Berkeley, University of California
UCB Extension
1995 University Avenue
Berkeley, CA 94720
(510) 643-7143

ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT CERTIFICATE PROGRAMS

Environmental Management offers six certificate programs -- curricula designed for the practicing environmental professional. Each consists of 240 hours of instruction (usually eight 30-hour courses), which are taken for Extension credit.

The following certifcate programs are offered:

Certificate Programs in Environmental Management

The program is for people who are concerned with and responsible for the cleanup of contaminated sites. It provides the necessary background to investigate and assess such sites, write required documents, and recommend, implement, and monitor cleanup actions.

Required Core Courses

CHOOSE FIVE OUT OF EIGHT COURSES.
  • Contaminant Transport in Groundwater

  • Fate of Contaminants in the Environment
    X163 (2 semester units in Public Health & C.E.) When hazardous substances are introduced into the environment, they trigger many interactive processes with soil, air, and water systems. This course deals with the complex physical, chemical, and biological processes that control the ultimate fate of hazardous chemicals in the multimedia environment. Your understanding of contaminant fate and transport is key to assessing the risks posed by contaminants and selecting remediation alternatives.
    The course provides you with insight into the processes such as sorption/desorption, biological and chemical degradation, bioconcentration, and volitization. Also included are introductions to chemical transport processes such as advection, dispersion, diffusion, and dissolution. Test methods to measure these processes under both laboratory and field conditions are presented, with emphasis on current methods to estimate them from environmental data. For each complex fate process, the instructor presents the theory as well as its application to remediation of hazardous chemicals. Case studies illustrate broad groups of toxic organic chemicals (e.g., pesticides, petroleum hydrocarbons, and industrial solvents) and heavy metals (e.g., copper, lead, zinc, and mercury).
    REQUIRED CORE: IN SITE REMEDIATION
    ELECTIVE: IN HAZARDOUS MATERIALS

  • Legal Aspects of Site Assessment and Remediation
    Over the last 10 years environmental regulations have become increasingly complicated. They have become more directive about how to approach problems and what performance standards should be achieved in investigating and remediating contamination.
    This course examines the statutory as well as the specific environmental regulatory requirements and administrative orders that have a significant impact on site assessments and remediation, including the National Contingency Plan, Remedial Action Plan, Cleanup and Abatement Orders, Consent Agreements, and Consent Orders. It also addresses additional substantive regulatory requirements as they pertain to activities carried out at a contaminated site during the progression of an assessment and remediation project.
    You use case studies as a way to explore strategic uses of regulatory requirements and to demonstrate the importance of the sequence and timing of certain compliance decisions to the achievemnet of a cost-effective, timely, and successful remediation. Enrollment is limited.

    Required textbooks are available for purchase at the first class meeting.
    MCLE credit: 25 hours.
    4 days, 30 hours

  • Project Management for Site Assessment and Remediation

  • Site Assessment and Remediation I: Assessment

  • Site Assessment and Remediation II: Selecting Remediation Technologies
    X 438 (2 semester units in Civil Engineering) This course provides the technical tools to select, design, and implement remediation projects at contaminated sites. Using a combination of lectures, readings, and numerical design problems, you gain an understanding of various treatment techniques for contaminated soil and groundwater.
    You begin with a focus on remediation strategy, including identification of key remediation goals, calculation of contaminant mass, selection of appropriate technology, and life-cycle treatment design considerations.
    The second portion of the course presents a detailed review of individual treatment methods, and you have the opportunity to solve design problems. The treatment methods focus primarily on methods for organic contamination, with a secondary focus on inorganics. The instructor discusses technologies including soil venting, air sparging, air stripping, carbon adsorption, soil treatment (thermal and biological), bioreactors, oxidation, precipitation, and filtration. Enrollment is limited.

    Prerequisite: An understanding of contaminant fate and transport and assessment methods and reports.
    REQUIRED: IN SITE REMEDIATION
    ELECTIVE:IN HAZARDOUS MATERIALS

  • Strategies for Site Remediation: A Case Study Approach
    x439 (2 semester units)
    In this course you learn how to develop and implement integrated strategies to achieve the objectives of a site remediation project. Much of the technological and management information presented in other courses is tied together her to provide a real-world overview of the complexity of a site remediation project. Using a series of principles that apply to a wide variety of site mitigation projects, you review case histories in the sequence of phases normally ascribed to the Superfund process, critique the actual decisions made, and discuss other possible approaches. You work in teams as you analyze case histories, explore alternatives, and decide upon appropriate actions.
    The cases are presented by the people who are responsible for the projects discussed. Cases represent the viewpoints of private enterprise PRPs (potentially responsible parties), federal government PRPs, regulators responsible for Superfund projects. Cases deal with issues like voluntary versus involuntary remediation, privately versus multiple PRPs, and different regulatory statues that govern State Sites or National Priority Listing Sites. You examine such issues as avoiding NPL listing; developing strategies to form partnering arrangements among PRPs, regulators, and community action committees; the value of PRPs' encouraging and perhaps funding community action committees; organizing multiple PRP groups; and strategies on whether or not to pursue legal action.
    By the end of this course, you should have a better understanding of how managers and decision makers have proceeded in actual remediation situations, how to better integrate the needs of various stakeholders in your projects, and the alternative strategies that are available. Enrollment is limited.

    4 days, 30 hours

    REQUIRED CORE IN SITE REMEDIATION

  • Toxicology and Risk Assessment for Environmental Decision Making X119 (2 semester units in Public Health)
    Proper management of hazardous materials is vital in minimizing their potential to cause health or environmental damage. This course provides a framework for understanding these underlying health and environmental impacts.
    The course looks at the ways of assessing human health and environmental impacts through the study of the poisonous effects of materials (toxicology), diseases in populations (epidemiology), the fate of chemicals in the environment, and exposure and risk to individuals and communities from hazardous materials. Case studies demonstrate how these sciences are applied to actual situations. The instructor and guest lecturers also discuss the interaction between science and public policy concerns in assessing risks from hazardous materials. Enrollment is limited.

    BRN credit: This course qualifies for 30 continuing education credits for nurses (BRN #00226).
    ABIH credit: 5.0 CM.
    REQUIRED: IN HAZARDOUS MATERIALS
    REQUIRED CORE: IN SITE REMEDIATION

    Electives

    TAKE 90 HOURS (USUALLY THREE COURSES).
  • Air Pollution Aspects of Site Remediation

  • Environmental Hazards Risk Assessment
    x448 (2 semester units in Public Health) What is "safe", and how safe is it? Risk assessment is a scientific process developed to determine the level of risk to human health posed by specific water, soil, or air contaminants. The process is contraversial because different approaches can lead to varying definitions of what is safe.
    This course explores the process of producing risk assessments. You use case studies to learn how to apply risk assessments. You use case studies to learn how to collect, prepare, and use the necessary data.ASTM risk-based corrective criteria will be discussed. Enrollment is limited.

    Prerequisites: A course in toxicolgoy or the course Toxicology and Risk Assment for Environmental Decision Making and basic algebra
    Elective for Hazardous Materials, Air Quality, and Site Remediation. Required textbook is available for purchase at the first class mtg.
    4 days, 30 hours

  • Geology and Geochemistry of Hazardous Waste

  • Hands-On Computer Groundwater Modeling

  • Instrumental Analysis of Hazardous Materials

  • Intermediate Contaminant Hydrogeology
    X436 (2 semester units in Civil and Environmental Engineering) This course is for hydrogeologists, engineers, and environmental project managers responsible for site assessment and remediation of subsurface contaminants. An understanding of contaminant transport is essential to risk-based corrective action and remediation decisions. The fundamentals of this course include those processes that govern the transport of dissolved contaminants in groundwater: advection, dispersion, sorption, volatilization, and biodegradation. The course also includes flow and mass transport in the unsaturated zone. Contaminant Hydrogeology (Fetter 1993) is the textbook for the course. Fundamentals are reinforced with problem-solving exercises. The required reading material also includes literature papers describing case studies and further illustrating contaminant transport processes. There are required readings, homework assignments, and a take-home exam. Enrollment is limited.

    Prerequisites: Completion of the course Contaminant Transport in Groundwater X421 is recommended but not required. Some industry experience is strongly suggested.
    ELECTIVE: IN SITE REMEDIATION

  • Principles of Corporate Environmental Management

  • Principles of Environmental Risk Communication

  • Principles of Toxicology
    x111 (2 semester units in Public Health
    Understanding the toxic effects some chemicals can have on biological systems is an essential element in assessing the threats those effects may pose to both human health and the environment.
    This course introduces the properties of toxic substances and the mechanisms of toxicity, the dose response curve and how it is used, and the metabolism of toxic compunts. It examines the effects of toxicity on the reproductive system and other organ systems as well as carcinogenesis, genotoxicity, and mutagenesis. Also examined are the applications of toxicological principles to pollution issues such as toxic releases in populated areas.
    This course is designed for people working in any field where a basic knowledge of toxicology is necessary. Enrollment is limited.

    Prerequisite: One semester of college-level biology and chemistry or the course Toxicology and Risk Assessment for Environmental Decision Making.
    The textbook is available for purchase at the first class mtg.
    4 days, 30 hours

  • Quantitative Techniques for Chemical Risk Assessment

  • Remediation Facilities Engineering: Design, Safety, and Permitting
    X428 (2 semester units in Civil and Environmental Engineering)
    This course focuses on designing remediation systems and facilities, developing safety and health plans, permitting, and cost estimating for remediation projects. Case histories demonstrate these objectives where hydrocarbons and chlorinated solvents are contaminants of concern.
    Coverage of groundwater treating includes well pumping, oil separation, carbon adsorption, distillation stripping, bioremediation, ultraviolet treating, oxidation techniques, and air emissions abatement. Coverage of soil-treating methods includes soil venting and air emissions abatement, soil incineration, washing, bioremediation, and fixation. The instructor describes experiences with permitting difficulties, design limitations, and operational problems such as scale formation and bacteriological fouling and their resolution. The remediation techniques discussed are applicable to manufacturing industries, defense installations, governmental and municipal institutions, bulk storage/handling terminals, and gasoline stations.
    Emphasis is on proven techniques rather than on methods not yet commercially developed and widely used. Feasibility analysis and selection of remediation options are reviewed. The course also covers development of flow schematics, piping and instrument diagrams, equipment layout and preliminary components selection, materials selection, and control systems and instrumentation. Enrollment is limited and advance enrollment is required.

    Prerequisite: B.S. degree in engineering, science, or industrial hygiene, or consent of instructor. ELECTIVE: IN SITE REMEDIATION

    THE FOLLOWING NONCREDIT COURSE, ONLY IF TAKEN FROM UC EXTENSION, ALSO MAY BE USED AS A 30-HOUR ELECTIVE:

  • Health and Safety Procedures for Hazardous Waste Site Personnel, a 40-hour OSHA course (4.0 ceu)

    Does your work at or around hazardous waste sites require OSHA training? Many engineers, geologists, drillers, facility operators, construction and cleanup contractors, regulators, and others are required by OSHA regulation 29 CFR 1910.120 to complete 40 hours of intensive training for conducting cleanup work or investigating conditions at hazardous waste sites.
    This course meets the OSHA requirement for cleanup activities while providing you with the opportunity to practice skills using specialized equipment. It addresses the real-life problems encountered at hazardous waste sites.
    While this training is intended for workers at hazardous waste cleanup sites, many organizations are recommending that all their workers receive this training to increase the knowledge and confidence needed to work around chemicals in the workplace.
    Hands-on exercises, waste-site simulations, and written scenarios reinforce and complement the lectures and discussions. Topics include hazard recognition principles, properties of hazardous materials, sampling equipment, site safety planning, engineering controls, personal protection, and regulatory review. You are certified in the various types of respiratory protection equipment commonly used and fit-tested with the equipment in accordance with the regulations governing the use of respirators. Enrollment is limited to the first 30 students enrolled.

    REQUIRED TEXTS FOR SALE AT FIRST CLASS
    This course complies with Appendix E of 29 CFR 1910.120.
    ABIH credit: 5 CM.

    Meet Prerequisite Requirements

  • Chemistry of Environmental Hazards

  • Fundamentals of Groundwater Hydrology


    Certificate Program in Hazardous Materials Management


    The program provides managers responsible for the treatment, disposal, and cleanup of hazardous materials and wastes with the information about the regulatory and technical requirements necessary to oversee these activities effectively. This program covers the broadest range of topics of any of our curricula.
    A revised format for the program puts greater emphasis on strategic management and planning. Beginning this fall, the program consists of five required courses and three electives. Over the next few semesters, we will gradually reduce the number of electives offered, resulting in a more focused program for participants. Participants who applied for certificate candidacy before fall of 1996 will have the option to follow the old requirements or the new ones.

    Required Courses

    TAKE ALL FIVE COURSES.

  • Environmental Law and Regulation (2 semester units)
    This course provides an overview of the major federal and California environmental statutes and regulations. A primary focus is the statutory/regulatory scheme and its application to current environmental problems. Specific regulations pertaining to air, water, toxic substances and pesticides, and hazardous wastes are discussed
    To give participants an understanding of the rationale supporting specific regulatory programs, significant emphasis is given to the historical and philosophical basis of environmental regulation.Enrollment is limited.

    Prerequisite: Law and Management
    Required: Hazardous Materials
    MCLE credit: 28 hours
    ABIH credit: 5.0 CM
    4 days, 30 hours

  • Hazardous Materials Emergency Preparedness and Response Planning
    Effective response to emergencies involving hazardous materials requires extensive preplanning and coordination. This course introduces the subject of hazardous materials emergency planning and gives participants experience in developing a plan.
    The course covers applicable laws and regulations, types of emergency and contingency plans, and the development process. The elements of a plan are discussed, including consideration of federal and state requirements for spill notification and reporting, training for hazardous materials responders, formation of mutual aid agreements, and the community s right-to-know. As part of the course, participants work in teams to develop and outline an emergency response plan. Enrollment is limited.

    Certificate of completion: Students who satisfactorily complete this course will be eligible to receive a certificate in hazardous materials contingency planning from FEMA/CSTI.
    ABIH credit: 5.0 CM.
    4 days, 30 hours

  • Pollution Prevention and Waste Management (2 units)
    (formerly Hazardous Waste Minimization and Management)
    Environmental managers, governmental regulators, and environmental consultants choose how to prevent pollution and manage wastes by source reduction, recylcing, waste treatment, or disposal. Company policies, environmental advocacy groups, and regulatory agencies encourage a preventive approach to waste management. This course presents a quality process for waste management decisions using engineering and economic criteria.
    The course provides managers with a way to identify environmental and economic goals for waste management and evaluate waste management choices. The instructor presents a method to search for prevention, recovery, and recyling alternative for industrial process wastes. He describes criteria to select appropriate treatment and disposal technology. Case studies demonstrate the decision process applied to specific industrial wastes, as driven by policy, regulation, and other change agents. Examples show how different criteria result in different choices.Enrollment is limited

    Prerequisite: Chemistry of Environmental Hazards and Principles of Hazardous Materials Management or equivalent courses
    Required: Hazardous Materials
    ABIH credit: 5.0 CM
    4 days, 30 hours

  • Principles of Hazardous Materials Management
    X426 (2 semester units in Public Health and Civil Engineering)
    This survey course presents an overview of the field of hazardous materials management. It is designed as the introductory course in the Certificate Program in Hazardous Materials Management.
    The course provides a foundation in both hazardous materials and waste management, introducing the regulations that govern the field and the various technical aspects of managing environmental problems. The instructor previews subjects covered in more depth in other certificate program courses, including groundwater and air quality issues, toxicology and health issues, waste storage and disposal, treatment technologies, and emergency response. Current issues in environmental hazard management are also discussed. Enrollment is limited.

    4 days, 30 hours

    REQUIRED:IN HAZARDOUS MATERIALS

  • Toxicology and Risk Assessment for Environmental Decision Making> (2 semester units in Public Health)
    Please check above under Site and Remediation Certificate for Course Description When: Offered this semester. Pls. check above to check schedule for class.

    Electives

    TAKE 90 HOURS (USUALLY THREE COURSES).
  • Communication Essentials for Environmental Managers
    4 days, 30 hours

  • Air Pollution Control Systems and Strategies
    4 days, 30 hours

  • Ecological Risk Assessment
  • Environmental Hazards Risk Assessment
    4 days, 30 hours

  • Environmental Management Information Systems
    4 days, 30 hours

  • Environmental Property Assessments: Phase I and Phase II

  • Fate of Contaminants in the Environment

  • Fundamentals of Environmental Auditing
    4 days, 30 hours

  • Hands-On Compliance I: Hazardous Materials and Worker Safety Requirements

  • Hands-On Compliance II: Hazardous Waste and Water Quality Requirements

  • Instrumental Analysis of Hazardous Materials
    4 days, 30 hours

  • Introduction to Air Pollution
    4 days, 30 hours

  • Introduction to Industrial Hygiene
    4 days, 30 hours

  • Multi-Hazard Management I: Radioactive and Mixed Wastes


  • 4 days, 30 hours

  • Principles of Toxicology
    4 days, 30 hours

  • Quantitative Techniques for Chemical Risk Assessment

  • Site Assessment and Remediation II: Selecting Remediation Technologies

    ONE OF THE FOLLOWING NONCREDIT COURSES, ONLY IF TAKEN FROM UC EXTENSION, MAY BE USED AS A 30-HOUR ELECTIVE:

  • Building Inspection and Management Planning for Asbestos

  • Health and Safety Procedures for Hazardous Waste Site Personnel, a 40-hour OSHA course
    5 days, 40 hours

  • Lead-Based Paint Abatement Supervision and Monitoring

  • Lead-Based Paint Inspection and Assessment

  • Practices and Procedures in Asbestos Control

    Now Available Online

    Nine courses in the Hazardous Materials Management Certificate Program are available anytime, anywhere, through America Online.
    The program provides managers responsible for the treatment, disposal, and cleanup of hazardous materials and wastes with the information about the regulatory and technical requirements necessary to oversee these activities effectively. This program covers the broadest range of topics of any of our curricula.

    A revised format for the program puts greater emphasis on strategic management and planning. Beginning this fall, the program consists of five required courses and three electives. Over the next few semesters, we will gradually reduce the number of electives offered, resulting in a more focused program for participants. Participants who applied for certificate candidacy before fall of 1996 will have the option to follow the old requirements or the new ones.


    Integrated Solid Waste Management

    The program prepares participants to carry out the hierarchy of solid waste management: from source reduction to recycling, waste combustion, and landfilling.

    Required Introductory Course

  • Principles of Integrated Solid Waste Management
    4 days, 30 hours

    Required Core Courses

    CHOOSE FOUR OUT OF FIVE COURSES.
  • Applied Economics of Solid Waste
    4 days, 30 hours

  • California Integrated Waste Management Policy for the 1990s

  • Implementing Integrated Waste Management Programs

  • Recycling Program Development and Implementation

  • Regulatory and Legal Framework for Integrated Solid Waste Management

    Electives

    TAKE 90 HOURS (USUALLY THREE COURSES).
  • Design and Operation of Material Recovery Facilities

  • Integrated Composting: Systems and Management

  • Managing Commercial and Industrial Wastes

  • Principles of Toxicology
    4 days, 30 hours

  • Shrinking the Garbage Crisis: Reducing Wastes at Their Source

  • Solid Waste Landfills: Managing the "Other" 50 Percent

  • Toxicology and Risk Assessment for Environmental Decision Making


    Lead Paint Management

    Why Take Lead Training?

    Leaded paint is everywhere.

    It not only poisons children but can severely poison adults who disturb it without proper precautions.

    Cal/OSHA and federal OSHA often require a lead inspection before you begin a renovation or demolition job. Their lead construction standards cover almost everyone who disturbs a lead-coated surface. (The largest fines in the history of OSHA are for violations of the lead construction standard!)

    New regulations and the possibility of lawsuits require people to keep up with state-of-the-art work practices and training. California Department of Health Services has a certification program for lead.

    DHS-certified people must currently be used on many jobs.

    Lead Certification

    In California
    The California Department of Health Services (DHS) certifies people who:

  • inspect for lead coatings or assess lead exposure hazards

  • design, supervise, monitor, or work on lead removal projects

    This certification is mandatory for work in California public schools and for some government-funded work in California. The California State Legislature and the DHS may make certification mandatory in the near future. The California Division of Occupational Safety and Health (Cal/OSHA) also plans to make DHS-approved supervisor and worker training mandatory. In the meantime, since many building owners worry about lawsuits, they use only DHS-certified people to do their lead work.

    The first step toward DHS certification is to take one of our basic lead courses.

    In the United States
    The U.S. EPA issued a Model Accreditation Plan for Lead that differs somewhat from the California DHS program. The EPA plan applies only to states that do not have an EPA-approved program. The EPA is expected to approve the California program.

    The Leader in Lead Paint Training

    We were the first training provider in California to be fully accredited by the California DHS. Most lead staff in Region IX EPA and California DHS have attended our courses. National publications have reviewed our training. Consultants, contractors, building owners, and regulatory agency personnel from around the country attend our courses because they have heard of the quality of the UC Berkeley program.

    Many students tell us that their employers have tried other training providers but now insist on only UC Berkeley lead training.

    Who needs lead continuing education?

    The California DHS requires 7 hours of lead continuing education each year for two groups:

    1. all DHS-certified lead professionals who wish to maintain their certification; and

    2. individuals who completed DHS-approved lead training more than a year ago and have not yet applied for DHS certification. (We expect DHS certification eventually to become mandatory for all lead inspection and hazard reduction work done in California.)

    You need to attend only one 7-hour continuing education course regardless of the number of certifications you wish to maintain or the initial training courses you wish to update.

    If you re not sure whether your training was DHS-approved, or whether you need continuing education training, you need to call DHS at 1 (800) 597-LEAD (597-5323) for more information. Callers outside California must call (510) 869-3953.

    DHS-certified individuals please note:
    While recertification applications submitted 60 90 days in advance should easily be processed in time, DHS is allowed up to 120 days to process your recertificaton application. You should schedule your continuing education sufficiently in advance to account for this DHS processing time. Contact DHS directly if you have questions about the recertification process and timing.

    Courses offered this term:

  • Lead-Based Paint Inspection and Assessment
    ABIH credit: 5.0 CM

  • Lead-Based Paint Abatement Supervision and Monitoring
    ABIH credit: 5.0 CM

  • Lead-Based Paint Inspection, Assessment, Supervision, and Monitoring
    ABIH credit: 8.0 CM

  • Lead-Based Paint Abatement Project Design
    ABIH credit: 2.0 credit

  • Lead-Based Paint Issues for the Certified Industrial Hygienist
    ABIH credit: 3.0 CM
    3 days

  • Continuing Education for Certified Lead Professionals
    ABIH credit: 1.0 CM

    Reduced Day/Reduced Fee

    Once you have completed one of the five-day core courses, you can skip the first day of the second five-day course and save $75. For example, you might first attend the five-day supervision and monitoring course. Then, several months later you might return and take only the final four days of the five-day inspection and assessment course. You will save one day and $75. (Or, if you know that you want to take both courses, consider taking the nine-day combination course and save $150.)
    The reduced-day option applies only to DHS-approved courses offered after November 1, 1994. To receive the $75 reduced fee, you must contact our office at (510) 643-7143 at least three weeks before the course. Once we verify that you have attended the other course, we will give you a special EDP number allowing you to register for the reduced rate. You cannot register at the reduced rate without this number!


    For more information and a current schedule of classes offered, please consult the on-line catalog at UC Berkeley Extension.

    Link to UC Berkeley Extension web page