Water-quality professionals are getting certified
Individuals who have earned the credential of Qualified Environmental Professional are true environmental professionals, well skilled in the areas within which they practice and, just as important, having the integrity to not practice in areas beyond their expertise.
By Libby Ford
Dedicated environmental technical professionals from around the world who take pride in their work and who want to demonstrate their proficiency are seeking a professional certification that signifies that they both
If they succeed, they earn the designation "Qualified Environmental Professional" (QEP) and are certified as such by the Institute of Professional Environmental Practice (IPEP* or the "institute").
Until the QEP credential was established there was no registration or credentialing program that signaled the individual's specific technical mastery.
In order to retain their certification, QEPs must practice their profession in a manner consistent with the IPEP 's Code of Ethics. One key theme running through the QEP certification and re-certification process is the need for qualified environmental professionals to recognize the areas within which they are qualified to work, and then to limit their work to these areas.
One of the main reasons for establishing the QEP credential and the IPEP to oversee the EPI and QEP credential was to provide the "quality control" and a "stamp of approval" for qualifying environmental professionals.
From the outset, the QEP credential was intended to demonstrate technical, not regulatory, expertise. The exam is international in scope. It contains no questions on legislation or regulations, but focuses on technical environmental science.
Getting and Maintaining Certification
In order to be certified, environmental professionals either must pass an oral or written exam.
The QEP credential is awarded for five years. During this time the environmental professional who has earned the QEP credential must undertake regular continuing education to maintain it. To renew, QEPs must demonstrate that they have participated in seminars, taken classes and/or attended educational events sponsored by the participating organizations.
Recognizing that what is done in the water area may impact the air, soil, and/or wildlife, both the QEP written and oral exams explore multi-media issues. Although written-exam candidates must choose a specialty area, they also must also pass a general exam that explores the candidate's understanding of a wide spectrum of scientific principals that deal with all media.
Oral-exam candidates must submit an abstract on a project they completed within their designated area. They then must answer questions bearing on the project they completed, highlighting not only the technical issues involved but also demonstrating the multi-media and pollution-prevention aspects of the project.
IPEP's written exam consists of two parts. All applicants must take and pass a general environmental science exam. In addition, they take a specialty exam in one of four areas: water pollution, air pollution, solid waste, or environmental science and management.
Those that pass the written or oral exam receive the "Qualified Environmental Professional" designation.
(Graduating students with appropriate technical degrees and fewer than five years' experience can apply to take just the first part. If they pass the general science exam they become an "Environmental Professional Intern," signaling they have a firm foundation upon which they can build a long and increasing sophisticated environmental career.)
Earned Recognition
Although the QEP credential has been in existence only since 1993, prominent environmental technical/professional associations support it.
The QEP credential has received recognition from numerous bodies and organizations worldwide, including the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. For example, IPEP was notified in October 1997 that the EPA officially considers the QEP to be "a desirable qualification that can assist applicants in their ability to successfully compete for positions and promotions at EPA."
The agency has made information on the QEP available to EPA employees through the EPA Learning Institute and exhibits information about the QEP in its Development Resource Center. In March 1998, EPA's Office of Acquisition Management (OAM) reviewed the QEP credential and "indicated that the QEP certification serves to distinguish a highly competent and accomplished individual in the environmental field. Therefore, to the extent that a program office recommends inclusion of a QEP certification for individual solicitation action, OAM contracting personnel will include the requirement in the evaluation criteria."
Outside the USA, US AID invited IPEP to give an exam to a number of its staff (and other environmental professionals) working in the Singapore and the Pacific-rim area. A QEP first presented an exam preparation course, and then nine individuals took the QEP exam and three took the EPI exam.
In January 1998, the American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) issued Standard E 1929-98, a "Standard Practice for the Assessment of Certification Programs for Environmental Professionals: Accreditation Criteria." The QEP and EPI credentials are one of only five environmental credentials that meet the ASTM standards. The Council of Engineering and Scientific Specialty Boards ("CESSP"), an independent, third-party accreditation body, has issued full accreditation to the QEP.
The QEP credential, along with a few other environmental certifications that meet the ASTM standard and/or that have been audited and approved by the CESSP, has been rigorously peered reviewed and deemed of high quality. There may be easier environmental "credentials" to earn and maintain, but few of their certificates carry the value of IPEP's.
Broadening Appeal
Because the knowledge that the QEP candidate is expected to demonstrate is universal—unlike areas such as environmental law, regulation, or policy—the credential is beginning to attract more and more environmental professionals outside North America.
Although most of the initial focus on seeking qualified environmental professionals to take the oral or written exams has been focused in North America, increasing numbers of professionals who live and work elsewhere on the globe are becoming QEPs.
Thus, the IPEP board intends to enhance the attractiveness of the credential to environmental professionals outside North America by making the written exam available in non-English versions.
Environmental Professionals and those just entering the field who would like to learn more about the QEP or EPI credential can visit the IPEP web page at www.ipep.org or call IPEP at 412-232-0901 (USA).
*The institute does not sponsor educational courses, even those meant to help environmental professionals prepare for its exams. Its purpose strictly is to oversee the application review process, the administration of the exams, and the certification of QEPs.
About the author: Libby Ford, QEP, is the Water Environment Federation's representative on IPEP's Board of Trustees. She is a senior environmental health engineer at Nixon Peabody, LLP, Clinton Square P.O. Box 31051, Rochester, NY 14603-1051. Tel: 716-263-1000; Fax: 716-263-1600; E-mail: lford@nixonpeabody.com
Edited by Paul Hersch
Managing Editor, Pollution Online