Need for a Brownfield Professional Certification Program
by Donald K. Richardson

A technical brownfield certification presents tangible benefits to consumers, society and certificate holders. A meaningful certification program will facilitate client selection of a qualified person for their project, enhance EPA’s definition of an environmental professional and foster education to advance the brownfield profession.

Such a program is needed to uphold the law and enhance the requirements associated with the EPA’s All Appropriate Inquiries Rule, which specifies the education and training requirements for brownfield-related Phase I due diligence investigations. The rule’s definition of an environmental professional, or EP, is too narrowly focused on the due diligence phase of the project. While this is an important first technical phase in a project, individuals meeting the EP definition may not have the experience to lead investigation of complex technical issues on an experienced, multidisciplinary redevelopment team.

Brownfield sites often pose significant health risks and require an experienced brownfield professional to evaluate and manage these risks before completion of the redevelopment project. The potential health risks can arise from con-taminated environmental media found at the site, including air, soil, surface water, and groundwater. Specific certification in this technical area will provide consumers and society with greater confidence that redevelopment teams are made up of experienced technical consultants. Certified technical consultants will play an active role in developing a conceptual site model, evaluating site risks posed by the types and concentrations of contaminants, and developing remedies to manage or eliminate site health risks.

Creation of a certification program for brownfield professionals provides a common forum for continuing education. The challenges of site redevelopment posed by surface and subsurface hazards requires technical professionals with geology, chemistry, geotechnical, and civil engineering backgrounds, as well as a clear knowledge of applicable environmental regulations and, frequently, other areas within the natural sciences. Such a program will bridge these technical disciplines and improve awareness of stakeholder and client needs. Professionals from many different background disciplines sharing the brown- field service area will be exposed to practical approaches for managing unique business risks—health and safety, legal liability, personnel recruiting and training, risk management, financial management, insurance—as stakeholders in the redevelopment process.

The Institute of Brownfields Professionals (IBP) provides a voluntary credential designed to set the minimum education and experience criteria for one to be considered a Registered Brownfield Professional (RBP). This technical cert-ification will enhance other state administered certification programs, such as professional engineer, geologist and licensed site professional.

An IBP advisory group is working on establishing criteria that would expand the certification to include certain environmental professionals, based solely on length and type of experience.

Due to the potential risks to society posed by brownfield redevelopment pro-jects, the RBP credential confirms that someone presenting him/herself as competent in the brownfield site investigation and remediation service area has the training and experience to responsibly lead field investigations and remedy selection. The public can rely on the certification process to be a reasonable initial vetting of the consultant’s training and experience and protective of human health and the environment.

Don Richardson is a senior program manager for Kleinfelder, Inc., in Hamilton, N.J. He is president–elect of the Institute of Brownfield Professionals and a Registered Brownfield Professional (RBP).

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