestos (1926.1101)
2. Respiratory Protection (1910.134)
3. Lead (1926.62)
4. Hazard Communication (1910.1200)
5. Permit-required Confined Spaces (1910.146)
6. Inorganic arsenic (1910.1018)
7. Duty to have Fall Protection (1926.501)
8. Electronic Submission of Injury and Illness Records to OSHA (1904.41)
9. Scaffolding, general requirements (1926.451)
10. Ladders (1926.1053)

Interesting how the top four violations in the remediation industry should be the industry's specialty.

Since the silica standard has been in effect since September 23, 2017, we looked to see how many citations were issued in FY 2018.  OSHA performed 202 inspections in reference to the silica standard (1926.1153) and issued 556 citations for total penalties of $815,426.  The top 10 industries cited were:

1. Masonry Contractors
2. Poured Concrete Foundation and Structure Contractors
3. Commercial & Institutional Building Construction
4. Water & Sewer Line & Related Structures Construction
5. Highway, Street, & Bridge Construction
6. Site Preparation Contractors
7. Residential Building Contractors
8. Flooring Contractors
9. All Other Specialty Trade Contractors
10. Siding Contractors

As you can see OSHA is still performing inspections and still issuing citations.  Though silica standard is fairly new OSHA conducted almost triple the inspections than it did regarding asbestos.  However, OSHA's focus is definitely on falls, struck by, electrocutions, and caught-in/between. 

Merry Holidays and a Happy New Year From Future Environment Designs Training Center. The Only Constant is Change!

We wish all of you who read our blog and attend our classes a Merry Holidays and a Happy New Year!  We hope your 2019 is better than your 2018 and may it be healthy, prosperous, and joyful!

Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree

2019 will bring some changes to Future Environment Designs Training Center (#FEDTC).  The first change is to continue to grow our online training by providing training tokens to our clients who attend our asbestos & mold courses.  This added value to our current courses continues to distinguish us from our competitors.  So we can add training courses our clients/students would be interested in, we are asking our attendees for suggestions for classes we can develop into online training courses.  In addition, we are strongly considering becoming a New York State Education facility (we hope to have the financing for this undertaking within 2-3 weeks of the New Year).  This would allow us to offer the New York City training courses and provide the Site Safety Training cards.  It would also require us to expand the number of training instructors we use.  This will be a major undertaking and as many of you who know me, will take tremendous courage on my part to overcome my fears related to trusting others with my business.   2019 is already starting on a good beginning with several courses almost fully booked in the first quarter.

Bergdorf Goodman Window

No sooner than the New Year of 2019 rings in, New York City will be going through several changes.  The asbestos amendments to Title 15 will go into effect January 6, 2019, and the Indoor Allergen Rule goes into effect on January 16, 2019.  In New York State before the New Year hits (December 31) the minimum wage will go up.  In addition, don't forget to save the date for the Professional Abatement Contractors of New York's  (PACNY) 23rd Annual Environmental Conference on February 27-28 & March 1, 2019, at Turning Stone Resort & Casino in Verona, New York.  We will be your host for the February 27th, the proficiency day, where we will be discussing asbestos inspections/survey among other things.  We hope to see you there!  Again, we wish you a Merry Holidays & a Happy New Year!

Related Stories:

• NYC DEP Asbestos Rule Amendment Goes Into Effect
• NYC HPD Proposes Rules to Implement Indoor Allergen Hazards
• December 2018 Safety Suzy Newsletter
• Long Island's Minimum Wage Workers Getting a Raise
• Register for the PACNY Conference
• NYC Adds Training Requirements for Construction Workers
• NYC Site Safety Training website

 

Local Law 196 of 2017 Deadlines Extended.

On November 8, 2018, New York City Department of Buildings tweeted about extending the deadlines for construction training under Local Law 196 of 2017.  Click here to see the tweet.  This pushes back the training requirements deadline from December 1, 2018, to June 1, 2019.  Currently, to work on most construction projects all that is required is an Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) 10-hour construction safety course card.  This requirement will continue to be required until June 1, 2019.

After June 1, 2019, construction workers will be required to have 30-hours of training either by taking an OSHA 30-hour construction safety course or by getting 20 additional training hours over the OSHA 10-hour construction safety course.  Those 20 additional training hours must consist of an 8-hour fall protection course, a 4-hour scaffold user course, and an 8-hour site safety manager refresher course.

The next deadline has also been extended to September 1, 2020.  That deadline will require individuals taking the OSHA 10-hour construction safety course to take 30 additional hours of training or those individuals taking the OSHA 30-hour construction safety course to take 10 additional training hours.  For more information click here for the NYC Buildings Department November 2018 Service Update explaining these changes and requirements.

Related Articles:

• New York City Adds Training Requirements for Construction Workers
• The Impact of New York City’s New Mandatory Construction Site Safety Training Requirements Under Local Law 196

NYC's Department of HPD Proposes Rules to Implement Indoor Allergen Hazards Legislation

The New York City Department of Housing Preservation and Development (NYCHPD) is holding a public hearing on November 2, 2018, to accept comments on a proposed rule to implement legislation regarding indoor allergen hazards.  To find out how to comment on the proposed rule visit NYC's rule website at https://rules.cityofnewyork.us/content/proposed-rules-regarding-indoor-allergen-hazards.  The proposed rules implement Local Law 55 of 2018, enacted by the City Council.  The legislation establishes an owner's responsibility to investigate for and remediate indoor allergen hazards like mold, cockroaches, mice, and rats in multiple dwellings.  The rules provide for work practices to be used by owners in performing the work to remediate these conditions.  The Local Law goes into effect on January 2019.

Green algae in condensate pan

The new rules include several definitions that are interesting:

• Indoor allergen hazard - means any indoor infestation of cockroaches, mice, or rats or conditions conducive to such infestation or an indoor mold hazard.
• Indoor mold hazard - means any condition of mold growth on an indoor surface, building structure or ventilation system, including mold that is within wall cavities, that is likely to cause harm to a person or that has been cited as a violation by NYCHPD.
• Pest -means any unwanted member of the Class Insecta, including, but not limited to houseflies, lice, bees, cockroaches, moths, silverfish, beetles, bedbugs, ants, termites, hornets, mosquitoes, and wasps and members of the Order Rodentia, including but not limited to mice, Norway rats, and any other unwanted plant, animal or fungal life that is a pest because it is destructive, annoying or a nuisance.
• Underlying defect means a condition that causes an indoor mold hazard, such as a water leak or water infiltration from plumbing or defective masonry pointing or other moisture condition or causes an infestation of pests, including holes or entryway paths for pests.

Mold on a sheetrock wall

These rules require the owner of the building to make an annual inspection for indoor allergen hazards in apartments and common areas of the building.  It also requires the owner to inspect if the occupant informs them that there is a condition in the apartment that is likely to cause an indoor allergen hazard or the occupant requests an inspection or NYCHPD issues a violation requiring the correction of an indoor allergen hazard in an apartment.  The owner is required to fix an indoor allergen hazard in an apartment using safe work practices specified in these rules.  The owner must provide new tenants with a pamphlet developed by the NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene.  Prior to new tenant occupancy, the owner is required to fix all visible mold and pest infestations in the apartment, as well as underlying defects using the safe work practices.  The assessments or work regarding indoor mold hazards must be performed in compliance with Article 32 of New York State Labor Law (Mold Licensing and Minimum Work Practices).  It seems to us if this rule goes into effect tenants have another weapon they can use to make sure their apartments are healthy living environments.

Related Articles:

New York City Asthma-Free Housing Act by Jack Springston, CIH, CSP, FAIHA

NYS Department of Labor Publishes Two New Mold Fact Sheets

Asthma Control Study Indicates a Home Visit Strategy is Successful.

New York State Mold Licensing & Minimum Standards Law Is Signed By Governor Cuomo

NYS Mold Law Changes, Licensing Requirement Goes Into Effect January 1, 2016.

Mold Legislation Threatens Restoration/Remediation Industries