Nassau County's Environmental Hazard Remediation Contractors License Added to Nassau County Fire Prevention Ordinance

In our mold refresher courses, we've been discussing the 2016 edition of the Nassau County Fire Prevention Ordinance.  This Ordinance now requires businesses that provide board-up services and restoration services must be licensed with the Nassau County Fire Marshall.  The Fire Prevention Ordinance defines restoration services as the act of cleaning or restoring a residential or commercial building damaged by fire, flood, hurricane, storm or other emergency events.  The Nassau County Fire Marshall charges a fee to be licensed, however, if a business has a home improvement or environmental hazard remediation contractors license issued by Nassau County Department of Consumer Affairs are still required to have the Fire Marshall License but are exempt from paying the fee.
   

Fire Restoration Companies Must Be Licensed with the Nassau County Fire Marshall

If you are wondering what is an Environmental Hazard Remediation Contractor license?  This is a license created by Nassau County Local Law No. 13-2014 that requires "Licensing of Environmental Hazard Remediation Providers" or in other words environmental contractors.  However, environmental contractors are defined as "any person who or legal entity that, contracts with an owner or an owner's agent to inspect a suspected environmental hazard or to implement any measure or measures that result in the remediation of an environmental hazard in a building."  This definition means both consultants and contractors have to be licensed.  Even more amazing is the definition of Environmental hazard.  "Environmental hazard(s) means any condition that constitutes an indoor air quality violation as defined by any United States statute or regulation, any New York State Law or regulation, any local law or any regulation promulgated by the Commissioner of Consumer Affairs, and which hazard was caused by fire, flood, storm, chemical spills, dust, sewage, mold, pathogens or other biological contaminants and not caused by the presence of asbestos or lead."  Not totally sure what isn't covered, under this definition.  

Flood Damage & Mold are Environmental Hazards under Local Law 13-2014

The Local Law 13-2014 requires two licenses, environmental contractors have to get the Environmental Hazard Remediation Provider (EHRP) License ($1,300 for a two-year license, renewal fee is $500 every two years) and the Environmental Hazard Remediation Technician (EHRT) License ($110 for two-year license, every two years).  The EHRT shall be issued to an EHRP or their principal(s) and any person employed by, seeking employment by or under contract to a EHRP for the purpose of environmental hazard assessment and environmental hazard remediation.  It does allow an EHRT to supervise up to 10 unlicensed employees or contractors performing remediation or remediations.  To get the EHRT license the applicant must show proof that they have taken the following courses:

• OSHA Safety Standards for Construction or General Industry - a minimum of 10 hours
• NYS Asbestos Handler - a minimum of 32 hours
• EPA Lead Worker - a minimum of 16 hours.  Lead RRP is NOT sufficient
• Hazardous Waste Operations (HAZWOPER) - a minimum of 40 hours
• Microbial Remediation - a minimum of 24 hours
• Water damage restoration - minimum 20 hours or Institute of Inspection, Cleaning Restoration Certification (IICRC) WRT Certification
• Fire damage restoration - a minimum of 16 hours or IICRC FSRT Certification
• PCB Awareness - a minimum of 4 hours
• Bloodborne pathogens - a minimum of 4 hours
• Infection control risk assessment - a minimum of 4 hours
• Proof of a valid lead and asbestos abatement licenses.

170 hours of training, is a lot of training!

The above list consists of 170 hours of training.  It is interesting to note to get an asbestos abatement license you need to take an NYS asbestos supervisor - a minimum of 40 hours and to get the EPA Lead Remediation License you must be an EPA lead supervisor - a minimum of 32 hours.  Nowhere in this list of topics is a supervisor course, considering that the EHRT will be allowed to supervise up to 10 unlicensed employees/contractors that seem very lacking.  In addition, there is no assessment class in this list.  Most of us in the industry would agree that this list should be the minimum training for the remediation workers in the restoration/remediation industry.  This list should not be the training requirements for the principals/supervising employees of an EHRP.  In our opinion, EHRP principals/supervising employees should have a minimum certification from American Council for Accredited Certifications, American Board of Industrial Hygiene, Board of Certified Safety Professionals, or another national, non-profit certifying body which:  

• is accredited by the Council of Engineering and Scientific Specialty Boards (CESB) and/or the American National Standards Institute under ANSI/ISO/IEC 17024, and 
• is wholly independent of training organizations, membership organizations, and industry trade associations.

In addition, the Local Law does not address the conflict of interest issues that arise from these types of projects.  In our opinion, the local law should have this language to address conflicts of interest:

• Individuals or legal entities shall not conduct environmental assessments for a period of one year on projects for which they have conducted environmental remediation services.

• Individuals or legal entities shall not conduct environmental remediations for a period of one year on projects for which they have conducted environmental assessments.

We have written to our representative on the Nassau County Legislature (click on the link to see our letter) and have not gotten very far.  We suspect that is because we are only one voice and we need the industry to write to the legislature to get some traction on this.  We plan on sending another version of this letter in the next week or two.  We may not all agree on what changes need to be made, but we all agree that it needs to change.  Under the current version, very few contractors and no consultants would become license under this local law.

Related Articles:

• Mold Legislation Threatens Restoration/Remediation Industries
• Super Storm Sandy Cleanups, Educate Yourself
• NYC Department of HPD Proposes Rules to Implement Indoor Allergan Hazards Legislation

Future Environment Designs wishes all of you a Merry Holidays and a Happy New Year for 2020!

Future Environment Designs (#FEDTC) wishes you and your family a Merry Holidays and a Happy New Year.  As we say goodbye to 2019 and 2010 decade, it is a good time to reflect on all we accomplished in the last decade, including:

• Future Environment Designs achieving over 30 years in business.  Including writing a book called "Do As I Say, Not As I Did" about the experience.
• We have successfully added online registration for all our courses.
• We have created several online courses including NYCDEP Exam Prep, Asbestos Awareness, Hazard Communication with a New York State Department of Labor Right-to-Know component, Respirator User and OSHA Crystalline Silica Standard for Workers.  Expanding our client's ability to provide training for its workers. 
• We have digitized the course evaluation process.  To see how our students have been rating our courses visit our Coursecheck website.
• We have automated most of the reminder process.
• We have converted most of the asbestos and mold refresher courses into blended learning courses.
• We have continued to establish FEDTC as a resource of information.  Maintaining our position as a leading training provider in New York State.

2019 Rockefeller Center

As we say hello to 2020 and we look forward to the coming decade, the time is coming to hand over the reins of Future Environment Designs to a younger generation.  We expect this process to take most of the decade to ensure our clients are still provided the level of information and service they have come to expect from Future Environment Designs.  We expect more digitizing and blending of the courses moving into the future, including:

• All exams being moved online.
• Shopping cart added to the website.
• Revision of the website making it more mobile-friendly. 
• New online courses including Bloodborne Pathogens, Respirator Administrator, PCB Awareness, etc.

We are looking forward to seeing all of you in 2020 and during the upcoming decade.  We are also excited about the changes and opportunities coming our way.  Again, we wish you & your family a Merry Holidays and a Happy New Year!!!

Merry Holidays and a Happy New Year 

Save The Dates February 26th through February 28th 2020!!! PACNY's Environmental Conference Is Set!!

The Professional Abatement Contractors of New York (PACNY) have announced the dates for their annual Environmental Conference to be held on February 26th through February 28th, 2020.  It will be held at the Turning Stone Resort & Casino in Verona, New York.  To register for the conference or sponsor the conference click here!

NYSDOL Asbestos & Mold Control Bureau 

This year Future Environment Designs  is working with PACNY to put together the Wednesday, February 26th, 2020, Proficiency Day.  We are working with the regulatory bodies to start the conference with a bang and get the professional development points for professional engineers/architects, which would also apply for the American Council for Accredited Certifications (ACAC) and the American Board of Industrial Hygiene (ABIH).  We are focusing on Asbestos Contamination Assessments - what is expected by the New York State Department of Labor (NYSDOL) Engineering Department to approve a Site-Specific Variance and What NYSDOL Enforcement expects in the cleanup process?

Professional Presentations

On Thursday, February 27, 2020, will be the Professional Day this day will include information on Vinyl Asbestos Tile (VAT) removal; exposure updates on talc; mercury flooring; waste management, recycling, and your carbon footprint; New York State (NYS) harassment training; and NYS Women-Owned Business Enterprise (WBE)/Minority-Owned Business Enterprise (MBE) requirements.  The Vendor Exhibit Hall will also open on Thursday.  As usual Future Environment Designs will have a booth and we will have our book for sale "Do As I Say Not As I Did" and it can be signed by the author Angelo Garcia, III.

Vendor Exhibit Hall

On Friday, February 28, 2020, will be Regulatory Day.  The day will open with a round table panel and discussion including survey requirements expert panel discussion.  Afterward, the NYSDOL Asbestos Control Bureau will once again be present to update us and answer questions from the attendees.  It plans to be another fantastic conference and we look forward to seeing you there!

Future Environment Designs Attends the Plattsburgh Safety Expo and the PACNY Fishing Tournament

For a while there, it felt like Future Environment Designs was traveling all over the place.  We were in Plattsburgh/Montreal area at the end of June.  We were in Ohio/Michigan for the 4th of July week.  Then we were on Lake Ontario the week after.  We also developed two new online courses that allowed us to initiate a new training service.  The two new online (e-learning) courses are the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) Hazard Communication and the New York State Right-to-Know Hazard Communication training courses.  Both courses were developed to meet the training requirements in the OSHA Hazard Communication standard (1910.1200).  While the NYS Right-to-Know course meets the New York State Right-to-Know training requirements in New York State Labor Law Section 551, Articles 48 and 28 and Title 12 of New York Code of Rules & Regulations Part 820, these laws are enforced by New York State Department of Labor's Public Employee Safety Health (PESH) division, in addition to the OSHA Hazard Communication standard (1910.1200).  The addition of these online courses to our training catalog allows us to provide a training subscription service that can meet your annual training requirements under the OSHA standards and New York State laws.  In some cases, we can reduce your training costs to $20 per student.  Contact us if you are interested.

Our Display at the NASHC Safety Expo 2019

On June 27, 2019, we attended the North Adirondack Safety and Health Council's (NASHC) Safety Expo 2019 at West Side Ballroom in Plattsburgh, New York.  The Safety Expo had a short agenda but the presentations were excellent.  Our favorite presentation was "Hazards of Working on or Near Energized Electrical Circuits" by Mr. John Olsen, of Blue Collar Safety.  His presentation on Arc Flash/Blast was particularly eye-opening.  Ms. Lola Miller's (of the Volvo Group) presentation "Preventing Serious Injuries & Fatalities" was also interesting especially since she was using Menti,com to make the presentation interactive.  Her presentation was challenging Heinrich's Triangle, which is the theory of industrial accident prevention.  It says if you reduce the number of minor accidents there would be a corresponding fall in serious accidents.  Her data with working with the Volvo Group did not indicate that.  Her view was you need to evaluate Serious Injury & Fatalities (SIF) precursors and make sure these are addressed.  There were 15 vendors at the Safety Expo 2019, Reynolds and Son's display had an interesting variety of catalogs including a catalog called Cut Safe.  The Cut Safe catalog had a variety of cutting tools that use ceramic technology, visit their website for more information.

Mr. John Olsen of Blue Collar Safety at NASHC Safety Expo

Our next trip was 4th of July week to Ohio (OH) & Michigan (MI).  Though this trip was more pleasure than business, we did write the July issue of Safety Suzy during this trip.  As many people know, we are a beer enthusiast.  So on this trip, we hit several of my favorite breweries Hoppin Frog Brewery (OH), Founders Brewery (MI), Brewery Vivant (MI), and New Holland Brewery (MI).  We had a great time and drank a lot of great beer.  In addition, we got to see and put our feet into Lake Michigan, which a week later we went fishing on Lake Ontario.

Sunrise on Lake Ontario

On the morning of July 10, 2019, we attended the 6th Annual Professional Abatement Contractors of New York (PACNY) Fishing Pro-Am Tournament.  It was a beautiful day for fishing the water was still and the sun was warm.  There were 15 boats in the tournament this year.  They were:

1. Dival - Reel Excitement

2. Cornerstone Training Institute (CTI) - Sunrise 2

3. CTI- Legacy

4. AAC- Shotgun

5. AAC- Troutman

6. NRC- Reflection

7. Abscope- Rusty Lure

8. Future Environment Designs (FEDTC)- Catchin’ Hell

9. SES- Intimidator 

10. Aramsco- Pleasure Unit

11. Paradigm - Free Spirit

12. Sienna- Get Hooked

13. Expert - Irish Thunder

14. Expert - Screaming Reels

15. ECG - Richmond 4 

My big catch for the day!

We had the good fortune to catch just enough Salmon & Steelhead to last us the entire year and fill our freezer again!  Thank you, Darren Yehl, of Cornerstone, for giving us his catch to add to what we caught!  The winners were:

So far the summer has been entertaining but is going quickly and soon it will be fall and the rush for asbestos and mold refresher classes will be on.  This year is the 4-year anniversary of Article 32 the Mold Law and most everyone's license will be expiring between September and January 2020.  See you soon!

NYC DEP Asbestos Rule Amendment Went Into Effect January 6, 2019, Public Comments On New Amendment Closes on July 22, 2019.

New York City Department of Environmental Protection (NYCDEP) announced that they are holding a public hearing on Monday, July 22, 2019, on amending/correcting some of the amendments that went into effect on January 6, 2019.  All comments on this new amendment must be made by July 22, 2019.   The Asbestos Rule Amendment of January 6, 2019, included quite a few changes to Chapter 1 of Title 15 of the Rules of the City of New York, for a copy of the rule with the changes incorporated, click here.  For a copy of the Asbestos Rule Amendments only, click here.  In addition, the "Promulgation of Air Asbestos Penalty Schedule" went into effect on January 6, 2019.  This penalty schedule has been incorporated into Title 53 of Chapter 1 and includes the revised violation schedule for the changes made to Title 15 by the Amendment.  For a copy of this Penalty Schedule, click here.

Asbestos Training Course

As expected most of the changes to Title 15 was in response to the over a year ago indictment and arrest of the 17-18 NYCDEP asbestos investigators, see below for the press conference or click here for Spectrum News NY 1's report.  Those indictments included recommendations from the New York City Department of Investigations (NYCDOI) click here to see the press release on the arrests and the summary of recommendations made by NYCDOI.

Some of the changes regarding asbestos investigators:

• Subchapter A Section 1-01 subdivision (j) (3) now allows NYCDEP may block an asbestos investigator from filing an ACP5 form along with the previous wording of denying asbestos permits for non-payment of civil penalties by the abatement contractor, building owner or air monitoring company,
• A requirement of an electronic recordkeeping system and to protect records from water damage, and a requirement to immediately report if any records are damaged, lost or destroyed,
• Non-certified individuals may not collect bulk samples,
• New applicants must submit documentation of successful completion of an 8 hour minimum introductory blueprint-reading course or any applicable building design and construction training or certification as established by the department and posted on the NYCDEP website,
• Registered design professionals, certified industrial hygienist or certified safety professionals must have documentation of 6 months post-graduate experience in building survey for asbestos,
• Associate Degree individuals must have 2 years (instead of one year) post-graduate experience in conducting surveys for asbestos,
• Individuals with extensive experience must show 3 years (instead of two years) of experience in conducting surveys for asbestos,
•  Applicants are allowed three attempts to achieve a passing grade on the exam.  After the third attempt results in failure, the applicant must retake the New York State Inspector Training to retake the NYCDEP exam, 
• Section 1-16 letter (j) gives NYCDEP the authority to deny any application submitted if it is determined the applicant has failed to meet the six standards listed,
• Section 1-16 letter (k) gives NYCDEP the authority to immediately suspend an investigator issued a notice of violation alleging unprofessional conduct that demonstrates a willful disregard for public health, safety or welfare,
• Section 1-16 letter (l) gives NYCDEP authority for reasonable cause to believe an investigator's surveys have been performed improperly or fraudulently such that work performed poses or may pose a threat to human safety, the Commissioner may invalidate any or all ACP-5s filed by the investigator and may order the building owner to stop all work, have a new survey conducted by a different investigator, and have a new ACP5 submitted.
• Section 1-16 letter (m) investigators must disclose prior convictions, etc.
• Replacement certificates may only be obtained twice in any two-year validity period.
• The addition of the number of samples required based on Surfacing Materials, Thermal System Insulation, and Suspect Miscellaneous Materials.
• Skim coat of joint compound included in surfacing materials utilizing 3,5,7 rule.
• Bulk Sample results/reports must be submitted within 72 hours of request (used to be 5 calendar days).

What's wrong with this picture?

Some of the changes regarding other parts of Title 15:

• Several other definition modifications or changes, including:
• Bound Notebook -notebook manufactured so that the pages cannot be removed without being torn out,
• Start Date - shall mean the date when a worker decontamination enclosure system is installed and functional,
• Approved Variances changes including automatically canceling a written approval of a variance when the building owner changes contractors,
• Section added to experience requirement of asbestos handler supervisor,
• Sections added to the renewal of restricted asbestos handler certificate,
• Work Place Safety Plan's (WPSP) floor plans must now also show the location of the decontamination enclosure systems along with all project work areas,
• Failure to comply with the approved WPSP is a violation of these rules was added.
• A requirement that a registered design professional must submit a letter to the Asbestos Technical Review Unit affirming that the professional visited the workplace and that additional asbestos abatement, for the additional ACM added to a project, is consistent with the approved WPSP and the proposed changes will not impact egress or fire protection.
• Electronic recordkeeping of the project record for abatement projects,
• Air Monitoring Company must maintain electronic records for 30 years after the end of the project including:
• NYCDEP Certificate number of all individuals (the new amendment would change this to air monitoring technicians)  who worked on the project;
• location & general description of the project;
• start and completion dates for the project;
• name, address, & ELAP registration number of the laboratory used for air sample analysis;
• a copy of the project air sampling log.
• One air sample technician must be present per 3 work areas in one work site (the new amendment would add: except that if there are multiple work areas on the same floor, only one air sampling technician is required for that floor). 
• A rotometer's calibration sheet must be available at the worksite,
• Project air sampling log must be created & maintained in a bound notebook by the air monitoring company.  A copy of the log must be submitted within 72 hours of a request, used to be 24 hours.
• Sample location sketches must be made within one hour of the beginning of sample collection.
• Air sampling results/reports must be submitted within 72 hours of request (used to be 5 calendar days).
• OSHA personal sampling must be made available within 72 hours of the request.
• Entry and exit log must be submitted within 72 hours of a request, used to be 48 hours.
• Glovebag procedures may only be used on horizontal piping.
• The addition of on any individual floor for tent procedures.

The new amendment which is open for public comment until July 22, 2019, makes the following revisions:

• Clarify section 1-29 by specifying that only air monitoring technicians need to have their license at the workplace, not all individuals (see the note above);
• Clarify the requirements of section 1-36(b) as to how many air sampling technicians need to be present during sampling (see the note above);
• Clarify that the requirements of section 1-42(a) regarding the placement of air samples apply to all asbestos projects, not only those that are conducted indoors;
• Change the requirements for lettering on notices to be posted under sections 1-81(a) and 1-125(a), as contractors advised that the required font sizes were impractical.
• Air Asbestos Penalty Schedule, found at Title 53 of Chapter 1 of the Rules of the City of New York (RCNY), which also became effective on January 6, 2019, had failed to carry over certain sections from the penalty schedule which had previously been located in the rules of the Office of Administrative Trials and Hearings. Accordingly, DEP proposes to amend the penalty schedule to correct those omissions.
• Finally, the proposed rule divides the penalty schedule into three subdivisions (specifically, the RCNY, the New York State Industrial Code, and the New York City Administrative Code). No substantive change is intended with respect to the amendments made by sections six and nine of the proposal other than the addition of a penalty for a violation of Administrative Code § 24-1002.

AHERA TEM method counts for total asbestos structures per cubic centimeter averaged 22 times greater than the PCM fiber counts on the same filters.

Considering this was primarily focused on the indicted asbestos investigators and recommendations from NYCDOI, there seemed to be a lot of things NYCDEP needed to clean-up in other parts of Title 15.  It is interesting that third-party analysis recommended by NYCDOI was left out of the amendment, and Future Environment Design's comment about requiring transmission electron microscope (TEM) analysis for asbestos floor tile projects was ignored.  So much for the revised purpose of these rules being to protect public health and the environment by minimizing emissions of asbestos fibers.  Not including TEM analysis for floor tile projects does exactly the opposite of that purpose.  For more information regarding this issue see our Floor Tile Debate blog post.