Code of Massachusetts Regulations › 309 CMR - BOARD OF REGISTRATION OF HAZARDOUS WASTE SITE CLEANUP PROFESSIONALS › Title 309 CMR 2.00 - Introductory Provisions › Section 2.02 - Definitions

Current through Register 1525, July 5, 2024
As used in 309 CMR, the terms "waste site cleanup activity
				opinion" and "hazardous waste site cleanup professional" shall have the
				meanings ascribed to such terms by M.G.L. c. 21A, § 19.
For the purposes of 309 CMR, words and phrases shall have the
				meaning ascribed to such words and phrases by M.G.L. c. 21E, § 2, and/or
				310 CMR 40.0000, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise.
In 309 CMR, the following terms and phrases shall have the
				following meanings unless the context clearly indicates otherwise:
Adjudicatory hearing
means a hearing
				conducted in accordance with M.G.L. c. 30A and the Standard Adjudicatory Rules
				of Practice and Procedure,
				801 CMR 1.00.
Agency
means any agency, authority,
				board, commission, department, office, or political subdivision of the federal,
				state, or local government.
Applicant
means any individual who
				submits to the Board an application for licensure as a licensed site
				professional.
Board
means the Board of Registration
				of Hazardous Waste Site Cleanup Professionals established pursuant to M.G.L. c.
				21A, § 19.
Civil Administrative Penalty
and
Penalty
each means a civil administrative penalty that
				the Board seeks to assess pursuant to M.G.L. c. 21A, §§ 16 and 19G,
				and 309 CMR.
Client
means any person, including,
				but not limited to an employer who has engaged a licensed site professional to
				provide professional services with respect to a particular site.
Department
means the Massachusetts
				Department of Environmental Protection.
Good moral character
means such
				character as will enable an individual to discharge the responsibilities of a
				licensed site professional. Evidence of inability to discharge such duties
				includes, but is not limited to, felonious acts and acts involving dishonesty,
				fraud or deceit which have or could have a substantial connection to the
				professional responsibilities of a licensed site professional.
Imminent hazard
means a hazard that
				would pose a significant risk of harm to health, safety, public welfare or the
				environment if it were present even for a short period of time, as described in
				310
				CMR 40.0321.
Informal conference
means a
				conference not subject to those provisions of M.G.L. c. 30A governing
				adjudicatory proceedings.
Laws
means statutes, rules,
				regulations, codes, ordinances or bylaws.
License
means approval which the
				Board issues to an individual pursuant to M.G.L. c. 21A, § 19C, and which
				authorizes the individual to render waste site cleanup activity
				opinions.
Licensed Site Professional
and
LSP
each means a "hazardous waste site cleanup
				professional" as defined in M.G.L. c. 21A, § 19.
Massachusetts Contingency Plan
and
MCP
each means the regulations published at 310 CMR
				40.0000 as amended from time to time.
Misconduct
means any act or omission
				in noncompliance with M.G.L. c. 21A, §§ 19 through 19J or 309
				CMR.
Noncompliance
,
Failure to
				Comply
, and
Violation
each means any act
				or failure to act which constitutes or results in one or more of the
				following:
(a) acting as, advertising as, holding oneself out to be, or
				representing oneself as being a licensed site professional without being in
				possession of a valid license;
(b) engaging in any activity prohibited by, or not in
				compliance with, any requirement; or
(c) failure to comply with any requirement.
Notice of Intent to Assess a Civil Administrative
				Penalty
and
Penalty Assessment Notice
each mean a written notice that the Board is seeking to assess a Penalty
				pursuant to M.G.L. c. 21A, §§ 16 and 19G, and 309 CMR.
Notice of Noncompliance
means a
				written notice given to a person by the Board which states that said person has
				failed to comply with certain requirement(s), as set forth therein.
Person
means any agency or political
				subdivision of the federal, government or state; any state, public or private
				corporation or authority; any interstate body, foreign nation, individual,
				trust, firm, joint stock company, partnership, association or other entity; any
				officer, employee, or agent of such person; and any group of persons.
Practical experience
means the
				application of technical knowledge and skills within a field or fields of
				expertise during assessment, containment or removal projects. Such projects
				must have been conducted or supervised by the applicant, must encompass a
				variety of environmental and contaminant conditions, and must have included
				locations at which subsurface investigations were conducted. The Board may
				accept as practical experience projects which it determines to be equivalent to
				assessment, containment and removal projects.
Principal Decision Maker
means an
				individual who regularly bears all or a significant portion of the
				responsibility and accountability for the overall conduct of one or more major
				components (site investigation, risk characterization, remediation) of response
				actions at disposal sites. In general, this denomination will not include
				individuals with responsibility and accountability only for sub-tasks
				(
e.g.
, field exploration program, groundwater modeling, air
				modeling, data manipulation) within the major components of response
				actions.
Professional Services
means the
				rendering of waste site cleanup activity opinions, and services associated with
				the rendering of such opinions.
Proficiency
means competence in
				assessment, containment or removal projects. Proficiency will be evaluated by
				the Board, in its discretion, based on evidence from references, Department
				comments, the application form, or other sources.
Recognized educational institution
means an institution which is accredited by a regional board or association of
				institutions of higher education approved by the Council on Post Secondary
				Accreditation or which is chartered to grant degrees by the state in which it
				is located. For the purposes of
				309
				CMR 3.02, such charter or accreditation must
				have been in effect at the time the claimed degree was granted to an applicant
				for licensure. Degrees from foreign institutions will be evaluated by the Board
				on a case by case basis.
Relevant Professional Experience
means experience that the Board determines, separately for each position held
				by an applicant, is a concurrent combination of waste site cleanup decision
				making experience and practical experience, both performed with proficiency.
				The Board will consider the following criteria in evaluating whether an
				applicant's waste site cleanup decision making experience and practical
				experience constitute relevant professional experience: the range of methods
				evaluated and selected; the number of individuals and other disciplines of
				other professionals supervised or coordinated; the nature of conclusions
				reached and recommendations and opinions presented; the extent of review of
				conclusions, recommendations and opinions by supervisors; the nature of the
				applicant's relationship with waste site consultants and the manner in which
				the applicant's decision making responsibilities were differentiated from those
				of others; the duration of employment; the nature of work performed (including,
				but not limited to, whether such experience includes work at sites where
				subsurface investigations have occurred); the extent to which assessment,
				containment or removal responsibilities were exercised throughout each
				position; the nature of the employer's primary business interests and the
				relation of those interests to hazardous waste work; the relevance of the prior
				experience to the technical and regulatory knowledge, skills and abilities
				ordinarily required of licensed site professionals at the time of application;
				and any other factors the Board deems relevant. Relevant professional
				experience does not include experience involving only or primarily
				non-scientific or non-technical activities associated with a disposal site,
				such as contract management, budget control, legal analysis, and other similar
				management activities.
Requirement
means any regulation,
				order, license, or approval issued or adopted by the Board, or any law which
				the Board has the authority or responsibility to enforce.
Rules of Professional Conduct
means
				the regulations set forth at
				309
				CMR 4.00.
Same Requirement(s)
means
				requirement(s) that require, or prohibit, the same action or activity.
Standard Adjudicatory Rules of Practice and
				Procedure
means the rules set forth at
				801 CMR 1.00.
Total Professional Experience
means
				all of an applicant's professional experience that is determined by the Board
				to be experience applying scientific or engineering principles in the
				environmental, scientific, or engineering fields where the resultant
				conclusions form the basis for reports, studies and other similar documents.
				The Board will consider the following criteria in evaluating an applicant's
				total professional experience: the description of work activities, the field or
				fields of activities, the duration of employment, the types of reports, studies
				and documents prepared and any other factors the Board deems relevant.
Unauthorized Practice
means acting
				as, advertising as, holding oneself out to be, or representing oneself as being
				a licensed site professional when not in possession of a currently valid
				license issued by the Board.
Waste site cleanup decision making
				experience
means professional experience in positions in
				which:
(a) an applicant's assessment, containment or removal
				responsibilities were an integral and substantial component of his or her
				position;
(b) an applicant evaluated and selected scientific or technical
				methodologies for conducting assessments, containments or removals at
				sites;
(c) an applicant supervised or coordinated other professionals
				in the conduct of those scientific and technical tasks necessary to complete
				assessments, containments or removals; and
(d) an applicant drew technical conclusions, made
				recommendations, and issued opinions based on the results of assessments,
				containments, or removals.
Waste site cleanup decision making experience must be gained
				through exercising a broad range of responsibilities within assessments, or
				containments, or removals, and may not be gained through exercising a narrow
				spectrum of responsibilities for parts and/or components of assessments, or
				containments or removals. Waste site cleanup decision making experience may
				consist of work which includes the contributions of others in reaching
				decisions on waste site cleanup activities; however, applicants must
				demonstrate that they have been an active participant and a principal decision
				maker. Waste site cleanup decision making experience does not include
				experience involving only or primarily non-scientific or non-technical
				activities associated with assessments, containments or removals, such as
				contract management, budget control, legal analysis, and other similar
				management activities. Waste site cleanup decision making experience also does
				not include experience with landfills, septic systems or similar non-hazardous
				material disposal facilities, water supply systems, or with the management of
				hazardous waste under M.G.L. c. 21C, Resource Conservation Recovery Act,
				42 U.S.C. §
									6901
et seq
. or similar
				statutes unless the applicant clearly demonstrates to the Board that the
				assessment, containment and/or removal of oil or hazardous materials released
				to the environment was the subject of the applicant's decision making in such
				contexts, and that the other criteria of this definition are
				met.