NIEHS Hazardous Waste Worker Health and Safety Training (93.142)

Program

93.142 NIEHS Hazardous Waste Worker Health and Safety Training

Federal Agency

Agency: Department of Health and Human Services
Office: National Institutes of Health

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, including tribal governments, that provide 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. OMB Circular No. A-87 applies to this program.

Application and Award Process

Preapplication Coordination

Preapplication coordination is not applicable. Environmental impact information is not required for this program. This program is excluded from coverage under E.O. 12372.

Application Procedure

This program is excluded from coverage under OMB Circular No. A-102. OMB Circular No. A-110 applies to this program. 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) or, if in conflict, by appropriate NIH staff. Formal award notices are sent to successful applicants.

Deadlines

Contact the headquarters or regional office, as appropriate, for application deadlines.

Range of Approval/Disapproval Time

> 180 Days. From 8 to 9 months.

Appeals

> 180 Days. 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 http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/notice-files/not97-232.html.

Renewals

> 180 Days. Renewal awards are subject to the same criteria as new applications.

Assistance Considerations

Formula and Matching Requirements

This program has no statutory formula.

Matching requirements are not applicable to this program.

MOE requirements are not applicable to this program.

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 2009. See the following for information on how assistance is awarded/released: Funds are released primarily on the basis of an Electronic Transfer System.

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. Cash reports are not applicable. 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. Expenditure reports are not applicable. Performance monitoring is not applicable.

Audits

In accordance with the provisions of OMB Circular No. A-133 (Revised, June 27, 2003), "Audits of States, Local Governments, and Non-Profit Organizations," nonfederal entities that expend financial assistance of $500,000 or more in Federal awards will have a single or a program-specific audit conducted for that year. Nonfederal entities that expend less than $500,000 a year in Federal awards are exempt from Federal audit requirements for that year, except as noted in Circular No. A-133. In accordance with the provisions of OMB Circular No. A-133 (Revised, June 27, 2003), "Audits of States, Local Governments, and Non-Profit Organizations," nonfederal entities that expend financial assistance of $500,000 or more in Federal awards will have a single or a program-specific audit conducted for that year. Nonfederal entities that expend less than $500,000 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

Fiscal Year 2008: NIEHS WTP (Worker Training Program) has continued to support training to protect the men and women who handle hazardous waste and materials and who respond to emergencies involving these materials: 140,125 workers received training in over 8000 classes - an increase from the previous year resulting from the recruitment efforts of the awardees and an increase in demand for initial and refresher Superfund site worker training. The NIEHS WETP continued to provide training in all 50 states, Puerto Rico, Virgin Islands, and the Pacific territories. A new five year Request for Applications (RFA) is expected for re-competition of the program in July 2009, with applications due in November, and new awards issued in July, 2010.

Throughout the WETP programs but particularly through the Minority Worker Training Program (MWTP), the NIEHS WETP reached out to serve those workers most in need - young working men and women, people of color, who live in polluted brownfields communities and are struggling to better their own lives and their own communities; Spanish-speaking men and women, native born and recent immigrants, who face unacceptably high rates of occupational injury, illness, and even death; and Native American people such as the Navaho railroad crews who, unknown to the general public, are key in preventing and responding to chemical railcar accidents. These are not handout programs; these are bootstrap programs where workers get safety and health training that empowers them, that they take back to their communities, and that, in the case of the inner city youth they train, produce proud taxpaying citizens - frontline environmental workers. During 2007-2008, the Brownfields Minority Worker Training Program lost its EPA funding and was ended. The strongest segments of this program were transferred into the MWTP.

WETP is a national program and as such recognizes its duty to serve during national emergencies. From the World Trade Center to Katrina to the California Wildfires to the Midwest floods of 2008, the WETP activates, sometimes under the National Response Framework and sometimes through utilizing its existing resources - helping to identify the hazardous wastes and materials released during these disasters while developing and delivering safety and health training keyed to these hazards. Many thousands of responders have benefitted from this training, and the WETP has received praise for its work from the U.S. Army Corp of Engineers, FEMA, and OSHA.

In the twenty one years since Congress created this program, nearly 2,000,000 workers have benefitted. In addition, the WETP will continue its Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Program to create products that will support high quality health and safety training for hazardous waste workers and emergency responders utilizing on-line learning and other advanced training technologies. Many of these products have been very successful becoming profit centers for their developers while providing important safety and health training for workers. Since issuing its first awards in 2002, the WETP has awarded over $6,000,000 through this program. During 2009-2010, WETP expects to make an additional 1 to 3 awards. Fiscal Year 2009: No Current Data Available Fiscal Year 2010: No Current Data Available

Financial Information

Account Identification

75-0862-0-1-552.

Obligations

(Cooperative Agreements) FY 08 $26,906,032; FY 09 est $26,288,517; FY 10 est $27,171,000

Range and Average of Financial Assistance

$2,152 to $3,380,279: $1,095,361.

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

Not Applicable.

Information Contacts

Regional or Local Office

None. Headquarters Office: Program Contact: Mr. Joseph T. Hughes, Jr., Program Director, Worker Education and Training 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, E-mail: Hughes3@niehs.nih.gov. 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.

Headquarters Office

Benigno Encarnacion, 111 TW Alexander Drive, Research Triangle Park, North Carolina 27709 Email: encarna1@niehs.nih.gov Phone: (919) 541-5147

Web Site Address

http://www.niehs.nih.gov/careers/hazmat/index.cfm

Examples of Funded Projects

Fiscal Year 2008: 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. Fiscal Year 2009: During the upcoming year (2009-2010), WETP will build upon this record. WETP will continue to develop and implement services to Spanish-speaking workers - meeting their needs for training they can understand and implement. The WETP will continue to prepare for disasters that are certain to occur; for example, curricula and trainers are being prepared for the requirements of a long-term response to a major, chemical disaster. And the WETP will continue to maintain a gold standard of safety and health training - real hands-on and classroom training that our evaluations show reduces occupational death, disease, and injury. Fiscal Year 2010: During the upcoming year (2009-2010), WETP will build upon this record. WETP will continue to develop and implement services to Spanish-speaking workers - meeting their needs for training they can understand and implement. The WETP will continue to prepare for disasters that are certain to occur; for example, curricula and trainers are being prepared for the requirements of a long-term response to a major, chemical disaster. And the WETP will continue to maintain a gold standard of safety and health training - real hands-on and classroom training that our evaluations show reduces occupational death, disease, and injury.

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.