Transition Plan Guide

Transcription

1 Transition Plan Guide as per the Water and Wastewater Facilities and Public Drinking Water Supplies Regulations 1.0 Introduction Conditions a arise when a facilit is not in copliance with the operator certification requireents as per Section 27, 28 and 29 of the Water and Wastewater Facilities and Public Drinking Water Supplies Regulations. This occurs if the facilit does not have an operator in overall direct responsible charge (DRC) that is certified to the sae classification rating or higher than that of the facilit. Section 30(1) of the regulation identifies the situations under which a transition plan ust be subitted. Section 30(2) requires that the transition plan be acceptable to the adinistrator and is in accordance with this guide. Section 30(2)(b) details the tiefrae required to subit the plan to Nova Scotia Environent (NSE) for approval. It is ephasized that facilit owners should avoid the need for a transition plan b ensuring adequate succession anageent and planning to address future facilit upgrades or staff turnover. The purpose of this guide is to assist facilit owners in the developent of a transition plan which ust be subitted when a facilit does not copl with Sections 27, 28 and 29 of the regulations. 2.0 Non-Copliance Situation Facilit owners need to appl due diligence regarding facilit operations. When an owner is aware of a non-copliance situation, as per Section 29 of the Water and Wastewater Facilities and Public Drinking Water Supplies Regulations, the should notif NSE when their facilit is not under the overall responsible charge of an operator that eets the requireents of Section 28(1) of the regulations. Once aware of the non-copliance situation, owners should begin a process to ensure that operations return to copliance b: eploing an individual who eets the requireents of Section 28(1); identifing an individual for a teporar tie as per Section 29(1)(b); or developing an acceptable Transition Plan as per Section 30. 1

2 3.0 Transition Plan The purpose of the transition plan is to address the period of tie during which a facilit owner is working towards copliance. It a not be possible for a facilit owner to iediatel obtain the services of an operator to be in overall direct responsible charge of a facilit in the event that the facilit is reclassified to a higher classification or due to unexpected staff turnover. The intent of the transition plan is to deonstrate due diligence in the operation of the facilit to ensure that drinking water and/or environental qualit are protected. It is recoended that the facilit owner contact NSE to discuss their options, prior to subission of the plan, as this will ensure it eets the expectations. A facilit owner has several options when drafting a transition plan, including but not liited to: have existing operations staff work towards full certification under the regulations; or hire, contract, or share the services of a certified operator. 3.1 Using Existing Operations Staff In soe cases, facilit owners a have staff that the feel are copetent to operate the facilit, but do not eet the certification, education or operating experience requireents for the level of certification for the classification of the facilit. In this situation, the intent of the transition plan is to address the tie period during which an operator obtains the required operating experience or education. An approved transition plan will allow an operator, who is not certified to the classification of the facilit, to be designated as the operator in overall direct responsible charge until such tie as the eet the requireents for certification outlined in the regulations Self-Assessent To assess if current staff would be suitable to be designated in a transition plan, an assessent of the operator certification and facilit classification ust be copleted b the facilit owner. The first step is assessing and docuenting the education, training and operating experience of the operations staff. Docuentation of all education and training ust be included with the transition plan, unless it has alread been subitted in the past with an application for certification. For A Operations Staff Individual Inforation and Appendix A Miniu Requireents for Operator Certification are included in this guide to assist with this assessent. The classification level of the facilit should then be identified. This is the level of certification that the operations staff should seek to obtain as a iniu requireents for copliance. 2

3 3.1.2 Gap Analsis With inforation obtained through the self-assessent, a gap analsis can then be perfored b the owner to identif the education, training and operating experience the operator needs in order to be eligible for certification at the sae classification level of the facilit. This exercise will allow the facilit owner to identif the best candidate(s) to ove towards full certification on a priorit basis. It will also identif what each operator ust do in order to becoe certified to the classification of the facilit. The facilit owner a also decide after this exercise that none of the staff have the potential to achieve full certification in a reasonable tiefrae acceptable to NSE. If this is the case, the facilit owner will need to contract the services of a full-certified operator. 3.2 Obtaining the Services of a Certified Operator If a facilit owner does not have an operator on staff that is capable of becoing full certified in a reasonable aount of tie, the facilit owner shall iediatel begin the process of obtaining the services of a certified operator. The transition plan will address the tie period fro losing the services of a certified operator to the date at which the services of a certified operator are obtained. This could include hiring a certified operator, contracting the services of a certified operator, or sharing the services of a certified operator with a neighbouring facilit. The Transition Plan subitted to NSE should identif the individual s operational credentials, the noral working location and cop of the agreeent illustrating their coitent to representing the facilit as the overall DRC operator. An difficulties in hiring an individual should be counicated to NSE iediatel. 4.0 Transition Plan Content The plan ust contain sufficient inforation for the NSE to evaluate it based on the deonstration of due diligence in the facilit owner s approach to its operation until it can eet the requireents of the regulation. Due diligence eans taking ever reasonable precaution to the extent of our abilit and authorit, to ensure that the facilit is operated b copetent staff to ensure that water qualit and effluent qualit are not coproised during the period of the transition plan. The transition plan ust include clear and concise tie fraes and perforance easures for individuals operating under a transition plan. The transition plan ust be signed and dated b the facilit owner (or designate) and the operator(s) identified in the plan. B signing the transition plan: the facilit owner acknowledges that the individual operators have been deeed to be copetent; 3

4 the operator(s) have accepted the overall direct responsible charge for the operation of the facilit; and there is an agreeent between the owner and operator(s) to eet the ters and conditions identified in the transition plan. If a facilit owner is using existing staff and the operator is deficient in education and/or training, the transition plan ust identif what education and/or training the operator(s) will obtain. The transition plan ust deonstrate that the training is consistent with the requireents of the regulations. This shall include the nuber of continuing educational units (CEUs) that the training will provide. The transition plan ust also identif when the operator intends on taking and copleting the training. This tieline ust be adhered to in order to reain in copliance. If an operator is deficient in experience, the transition plan ust identif the operator(s) and the length of tie it will take for the operator to obtain the required operating or DRC experience to eet the requireents of the regulations. The transition plan will outline a reasonable schedule for having the operators pass the certification exas that the operator is working towards. The transition plan should include an related agreeents or contracts that are established between an operator and the facilit owner. A cop of the agreeent/contract shall be subitted to NSE. 5.0 Acceptance of Transition Plan NSE ust be satisfied that copetent staff is operating the facilit during the period of the transition plan. This is the basis on which the transition plan can be accepted. A Transition Plan should include a coitent to report sei-annuall on the deliverables. Following acceptance of a transition plan, the facilit will be in copliance with Sections 27 and 28, unless the facilit does not eet the deliverables as identified in the plan. 4

5 FORM A - OPERATIONS STAFF INDIVIDUAL INFORMATION OPERATOR INFORMATION NAME POSITION Water Treatent Class Water Distribution Class None PRESENT CERTIFICATION Wastewater Treatent Class Wastewater Collection Class HIGHEST GRADE COMPLETED YEAR EDUCATION SCHOOL Progra # of Years RELATED TRAINING Course Description Hours CEUS 5

6 YEARS OF OPERATING EXPERIENCE (Years - Months) OPERATING EXPERIENCE WT I: WD I: WWT I: WWC I: WT II: WD II: WWT II: WWC II: WT III: WD III: WWT III: WWC III: WT IV: WD IV: WWT IV: WWC IV: WT I: WT II: WT III: WT IV: DRC OPERATING EXPERIENCE WD I: WD II: WD III: WD IV: WWT I: WWT II: WWT III: WWT IV: WWC I: WWC II: WWC III: WWC IV: DECLARATION We hereb confir that the inforation on this application is true and accurate to the best of our knowledge. STAFF MEMBER SIGNATURE DATE SUPERVISOR SIGNATURE DATE 6

7 Appendix A - Miniu Requireents for Operator Certification As per the Nova Scotia Water and Wastewater Facilit and Public Drinking Water Supplies Regulations. In the event of a discrepanc between the following inforation and the regulations, the regulations shall take precedence. Operator Certification Education and Experience Requireents Corequisites Class Acceptable Operating Experience Education Post-Secondar Education OIT Class I - Class II Class III Class IV I II III 1 ear at Class I or higher facilit 3 ears at Class I or higher facilit 4 ears at a Class II or higher facilit, including 2 ears of direct responsible charge 4 ears at a Class III or higher facilit, including 2 ears of direct responsible charge * 45 CEUs = 1 ear post secondar education and 1 CEU = 10 hours of training ears or 90 CEUs of post high school training or education in the water or wastewater field, engineering, or related science 4 ears or 180 CEUs of post high school training or education in the water or wastewater field, engineering, or related science Education substitutions (short on experience) Education or training Ma be substituted for Liit 1 ear of post secondar 45 CEUs of specialized operator training 1 ear of operating or DRC experience (Class II, III, and IV onl) 1 ear of operating or DRC experience (Class II, III, and IV onl) Up to 50% of required experience Up to 50% of required experience Operating Experience Substitutions (short on education) Experience Ma be substituted for Liit 1 ear of operating or DRC experience 2 ears of education (Grade 1 to 8) None 1 ear of operating or DRC experience 1 ear of education (Grade 9 to 12) None For Class III, 1 ear of DRC (onl) experience in Class II or higher 1 ear of post secondar 1 ear For Class IV, 1 ear of DRC (onl) experience in Class III or higher 1 ear of post secondar 1 ear 45 CEUs of specialized/relevant operator training 1 ear of post secondar None Note: Operating experience and education/training used as part of the requireent for the particular certification class applied for, cannot be utilized for substitutions. 7