Certification and Licensing — Exploring Creation of a Unified Credential for Environmental Professionals [4]

Credentialing is a topic that comes up frequently when a group of environmental managers meet to discuss the profession. There have been attempts to establish certifying credentials for our profession. Some focus on specific elements of what we do, some are regional like the membership credential of the Institute of Environmental Assessment and Management in the UK, or the Certified Environmental Manager for the State of Nevada, some are registries like the National Registry of Environmental Managers accepting members from a broad range of related background, and some are quite rigorous like the Institute of Hazardous Materials Management’s Certified Hazardous Materials Manager credential, or the Institute of Professional Environmental Practice’s Qualified Environmental Professional credential, or the Academy of Board Certified Environmental Professionals’ Certified Environmental Professional credential. Over 100 more are listed online by the National Environmental, Safety & Health Association at http://neshta.org/Resources/CertDirectory.htm. But in the U.S., no environmental certification seems to carry the weight of a PE, CIH or CSP in all venues and situations.

Representatives from the six organizations listed below have been exploring the possibility of aligning three existing premier credentialing programs for environmental professionals in the US. Their initial purpose is neither to create a new credentialing organization nor even necessarily to create a new credential. The objective rather is to strengthen the profession by harmonizing what already exists and to explore the possibility that we can all come together under one shared umbrella. The participating organizations include:
• ASTM International
• Rochester Institute of Technology
• Institute for Hazardous Material Management (Certifications: HMMT, CHMP, CHMM)
• Institute for Professional Environmental Practice (Certifications: EPI, QEP)
• Academy of Board Certified Environmental Professionals (Certifications: CEP-IT, CEP)
• The Council of Engineering and Scientific Specialty Boards

Questions that we want to ask and answer here include:

Can we define a requisite set of skills for the environmental professional?

Do we need a widely accepted credential for the profession and why?

How broad or narrow should the focus be for the profession?

What should the minimum qualifying criteria be for eligibility?

What has to happen outside of the profession in order to make possession of such a credential an accepted standard of practice?

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