Boston. 100 Resilient Cities. May 19, 2015

http://www.cityofboston.gov/news/default.aspx?id=20127

Mayor Walsh and the Rockefeller Foundation's 100 Resilient Cities Host "KickOff" Workshop Marking Beginning of City's Participation in Innovative Global Urban Resilience Initiative

Workshop Brings Together Key Stakeholders to Develop City's "Roadmap to Resilience"; Hiring of Chief Resilience Officer Will Ensure Strategy Responds to Overarching Issues Facing Boston

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For Immediate Release May 19, 2015 Released By: Mayor's Office

For More Information Contact: Mayor's Press Office 617.635.4461

BOSTON – Tuesday, May 19, 2015 – Mayor Martin J. Walsh today joined 100 Resilient Cities (100RC) - pioneered by The Rockefeller Foundation - to kick off the process of developing a comprehensive resilience strategy that will enable the city to better survive, adapt and grow no matter what kinds of chronic stresses and acute shocks it experiences. The workshop brought together local officials and civic leaders, as well as engineers, architects, economists, faith leaders, academics and urban planners from around the city to participate in discussions on shared priorities and the essential elements for our preparedness plans.

“Thanks to 100 Resilient Cities and The Rockefeller Foundation, Boston has a real opportunity to address lingering social and economic impacts of our history,” said Mayor Walsh. “This workshop is a first step towards creating a tremendous resource and will move Boston towards a stronger, more resilient future.”

Boston’s initiative includes a unique focus on social resilience. Forty years after the busing crisis, Boston remains a city affected by divisions of race and class that undermine community cohesion. Gaps in health, educational and economic outcomes are evidence of how these fissures weaken resilience. The goal of the 100RC Initiative is to find ways to infuse the principles of resilience into all aspects of local planning, ensuring the city's ability to weather and recover from the physical, social and economic crises that are increasingly prevalent in the 21st century.

In the months following today’s workshop, the city will continue to engage those stakeholders, resilience experts and 100RC staff in drafting the plan. As part of the process, Mayor Walsh is seeking applicants for the position of Chief Resiliency Officer (CRO) for the City of Boston to ensure Boston's resilience strategy incorporates and responds to the overarching issues facing Boston, including racial and socio-economic inequity, the lack of affordable housing, unemployment and underemployment, violence, climate change, flooding and terrorism. The position is funded through 100RC.

The CRO will report directly to the Mayor and will support the development of a resilience strategy and policy discussion in the city that includes an assessment of our social resilience opportunities and challenges. The CRO will also work with external stakeholders towards a shared vision on economic development, transportation, housing, climate change and the arts. Boston residency is required for this position. Interested applicants can apply at the City of Boston’s website: http://www.cityofboston.gov/ohr/careercenter/

In December 2014, Mayor Walsh announced that Boston had been selected as one of 35 cities from around the world to join the 100RC Network, which supplies its member cities with tools, funding, technical expertise and other resources to build resilience to the challenges of the 21st century. 

“City governments are on the front line of dealing with acute shocks and chronic stress,” said The Rockefeller Foundation President Judith Rodin. “Boston is part of a group of cities leading the way on resilience to better prepare for, withstand, and recover more effectively when disruption hits. Through this type of inclusive resilience planning cities can be better prepared for the unexpected. T hey can also realize the resilience dividend, the economic and competitive advantages that come from taking a resilience mindset. Boston’s commitment to resilience thinking, planning and action will set a global example.”

“Boston is helping fuel global momentum around building urban resilience, and leading by example,” said Michael Berkowitz, President of 100 Resilient Cities.  “The agenda workshop will clarify the city’s needs, surface innovative thinking, and give us a blueprint for engaging partners from across sectors to bring Boston the tools and resources needed to become more resilient.” 

About 100 Resilient Cities – Pioneered by The Rockefeller Foundation:

100 Resilient Cities – pioneered by The Rockefeller Foundation -- is dedicated to helping cities around the world become more resilient to the physical, social and economic challenges that are a growing part of the 21st century. 100RC supports the adoption and incorporation of a view of resilience that includes not just the shocks but also the stresses that weaken the fabric of a city on a day-to-day or cyclical basis. Examples of these stresses include high unemployment; an overtaxed or inefficient public transportation system; endemic violence; or chronic food and water shortages. By addressing both the shocks and the stresses, a city can better respond to adverse events and is more capable of delivering basic functions in good time and bad, to all populations.

The 100 Resilient Cities Challenge was launched in 2013 as a $100 million commitment to build urban resilience. Officials or leaders or major institutions from over 700 cities have applied to the Challenge. The first cohort of 32 cities was announced in December 2013, and 100RC announced their second cohort of 35 cities in December 2014. Information on the Challenge itself is available at www.100resilientcities.org/challenge. 

An FAQ can be found at: http://www.100resilientcities.org/pages/100RC-FAQ#/-_/

Media Contact for 100 Resilient Cities: Maxwell Young – Myoung@100RC.org

Olympics Summer Games in Caribbean, or African Union member nations. Just a dream.

Just a dream.

Selection of Haiti, or an African Union member nation as Summer Olympic host games. Imagine the physical infrastructure, jobs, business development that could take place in a country such as Haiti, Cuba, Barbados, Benin, Malawi, Kenya, Ghana, or any other nation in need of renewal, and revitalization.

A dream and imagination can make it possible.

CDS. CEO. BLACK EMERGENCY MANAGERS ASSOCIATION

Community Stakeholder and Corporate Responsibility. U.S EPA requires California companies to improve oil spill prevention plans

How are spills and environmental concerns planned for in your communities?

BEMA


For Immediate Release: August 5, 2015

Media Contact: Soledad Calvino, calvino.maria@epa.gov, 415-972-3512

U.S EPA requires California companies to improve oil spill prevention plans

Safety-Kleen Systems in Newark and Cargill Corporation in Fullerton fined $135,000 

LOS ANGELES – Today, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced the resolution of a series of settlements under the Clean Water Act with Safety-Kleen Systems, Inc., in Newark, Calif., and Cargill Corporation, in Fullerton, Calif., for violations of federal oil pollution prevention regulations. Safety-Kleen will pay a $90,000 penalty and Cargill will pay a $45,000 penalty to resolve the violations at their facilities.

“All companies who store oil must comply with federal standards. Facilities are required to prevent spills and be prepared to respond to a worst case oil discharge emergency," said Jared Blumenfeld, EPA’s Regional Administrator for the Pacific Southwest. “Preventing spills and protecting our waterways from oil spills is essential.”

Safety-Kleen, a waste oil recycler in Newark, Calif., violated the Clean Water Act’s Oil Spill Prevention Control and Countermeasure (SPCC) rules by failing to provide secondary containment around an oil storage area; failing to secure and control access to oil handling, processing and storage areas; failing to use safe containers and good engineering practices, including liquid level alarms, to avoid discharges; and failing to develop a complete Facility Response Plan.

Cargill Corporation, which operates a vegetable oil terminal and packaging facility in Fullerton, Calif., violated EPA’s oil pollution prevention regulations by failing to update and recertify its SPCC plan for its Fullerton facility; failing to provide adequate oil containment and drainage controls; failing to ensure that the secondary containment walls of the East Tank Farm could contain spilled oil; and failing to remove accumulations of oil outside tanks and piping, transfer areas and process area collection trenches.

EPA also recently settled with four smaller California companies for violations of the oil pollution prevention regulations at their sites. The four companies are:

Antioch Building Materials
The Pittsburg, Calif. company was fined $2,775 for failure to provide a proper SPCC plan, implement tank inspection and integrity testing programs, and provide documentation of employee training.

JC Greasebuyers
The Riverside, Calif. company was fined $2,400 for failure to provide a proper SPCC plan, for storing oil in improper storage containers and for failing to implement a tank integrity testing program to prevent releases.

Gemsa Oil
The La Mirada, Calif. company was fined $2,250 for failure to provide a proper SPCC plan and have adequate secondary containment for vegetable oil storage tanks.

SoCal Pumping
The Riverside, Calif. company was fined $1,900 for failing to provide a proper SPCC plan, and complete inspection records, The facility also lacked an adequate tank integrity testing program and proper oil drum secondary containment.
EPA’s proposed Clean Water Act settlements for the Cargill and Safety-Kleen cases are subject to a 30 day public comment period and approval by the Regional Judicial Officer and are available at: 

http://www.epa.gov/region9/enforcement/pubnotices/pubnotice-cargill.html 

and 

http://www.epa.gov/region9/enforcement/pubnotices/pubnotice-safety-kleen.html

The goal of EPA’s SPCC regulation is to prevent oil from reaching navigable waters and adjoining shorelines, and to contain and respond to discharges of oil. The regulation requires onshore oil storage facilities to develop and implement SPCC Plans and establishes procedures, methods, and equipment requirements to prevent spills, and to respond properly if a spill occurs.

For more information on SPCC, please visit: http://www2.epa.gov/oil-spills-prevention-and-preparedness-regulations

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Public Health Education and Training. Core Competencies. Medical Reserve Corps.

Medical Reserve Corps

https://www.mrc.train.org/DesktopShell.aspx?tabId=94

Core Competencies for Public Health Professionals: Introduction  

Core Competencies for Public Health Professionals: Introduction   

The Core Competencies for Public Health Professionals (Core Competencies) are a consensus set of skills for the broad practice of public health, as defined by the 10 Essential Public Health Services. Developed by the Council on Linkages Between Academia and Public Health Practice, the Core Competencies reflect foundational skills desirable for professionals engaging in the practice, education, and research of public health. The Core Competencies support workforce development within public health and can serve as a starting point for public health professionals and organizations as they work to better understand and meet workforce development needs.

Organization of the Core Competencies

The Core Competencies are organized into eight domains, reflecting skill areas within public health, and three tiers, representing career stages for public health professionals.

Domains

The Core Competencies are divided into eight domains, or topical areas of knowledge and skill:

1. Analytical/Assessment Skills
2. Policy Development/Program Planning Skills
3. Communication Skills
4. Cultural Competency Skills
5. Community Dimensions of Practice Skills
6. Public Health Sciences Skills
7. Financial Planning and Management Skills
8. Leadership and Systems Thinking Skills

Tiers

• Tier 1 – Front Line Staff/Entry Level. Tier 1 competencies apply to public health professionals who carry out the day-to-day tasks of public health organizations and are not in management positions. Responsibilities of these professionals may include data collection and analysis, fieldwork, program planning, outreach, communications, customer service, and program support.
• Tier 2 – Program Management/Supervisory Level. Tier 2 competencies apply to public health professionals in program management or supervisory roles. Responsibilities of these professionals may include developing, implementing, and evaluating programs; supervising staff; establishing and maintaining community partnerships; managing timelines and work plans; making policy recommendations; and providing technical expertise.
• Tier 3 – Senior Management/Executive Level. Tier 3 competencies apply to public health professionals at a senior management level and to leaders of public health organizations. These professionals typically have staff who report to them and may be responsible for overseeing major programs or operations of the organization, setting a strategy and vision for the organization, creating a culture of quality within the organization, and working with the community to improve health.

The organization of the Core Competencies into three tiers provides guidance in identifying appropriate competencies for public health professionals. In general, competencies progress from lower to higher levels of skill complexity both within each domain in a given tier and across the tiers.  Public health organizations are encouraged to interpret and adapt the Core Competencies in ways that meet their specific organizational needs.

Online Training. August 13, 2015 Building Healthy Communities.

Every community can be a healthy community.

GovLoop Training

Building Healthy Communities

Hi , The truth is where you live, work, and play affects your health, now more than ever. Health and human service organizations are increasingly using geographic information systems (GIS) to visualize and understand data about the populations they serve. New Online Training: Building Healthy Communities Join us on Thursday, August 13th from 2-3PM ET/ 11AM - Noon PT to discover how Esri’s ArcGIS platform empowers communities to improve the health and wellbeing of all residents. Register Now! Helping you build healthy communities, Team GovLoop