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May 28, 2020 | 2:00 - 3:30 PM (EDT) | Register Now
Modern consulting practices require operating with safety as the cornerstone of company culture. This not only maintains a healthy, vibrant workforce but it also has a positive impact on business development efforts. Clients and prime contractors increasingly expect a demonstrated high-level of health and safety compliance as a prerequisite to continued business relationships.
Join us for CRM Health and Safety Programs in the 21st Century on Thursday, May 28 at 2:00 pm EDT. This webinar will assist firms in making sure their corporate programs are structured to meet today’s expectations by:
The webinar will be led by Kimberly Morrell. In addition to being the SH&E Representative for AECOM’s East Coast cultural resources department, Ms. Morrell is a Senior Archaeologist with almost three decades of experience. She has overseen the exhumation and reburial of nearly 3,000 historical interments in connection with cemetery relocation projects, and has taught annual workshops on this topic at the Society for Historical Archaeology conference since 2009. Ms. Morrell is a Safety Trained Supervisor® and has completed a broad spectrum of related training such as Confined Space Entry, 40-Hour HAZWOPER, and 30-Hour Construction Safety.
Reserve your spot now!
Register for CRM Health and Safety Programs in the 21st Century
As a part of our partnership with NAEP, ACRA members are eligible to receive the member price for NAEP webinars. See below for information on an upcoming webinar on NEPA regulations, and access the discount code here.
The National Association of Environmental Professionals (NAEP) has multiple upcoming webinar opportunities open to ACRA members, including one this Thursday, May 7. Read below to find out more and register.
Staying Connected During Crisis: Public, Employees, and CustomersPresented by Theresa McClure & Laura Thorne May 7, 2020 | 12:00 PM - 1:30 PM PT
Law, regulation, and agency guidance on environmental reviews under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) require public participation, as do many related environmental regulations. We also accept public engagement in general as a matter of good governance so as to include our citizenry in decisions affecting their lives and communities. At its core, public engagement in environmental reviews rests on some of our country’s most deeply held values of free speech and liberty.
Today environmental professionals find themselves grappling with how to comply with the conflict between requirements for public meetings and health-related orders barring assembly. Arrangements for community gatherings made only a few months ago have been postponed or canceled. Planning for future outreach is uncertain. Further, while there has been a huge shift to online meetings, a continuing “digital divide” leaves many people unable to join electronic forums.
While staying engaged with the public is important during this time, agencies and companies must also make an equal effort to stay connected with their customers and employees. Social media aside, how do you not only shift the delivery of services where needed but also ensure that the efforts are meaningful and meet the changing needs of the customer?
Questions addressed during the webinar:
Coastal Restoration and ResiliencePresented by Bridget Callahan Lussier, Niek Veraart, & Amanda Bassow May 28, 2020 | 12:00 PM - 1:30 PM PT
The webinar will provide insight into coastal restoration and resiliency planning, ecological and socioeconomic considerations, and effective monitoring to measure success. Case studies will be described to illustrate approaches, challenges, and successes.
Ms. Lussier’s will provide an overview of approaches to strengthen coastal resilience using natural infrastructure, with an emphasis on techniques appropriate for the Southeastern U.S. and Caribbean. The nature-based approaches absorb shock from climate and weather threats while providing benefits for fish and wildlife. Examples will include living shorelines, mangrove, coral reef, salt marsh, oyster reef, dune, and other coastal habitat restoration projects that increase coastal resilience.
Mr. Veraart’s presentation will focus on coastal resiliency planning and the socioeconomic considerations necessary for sustainable decision-making.
Ms. Bassow will discuss how the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation is applying lessons learned from the Sandy program to its resilience grantmaking nation-wide. She will focus on the recommendations coming out of an initial evaluation of the Sandy program, as well as the status of on-going monitoring to track a core set of ecological and socio-economic metrics.
Did you miss yesterday's webinar on safety and human resources issues during the current pandemic?
If so, you can now view it on ACRA Webinars on Demand!
Charity Touchette, Human Resources Director at Historical Research Associates, and Dan Cassedy, Principal Archaeologist at AECOM, guided attendees through the human resources and safety concerns specific to CRM firms during COVID-19. From leave policies to mask requirements in the field, both firm owners and employees will find the information provided in this webinar useful.
As with the live session, this webinar is FREE for ACRA members and $10 for non-members. Members can get the discount code to access the presentation for free here.
Watch the Session NOW
ACRA and its partners at the Coalition for American Heritage have sent a letter to House and Senate leadership regarding investments in historic preservation in the upcoming CARES 2 bill. The bill is aimed at providing further relief and economic stimulation in response to the coronavirus pandemic.
The letter asks Congress to utilize investments in historic preservation to ensure the continued operation of government services and to spur economic growth during the COVID-19 pandemic. This includes asking that CARES 2:
Read the full letter here, and stay tuned to the ACRAsphere for further updates.
The following post was authored by Kimball Banks of Metcalf Archaeology. Kimball is the Chair of ACRA's Government Relations Committee.
Yesterday we received an announcement here in Colorado about the shortfall to the state’s budget due to the pandemic and how the state was going to make it up, which will have to be done over several years. No surprise, but that shortfall is going to be covered in part by cutting budgets of “soft” programs, including education and History Colorado. Any reduction will adversely affect how History Colorado operates, possibly including a reduction in staff which in turn will most likely affect historic preservation activities in the state.
That announcement got me thinking: every state is going to experience shortfalls and, if Colorado is an example, those shortfalls will be recouped through budget cuts in soft programs. Given that, you should check with the SHPOs/historical societies in the states in which you operate to see if their budgets are targeted and, if so, how that will affect their operations. This will probably be especially critical in those states that require a balanced budget.
Be sure to let us know what you are seeing and hearing in your state. As Chair of ACRA’s Government Relations Committee, I, along with the rest of the Committee, am committed to supporting our members as best we can during this time, and collecting and disseminating state information is a part of that commitment. You can let us know in the comments below or send us an email here.
Your Congress in Action is a new series that highlights the Capitol Hill news that affects CRM firms the most. This information is sourced from the Coalition for American Heritage, news articles, and more. Be sure to subscribe to the ACRAsphere to ensure you don't miss an update.
“The ACHP maintains a policy against such exemptions and has done so because the regulations that implement Section 106 of the NHPA, found at 36 C.F.R. Part 800, provide for a variety of tools to adapt the process to the needs of particular programs. They have been used effectively to address the concerns of agencies and stakeholders in a wide variety of federal programs.”
We will also be hosting another FREE members-only virtual happy hour on Tuesday, May 5 at 6:00 pm EDT.
All employees of ACRA member firms, from field technicians to owners, are welcome to grab a drink of their choice and join ACRA President Nathan Boyless and Executive Director Amanda Stratton online. We can talk about the industry response to COVID-19, get ideas from your peers, or even simply vent about the current climate. Simply sign up here and we will send you a link to join!
April 30, 2020 | 2:00 - 3:00 PM (EDT) | Register Now
In response to overwhelming demand, we have now increased our attendance limit for our upcoming webinar on Safety & HR requirements during the COVID-19 pandemic. Register now to reserve your spot!
This webinar is FREE for employees of ACRA member firms and just $10 for non-members. The webinar is designed to provide a preliminary conversation about the safety and human resources implications of the current environment. It will feature two brief presentations: one on the new Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA) and its implications and requirements for human resources policies at CRM firms and the second on best practices for field and office safety during the pandemic.
Attendees will have a chance to ask questions during the Q&A after the two presentations. Learn more about the presenters and register on the event page.
Register Now
UPDATE: The latest relief package detailed below has now passed the House. The bill now moves to the President for signature. If you have not yet applied for a loan as a part of the PPP and are eligible, we recommend that you do so quickly. You can view a detailed layout of the loan options available to you in our comparison here.
The Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) ran out of money last week, and yesterday the Senate passed an interim relief package replenishing funds for the program, which was previously created to keep keep workers employed during the current pandemic.
The funding came as a part of a $484 billion package that is meant as a stopgap measure in advance of additional major relief legislation in the coming weeks. $310 billion was allocated to the PPP, with $60 billion of that allocated for smaller businesses without existing banking relationships.
Other measures in the bill include:
The bill also requires the federal government to develop a “strategic plan related to providing assistance to states for testing and increasing testing capacity.”
The bill now moves to the House for a vote, which could come as early as Thursday. Stay tuned to the ACRAsphere for additional updates.
The Advisory Council on Historic Preservation (ACHP) has released a report by the Digital Information Task Force, which is focused on formulating recommendations to improve the availability of digital and geospatial information about historic properties in an effort to inform federal project planning.
The report, originally presented to Chairman Aimee Jorjani at the ACHP business meeting in March, outlines 5 major recommendations:
Make the Administration, Congress, agency officials, and the public aware of how digital information, including geographic information systems (GIS), increases the effectiveness and efficiency of project planning and helps avoid harm to historic properties.
Identify opportunities for funding and resource enhancement.
Enable cultural resources GIS data exchange between states, tribes, local governments, and federal agencies.
Address data management impediments to increase GIS availability.
Properly manage access and secure sensitive data.
Each recommendation is accompanied by recommended actions in the full report. The ACHP notes that they will "carry out these tasks to implement the report’s recommendations in cooperation with federal and preservation partners over the coming months."
Access the full report here, and the ACHP press release provides additional information as well.
