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General Policies
- Ecology shall provide operators opportunities to comment on proposed
changes to the certification program requirements.
- Copies of the Advisory Committee meeting summaries may be provided to the
section presidents of the Pacific Northwest Clean Water Association
(PNCWA), municipalities, and other interested parties when requested.
- It is the responsibility of each certified operator to keep the
certification program coordinator informed of address changes. Ecology
shall not consider appeals from individuals who fail to renew their
certificates or meet professional growth requirements due to incorrect
mailing addresses.
- Applications and reciprocity requests are confidential and will be handled
in accordance with Ecology’s policy on Public Disclosure #10-30.
- If revocation of a Washington State certificate was made due to:
·
Fraud or deceit in obtaining the certificate.
·
Gross negligence in the operation of a wastewater treatment
plant.
·
Violation of the requirements of Chapter 173-230 WAC or the
statute it implements or of any lawful rule, regulation or order of the
department.The Department of Ecology will make details of the revocation
public upon request.
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- Ecology
may issue certificates at any time to individuals applying for reciprocity.
To qualify for reciprocity an applicant must meet Washington state minimum
education and experience requirements and pay the appropriate application
fee. An Association of Boards of Certification (ABC) equivalent exam
must have been taken and passed and the applicant must meet minimum exam
scores as required by Ecology.
- Ecology will issue Group I certificates to individuals who have passed
the Operator-in-Training exam, met the Group I operating experience
requirement, and paid the application fee.
- Ecology shall consider one continuing education unit (CEU) equal to one
college level quarter credit for the purpose of determining an applicant’s
eligibility for certification.
- Courses completed to meet the professional growth requirement or college
requirement must relate to the operation, maintenance, or management of water
and/or wastewater systems.
- Relevant training must have a CEU or college credit assignment prior to
submittal for reciprocity or examination applications to be accepted. If CEUs
are used to meet the requirement, the standard of evaluation must be similar
to the Wastewater Operator Certification Program course/training review
procedure.
- CD Rom and/or Online Training will be accepted by the Department of
Ecology toward the wastewater treatment plant operator’s professional growth
requirement if the following criteria apply and can be documented:
· Subject
of training must be considered relevant to wastewater treatment.
· Training
is from a reputable trainer.
· The
trainer is able to provide a course description, a course timeline (i.e.,
average training contact hours), and proof of successful completion.
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- Ecology may consider the following types of work experience as satisfying
the operating experience requirements for wastewater treatment plant
operator certification:
| a) |
Experience in monitoring and operating computer systems
used to control the operation of wastewater treatment plants. |
| b) |
Experience in the operation and maintenance of
industrial wastewater treatment facilities may be substituted for up to
half the operating experience requirement for Group II, III, and IV
applicants. Group I applicants may not substitute any portion of the
operating experience requirement with related experience or education.
“Operating experience,” as defined in Chapter 173-230 WAC, “means the
routine performance of duties, on-site in a wastewater treatment plant,
that affect the plant performance or effluent quality.” |
-
To calculate an applicant's total amount or
operating experience, the certification coordinator may project experience
to the date of the requested examination.
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- Individuals who request the exam be read to them must make the request in
writing to the coordinator and state the reason for the request.
Requests will be evaluated.
- Picture ID will be required to take the exam.
- In the event an individual takes an examination without proper
authorization from the certification coordinator, Ecology authorizes the
certification coordinator to void the exam answer sheet before it is
scored.
- Certificates shall be revoked if it is found that fraud or deceit was used
to obtain the certificate.
- Applications for retake of Group IV exams need not be reviewed and
re-approved by the certification coordinator's supervisor.
- Application fees are not refundable.
- Applications for examination or upgrade shall not be considered unless all
supporting documentation is received no later than three weeks prior to the
exam date. Training to be evaluated for CEU assignment and supplied as
supporting documentation of the application must be submitted by the
application deadline date.
- Proctors of certification exams cannot be certified operators or family
members of the certified operators.
- Exam results will not be given over the telephone to operators or
employers.
- Employers must request in writing pass or fail information regarding
mandatory certified operator positions.
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- Operators may appeal decisions of the certification coordinator. An
operator may choose to pursue an informal and/or formal appeal option.
- An informal appeal is directed to the Section Manager of the Program
Development Services Section. An informal appeal must be made within
30 days of notice of the certification coordinator's decision and must be
made in writing. The section manager will respond in writing within 30
days.
- A formal appeal involves a two-step process:
| a) |
Appeals must be made in writing to the Program Manager
of the Water Quality Program within 30 days of either the notice of
the coordinator's decision or the notice of the informal (Program
Development Services Section Manager's) appeal determination.
The program manager will respond in writing within 45 days. |
| b) |
An appeal may be, in accordance with the Pollution
Control Hearings Board (PCHB) guidelines, made to the PCHB of the
Program Manager's determination. This appeal must be made within
30 days of the notice of the final determination made by the Program
Manager.
|
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Professional Growth Policies
- Training may be applied towards professional growth only one time during a
professional growth period.
- A certified operator that instructs a class may receive the same number of
CEUs for the class as the attendees.
| a) |
If an operator instructs a portion of a class, they can
receive partial credit for their portion of instruction if they don't
attend the entire class. |
| b) |
If an operator instructs a portion of a class and
attends the entire class they can receive credit for the entire class. |
| c) |
The instructor must be noted on the roster as a
certified operator to receive credit for the training. |
Professional
Growth Requirement Policy
- One out of the three required continuing education units (CEU) needed to
meet professional growth must be specific to wastewater treatment.
| a) |
Examples of wastewater treatment specific training
include courses on: operation, wastewater treatment process, wastewater
lab, collection systems, and pumps. |
| b) |
Examples of relevant training include courses on:
drinking water, computers, safety, management, driver training, general
chemistry, and instrumentation. |
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Last updated on
February 22, 2008
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