I recent fielded a phone call and was asked, “doesyour company offer a class certifying me to be a storm water inspector?“. This question is really about semantics. There is a very big difference between being “certified” to conduct storm water inspections and being “qualified”. I will try and offer a quick explanation of each without driving you to pick up a encyclopedia out of boredom.
Lets start with the definition of “Qualified”. When the EPA released their storm water requirements there was a big push by environmentalist to require the regulations to state that anyone conducting a storm water inspection must be certified. However, the EPA knew this would be too stringent of a requirement for the construction industry so they agreed to use the term qualified. Now, no matter how hard you research, your not going to find a true definition of the term qualified and that appears to be on purpose also. The definition your most likely to come across is “an individual who is knowledgeable about the SWPPP, BMP’s and the general permit (regulations). I don’t know about you but knowledgable seems to be a relative term doesn’t it? I mean if you know a little about storm water and the city inspector knows a little about storm water, wouldn’t the inspector consider you well educated if you could meet his education level also. But, take the same ”qualified” site representative and place him next to an EPA storm water enforcement officer and relative becomes a little more important.
Another confusing aspect of ”qualified” is the reality that the expectations for qualified are different all across the nation. However, as each state and municpality becomes more educated through seminars, convention courses, associations and a handful of accredited courses, they are raising the bar on the expectations of “qualified”. This really is great for our industry. A higher level of compliance is now expected which ultimatly achieves better water quality. Now, to answer the question in your mind ”is he going to provide a definition of qualified…or not”. Yes, it is my experience that a solid education to become a qualified storm water inspector is 8 hours of storm water training with an exam. This training course should be tailored to your specific industry (commercial, industrial, home building, etc,.) and it should also involve spending time in the field, with the educator walking you through examples of compliance and non-compliance. Those of us who offer this course will often provide a certificate of attendance, but this is not to be confused with being “certified”. Now, for the transition…
How does one become certified? This is a fairly strait forward answer, research your state regulations and see if the state offers a course or requires a course that achieves (in their minds) a certification. Once you take this course and pass you will then be certified in that specific state. However, the state specific certification course (Florida, Delaware, Georgia, etc.,) are normally not transferable. Example, “what do you mean I’m not certified here in New Jersey, I took the two day course in Florida”. Most states have written their own storm water general permit (regulations) and even though they all offer similarities, they are not the same. The approach for achieving compliance is very different in Florida where rain often falls every afternoon vs. the 3 inch down pour that is experienced in most parts of Texas. Thus, your everyday practices and BMPs are going to be different.
What is important to note, is I have not mentioned the EPA requiring a certification. At this time the EPA does not require a certification, but only qualified personnel. It should be important to also note, that this soon may change. The EPA is about to release the Effluent Limit Guidelines (amending their storm water regulations) and this ELG may offer some form of clarity or requirement for storm water education. I will also add that the Clean Water Act is not going away and time will only allow more stringent requirements for storm water compliance and storm water training. I encourage you, if your in the construction, no matter your title or pay grade, learn storm water. It will only add to your resume and your credibility.
Congratulations, you made it to the end…see you next month when we chat about the pros and cons of inspection frequency.
“Qualified” vs “Certified”
I recent fielded a phone call and was asked, “does your company offer a class certifying me to be a storm water inspector?“. This question is really about semantics. There is a very big difference between being “certified” to conduct storm water inspections and being “qualified”. I will try and offer a quick explanation of each without driving you to pick up a encyclopedia out of boredom.
Lets start with the definition of “Qualified”. When the EPA released their storm water requirements there was a big push by environmentalist to require the regulations to state that anyone conducting a storm water inspection must be certified. However, the EPA knew this would be too stringent of a requirement for the construction industry so they agreed to use the term qualified. Now, no matter how hard you research, your not going to find a true definition of the term qualified and that appears to be on purpose also. The definition your most likely to come across is “an individual who is knowledgeable about the SWPPP, BMP’s and the general permit (regulations). I don’t know about you but knowledgable seems to be a relative term doesn’t it? I mean if you know a little about storm water and the city inspector knows a little about storm water, wouldn’t the inspector consider you well educated if you could meet his education level also. But, take the same ”qualified” site representative and place him next to an EPA storm water enforcement officer and relative becomes a little more important.
How does one become certified? This is a fairly strait forward answer, research your state regulations and see if the state offers a course or requires a course that achieves (in their minds) a certification. Once you take this course and pass you will then be certified in that specific state. However, the state specific certification course (Florida, Delaware, Georgia, etc.,) are normally not transferable. Example, “what do you mean I’m not certified here in New Jersey, I took the two day course in Florida”. Most states have written their own storm water general permit (regulations) and even though they all offer similarities, they are not the same. The approach for achieving compliance is very different in Florida where rain often falls every afternoon vs. the 3 inch down pour that is experienced in most parts of Texas. Thus, your everyday practices and BMPs are going to be different.
What is important to note, is I have not mentioned the EPA requiring a certification. At this time the EPA does not require a certification, but only qualified personnel. It should be important to also note, that this soon may change. The EPA is about to release the Effluent Limit Guidelines (amending their storm water regulations) and this ELG may offer some form of clarity or requirement for storm water education. I will also add that the Clean Water Act is not going away and time will only allow more stringent requirements for storm water compliance and storm water training. I encourage you, if your in the construction, no matter your title or pay grade, learn storm water. It will only add to your resume and your credibility.
Congratulations, you made it to the end…see you next month when we chat about the pros and cons of inspection frequency.