City of Miami will provide green job training through EPA brownfields grants
Source: US EPA - Environmental Protection Agency
Aug. 7, 2009
EPA has selected the City of Miami, Fla. to receive $500,000 in grant funding to help train community members for jobs assessing and cleaning up brownfields sites. Funding for these grants is supported by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009.
“This Recovery Act funding will train people for real jobs that help restore their neighborhoods,” said Stan Meiburg, EPA Acting Regional Administrator in Atlanta. “It will go a long way in protecting public health and the environment and providing economic benefits through cleanup and redevelopment of properties that have been sitting idle due to real or even perceived contamination.”
The Miami Brownfields Job Training Program will employ residents and facilitate the cleanup of brownfields by providing free “green job” training for 120 city residents over nine 16-week training cycles. Training will include brownfields assessment, remediation, and redevelopment and will prepare graduates for entry-level positions as asbestos inspectors and abatement workers, emergency spill response technicians, environmental technicians, field sampling technicians, HAZWOPER technicians, and OSHA safety inspectors.
Since 1998, EPA has awarded more than $25 million in brownfields job training funds. More than 5,000 people have completed EPA-funded training programs, with more than 3,250 obtaining employment in the environmental fields, earning an average wage of $13.81 per hour. EPA established the Brownfields Job Training Program to help residents take advantage of jobs created by the assessment, cleanup, and sustainable reuse of brownfields sites and to ensure that the economic benefits derived from brownfields redevelopment remain in the affected communities.
Brownfields are sites where expansion, redevelopment, or reuse may be complicated by the presence or potential presence of a hazardous substance, pollutant, or contaminant. In 2002, the Small Business Liability Relief and Brownfields Revitalization Act (Brownfields Law) was passed. The Brownfields Law expanded the definition of what is considered a brownfield, so communities may now focus on mine-scarred lands or sites contaminated by petroleum or the manufacture and distribution of illegal drugs. EPA’s Brownfields Program encourages redevelopment of America’s estimated 450,000 abandoned and contaminated waste sites.
President Obama signed the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 on February 17, 2009, and has directed that the Recovery Act be implemented with unprecedented transparency and accountability. To that end, the American people can see how every dollar is being invested at Recovery.gov.
Safety and Health Topics
Pandemic Influenza
from OSHA
A pandemic is a global disease outbreak. An influenza pandemic occurs when a new influenza virus emerges for which there is little or no immunity in the human population; begins to cause serious illness; and then spreads easily person-to-person worldwide. A worldwide influenza pandemic could have a major effect on the global economy, including travel, trade, tourism, food, consumption and eventually, investment and financial markets. Planning for pandemic influenza by business and industry is essential to minimize a pandemic's impact.
It is difficult to predict when the next influenza pandemic will occur or how severe it will be. Wherever and whenever a pandemic starts, everyone around the world is at risk. Countries might, through measures such as border closures and travel restrictions, delay arrival of the virus, but cannot stop it.
During a pandemic, transmission can be anticipated in the workplace, not only from patient to workers in health care settings, but also among co-workers in general work settings. A pandemic would cause high levels of illness, death, social disruption, and economic loss. Everyday life would be disrupted because so many people in so many places become seriously ill at the same time. Impacts could range from school and business closings to the interruption of basic services such as public transportation and food delivery.
Education and outreach are critical to preparing for a pandemic. Understanding what a pandemic is, what needs to be done at all levels to prepare for pandemic influenza, and what could happen during a pandemic helps us make informed decisions both as individuals and as a nation. Should a pandemic occur the public must be able to depend on its government to provide scientifically sound public health information quickly, openly and dependably. For additional information on pandemic influenza, see One-stop access to U.S.government avian and pandemic flu information.
from OSHA:
The Application of HAZWOPER to Worksite Response
and Cleanup Activities
Depending on the activities being conducted and the hazards present, response activities at worksites may be considered "emergency response" activities under OSHA's Hazardous Waste Operations and Emergency Response (HAZWOPER) standard, 29 CFR 1910.120 and 1926.65. In addition, cleanup sites may be considered or may become hazardous waste sites, requiring specific training and control measures, if certain criteria apply. Furthermore, if HAZWOPER conflicts or overlaps with any other OSHA standard, the provision more protective of employee safety and health must be followed (e.g., Hazard Communication, 29 CFR 1910.1200 and 1926.59, Bloodborne Pathogens, 29 CFR 1910.1030, Permit-Required Confined Spaces, 29 CFR 1910.146, and other OSHA expanded health standards under Subpart Z).
EMERGENCY RESPONSE
If OSHA considers a worksite response activity a "HAZWOPER Emergency Response," then employers with employees at the site performing emergency response must comply with HAZWOPER paragraph (q) and all other General Industry (1910) or Construction Industry (1926) standards. The term "emergency response" has a very specific meaning and application under HAZWOPER. Employers often apply this term to any activity requiring immediate attention. However, under HAZWOPER this term applies specifically to response activities where there is an uncontrolled release of a hazardous substance, as defined by HAZWOPER in paragraph (a)(3), or where an uncontrolled release is likely.
When the following conditions, or similar conditions, may develop as a consequence of a release of hazardous substances or threat of release, such situations would be considered emergency situations requiring an emergency response effort:
- High concentrations of toxic substances.
- Immediately Dangerous to Life and Health (IDLH) environments.
- Situations that present an oxygen deficient atmosphere.
- Conditions that pose a fire or explosion hazard.
- Situations that require an evacuation of the area.
- Situations that require immediate attention because of the danger posed to employees in the area.
As shown in Figure 1, response activities at worksites may be considered "emergency response" activities, if these conditions apply.
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NOTE: The HAZWOPER standard does not cover the inevitable release of a hazardous substance that is limited in quantity, exposure potential, or toxicity, and poses no emergency or significant threat to the safety and health of employees in the immediate vicinity or to the employee cleaning it up. These incidental releases also do not have the potential to become emergencies within a short time frame. For example, an incidental release may include a spill at a tanker truck loading station in which the product can be contained by employees in the immediate vicinity and cleaned up utilizing absorbent without posing a threat to the safety and health of employees. Conversely, a release of chlorine gas that is immediately dangerous to life and health, obscuring visibility, and moving through a facility would require an emergency response under HAZWOPER. Although HAZWOPER may not apply to incidental releases, other OSHA standards may apply such as Hazard Communication, 29 CFR 1910.1200. Furthermore, the employer must provide the appropriate training and necessary personal protective equipment (PPE ) in order to minimize the risks to employees when they are expected to handle incidental releases. Appendix E of OSHA Instruction CPL 02-02-059 provides more information regarding how to differentiate between incidental releases from those that require HAZWOPER emergency responses.
*Hazardous substance means any substance designated or listed under (A) through (D) of this definition, exposure to which results or may result in adverse effects on the health or safety of employees.
[A] Any substance defined under section 101(14) of CERCLA.
[B] Any biologic agent and other disease-causing agent which after release into the environment and upon exposure., ingestion, inhalation, or assimilation into any person, either directly from the environment or indirectly by ingestion through food chains, will or may reasonably be anticipated to cause death, disease, behavioral abnormalities, cancer, genetic mutation, physiological malfunctions (including malfunction in reproduction) or physical deformation in such person or their offspring.
[C] Any substance listed by the U.S. Department of Transportation as hazardous materials under 49 CFR 172.101 and appendices; and
[D] Hazardous waste as herein defined.
Hazardous waste means —
[A] A waste or combination of wastes as defined in 40 CFR 261.3, or
[B] Those substances defined as hazardous wastes in 49 CFR 171.8.
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