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Nevada panel regains $280,000 HMEP grant but needs county dates to schedule hazmat training
Summary
The State Emergency Response Commission said it secured an HMEP hazardous-materials planning and training grant (about $280,000) but staff must submit detailed dates and attendance estimates to the governor—s office for Interim Finance Committee approval; counties were urged to respond within a week.
The Nevada State Emergency Response Commission on Jan. 22 said it has regained the federal HMEP hazardous materials emergency planning grant and expects roughly $280,000 to support hazmat training and planning.
"Item number 10 is the HMEP Grant discussion," Chair Richard Brenner told the commission as staff outlined next steps for using the money. Kelly Hutter, SERC staff, said the grant funds training and planning but the state must present a documented schedule and cost estimate to the governor's office for review by the Interim Finance Committee (IFC). "We can't put anything together because again, we haven't heard from any LEPCs except a few counties," Hutter said, urging counties to submit proposed dates so the state can request IFC approval and obtain vendor costs.
Commissioners and county LEPC representatives described operational constraints in rural areas and the need to align training with local shift schedules. John Bakkedahl of Carson City said Douglas County had submitted dates covering all three shifts and asked that proposed classes avoid conflicts with wildland-fire training. Hutter said the vendor proposed dates across February through July, but staff needed replies quickly so the governor's office can assemble an IFC package.
The vendor prefers a minimum of 15 attendees to hold a class, Hutter said, but she acknowledged frontier counties often cannot meet that number and noted she has used estimates of five attendees for some remote counties in the paperwork. "They would like 15, but they understand with volunteers how out here, how difficult that is," she said. Commissioners discussed combining counties to meet minimums for classes in sparsely populated areas.
Brenner said SERC staff will follow up with counties and the governor's office to finalize dates; if counties do not provide schedules, the Commission warned the grant cannot be processed and the training will not proceed. The Commission asked LEPC chairs to send dates and attendance estimates by the early-week deadline Hutter set so the state can move forward.
