Minutes of the February 7, 2014 Meeting of the North Carolina Association of Hazardous Materials Responders Concord, North Carolina

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1 Minutes of the February 7, 2014 Meeting of the North Carolina Association of Hazardous Materials Responders Concord, North Carolina The meeting was called to order at 10:05 AM by Vice- President Joel Wood. 45 members and visitors were present. Vice-President Wood welcomed all members and visitors to the meeting. Secretary Stephenson presented the minutes from the October 21, 2013 meeting. Greg Collins made a motion to accept the minutes; the motion was 2nd by Chuck Whitworth, and was passed. The Treasurer s report was presented by Treasurer Burns. As of December 31, 2032, the balance is $6, Mike Cherry made a motion to accept the report, the motion was 2 nd by Derick Mickler, and was passed. Old Business: 1. Spring Meeting will be held on May 16, 2014 at Greensboro Fire Department s Special Operations Division, 6902 Downwind Rd., Greensboro, NC, at 10:00 AM. Kappler will demonstrate their product line and provide suits for hands-on use. New Business: 1. Vice-President Wood provided a summary of the new FBI procedures for WMD response that was provided by Special Agent Jim Paige during January s RRT TAC Meeting. Procedures include responders providing the manufacturer, type, and serial numbers of meters used during their response and sampling. It is important that local responders also include any screen-shots and datalogging information as well. Special Agent Paige highlighted the fact that these new requirements are not designed to hamper a local agencies response, but is useful should the FBI have to pursue a case from a legal standpoint. He also reiterated the FBI s position that they will work to provide all assistance possible to local agencies. Committee Reports: 1. Education and Outreach a. Vice-President Wood discussed that the 2014 Haz-Mat Challenge is currently being developed, and that the date of the Firefighter s Convention has been moved up to July23-23, The challenge will continue to contain an educational component, and advanced air-monitoring training will be provided after the Association s regular business meeting. b. Education and Outreach Committee Chair Abby Moore advised that we have an increased amount of sponsorship for the Challenge this year. This year s Challenge will feature a night-out for all participates including a full dinner. c. Committee Chair Moore also advised that the Committee is looking to expand the training opportunities available for future conferences. The Committee asks that members provide input on what future training opportunities they wish to see.

2 d. Committee Chair Moore is working with NC Emergency Management to help improve the reimbursement procedures for this year s challenge. e. The Committee will provide final Challenge instructions during the Association s May 16 th meeting. The Committee also seeks to have a soft commitment for all interesting teams by May 15, and a hard commitment by June 15. Training Reports: 1. Vice-President Wood advised that the upcoming Haz-Mat Technician class in Greensboro has been postponed. 2. Vince Marks of OSFM provided a briefing of the changes to the Technician certification process. Changes include students having chemistry before taking the Technician course, and that the Technician certification exam will be administered on site at the conclusion of the Technician course. He advised that local Department s will still be required to provide the necessary legal requirements for Technician certification including medical monitoring, departmental SOG s and SOP s, etc. 3. Vince advised that new objectives and class formats are being developed for future Technician certification classes to include the required knowledge and skills of NFPA Changes are to begin in Vince advised that funding for the Transportation Technology Center in Pueblo, Colorado may be coming to an end and all members are encouraged to try to work on attending the Center s courses ASAP. 5. Upcoming Technician Classes - May 2014, Concord - June 2014, Wilson - September, Charlotte 6. Upcoming Chemistry Classes - March 10, 2014, Elizabeth City - March 31, 2014, Concord - May 27, 2014, Cleveland County - June 2, 2014, Monroe Team Reports: 1. Vice-President Wood provided an update on the recent injuries to Greensboro Firefighters who were involved in a roof collapse during a structure fire. He advised that all injured members have or will recover. He also thanked everyone for the thoughts and prayers he and others received from Association members, and firefighters throughout the State. 2. Greensboro s RRT participated in a multi-agency drill with Winston Salem and other agencies. 3. President Tim Hartsell advised that the Charlotte RRT is currently working on scene of an incident involving the illegal dumping of a large quantity of unknown hazardous chemicals into the City s sanitary sewer system. 4. Bradley Merritt, Deputy Commander of the 42 nd Civil Support Team advised that the team is currently working with 2014 Men s and Women s US Open Golf Tournaments in Pinehurst to help identify and prevent any possible threats. Recognition of Guest and/or Vendors: 1. Scott Trotman of Argus-Hazco provided an overview and demonstration of RAE Systems new product line, including new air-monitors and docking stations.

3 Other: Modular Emergency Radiological Response Transportation Training (MERRTT) class immediately following business meeting. Next Meeting: May 16, 2014, 10:00 AM. Greensboro Fire Department Special Operations Division, 6902 Downwind Rd., Greensboro, NC. Meeting adjourned at 11:12 AM.

4 Minutes of the May 16, 2014 Meeting of the North Carolina Association of Hazardous Materials Responders Greensboro, North Carolina The meeting was called to order at 11:05 AM by President Hartsell. 17 members and visitors were present. President Hartsell welcomed all members and visitors to the meeting. Secretary Stephenson presented the minutes from the February 7, 2014 meeting. Frank Burns made a motion to accept the minutes; the motion was 2nd by Rick Pearsall, and was passed. The Treasurer s report was presented by Treasurer Burns. As of May 14, 2014, the balance is $7, Tim Smith made a motion to accept the report, the motion was 2 nd by Derick Mickler, and was passed. New Business: 1. Discussion of setting and maintaining a minimum checking balance for the Association was presented by Treasurer Burns. Treasurer Burns advised that our finances were in great shape, and that this was only a pro-active move by the association to avoid any potential future concerns. After discussion by membership, a recommendation was made that a minimum balance of $5,000 should be set. Recommendation was made that if an expenditure would require the balance to fall below $5,000, it would require prior approval of the Executive Board through a majority vote. If an expenditure would require the balance to fall below $3,000, it would require prior approval of the membership through a majority vote by proxy. Item continued until annual membership meeting in July. 2. Discussion on obtaining a Debit Card for the Association, to be maintained by the Treasurer. 3. Discussion on developing a long-term (3-year, 5-year) Strategic Outlook Plan for the Association was presented by President Hartsell. Items to be included in the Plan include a possible 2-day Haz-Mat Training Conference, a Lessons-Learned presentation of member team s past incident responses, developing a brochure that highlights the Association s benefits, mission, and resources, sponsoring an annual Technician and/or chemistry course, and working to ensure that each region has some type of training or meeting to help bring more teams into the Association. 4. Haz-Mat Challenge a. Committee Chair Abby Moore advised that registration for the Annual Haz-Mat Competition should be available on the State Fireman s Association s Conference website on May 19, Teams should try to register by June 1, b. Abby advised that she is working on making the Challenge monetarily self-sufficient through continued sponsorship opportunities. She advised that through everyone s hard-work, the Challenge continues to grow and we have an increasing amount of teams wanting to participate, as well as sponsors who wish to support the Challenge. c. Abby is working on reserving and pre-paying for a block of rooms for the participating teams, with an emphasis on providing this resource to the smaller teams. This should improve the process as teams will not have to worry about reimbursement.

5 d. All portions of the Challenge will be held indoors this year, and study guides will be available soon. e. The Association will be sponsoring the Annual Night-Out on Friday July, 25, 2014 at Natty Greene s. This provides an opportunity for all of the Association s members to network and fellowship. Committee Reports: 1. Education and Outreach a. Abby is working on providing a White Powder Protocol Training class at the Fall Meeting. b. CSX will be expanding their Readiness Training in Atlanta to all Association Member Teams next year. c. Vince Marks discussed the development of the Response to Hydraulic Fracking Emergencies pilot program that is being developed by OSFM. d. Abby has begun work on writing and securing training grants through TransCAER and CSX. Training Reports: 1. Abby advised that CSX and Norfolk Southern will be offering crude oil rail emergencies training classes in the near future in Pueblo, Colorado. Emphasis will be on the States that have a large number of shipments in their state, with North Carolina being a couple of years out. 2. Chuck Whitworth discussed that the Association should work to take a lead role in advertising the changes to the Technician Certification process and upcoming training opportunities which will help improve our value to our membership, as well as demonstrating our value to the teams who are not yet members. 3. Upcoming Technician Classes - June 2014, Wilson - September 2014, Charlotte 4. Upcoming Chemistry Classes - July 2014, Charlotte - September 2014, Winston-Salem Other: Hydraulic Fracturing Emergency Response Training Class presented by Vince Marks of OSFM. Next Meeting: Friday July 25, 2014, 10:00 AM. SAFRE Fire Expo, Raleigh Convention Center, Raleigh, NC. Meeting adjourned at 12:40 PM.

6 Minutes of the July 25, 2014 Meeting of the North Carolina Association of Hazardous Materials Responders Raleigh, North Carolina The meeting was called to order at 10:00 AM by President Hartsell. 47 members and visitors were present. President Hartsell welcomed all members and visitors to the meeting. Secretary Stephenson presented the minutes from the May 16, 2014 meeting. Abby Moore made a motion to accept the minutes; the motion was 2nd by Jason Brown, and was passed. The Treasurer s report was presented by Treasurer Burns. As of June 30, 2014, the balance is $8, Greg Collins made a motion to accept the report, the motion was 2 nd by Shane Davis, and was passed. Old Business: 1. Secretary Stephenson presented the new Association Pamphlets to the Memberships. These pamphlets provide a brief overview of the Association s History, Mission, and Membership Benefits. Any Member who needs pamphlets should contact Secretary Stephenson. 2. Treasurer Burns provided an update concerning the Association developing a policy to maintain a minimal checking balance. Treasurer Burns advised that our finances are in great shape and that this was only a pro-active move to avoid any potential concerns. Motion made by Greg Collins that a Policy Change will be made by the Executive Board that should an expenditure cause the checking balance to fall below $5,000, it would require prior approval of the Executive Board through a majority vote. If an expenditure would cause the balance to fall below $3,000, it would require prior approval of the membership at a regularly scheduled or special called meeting, through a majority vote. Motion was 2 nd by Bradley Merritt, and was passed. New Business: 1. Abby Moore discussed having a flex Associate Membership amount for those vendors who would like to give more. The Executive Board will research this request. 2. Election of Officers: a. Nominations Committee put forth the following nominations for the election of officers. President Joel Wood, Vice President Jim Peele, Secretary John Stephenson, Treasurer Frank Burns, West Regional Director Shane Bayless, Piedmont Regional Director Allan Cagle, and Eastern Regional Director Derek Mickler. Motion was made to except the nominations by Greg Collins and was 2 nd by Jason Brown. The motion was passed and new officers elected. 3. President Wood provided an overview of the proposed funding changes for the Regional Response Teams. 4. President Wood advised the Membership that the Highway Patrol requested the Association s representation on the Domestic Nuclear Detection Office s (DNDO) Steering Committee. The Association will be represented by President Wood.

7 5. President Wood discussed planning a 5-Year Plan for the Association. Input will be needed by all Members. Some of the preliminary goals of the Plan are to: - Improve and focus our mission in order to provide increased value to our membership. - Place an emphasis on future training opportunities. - Will help incoming Executive Board members to maintain continuity. - Provide a mechanism so that the Plan can be improved and reevaluated to maintain a proactive response to our Member s needs, as well as the future changes in Hazardous Materials response. Committee Reports: 1. Education and Outreach a. Haz-Mat Challenge: 1. Education and Outreach Committee Chairwoman Abby Moore discussed the study guide for Challenge Team members. 2. Schedule provided for Team start times and Awards Presentation. 3. President Wood discussed the protocols for tomorrow s Team briefings. 2. Chairwoman Moore discussed the Association s plans to continue to offer, and improve, our training classes and resources. This will help improve our value to our members, and will help encourage future members to join. She provided an overview of the positive relationships that the she and the Association have developed with our training and vendor partners. She also encourages all members to let her know what type of training we desire. Lastly, she stated that she would soon be ing all Team Leaders to find out what future training opportunities that their teams would like sponsored by the Association. Training Reports: 1. Vince Marks with OSFM discussed that there will be a simple requalification for Haz-Mat Instructors in the near future. He advised that it will probably be offered as an on-line requalification and should only contain some minor changes. 2. Upcoming Technician Classes - September 15-25, Charlotte 3. Upcoming Chemistry Classes - August 11-22, Fayetteville Team Reports: Other: 1. Introduction by Major Bradley Merritt of the National Guard 42 nd Civil Support Team. Major Merritt discussed the Team s capabilities, equipment, and services. 2. Abby discussed Asheville s upcoming table-top exercise and drill with teams from Nashville. She highlighted how this will help to provide improved response and coordination when an incident crosses state lines and involves agencies from our neighboring States. 1. President Wood presented Past-President Hartsell with a plaque on behalf of the Association to honor Past-President Hartsell s dedication and committee to the Association, as well as his leadership as our President. 2. Hazmat Technician: Advanced Common Sense Scene Assessment, will be presented by Battalion Chief A.C. Rich, Raleigh Fire Dept., at 13:00 in Room 306A.

8 Next Meeting: 1. Monday October 13, 2014, North Carolina Emergency Management Association s 2014 Fall Conference, Sunset Beach, NC. 2. Suspicious Substances and White Powder Protocol Training will be provided after Business Meeting. Meeting adjourned at 12:40 PM.

9 Minutes of the October 13, 2014 Meeting of the North Carolina Association of Hazardous Materials Responders NC Emergency Management Fall Conference - Sunset Beach, NC The meeting was called to order at 3:30 PM by President Wood. President Wood welcomed all members and visitors to the meeting. President Wood presented the minutes from the July 25, 2014 meeting. The Treasurer s report was presented by Treasurer Burns. Old Business: 1. Reviewed Funding and Expenses from the South Atlantic Fire Expo and Haz-Mat Challenge st Sgt. Robert Reynolds of the NC Highway Patrol gave an update on the DHDO/PRND Radiation Program. B/C Calvin Bishop gave insight on the radiation monitors and training by the RRT s. President Wood and B/C Bishop is on the Steering Committee representing the Association and RRT s. New Business: 1. Discussion on 5-Year Strategic Plan Development 2. Update on Tier II funding for Hazardous Materials Response Teams. Committee Reports: 1. Education and Outreach 1. Agent Jim Page, FBI, spoke on Evidence Collection at the Conference. Discussed the need for radiation, explosive, and flammability field screening of all packages transported to the State Lab, as well as the reporting and documentation requirements. Introductions: 1. President Wood introduced Justin Graney as the new NC Emergency Management RRT Coordinator. Next Meeting: Wednesday February 5, NC Association of Fire Chief s Mid-Winter Conference - Concord Convention Center, Carolina Room, Concord, NC, 10:00 a.m. Meeting adjourned.

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