Browse Speakers

PHILIP MYERS, Director - PEMY Consulting

Founder of PEMY Consulting, LLC in 2010 and serve as director. We provide advanced engineering services to the oil, gas, chemical and petrochemical industries and help them in the areas of structural analysis, finite element modeling, risk analysis and decision, data analysis and artificial intelligence in order that these industries operate more safely, cleanly, efficiently, and in ways that are better for the environment.

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RACHEL FABIAN, Spill Management Team Coordinator - CA Dept of Fish & Wildlife

Rachel Fabian is the Spill Management Team Coordinator at the California Department of Fish and Wildlife's Office of Spill Prevention and Response (OSPR), where she developed OSPRs spill management team regulations and led the implementation of the new program. During oil spills, she coordinates with public health agencies as a Liaison Officer and, more recently, as the Public Health Assessment Coordinator in the Public Health Assessment (PHAU). She co-coordinates the PHAU Workgroup through the National Response Teams Region IX, which is working to develop PHAU as an established function in spill response.

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REGAN BOTTOMLEY, Consultant - Environmental Resource Ctr

Regan Bottomley, MEd, Consultant Environmental Resource Center EPA, DOT, and Title 22 regulatory training, consulting, and auditing.

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RICHARD CASAGRANDE, Program Director - Calif Compliance School

Richard Casagrande is a Registered Environmental Health Specialist and Program Director for the California Compliance School, Kern Community College District. He is currently managing training/curriculum development and teaching a variety of courses in coordination with DTSC including hazardous waste, hazardous materials, and a DOT certification course.

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RICHARD MEDINA, Sr. Hazardous Materials Program Manager - Inyo County EHD

Richard Medina Senior Hazardous Materials Program Manager for the County of Inyo, Department of Environmental Health and I am the CUPA inspector for both Inyo and Mono county's located on the Eastern Sierra. What I do for the CUPA is inspect facilities like many of you across the various programs, manage and maintain CERS, submit State oversight reporting and transmittals, responds to hazardous materials incidents or emergencies, complaints and audits the CUPA permitting process, advises best management practices to industry.

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RICK SAKOW, Manager, Hazardous Waste and Chemicals Section - US EPA Region 9

Rick Sakow manages the US EPA Region 9 Hazardous Waste and Chemicals Section, which encompasses the RCRA hazardous waste and Underground Storage Tank programs and the Clean Air Act (CAA) Risk Management Program. His team of inspectors and enforcement officers ensure that facilities which manage extremely hazardous substances comply with industry safety standards, and that hazardous waste facilities and Underground Storage Tank sites comply with federal RCRA regulations.

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RITA HYPNAROWSKI, Sr. ES - DTSC

Hi everyone, my name is Rita Hypnarowski and I'm a Senior Environmental Scientist with DTSC. I have been managing the DTSC E-Waste Team for the last several years.

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ROBERT REZENDE, Battalion Chief - San Diego Fire-Rescue

Robert Rezende is a Battalion Chief and the Hazmat Program Manager at the San Diego Fire-Rescue Department. He oversees a team of 80 Hazmat Specialists and Technicians with a fleet of two Type I and one CalOES Type II Hazmat Apparatus. The team responds jointly with San Diego County Hazmat under a Joint Powers Agreement to an average of 500 emergency calls per year.

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ROBERT SALGADO, District Manager - CAL/OSHA

Robert Salgado, District Manager, Department of Industrial Relations (DIR), California Division of Occupational Safety and Health (Cal/OSHA): Robert is currently a supervisor in Cal/OSHAs Process Safety Management (PSM) Non-Refinery Chemical Unit South, which has enforcement, inspection, and regulatory authority over PSM programs at places of employment that process acutely hazardous materials, flammables, explosives, including oil & gas field services and well drilling operations. Robert has more than 35 years of combined public sector experience, serving in the fire service, building and electrical construction, and occupational safety and health compliance.

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ROBIN WARD, Senior Hazardous Materials Specialist - Santa Clara County DEH

Rob Ward is a Senior Hazardous Materials Specialist with Santa Clara County's Department of Environmental Health. Rob leads the APSA and CalARP Team in the Hazardous Materials Compliance Division and conducts CUPA inspections throughout the county.

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ROSS KELLOGG, Instructor - Lion Technology

Ross Kellogg CHMM , Instructor Level 3, Lion technology Currently delivering training on federal hazardous waste regulations, Ca Hazardous waste regulations, DOT hazardous materials shipping regulations, International Air transportation regulations (IATA) and International Vessel transportation regulations (IMDG)

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RUBEN GARCIA, Hazmat Specialist III - Los Angeles County Fire

Ruben G. Garcia Jr. is a Hazardous Materials Specialist III with the Los Angeles County Fire Department (LACoFD), Health Hazardous Materials Division, Special Operations Section, Investigations Unit. Conducts investigations of emergency incidents, inspections, or complaints alleging potential misdemeanor and felony violations of local, State, and federal hazardous materials and hazardous waste laws and regulations.

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RUSS VERNON, EH&S Business Development Manager - UC Risk & Safety Solutions

Russ Vernon. EH&S Business Development Manager, University of California, Risk and Safety Solutions. I communicate with people who can benefit by using software tools developed by Risk and Safety Solutions. I reach out to potential and existing clients, when appropriate, conduct demonstrations and discuss nuances of hazardous materials and classifications. I take feedback from existing and potential users to the development teams to make improvements. I work with experts in a wide variety of disciplines to improve our platform, processes and outcomes. I show how the well developed software can reduce administrative burden on the people who need to comply with a variety if EH&S regulations.

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RYAN DOMINGUEZ, Supervising Hazardous Substances Engineer - DTSC

Ryan Dominguez is a supervising hazardous substance engineer. He works in DTSC's Policy and Program Support branch as the supervisor for the Hazardous Waste Management Plan Unit. The Hazardous Waste Management Plan Unit conducts research for triennial hazardous waste management reports. Information in the triennial reports is used to inform for triennial hazardous waste management plans.

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RYAN MIYA, Senior Environmental Scientist - DTSC

Ryan Miya, Senior Environmental Scientist. CalEPA DTSC, Enforcement and Emergency Response Division, Berkeley office. I am currently a permitted facility inspector and supervisor for DTSC's CUPA Evaluation Unit. I inspect facilities that currently have DTSC hazardous waste treatment, storage, disposal permits in the state of California. I started in DTSC's Site Mitigation and Reuse Program in 2000 and moved to the Enforcement Division in 2012. I inspect and enforce California hazardous waste laws and regulations for both permitted and unpermitted hazardous waste facilities (e-waste, universal waste, and hazardous waste transporters). I have also created and currently oversee implementation of DTSC's hazardous waste penalty review and determination process. I have also worked on the scoring team and presented at numerous public meetings for DTSC's Violation Scoring Procedure implemented for all DTSC permitted facilities across the state.

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SAMANTHA LAWLER, Environmental Scientist - DTSC

Samantha Lawler, Senior Environmental Scientist in the Waste Evaluation and Recycling Unit of the Hazardous Waste Management Program at the Department of Toxic Substances Control (DTSC). Provides interpretative assistance on hazardous waste identification requirements and criteria, as well as statutory and regulatory exclusions and exemptions available to many different waste types, including recyclable materials. Also provides technical assistance to DTSCs Enforcement and Emergency Response Division, and the Office of Criminal Investigations on inspections and investigations of hazardous waste handling activities.

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SAMUEL CALVERT, Accidental Release Prevention Engineer - Contra Costa County HS

Sam has been with the Contra Costa County CalARP Engineering team for over 5 years, assisting in audits of the more than 40 facilities the agency is responsible for. He joined Contra Costa County after receiving a degree in Chemical Engineering from the University of California, Davis.

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SANDE FACINELLI, Retired CUPA Manager - Calif Compliance School

Sande Facinelli (formerly Sande Pence) retired in April 2021 after 30 years in county government as a regulator. After retirement, Sande continued her passion for teaching by assisting with the Advanced Environmental Crimes Training Program and working part time as a trainer/consultant for Pacific Safety Center, a nonprofit educational organization in San Diego dedicated to safety, doing DOT training, and teaching hazardous materials and hazardous waste courses. Beginning in May 2023, Sande started working for the California Compliance School assisting with curriculum development and teaching hazardous waste, hazardous materials, and DOT classes.

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SARAH ORNDORFF, Hazardous Materials Specialist III - Orange County EH

My name is Sarah Orndorff, Hazardous Materials Specialist III and Enforcement Coordinator at Orange County Environmental Health in the Hazardous Materials Surveillance Section (HMSS/CUPA). Currently, I am a field inspector for all CUPA programs that include Hazardous Materials, Hazardous Waste, Tiered Permitting, Aboveground Storage Tanks, and Underground Storage Tanks. In addition, I am the Enforcement Coordinator that compiles the history of businesses that are out of compliance to the extent that administrative enforcement actions are brought against the business and assist with executing a Consent Order, in most cases. I also assist with drafting the Notice of Violation (NOV) letter that is typically sent to necessary businesses that are out of compliance, prior to discussions of commencing the AEO process.

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SAUDA YERABATI, Env Hlth Emergency Preparedness Coordinator - CA Dept of Public Health

Sauda Yerabati currently serves as the Chief of the Environmental Health Support Section (EHSS) and Alternate State Environmental Health Director and at the Center for Environmental Health (CEH) at the California Dept. of Public Health. She oversees three overarching environmental public health programs the Office of the State Environmental Health Director, Emergency Preparedness and One Health. Sauda is committed to a collaborative approach in solving the wicked problems of environmental health, working across sectors to protect the most vulnerable and safeguard the environment that we depend on using a One Health approach.

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