Many chemicals can cause hearing loss, especially in loud work environments where chemicals can exacerbate the effects of noise. These chemicals are called ototoxic, which translates to “ear poison.” Ototoxic chemicals can enter the body in several ways, including skin absorption or inhalation.
 
“This startling piece of safety information is not new,” EMC Senior Industrial Hygienist Kelsie Boorn says. “But it’s flown under the radar, and some details are still not fully understood.”

To learn more about chemical exposure and hearing loss, check out the EMC Loss Control Insights article.

The slides from the first three City & Utility Insurance 101 Webinars are now available on the IAMU website (www.iamu.org). The presentations by Jester Insurance’s Heith Hockenberry can be found at https://members.iamu.org/page/CityUtilityInsurance101. You must be logged in as a member to gain access to the slide decks.
 
The presentations include:

• Property and Inland Marine (Equipment)
• Auto & Crime
• Liabilities

 
A fourth free webinar focusing on cyber issues is scheduled for Dec. 16. You can register for that webinar by going to https://members.iamu.org/events/EventDetails.aspx?id=1271311&group=.

IAMU will be closed this Thursday and Friday, November 27th & 28th.  Happy Thanksgiving!

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) has issued new requirements that affect any municipality with employees that hold Commercial Drivers Licenses (CDL).

The FMCSA has developed an information clearinghouse to better ensure that drivers cannot conceal drug and alcohol violations by moving on to the next job, perhaps in a different state. Violation records maintained in the clearinghouse will “follow” the driver. Employers, or prospective employers, will be required to “query” the clearinghouse.

This requirement applies to all drivers who hold a CDL and use it for your job or may be required to use it on the job. In short, it applies to anyone in your CDL drug and alcohol testing program.

Effective January 6, 2020, you are required to be registered and participating in the FMCSA Drug and Alcohol Clearinghouse. There are no exemptions for municipalities because you are required to comply under 40 CFR 382 and Part 40 of the Drug and Alcohol Testing Rules.

How this affects employers is as follows:

1. You MUST, before hire, query the clearinghouse and send a manual letter to the previous employers for the past three years, asking for drug and alcohol violations. This must continue until January 6, 2023. (After January 6, 2023, you are only required to query the database; the letter will be no longer needed.)
2. As an employer, you are required to enter data regarding drug and alcohol violations into the clearinghouse. This includes, but is not limited to, violation, and Substance Abuse Professional program completion.
3. Once every 365 days, you are required to query the database to ensure no drug or alcohol violations have occurred. This becomes more of an issue if an employee works two CDL required jobs, but can also (theoretically) occur if a DWI occurs out-of-state and the driver fails to notify the DMV or you.
4. There is a fee involved per query and it is not optional. Currently, the fee is set at $1.25/query. You are allowed to run a limited query, but if a violation occurs, you are required to get a full detailed query. You will not be charged a second time if the detailed query is required. (The system is now set up to run batch queries, so employers with a large number of DOT covered employees may find that helpful.)
5. Drivers are required to register to give consent for the queries. If consent is refused, the driver must be removed from safety sensitive duties. There is a paper consent form on the FMCSA website for the limited query if you choose to use it. If a full detailed query is required, a second consent must be given.
6. Data must be entered by the employer reporting a failed drug and alcohol test, reporting for duty with alcohol in system, etc., regardless if the CDL holder has given consent or registered for the system. If the driver has registered, they will receive an email or electronic communication; if they have not, the clearinghouse will send a letter to their mailing address as listed on their CDL.
7. The system is now open for registration. Many have found the registration process problematic. We suggest you familiarize yourself with it early.

For more information or to register in the clearinghouse, go to: https://clearinghouse.fmcsa.dot.gov/, and there are FAQs listed on the site.

Julie Sievers and Bryon Whiting, two long-time DNR Field Office 3 Senior Environmental Specialists, will be retiring at the end of the year. A retirement celebration for them will be held on December 18, 2019, from 1 to 3 p.m. at the Iowa Lakes Community College in Spencer, 1900 Grand Avenue.  Please use the west entrance.

The Iowa Association of Municipal Utilities Gas Department and KGM Gas Measurement Products & Services will offer a one-day Gas Metering & Measurement Training Workshop on Wednesday, December 18.  The workshop will take place at the IAMU Training & Office Complex.

Why You Should Attend:
This training opportunity provided by IAMU and KGM Gas Measurement Products & Services is designed to provide natural gas personnel, regardless of experience, with a very specialized, in-depth training into natural gas metering and measurement. Proper natural gas measurement is critical to your utility’s success! Without the proper knowledge and understanding of natural gas measurement and measurement principles, your utility’s lost and unaccounted for gas may be inaccurate, you may receive customer complaints of “not enough gas” due to improper meter sizing, or you may be losing money due to inaccurate metering.

Cost:
IAMU Members:  $265.00 per person
Non-Members:  $295.00 per person
 
Questions?
Contact the IAMU Gas Department at (800) 810-4268, or email Rod Parcel ([email protected]) & Nick Vandegriff ([email protected]).
 
Register online HERE.  Registration deadline is Friday, December 13.

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) has developed an information clearinghouse to better ensure that drivers cannot conceal drug and alcohol violations by moving on to another job. There are no exemptions for municipalities.
 
The FMCSA Commercial Driver’s License Drug and Alcohol Clearinghouse is a secure online database that will give employers, the FMCSA, state driver licensing agencies, and state law enforcement personnel real-time information about commercial driver’s license (CDL) and commercial learner’s permit (CLP) holders’ drug and alcohol program violations.
 
An act of Congress directed the Secretary of Transportation to establish the Clearinghouse.
 
The clearinghouse will enable employers to identify drivers who commit a drug and alcohol program violation while working for one employer, but who fail to subsequently inform another employer (as required by current regulations).
 
FMCSA said that drivers are not required to register for the clearinghouse. However, a driver will need to be registered to provide electronic consent in the clearinghouse if a prospective or current employer needs to conduct a full query of the driver’s record. This will include all pre-employment queries beginning on January 6, 2020.
 
A driver must also be registered to electronically view the information in his or her own clearinghouse record.
 
Drivers who register before January 6, 2020, will have their clearinghouse accounts and contact preferences set up, allowing them to quickly respond to query requests from employers on or after January 6, 2020, FMCSA said.
 
Employers are required to enter data regarding drug and alcohol violations into the clearinghouse. This includes, but is not limited to, violation, and substance abuse professional program completion.
 
The system is now open for registration.
 
Additional information about the clearinghouse is available here.

We are a week away from the 25th Annual Water and Wastewater Operator’s Training Workshop, which will be held November 19-21 at Holiday Inn Northwest, Des Moines. You don’t want to miss it. To register, click here.
 
This yearly training is a must for any water and wastewater professionals wanting practical information to help them do their jobs. The three-day workshop includes basic and advanced topics on water treatment, water distribution, and wastewater. Attendees can earn up to 1.2 CEUs toward certification, plus get a chance to connect with other municipal water professionals from around the state as well as check out products and services from water-related vendors.

The freezing temperatures and bitter-cold wind chills of winter weather pose safety issues similar to those faced during the summer heat.

Surprisingly, research shows that winter cold kills more Americans than heat. Of the 2,000 deaths that occur due to inclement weather each year, 63% are caused by cold and only 31% by heat. For eight tips to help you manage the challenges and dangers of hypothermia and frostbite, check out the EMC Loss Control Insights article.

Each city and/or municipal wastewater treatment plant in the country should have already received a letter from the EPA notifying them about this voluntary study with instructions on how they can participate. 
 
The purpose of the study is to obtain nationwide data on nutrient removal to help set more realistic and achievable nutrient reductions, help Publicly Owned Treatment Works (POTWs) understand the range of opportunities to optimize nutrient removals based on data from their peers, and encourage improved POTW nutrient removal performance with less expense.
 
Iowa DNR participated in developing this study over the last two years and was able to help steer this study into something that the Iowa DNR thinks will be truly beneficial. 
 
This is a multi-phase effort, and the first phase of the study is a screener questionnaire. The goal of this questionnaire is to identify and characterize the full population of POTWs in the country that discharge to a water of the United States. The information will be used to help establish a baseline of nutrient performance at the national level for all POTWs.
 
The Iowa DNR is encouraging systems to complete the questionnaire, as its success will benefit POTWs in our state, nationwide, and all stakeholders involved in managing nutrients at the watershed level. You can find the survey at https://www.epa.gov/eg/potw-nutrient-survey
 
To help encourage participation, the Iowa DNR is offering CEUs to operators who participate in the study. An Iowa wastewater operator who completes the survey and submits a copy of the EPA competition certificate will receive 3 hours of CEUs. The EPA completion certificates should be emailed to Laurie Sharp for processing at [email protected]. The Iowa DNR is hoping to have as many of Iowa's facilities represented as possible.
 
The EPA is hoping to get responses by Nov. 26 (the Tuesday before Thanksgiving).
 
If you have any questions, contact Adam Schnieders, Acting Water Quality Bureau Chief & Water Quality Resource Coordinator with the Iowa DNR, at 515-238-055 or by email at [email protected].
 
Here is a helpful link from EPA about the effort: https://www.epa.gov/eg/national-study-nutrient-removal-and-secondary-technologies