Qualified person status is required to prepare reports or make an interpretation regarding field data, exercise onsite control over all work that requires assessment, investigation, characterization, reporting, or interpretation. This includes:
- Preparation of site characterization work plans and reports under 18 AAC 75.335 (b)(1) & (c)(1);
- Supervision of site cleanup activities and preparation of cleanup reports under 18 AAC 75.360;
- Preparation of final cleanup report and site closure request under 18 AAC 75.380; and
- Preparation of reports seeking a waivers or modifications of the site cleanup rules under 18 AAC 75.390.
Henceforth, persons conducting assessment and cleanup work under 18 AAC 75 will be requested to provide a statement verifying their qualified status in work plan and report submittals to the Contaminated Sites Program. The Program does not waive its authority to require actual documentation of qualified status and will, at its discretion, request such documentation.
In 18 AAC 75. 990 (100), and 18 AAC 78.995 (118): "qualified person" means a person who actively practices environmental science or engineering, geology, physical science, hydrology, or a related field and has the following minimum education and experience:
(A) a bachelor's degree or equivalent from a nationally or internationally accredited postsecondary institution in environmental science or engineering, geology, hydrology, physical science, or a related field; for purposes of this subparagraph, "equivalent" means that the person earned at least 128 semester hours, 168 trimester hours, or 192 quarter hours at an accredited postsecondary institution, and with at least 18 percent of those hours in a science major and at least 13 percent of those hours in upper division-level courses; and
(B) at least one year of professional experience in environmental science or engineering, geology, physical science, or a related field, completed after the degree described in (A) of this paragraph was obtained.