NIEHS Hazardous Waste Worker Health and Safety Training (93.142)

 

Program

93.142 NIEHS Hazardous Waste Worker Health and Safety Training

 

Federal Agency

NATIONAL INSTITUTES OF HEALTH, DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

 

Authorization

Superfund Amendments and Reauthorization Act of 1986, as amended, Title I, Section 126, Public Law 99-499; Public Health Service Act, Section 405(b)(1)(C), as amended, Public Law 99-158.

 

Program Number

93.142

 

Last Known Status

Active

 

Objectives

To provide cooperative agreements and project grant support for the development and administration of model worker health and safety training programs consisting of classroom and practical health and safety training of workers and their supervisors, who are engaged in activities related to hazardous materials, hazardous waste generation, treatment, storage, disposal, removal, containment, transportation, or emergency response. To assist organizations in the development of institutional competency to provide appropriate training and education to hazardous waste workers.

 

Types of Assistance

Project Grants (Cooperative Agreements).

 

Uses and Use Restrictions

Cooperative agreements and project grants are intended to support the direct costs of a project, in accordance with an approved budget, plus indirect costs at a pre-established rate. Both the award and use of funds are subject to applicable provisions of basic statutory authorities, appropriations acts, pertinent regulations, and operating policies of the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS), the National Institutes of Health (NIH), and the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS).

 

Eligibility Requirements

Applicant Eligibility

A public or private nonprofit entity providing worker health and safety education and training may submit an application and receive a cooperative agreement or project grant for support of waste worker education and training by a named principal investigator. Recipients/grantees may use services, as appropriate, of other public or private organizations necessary to develop, administer, or evaluate proposed worker training programs, as long as the requirement for awards to nonprofit organizations is not violated. Nonprofit organizations which are incorporated under 501(c)(4) are prohibited from receiving grants.

Beneficiary Eligibility

Any public or private entity providing worker safety and health education and training will benefit from this program.

Credentials/Documentation

Applications must be signed by appropriate officials of the submitting institution. Costs will be determined in accordance with OMB Circular No. A-87 for State and local governments, A-21 for universities, and A-122 for private nonprofit other than universities. For other recipient/grantees, costs will be determined by HHS Regulations 45 CFR 74, Subpart Q.

 

Application and Award Process

Preapplication Coordination

Not applicable. This program is excluded from coverage under E.O. 12372.

Application Procedure

Application forms and instructions for their submission are available from the Office of Extramural Outreach and Information, National Institutes of Health, 6701 Rockledge Drive, MSC 7910, Bethesda, MD 20892-7910. Telephone (301) 435-0714; e-mail: ASKNIH@odrockml.od.nih.gov and the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (MD 3-01), P.O. Box 12233, 104 Alexander Drive, Research Triangle Park, NC 27709. The standard application forms, as furnished by PHS and required by 45 CFR, Part 92, must be used for this program by those applicants that are State and local units of government. This program is subject to the provisions of 45 CFR, Part 92 for State and local governments and OMB Circular No. A-110 for nonprofit organizations, as appropriate.

Award Procedure

As required in HHS Regulations, 42 CFR Part 65, applications will be reviewed administratively by NIEHS staff for completeness and responsiveness to the program announcement. Applications then will be reviewed on a competitive basis for technical merit by an ad hoc review committee composed primarily of non-government members with expertise in occupational safety and health training and hazardous waste operations convened by the NIEHS. A second level of review will be conducted by the National Advisory Environmental Health Sciences Council. This second level of review will be for program relevance. The final approval of these recommendations and decisions concerning funding is made by the Director, National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS). Formal award notices are sent to successful applicants.

Deadlines

Contact Headquarters Office for deadline information.

 

Range of Approval/Disapproval Time

Appeals

A principal investigator (P.I.) may question the substantive or procedural aspects of the review of his/her application by communicating with the staff of the Institute. A description of the NIH Peer Review Appeal procedures is available on the NIH home page www.nih.gov/grants/guide/1997/97.11.21/n2.html.

Renewals

Renewal awards are subject to the same criteria as new applications.

 

Assistance Considerations

Formula and Matching Requirements

This program has no statutory formula or matching requirements.

Length and Time Phasing of Assistance

Full program cooperative agreements may be awarded for up to 5 years, generally in 12-month budget periods. Funds are released primarily on the basis of an Electronic Transfer System. The Request for Application announcement is expected to be release in the summer of 2004.

 

Post Assistance Requirements

Reports

A detailed annual cooperative agreement or project grant summary report is required with the renewal application for all program recipients/grantees. Annual and final progress reports, and financial status reports are required for all awardees.

Audits

In accordance with the provisions of OMB Circular No. A- 133 (Revised, June 24, 1997), "Audits of States, Local Governments, and Non-Profit Organizations," nonfederal entities that expend financial assistance of $300,000 or more in Federal awards will have a single or a program-specific audit conducted for that year. Nonfederal entities that expend less than $300,000 a year in Federal awards are exempt from Federal audit requirements for that year, except as noted in Circular No. A-133. In addition, grants and cooperative agreements are subject to inspection and audits by DHHS and other Federal officials.

Records

Expenditures and other financial and program records must be retained for 3 years from the day on which the awardee submits the final financial status report for the report period.

 

Program Accomplishments

In fiscal year 2002, 22 non-competing awards were made. Grantees are continuing to develop, pilot-test, and use curricula for training hazardous waste workers. It is expected that 22 non-competing awards will be made in FY 2003 and FY 2004. Over the past 15 years (1988-2002), the NIEHS Worker Education and Training Program (WETP) has successfully supported twenty primary awardees. These represent over one hundred different institutions that have trained over 1 million workers across the country and presented over 56,000 classroom and hands-on training courses, accounting for nearly 15.5 million contact hours of actual training. During the past year (FY 2002), health and safety training occurred in all regions of the country to relevant target populations with the prime focus on 29 CFR 1910.120. The WETP has continued to encourage innovation for training difficult- to-reach populations by addressing issues such as literacy, appropriate adult education techniques, training quality improvement and other areas not addressed directly by the marketplace. The seventeen primary worker-training awardees, in conjunction with over eighty collaborating institutions, have delivered 5,298 courses, reaching 93,996 workers, accounting for 1,098,154 contact hours of health and safety training. The Minority Worker Training Program (MWTP) was established as a pilot program within the larger WETP. The program targets unskilled minority youths and provides them with valuable marketable skills. Approximately 2,318 minority young adults have been trained over the seven-year period that the MWTP has been in existence. For this period, the employment data indicates a consistent 65% job placement rate.

 

Financial Information

Account Identification

75-0862-0-1-552.

Obligations

FY 02 $23,924,105; FY 03 est $25,688,000; and FY 04 est $26,659,535. (Note: Grants funded with non-reimbursable funds only.)

Range and Average of Financial Assistance

$468,995 to $3,804,040; $1,286,728.

 

Regulations, Guidelines and Literature

42 CFR 52; 45 CFR 74; 45 CFR 92; NIH Guide to Grants and Contracts; NIH Grants Policy Statement March 1, 2001.Other publications, information, and applications and kits are available from the Office of Extramural Research, Outreach and Activities Resources, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD 20892, and the NIEHS (MD EC-22), P.O. Box 12233, 111 Alexander Drive, Research Triangle Park, NC 27709.

 

Related Programs

None.

 

Information Contacts

Regional or Local Office

Not applicable.

Headquarters Office

Headquarters Office: Program Contact: Mr. Joseph T. Hughes, Jr., Program Director, Worker Training and Education Program, National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, National Institutes of Health, Department of Health and Human Services, P.O. Box 12233, Research Triangle Park, NC 27709. Telephone: (919) 541-0217 Grants Management Contact: Carolyn Mason, Grants Management Officer, Grants Management Branch, Division of Extramural Research and Training, National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, National Institutes of Health, Department of Health and Human Services, P.O. Box 12233, Research Triangle Park, NC 27709. Telephone: (919) 541-1373, E-mail: Mason6@niehs.nih.gov.

Web Site Address

http://www.niehs.nih.gov/wetp/home.htm

 

Examples of Funded Projects

Programs provide health and safety training and education for occupational populations involved in waste handling and processing at active and inactive hazardous substance treatment, storage and disposal facilities; cleanup, removal, containment, or remedial action at waste sites; hazardous substance emergency response; chemical emergency response; Resource Conservation and Recovery Act corrective actions; hazardous substance disposal site risk assessment and investigation, remedial actions or clean-up by State and local personnel; urban communities surrounding brownfields sites; and transportation of hazardous wastes.

 

Criteria for Selecting Proposals

The following factors considered for applications for full program cooperative agreements include: (1) Methods and techniques to be used for identifying, describing, and accessing target worker populations and anticipated impact of the proposed program; (2) evidence of the organization's performance and effectiveness in planning, implementing and operating appropriate worker health and safety training and education programs; (3) adequacy of the detailed program plan for curricula development, training of instructors, distribution of course materials, and direct student training; (4) technical and professional expertise of the proposed program director, present or proposed staff, and consultants; (5) methods proposed for evaluating appropriateness, quality, and effectiveness of training; (6) availability of appropriate facilities and equipment to support the described educational and training activities including hands-on instruction and demonstration; (7) evidence of the organization's past performance and effectiveness in planning, implementing, and operating training and education programs for workers; (8) the likelihood that the program will continue beyond the grant period; and (9) reasonableness of the proposed program activities.