Call for Abstracts for the 2023 National Trainers’ Exchange

The 2023 Trainer’s Exchange will take place in Indianapolis, IN, May 2-4, 2023, and is hosted by OAI, Inc. in conjunction with the NIEHS Worker Training Program (WTP). The National Trainers’ Exchange will bring together safety and health trainers and training stakeholders from the Department of Energy and the NIEHS WTP to exchange ideas about how to make training for hazardous materials and emergency response workers more effective and empowering. Through participatory workshop sessions, participants will share best practices, training techniques, and ways to overcome challenges. The deadline for submission is Wednesday, August 31, 2022, at 11:59 p.m. EDT

Submission Link

July 2022 Was Third Hottest on Record for the U.S.

July 2022 will go down in the history books as the third-hottest July on record for the U.S., according to scientists from National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) National Centers for Environmental Information. From drought to deluge, the nation saw remarkable extremes in the month of July. Drought conditions intensified or expanded across parts of the U.S., while others were hit by historic rainfall that led to catastrophic flooding.

NOAA News and Features

‘They Are Not Slowing Down’: The Rise of Billion-Dollar Disasters

While weather disasters strike the United States every year, the numbers show that summer is proving prone to some of the costliest annual disasters, including powerful hurricanes, seemingly endless droughts, sprawling wildfires and torrential rainstorms that fuel the sort of flooding St. Louis and eastern Kentucky have recently endured.

The Washington Post [Author: Brady Dennis]

Biden Signs Semiconductor Bill Into Law, Pouring Billions of Dollars Into U.S. Production

President Biden signed into law the Chips and Science Act, providing more than $200 billion to boost domestic production of semiconductor computer chips and reduce U.S. reliance on overseas manufacturing of the components that power nearly all facets of modern technology.

CBS News [Author Melissa Quinn]

‘We Feel Disrespected’: Navajo Farmers Wait for Justice Years After EPA Disaster

In 2015, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) accidentally released about 3 million gallons of acid mine water from the Gold King mine, during the initial stages of a cleanup operation. The plume of acid mine water flowed more than 340 miles, coursing through tribal lands and three states to Lake Powell in southern Utah.

The Guardian [Author: Michael Benanav]

National Tribal Health Equity Summit

This summit will convene leaders and stakeholders in Tribal health equity to build a path forward for health equity in Indian Country. Building on the discussions of drivers of health inequities from the Inter-Tribal World Café on Health Equity, this summit will examine important questions about how to advance health equity in a meaningful way. The event will be held on August 16, 2022, at 12:00 p.m. EDT.

Event Registration

Indoor Air Management of Airborne Pathogens: Lessons, Practices, and Innovations

This workshop is part of the Environmental Health Matters Initiative (EHMI) of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine three-part series. The workshop will convene stakeholders from a variety of disciplines and sectors to consider novel scientific discoveries, accumulated community knowledge, and on-the-ground observations of indoor environments, such as schools and public transportation, to help refine and inform public health decisions and guidance at the local, state, and federal levels. The event will be held on August 18, 2022, at 11:30 a.m. EDT.

Event Registration

NIEHS Webinar: COVID-19: Impact on Worker Mental Health and Substance Use, Workplace Solutions

This interactive webinar will introduce participants to a new module that builds on the existing NIEHS WTP Opioid/SUD in the Workplace training curricula. The new module is an additional training resource about the work-related causes, impacts, and solutions to addiction and mental health effects, aggravated during the COVID-19 Pandemic. The event will be held on August 25, 2022, at 2:00 p.m. EDT.

Event Registration

NIEHS Webinar: Looking Back at COVID and Planning Ahead for Future Threats

The NIEHS Worker Training Program (WTP), its grantees, and recovery centers develop tools and programs to prevent occupational exposure to infectious diseases, such as COVID-19. As workplaces transition out of the COVID-19 pandemic, focus needs to be on helping employers and workers prepare for ongoing and future infectious disease threats. This webinar will take a “look back” to describe the WTP COVID-19 program and showcase some of the materials produced. The event will be held on August 31, 2022, at 2:00 p.m. EDT.

Event Registration

Podcast: How Monkeypox Became a Public Health Emergency

On this episode, health reporter Pien Huang discusses how the outbreak began, how it gathered steam and whether monkeypox is on track to become an endemic disease in the United States.

Short Wave

Visualizing the Impact of the Opioid Overdose Crisis

These interactive graphics from the National Institute for Health Care Management (NIHCM) Foundation allow readers to explore how the crisis of overdose deaths involving opioid use has not only grown in magnitude since 2000 but has also changed in character.

NIHCM Foundation

Inside the Fight Over California’s Last Nuclear Power Plant

The decommissioning of San Onofre, scheduled for completion in 2029, is happening amid broader efforts around the world to pivot away from nuclear energy in favor of renewables like wind, solar, and hydropower. California, like many places trying to make the switch, is now reconsidering, finding that kicking a nuclear habit built up over decades is not the straightforward proposition it once seemed.

Vice News [Author: Keegan Hamilton]

Life Saving Tool for Overdose Epidemic Illegal in South Dakota (SD)

In South Dakota it is illegal to possess fentanyl testing strips because they are considered drug paraphernalia. Fentanyl testing strips can detect deadly synthetic drug fentanyl and may save lives. Advocates in SD working in harm reduction had no idea passing out the testing strips is against the law.

Siouxland Proud [Author: Angela Kennecke]

Biden-⁠Harris Administration Launches Public Process to Inform Development of Environmental Justice Scorecard, First-ever Tool to Assess Government-Wide Progress on Environmental Justice

The Environmental Justice Scorecard will be updated over time, with the goal of creating a durable, robust, and comprehensive platform for assessing the Federal Government’s efforts to secure environmental justice for all. The Scorecard will eventually be available on a publicly accessible, easy-to-use web platform.

The White House

U.S. Department of Labor Awards $960k to Assist Clean-Up, Recovery After Northern California’s 2020 Wildfires

The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) announced an incremental award of $961,059 to support continued disaster-relief employment and employment and training services in northern California after devastating wildfires in August 2020.

DOL News Release

EPA Issues Guidance to Help Communities Locate Lead Pipes That Can Contaminate Drinking Water

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is releasing guidance that will help communities and water utilities identify lead pipes that connect drinking water service to homes and other buildings. This action marks a key milestone in implementing the Biden-Harris Administration’s Lead Pipe and Paint Action Plan.

EPA News Release

WTP Tools and Booklets: Hurricanes and Floods

The National Clearinghouse creates training tools to aid in the development of awareness-level courses or other awareness-level materials. These tools provide health and safety guidance to those involved in disaster response and cleanup activities. Companion booklets are pocket guides that can be distributed with the training and used as a resource when workers are on a disaster site. To order hard copies of these booklets, please complete the Booklet Order Form.

Hurricanes and Floods Page

Booklet Order Form

OSHA Heat Illness Prevention

Every year, dozens of workers die and thousands more become ill while working in hot or humid conditions. The U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) Heat Illness Prevention campaign educates employers and workers on the dangers of working in the heat.

OSHA

The Deep South Center for Environmental Justice (DSCEJ) is now accepting applications for the HBCU Environmental Justice and Climate Corps Fall Internship

A Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HCBU) student intern from the Metro New Orleans area will immerse themselves in hands-on research to action project working with a partner community-based organization disproportionately impacted by environmental hazards and climate change.

Job Posting

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