NEHA News for Affiliates, August 2019

WELCOME NEW YORK

WELCOME BACK LOUISIANA

We are pleased to welcome the New York State Conference of

Environmental Directors (NYS CEHD) and welcome back the

Louisiana Environmental Health Association (LEHA) as an

Affiliate of the National Environmental Health Association. Their

applications for affiliation were accepted by the NEHA Board of

Directors at the Annual Educational Conference in Nashville, TN.

The key benefits of NEHA Affiliation include:

Representation on the Affiliate Council, allowing the

opportunity to provide feedback and guidance to the NEHA

Board of Directors.

National recognition on the NEHA website and Journal of

Environmental Health.

Eligibility to nominate candidates for Affiliate Certificates of

Merit and the NEHA premier honor, The Walter S. Mangold

Award.

An invitation to participate in the Affiliate Leadership

Workshop during the NEHA Annual Educational Conference

to collaborate with your community of Affiliate leaders.

The opportunity to have a NEHA representative participate in

your annual conference.

A direct line of communication to NEHA leadership and staff.

NYS CEHD joins Region 9 and LEHA rejoins Region 5. We are

happy to have them as part of the NEHA Affiliate community!

Pandemic All-Hazards Preparedness and Advancing Innovation Act Signed Into Law

The Pandemic All-

Hazards Preparedness

and Advancing Innovation

Act of 2019 (PAHPA) has

been signed into law on

June 24, 2019 by

President Donald Trump.

PAHPA was originally

created in 2005 to

improve the nation’s

public health and medical

preparedness and

response capabilities for

emergencies, whether

deliberate, accidental, or

natural. The original law

sunset in 2018 and

needed to be

reauthorized. For the first

time, the law now

specifically identifies

environmental health as

an essential contributor to

the nation’s health and

well-being.

“PAHPA puts environ-

mental health profession-

als at the table to ensure

that every community is

prepared for environmen-

tal hazards in the event of

a natural or man-made

disaster,” said NEHA’s

Director of Government

Affairs Joanne Zurcher.

Please read the full

press release on the

NEHA website

to learn more.

NEHA News for Affiliates, August 2019

NEHA Website Resources and Updating

Did you know that there is a section of the NEHA website for affiliates?

Affiliate Leadership Contact Information should be reviewed annually and updated as necessary.

The Affiliate Resources section includes:

• Affiliate Newsletters from the past 2-years.

• Affiliate Workshop presentations from the past 3-years.

• Outside legal resources

• Information on hosting webinars and virtual conferences from Zoom.

Contact information for each of the NEHA Regional Vice Presidents is also listed on the website, along with the states that they represent. The RVPs are your representatives and primary contacts at NEHA.

INFORM 2020 CALL FOR ABSTRACTS NOW OPEN!

After a disaster, such as a hurricane, wildfire, or earthquake, septic systems may be damaged and fail to operate correctly. Ensuring that these systems function properly is essential to providing safe waste disposal for millions of Americans, yet there may be no standard safety protocol in place for using septic systems after a disaster occurs. NEHA worked with subject matter experts and national partners to develop an accessible toolkit with guidance documents for different types of disasters. There are two guidance documents included for each disaster area, a longer version with more detailed information and explanations and a shorter version with a checklist and step-by-step instructions. A document containing general educational and safety resources for septic systems is also included to supplement all the guidance resources. These materials can be used directly by septic system users or adapted by local and state agencies. The resources are free and available online.

SEPTIC SYSTEM PREPAREDNESS MATERIALS

The Integrated Foodborne Outbreak Response and Management (InFORM) conference will be held at the Westin Atlanta Peachtree Plaza Hotel March 9–12, 2020. Held every two years, InFORM brings together the network of public health officials involved with foodborne and enteric disease outbreak response. This includes federal, state and local public health scientists, epidemiologists, laboratorians, environmental health specialists, and health communicators.

The Call for Abstracts is now open! Please consider submitting an abstract and/or help by spreading the word within your networks. The deadline is September 15

th. See the attached flyer or click HERE for

additional details. Information on travel stipends will be available soon.

Policy Statement on the Adoption and Implementation of the Current Food and Drug Administration’s Food Code

In July 2019 the NEHA Board of Directors approved a new policy statement recommending the complete adoption and implementation of the current Food Code by all federal, state, local, tribal, and territorial governmental agencies to promote the most current knowledge on food safety. Please read the full statement HERE. The complete library of NEHA Position Papers is available HERE.

NEHA News for Affiliates, August 2019

Affiliates at the 2019 NEHA

From Your RVP:

Elections

Election season is coming up and officers are changing roles. Please let me know who the new contacts are for each of your affiliates.

Congratulations to each of the new presidents. I look forward to working with each of you in the coming year. Please, do not hesitate to reach out to me if there is anything I can do for you.

My third year as Region 5 RVP began at the end of the AEC in June and will end at the AEC in 2020. I am not able to run for another term, so you will have a new RVP after the New York AEC. If you have an interest in running, I would be happy to talk to you or help you put together your application.

AEC

The Nashville AEC was a great success. I got the opportunity to see some people from Region 5 and even meet a few new ones. Next year is in New York very close to Times Square and Central Park. I hope you are able to build it into your budget to attend.

Awards

One of my big pushes this year will be for each of my affiliates to nominate someone for a Certificate of Merit. Each affiliate should be able to come up with at least one person or a team of people who has made outstanding contributions to your organization or Environmental Health over the last year. Nominations open in January. The president needs to submit the nomination and the awards are announced at the AEC. The winner does not need to be in attendance.

It has been a huge honor to serve all of you as your RVP. Thank you all for all you do to better your communities, your state, and Environmental Health.

Tom Vyles

Region 5 RVP