State of Maryland

A Haz-Mat Emergency Response Officer II is the full performance level of work in the containment, mitigation and clean-up of hazardous materials releases and petroleum spills generally involving other local, State and federal environmental and public safety agencies.  Employees in this classification respond to emergency incidents to mitigate and contain hazardous materials releases and petroleum spills and direct clean-up activities to ensure public safety and eliminate or minimize environmental damage.  Employees in this class do not supervise other positions but may provide technical guidance to lower-level Haz-Mat Emergency Response Officers.

Employees in this classification receive general supervision from a Haz-Mat Emergency Response Supervisor.  Employees are required to work evenings and weekends and are subject to call-in during non-working hours in response to environmental emergencies. The work is performed primarily outdoors under varying weather conditions and requires frequent travel throughout the State.   Employees respond to hazardous materials accidents that present a substantial and imminent threat to human health and the environment.  The work may require walking considerable distances over uneven and contaminated terrain while wearing heavy protective gear and carrying heavy equipment and materials weighing 20-100 pounds.  The work requires climbing ladders and entering confined or enclosed spaces such as large tanks, trucks, storm drains and containers as well as facilities such as chemical plants, treatment plants and steel mills.

Positions in this classification are evaluated by using the classification job evaluation methodology.  The use of this method involves comparing the assigned duties and responsibilities of a position to the job criteria found in the Nature of Work and Examples of Work sections of the class specification.

The Haz-Mat Emergency Response Officer Trainee, Haz-Mat Emergency Officer I and Haz-Mat Emergency Officer II are differentiated on the basis of the degree of supervisory control exercised by the supervisor over these employees. The Haz-Mat Emergency Response Officer Trainee performs duties under close supervision.  The Haz-Mat Emergency Response Officer I performs duties under close supervision at times and under general supervision at other times depending on the complexity of the specific duty being performed. The Haz-Mat Emergency Response Officer II performs the full range of duties and responsibilities under general supervision. The Haz-Mat Emergency Response Officer II is differentiated from the Haz-Mat Emergency Response Officer Lead in that the Haz-Mat Emergency Response Officer Lead assigns, reviews and approves the work of and trains lower-level Haz-Mat Emergency Response Officers. 

Responds to hazardous materials release and petroleum spill incidents throughout the State in order to contain and mitigate the release and direct clean-up activities;

Oversees emergency clean-up operations and determines if the site clean-up has been conducted and completed in accordance with proper procedures and environmental regulations;

Identifies hazard classifications and assesses the public safety risks caused by the materials release;

Determines the appropriate personal protective gear, containment equipment and methods to be used at the incident site;

Provides technical advice to local response personnel such as law enforcement and fire department personnel of the public safety risks and recommends precautionary actions;

Serves as the Incident Commander at incident scenes where there is no local jurisdictional assistance;

Conducts specialized containment and mitigation activities such as drilling holes in a tanker and placing absorbent materials on the spillage;

Initiates clean-up operations by contacting the party responsible for the spill and hiring a pre-approved contractor;

Prepares spill incident activity reports;

Serves as a duty officer on a rotating basis to receive calls concerning hazardous materials releases and petroleum spills and dispatches the on-call Haz-Mat Emergency Response Officers if an emergency response is required;

Determines, as a duty officer, the need for response and which State or federal agency or agencies should be contacted;

Testifies in court and at hearings as an expert witness on the safe and lawful storage and disposal of hazardous waste and hazardous materials;

May be required to assume command over volunteer assistants from local jurisdictions;

May conduct in-service training for department staff and participate in the training of local police, fire departments, businesses, and community organizations concerning hazardous materials containment, mitigation and clean-up operations;

May conduct safety inspections and quality control calibrations of emergency response equipment;

May conduct follow-up investigations of petroleum spill and hazardous materials release incidents;

May participate in the development or revision of hazardous materials emergency response plans and standard operating procedures;

Performs other related duties.

Knowledge of the State and federal environmental laws, regulations, procedures and techniques applicable to the containment, mitigation and clean-up of hazardous materials and petroleum spills;

Knowledge of the federal hazard classifications and chemical identification systems;

Knowledge of the hazardous materials packaging and cargo transport systems;

Knowledge of chemical properties and the reactivity potentials of hazardous materials;

Knowledge of the common chemicals used in industry and the safety precautions required for handling, control, storage and disposal;

Knowledge of decontamination procedures;

Skill in conducting hazardous materials spill containment and mitigation activities;

Skill in interpreting and applying a wide variety of hazardous materials safety and spill response reference resources;

Skill in the use of a wide variety of hazardous materials safety and containment equipment, tools and devices;

Skill in preparing accurate and concise reports;

Ability to establish and maintain effective working relationships with personnel and officials from local, State and federal agencies, police and fire departments, private industry and the general public;

Ability to make decisions quickly and calmly when on the scene of an environmental emergency response incident.

Education: Graduation from an accredited high school or possession of a high school equivalency certificate.

Experience: Two years of full-time work conducting hazardous materials and petroleum spill containment or directing spill clean-up.

Notes:

1. Candidates may substitute additional experience or experience in the control or disposal of toxic waste or hazardous materials on a year-for-year basis for the required education.

2. Candidates may substitute education at an accredited college or university, including twelve credit hours in physical, natural or environmental science or emergency services, at the rate of thirty credit hours for each year of required experience.

3. Candidates may substitute U.S. Armed Forces military service experience as a non-commissioned officer in industrial hygiene classification or industrial hygiene specialty codes in the hazardous material/hazardous waste field of work on a year-for-year basis for the required experience.

1. Employees in this classification may be assigned duties which require the operation of motor vehicles, including commercial vehicles. Employees assigned such duties will be required to possess a motor vehicle operator's license valid in the State of Maryland.

2. Prior to appointment, candidates for positions in this classification must present written verification of competency in the areas specified in the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration Regulations (Standards - 29 CFR) 1910 Hazardous Waste Operations and Emergency Response. Information about these regulations is available in the Human Resources Office of the Maryland Department of the Environment or may be obtained at the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration web site.

3. Employees in this classification must maintain competency in the areas specified in the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration Regulations (Standards - 29 CFR) 1910.

1. Employees in this classification are subject to substance abuse testing in accordance with the Code of Maryland Regulations 17.04.09, Testing for Illegal Use of Drugs.

2. Employees in this classification are subject to ongoing medical testing in accordance with the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration Regulations (Standards - 29 CFR) 1910.

3. Employees in this classification are subject to call-in on a twenty-four hour basis and, therefore, will be required to provide the employing agency with a telephone number where they can be reached.

Class specifications are broad descriptions covering groups of positions used by various State departments and agencies. Position descriptions maintained by the using department or agency specifically address the essential job functions of each position.

This is a Skilled Service classification in the State Personnel Management System.  All positions in this classification are Skilled Service positions.  Some positions in Skilled Service classifications may be designated Special Appointment in accordance with the State Personnel and Pensions Article, Section 6-405, Annotated Code of Maryland.

This classification is assigned to Bargaining Unit C- Regulatory, Inspection and Licensure classes.  As provided by State Personnel and Pensions Article, Section 3-102, special appointment, temporary, contractual, supervisory, managerial and confidential employees are excluded from collective bargaining.  Additionally, certain executive branch agencies are exempt from collective bargaining and all positions in those agencies are excluded from collective bargaining.

Employees in this classification are eligible to receive overtime compensation.  An employee who works more than the normal workweek is entitled to be compensated for that overtime as provided by State Personnel and Pensions Article, Section 8-305.

This classification is one level in a Non-Competitive Promotion (NCP) series.  NCP promotions are promotions by which employees may advance in grade and class level from trainee to full performance levels in a classification series.  In order to be non-competitively promoted to the next level in a NCP series an employee must: 1) perform the main purpose of the class as defined in the Nature of Work section of the class specification; 2) receive the type of supervision defined in the class specification, and 3) meet the minimum qualifications of the classification.