ALC - Occupational Licensing Review Subcommittee
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Good afternoon, folks, and thank you all for being here today.
I have no comments as a chair. None from my co-chair. We'll move immediately to paragraph C, and this will be a review of reports from the Occupational Authorization Entities. And do we have anybody here from, what, ADEQ? Thank you all for being here today.
it's good to see you and afterwards if I could have five minutes of your time I'd appreciate it and
Speaker 8
2:45
if you would introduce yourself yes sir good afternoon my name is Bailey Taylor chief
Speaker 9
2:49
administrator of environment and DEQ director I'm Lauren Ballard I'm chief of staff with the
Department of Energy and Environment thank you all for
Speaker 8
2:59
being here and you may continue so the Division of Environmental Quality administers the asbestos abatement program that includes
licensing. That is operated under the Federal Asbestos Hazard Emergency Response Act and the Federal Asbestos School Hazard Reauthorization Act. In addition to that, we have state statute and rule that mirror these federal actions. And so under that, we issue a variety of asbestos abatement licenses. Those include an air monitor. which collects the samples, a contractor, a worker, an inspector, a planner, designer,
a consultant, and a training provider. So depending on what their needs are or the type of business that they're operating, you can receive training and apply for any or multiple of these licenses. And we issue, depending on what category there could be, any range of number of licenses we issue. are there any questions thank you members do
you have any questions and my co-chair go ahead sir
Representative Stephen Meeks
Unverified
4:09
there we are okay so um just kind of out of curiosity um i'm assuming that we're not installing any new asbestos in the state so at this point we're just monitoring what's out there and trying to get it removed is that a correct assessment of where
Speaker 8
4:31
we're at there are still some materials made today that include asbestos okay so but it's very few that number dwindles by the day um so yes we could still be putting asbestos into our facilities but it's much at a much lower rate
Representative Stephen Meeks
Unverified
4:46
than what we historically were okay so primarily what we're doing with this
program is pulling the asbestos out of the program is monitoring what's out there and then getting rid of it where feasible is that correct we're licensing
Speaker 8
5:00
the entities that perform that work okay all right thank you and representative Bentley
Mary you're recognized chairman thank you all for being here today so can you
Representative Mary Bentley
Unverified
5:10
give us a little more update on the grant your grant process that you have those notice that you
give some grants out to folks to remove asbestos can you tell us just a little bit
more about that now our districts would be able to apply
Speaker 8
5:23
for that yes so that is still a piece of our rule we have not administered a grant in a little over six years just because of the the program funding the revenue and then our expenses have not just resulted in a surplus enough to where we were able to
Speaker 30
5:40
afford the grants at this time so can you tell me what your expense
Representative Mary Bentley
Unverified
5:45
I know I see what you're 276,000 a year you're getting from fees and fines so tell us about the expenses
Speaker 8
5:57
as a part of this exercise what currently the fee or the expenses are 220,000 I believe it's it's in the question yes 220,000 a year but as a part of this exercise we did identify that not every inspector was paid out of this fund and so in order to realign our resources and align the program better that we
Representative Mary Bentley
Unverified
6:24
expect those expenses to increase so I'm sorry
explain a little bit more so you're actually using some of the funds to pay for inspectors to go out and do inspections of the asbestos
Speaker 8
6:37
as well how this funding that you receive correct we have two inspectors that when we receive complaints then we go out and inspect the facility and the workers that would be licensed to do the work and so we just inspect them for compliance adherence to the rule that's great one more chairman if you don't mind go ahead
Representative Mary Bentley
Unverified
6:55
ma'am so um that's great information i appreciate you guys being here today so what do you expect you're expecting an increase
Speaker 8
7:00
because of why those inspector salaries have not previously been attributed to this fund so this this rule is making
Representative Mary Bentley
Unverified
7:09
it come out of this fund is that you're telling me or when did that change i guess i'm just asking you why um yeah i
Speaker 38
7:18
don't think anything's changed i think we were going back and looking and seeing um the individuals that we have assigned to this program for these duties and i think uh there were a couple different funds that could pay for them And so we were looking at really attributing real costs to the actual expenses of the program.
So at this point, we don't think that what's generated is less than the cost of the programs. We're realigning to make sure there's not additional work or additional people or less money. It's just that we're connecting those dots and making sure that they're being paid by that revenue source that they're spending most of their time on and attributing it to that. Okay, just aligning
Representative Mary Bentley
Unverified
7:54
it better. Yeah. Thank you all. Thank you so much. Thank you, Chairman. I appreciate your lenience
on that. Yes, ma'am. Representative Richmond, you are a recognizer. Mr. Chair, I'm over here on your far right.
Chair
Unverified
8:05
You mentioned complaints. Who is it that generally complains, and what do they complain about when you have to go out and maybe take a look or something at one of these individuals that you've certified? I don't
Speaker 8
8:18
have a list of our complaints, but I will say that it's typically citizens, neighbors um that that see something going on and want to know if if everything's been done properly do you have any examples of what
Chair
Unverified
8:30
they might see that that they would look at and say i don't like that or i think that's hazardous i mean sometimes it
Speaker 8
8:40
is just that the work is being
done without the proper contract or the proper notice okay and once you
Chair
Unverified
8:48
give somebody a certification you know i i take it that you go in you take a look at everything and and basically you do i saw here you do do certifications right on this thing yeah and you give somebody a certification that uh everything is correct if you get a complaint about them what do you have to do i mean can you just look at hey we've certified these people uh there shouldn't be
a problem here or do you have to go
Speaker 54
9:17
out there and do a re-inspection we don't certify each facility we certify the worker or the contract company
Speaker 8
9:24
so we they receive training they take a test once they pass all of that then they are certified they receive that license from us we do expect them to know the rule after that training and be able to comply but if we receive a complaint about their operation we will go to that specific facility and make sure that they submitted their
notice and make sure that they are disposing of the asbestos containing material in the appropriate fashion and so if either one of those two i'm speaking generally um if they had failed to do either one
Speaker 56
9:55
of those two then that could be a violation one more mr chair yes sir and and if
Chair
Unverified
10:03
you do have somebody that has a violation just how much authority do you have to deal with a contractor or somebody that that you have found in violation we can issue a civil penalty
Speaker 8
10:16
under a formal enforcement a consent administrative order or a notice of violation we can also do informal enforcement if that's
Speaker 20
10:24
what the case warrants so we have all of the authority to assess a civil
Chair
Unverified
10:30
penalty all right thank you thank you mr chair thank
you guys appreciate you being here yes sir
Representative Matt Brown
Unverified
10:38
in representative Brown you're recognized ma'am thank you mr. chair I was just curious you said something about products are still
being manufactured today that use asbestos are they being are these
products like less likely to be I think the word is friable so that the asbestos is just flying around the air uh are they are they are they
more encapsulated i mean i'm curious
Speaker 54
11:08
about that yeah i think them what's still being manufactured is
Speaker 8
11:13
glue and certain adhesives so yes less chance of the fry it's not the insulation like you would typically think of being so friable
and airborne but it can still impact
Representative Matt Brown
Unverified
11:27
human health and one other question so um the certifications i would assume they
pertain to people who are removing asbestos from residential dwellings as well as commercial buildings yes ma'am
Speaker 53
11:44
it could But one residential structure does not require all of the licensing.
Speaker 30
11:53
If they're doing multiple, then they would have to have their training and requirements. Thank
Representative Jeremy Wooldridge
Unverified
12:06
you. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Chair. Thank you guys for being here. I'm trying to better understand, too, kind of what impact does asbestos have on the general public if they're exposed to it? And my questioning for that, when I'm traveling around the district I serve that's very rural,
the number one thing that communities talk to me about is how difficult it is to get rid of dilapidated structures, and especially those that maybe they have to have a test done and then there's asbestos, and they can't really afford to go through the abatement process to then remove those structures. So then they just sit there vacant or in partial decline. So what is the impact, I guess, potentially to the public? And then how often are we seeing people that are negatively affected by asbestos that becomes airborne or that kind of thing?
Speaker 54
13:00
We don't regulate if they are impacted by this. That's as far as
Speaker 8
13:06
our authority would go. That may be another department. But what can happen if you're exposed to asbestos is scarring of the lungs. It's called asbestosis and then also mesophilioma. So those are known side effects of the exposure, which is why this is regulated. As far as citywide kind of campaigns go, we work with several cities to develop the best program and plan of attack.
Speaker 9
13:34
If that's something that you're interested in, we
Representative Jeremy Wooldridge
Unverified
13:38
could definitely talk about that. follow up Mr. Chair and absolutely something I'd like to know more about and that's my fault for not knowing that I need to be able to help these rural communities learn what the opportunity is for some assistance because it really becomes a growing problem especially in rural parts of the state so it's something I'm dealing with a lot and I'd love to get with you if you can send me information on that I'd like to connect with those resources so thank you very much
Members, seeing no other questions, without objection, this report stands as reviewed. And thank you all for being here today.
And next we have the Arkansas Commission on Law Enforcement Standards and Training. and if you would
please identify yourselves good morning sir my name is
Speaker 73
14:55
Jason Lawrence deputy director of training for the Commission law enforcement standards and training.
Speaker 74
15:01
My name is Steve Taylor. I'm an attorney for the Commission on Law Enforcement Standards and
Speaker 75
15:06
Training. My name is Kelvin Sargent. I'm a deputy director
with the Commission on Law Enforcement Standards and Training. Good. Thank you all. And you're welcome to start with your report. Absolutely.
Speaker 78
15:16
Just a general overview, Senator, if you will. The Commission on Law Enforcement Standards and Training has broken into a couple of different divisions. The standards division, which handles a couple of different things, Deputy Director
sergeant can go into more detail in regards to it, but setting the standards and enforcing the standards set forth by the commission. The standards division also follows up on any type of what we call compliance checks and de-certification processes for law enforcement officers across the state of Arkansas. In addition to that, the training division is broken down in a couple of different ways. Number one, we have our basic training, which is going to be our police academies. We have three located across the state, one in Camden, Arkansas, one in central Arkansas, the bent and bryant area and then lastly one in springdale our northwest academy as well
from that we also have an advanced division at that point which handles advanced law enforcement training for those who are already certified in regards to it you can break down a little bit more we have jails jail standards as well uh and then at that point where we assist in training detention officers across the state not only from the basic level but also jail administrators across the state. Members, are there any questions? And my co-chair, go ahead, sir.
Representative Stephen Meeks
Unverified
16:34
Thank you, Mr. Chair. So, gentlemen, thank you for your service to the state. My question is, can you give us an overview on where we're at on recruiting new people into law enforcement careers how we're doing as a state in that regard yes sir thank
Speaker 78
16:51
you for your question sir greatly appreciate it uh the vast majority what you will see is going to be up to the individual agencies i will tell you i've been involved in law enforcement 2004 deputy director sergeant over
30 years uh steve has been in 33 plus years we're starting to see an uptick in the recruitment aspect so our numbers at the basic academy we are somewhere close to 700 per year those numbers kind of fluctuate and they depend on hiring cycles for the agencies but more importantly we're seeing a slight reduction and we are actually liking that agencies are not only able to hire but the retention is getting better across the state sir yeah that's
Representative Stephen Meeks
Unverified
17:31
that's very good news how many uh can you handle in the course of a year a year you said you got 700 is that is that generally what
I think you said it's a slight uptick. Yes,
Speaker 78
17:43
sir. What is the capacity that you would have? Capacity is probably going to be close to the 725, 750. Our Camden, which is our largest campus, it is residential, meaning they stay there. We can house up to 125. 125 students at one time is a lot to deal with. Your Central Academy, smaller footprint in regards to it. Max capacity per class is going to be about 45. And then Northwest Academy is 55.
and it's non-residential as well but we run three classes per year currently at 13 weeks we are increasing to 14 weeks and our c class which is going to be it's starting in august and from then on increasing the number of hours so for example in 2023 the total number of hours in 13 weeks was 528 to be a police officer we will and are currently increasing those hours to 14 weeks at seven hundred and five putting us third in the region and when i say region states that touch us
and total number of training hours for law enforcement officers
Representative Stephen Meeks
Unverified
18:46
excellent that all sounds good thank you thank you
representative bentley you're recognized ma'am thank you chairman thank you all
Representative Mary Bentley
Unverified
18:54
for being here today and for the important job that you do training our law enforcement officers uh can you tell the cost for counties for them to send one of the offices to you for training
zero dollars zero dollars state thanks to the governor thanks to each of you as members of the house uh that we are funded by you
Speaker 81
19:13
so it costs nothing for to send somebody down there
Representative Mary Bentley
Unverified
19:15
so okay and uh quick follow-up chairman if you don't mind
so you said we're increasing 520 hour 528 hours to 705 so was that who decides how many hours it's going to be we do
Speaker 78
19:27
ma'am okay if i may representative can i do a follow-up do you mind yes please that was input actually from our chiefs and sheriffs i know deputy director sergeant and myself have met with 400 500 chiefs and sheriffs probably across the state and from their input they have asked for an increase in training
hours but more practical so something we're extremely proud of is we have increased adult lighting models are more practical than actually classroom so from this 705 we'll be close to 70 percent actual practicals compared to close to 30 percent of actual classroom ma'am follow up chairman if that's okay yes ma'am so these practicals are they actually
Representative Mary Bentley
Unverified
20:06
are they going with a law enforcement officer that's
already trained and actually working with people just give us a little bit more what that practical
Speaker 78
20:13
sure the practical could be anything for example may i use an example representative traffic stops so our all of our staff members all of our agents
are certified law enforcement officers with prior experience in addition to that we bring in adjunct instructors so individuals that currently are serving with law enforcement agencies chiefs of police or excuse me police department sheriff's department even state police comes in and they will assist us on the demonstration aspect and then the actual practical of how to do a traffic stop correctly ma'am that's great another follow-up chairman if you don't mind yes ma'am
Representative Mary Bentley
Unverified
20:44
so do we do a separate type of training for those officers that are
going to work in a local jail or in our state prisons or any of those is there a separate training for those folks
Speaker 78
20:56
Yes, ma'am. So detention officers, and I'm going to use, that is from, the majority of those are going to be counties, so Sheriff's Department's running the jail specifically. So there is a training cycle that is completely different than what we put them through. Currently at that right now, Kevin, if I'm correct, it's around a little over 86 hours, no, I'm sorry, 40, jail training, 44 hours that they will receive on the front end from us that we approve. agencies can teach it but we also go in and work with those agencies that can't honestly don't have
the assets or resources to do it we as an agency can go in and
Representative Mary Bentley
Unverified
21:34
provide that training for them very helpful thank
Chair
Unverified
21:42
time and representative richmond you recognize her thank you mr chair way over here on the right uh just out of curiosity the department of agriculture has a law enforcement division Do you guys have any interaction as far as training and training standards or can do anything
Speaker 75
21:57
with them specifically? Yes, what we do with them, they are held to the same standard as any other law enforcement, also with the training.
The annual training that they have to do, we also will visit them and do an audit to make sure that their files and everything are in compliance with our standards as well. All right, thank
Speaker 90
22:21
you. Thank you, Mr. Chair. and my co-chair is recognized
Representative Stephen Meeks
Unverified
22:25
um kind of thinking along those lines um one of the emphases we've placed as a state here recently is security within our schools and school resource officers um do you all handle that and if so can you kind of talk to us about how the training for
a school resource officer is different than a standard law enforcement training we have
Speaker 75
22:47
a standalone training for student resource officers uh so you know like you you would have the officer that would go through their basic training uh and once they become uh certified officers uh then they can also go through the uh if they're going to be an sro there's a standalone training to teach that officer the the principles and the standards
Representative Mary Bentley
Unverified
23:09
for being an sro just follow up if i
Speaker 78
23:15
may representative uh so that is predominantly the criminal justice institute
provides specific training so they have different levels if i may sro level one which is about a week long i'm correct and sir i apologize if i get these numbers wrong but it's approximately 40 hours so that is the level one that they must complete within i believe their first year of hiring. Uh, after that, then by year five, if I am correct, they're required to take SRO level two and be certified. All of that curriculum though does come through the standards office for approval to make sure it meets our criteria, sir. Thank you, sir.
And, um, almost Mr. Chad representative per year, your, your recognizer. Yes, sir. Thank you, chair
Representative Mark Perry
Unverified
24:01
so is is is being hired by a local agency a prerequisite for joining the academy um so for example someone gets elected constable wants to take that job serious could they enter that academy and what would that cost on their own so when it
Speaker 75
24:19
comes down to um to to attending the academies you have to be hired on uh by an agency uh whether it's a county or state or i mean county or
municipal. You have to be hired on by them to meet all the prerequisites. Um, that information is submitted to our office. Uh, once we received all that information to make sure that individual meet the minimum, minimum qualifications, then we go ahead and notify the agencies, um, that that individual is good to hire. And so we, so that's how we go with that. Thank
Representative Mary Bentley
Unverified
24:55
you. Go ahead, sir. My apologies, Senator. I start talking about law enforcement.
I get excited. Representative, there is a
Speaker 78
25:02
program out there called Veterans to Law Enforcement. So that program allows an individual who is a veteran that meets certain criteria to, instead of going through the process of being hired by an agency, can put themselves through the academy. It is honestly a program that we've had an increase in numbers, And we probably haven't had anybody through that program in the last three years, if I'm correct. But what they can do is they can come in, become a certified officer, and then go at that point and apply for a job showing as a certified officer.
That you can use the GI Bill to pay for that. And I apologize, I don't know that number off the top of my head, what we usually charge, but there is a program out there for them to do that, sir. That's a good
program. Thank you. Members, are there any other questions? Seeing none, without objections, this report stands as reviewed. Gentlemen, thank you all for being here today. Members, moving on.
Do the members have any other business, any new
business? Seeing none, we are adjourned. Thank you.
Agenda
A. Call to Order
B. Comments by the Co-Chairs
C. Review of Reports from Occupational Authorization Entities:
D. Other Business
E. Adjournment
Documents
No documents posted.
Speakers
Senator Dave Wallace Chair
Unverified
Speaker 8
Speaker 9
Representative Stephen Meeks
Unverified
Representative Mary Bentley
Unverified
Speaker 30
Speaker 28
Speaker 38
Chair
Unverified
Speaker 54
Speaker 56
Speaker 20
Representative Matt Brown
Unverified
Speaker 53
Representative Jeremy Wooldridge
Unverified
Speaker 73
Speaker 74
Speaker 75
Speaker 78
Speaker 81
Speaker 43
Speaker 90
Representative Mark Perry
Unverified