11/06/07 - OSHA has issued new Construction and General Industry Outreach Training Program guidelines. The guidelines replace the 2003 versions and significantly change the training topics required in the OSHA 10- and 30-hour training programs. There are additional mandatory topic requirements, and the new report form requests additional training data. The guidelines affect an estimated 13,000 active outreach trainers in addition to many more thousands of eligible OSHA-authorized outreach trainers. Read Morer

I just returned from Wilmington, DE where I enrolled for my TWIC card and here is a general breakdown of the process and what to expect.

Pre-enrollment

This is a two-step, straightforward process:  Register at https://twicprogram.tsa.dhs.gov/TWICWebApp/

Within a day or so, you will receive a confirmation e-mail allowing log-in and pre-enrollment.

This process will only take 10 minutes, but the strict password rules prevented me from using my traditional passwords.  Too complicated to easily remember, the rules required me to write my password down so I can retrieve it later: 

1. At least 8 characters,
2. Minimally one upper and one lower case letter,
3. A digit,
4. "Special Character",
5. No repeated characters,
6. No incorporation of vocabulary words, etc.

Before exiting the pre-enrollment web page, you will want to print a copy of a page containing a bar code.  At present, you will not be instructed to do this, but you may be asked for it at registration.

Select your pre-enrollment station location and select a time slot.  There were many available when I did this, and I was able to get my desired time.

At the Enrollment Center

Click Here to read more

10/15/2007 - The SPCC Amendments were released today. A link below will direct you to the Federal Register. Click Here to read the Federal Register

10/3/2007 - Start of Enrollment, Port Listing, Lower Fee Announced as Vital Security Measure Nears Implementation

WILMINGTON, Del., On October 16, port workers, longshoremen, truckers and others at the port of Wilmington, Del., will become the first workers in the nation to enroll in the Department of Homeland Security's (DHS) Transportation Worker Identification Credential (TWIC) program. The program ensures that any individual who has unescorted access to secure areas of port facilities and vessels has received a thorough background check and is not a security threat. Read More

10/3/2007 – Washington, DC, EPA Administrator Stephen L. Johnson signed a proposed rule to amend the Spill Prevention, Control, and Countermeasure (SPCC) rule at 40 CFR part 112. With these proposed changes, EPA intends to provide clarity, tailor requirements, and streamline requirements as appropriate in order to encourage greater compliance with the SPCC regulations. EPA is asking for comments on this proposed rule by within 60 days of publication in the Federal Register.

8/8/07 – Washington, DC., The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has released the final operator training grant guidelines for states, which implement a key provision of the underground storage tank amendments of the Energy Policy Act of 2005. The operator training grant guidelines describe the minimum requirements states must meet in order to comply with the operator training provision contained in the Energy Policy Act.

The guidelines establish three distinct classes of underground storage tank operators, describe how and when states will implement the guidelines, and discuss when operators must be trained. The guidelines include: a description of the classes of operators, required training for each class of operator, deadlines when operator training is required, and examples of acceptable state approaches to operator training. In order for states to comply with these requirements, they must develop state-specific operator training requirements by Aug. 8, 2009 and ensure that all three classes of operators are trained according to state-specific requirements by Aug. 8, 2012.

Information on the operator training grant guidelines

7/05/07 – The NVIC describing implementation guidance for the new TWIC regulations has been published as Final.  For those of you under USCG MTSA jurisdiction (33 CFR 104/105/106), you should review this for implementation.  I have attached the NVIC to this email, although some of you may have filters that remove the attachment.  Let me know if you have any questions.

DEADLINES:  There is a Deadline of September 4, 2007 (60 days after NVIC publication) for all amendments to be submitted to the USCG.  A Letter of Intent is still required by July 25th, if you intend to redefine your Secure Area.
On quick glance, the following sections of Enclosure 3 should be reviewed

• 3.3 b. Secure Areas - this section defines Secure Areas in relation to Restricted Areas and other MTSA regulated portions of the Facility.

• Figures 1, 2, 3 & 4 for sample diagrams.

• 3.4 Facility Specific Guidance - This includes guidance for amendments to FSPs to designate certain portions of the Facility as Secure Areas for TWIC

Click Here for a look at the regulation

6/20/07 – Washington, DC., An oil industry trade group said Wednesday it has developed standards to better protect workers from explosions like the 2005 Texas refinery explosion that killed 15 people and injured 170.
The American Petroleum Institute's new standards, to be published Thursday, are designed to meet the demands of the U.S. Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board that made an "urgent" recommendation in October 2005, requiring refineries to limit how close workers' portable trailers can be placed near potentially hazardous operations.

The voluntary standards for refiners, such as Valero Energy Corp. and Exxon Mobil Corp., establish three "blast zones" in which portable buildings could be placed, depending on the trailer's construction material and the size of the nearby refinery unit. For example, trailers made of light wood would not be allowed within 330 feet (100 meters) of a potentially dangerous area.

6/20/07 – Washington, DC., The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is seeking information as it considers how to develop a water permit program for pollutant discharges incidental to the normal operation of commercial vessels and recreational boats. Discharges may include ballast water, bilge water, deck runoff and gray water.

As a result of a court ruling currently under appeal, vessel owners or operators whose discharges previously have been exempt from Clean Water Act requirements will require a permit on Sept. 30, 2008. In developing this program, EPA will seek to ensure that control technologies or management practices enhance environmental protection and are practical to implement.

Approximately 143,000 commercial vessels and potentially more than 13 million state-registered recreational boats and more than 25 different types of vessel discharges could be affected. The exemption from permitting requirements has been in place for more than 30 years. The changes are the result of a recent U.S. district court ruling that found EPA exceeded its authority by excluding discharges incidental to the normal operation of a vessel from existing permitting requirements. The agency is appealing that ruling.

Click Here for More Information.

5/10/07 – Washington, DC., EPA Administrator Steve Johnson signed a rule to extend the compliance dates for owners and operators of facilities preparing or amending and implementing Spill Prevention, Control, and Countermeasure (SPCC) Plans. This final rule extends the dates by which a facility must prepare or amend and implement its SPCC Plan until July 1, 2009. EPA expects to propose further revisions to the SPCC rule in 2007.

Click Here for More Information.

4/09/07 – The U.S. Department of Homeland Security has published their Security Regulations (72 FR 17688) with a pending implementation date tied to final publication of the Chemicals of Interest list.  The current DHS Chemicals of Interest (Appendix A to the CFATS Final Rule) is not final.  Any facility manufacturing, storing or handling any of these chemicals will need to complete a Top Screen evaluation on-line.  If the result of the Top Screen determines the Facility to be a Tier 1, 2, 3 or 4 Facility, a more in-depth Vulnerability Assessment will need to be conducted.  Covered facilities may then be subject to assessments, security plans, training, exercises, audits and facility specific security performance measures.  Facilities already covered by MTSA will be exempt from these regulations. 

Click Here for a look at the regulation