Obtaining LSP Board approval for Continuing Education Courses, Conferences, and Conference Workshops

Find out how to submit courses, conferences and conference workshops to the LSP Board for approval. The requirements for requests for approval of continuing education courses can be found on the LSP Board’s website at 309 CMR 3.09(6) at

Licensed Site Professional (LSP) Statutes and Regulations

Who can submit requests

For courses, a licensee or a course provider can submit a request to get a course approved for credit.

For conferences and conference workshops, only the provider can submit an approval request.

Requirements for Board-approved courses

Subject Matter: To be approved for credit, a course or conference must be reasonably likely to maintain or enhance an LSP’s ability to competently perform, supervise and/or coordinate the scientific and/or technical components of response actions (i.e., assessments, containments, and/or removals) in Massachusetts or to competently perform, supervise, and/or coordinate such response actions in Massachusetts in compliance with applicable regulatory requirements. OSHA-required health and safety training courses shall not be considered acceptable for the purposes of meeting the continuing education requirements.

DEP Courses: DEP courses must be taught in whole or substantial part by MassDEP personnel, and the course’s subject matter must be directly focused on regulatory and/or technical topics that are reasonable likely to enhance the ability of LSPs to perform, supervise and/or coordinate response actions in Massachusetts. To be designated a “DEP course,” the course must also be proposed as such by MassDEP.

General Requirements:

• Attendance Records must be kept for a minimum of five years
• At least one contiguous hour of instruction
• Competent instructors who are knowledgeable in the subject matter
• A written syllabus must be followed

Additional requirements for on-demand courses:

• The course sponsor must conduct an assessment of learning and provide certification to the Board that the attendee successfully completed the assessment by achieving a score of at least 70%; and must allow each attendee to retake the assessment until achieving a score of at least 70%
• Retain documentation regarding attendee assessment scores for a minimum of five years

Additional requirements for live webinars:

• The course sponsor must include polling questions at periodic intervals appropriate to the length of the course, with a minimum of two questions for a one-hour course and at least one additional question per hour for classes longer than one hour in length
• Provide certification to the Board that the attendee has completed the polling questions presented while the attendee was in attendance
• Retain documentation that the attendee completed the polling questions for a minimum of five years

A Course Approval request must include:

• Dates(s), time(s) and location(s) of the course
• The number of continuing education credits requested
• A written course outline or syllabus
• A written statement describing the course’s relevance to oil or hazardous material assessment, containment, or removal activities at disposal sites in Massachusetts
• The credentials of the instructor(s)
• A statement from the course sponsor that they will maintain a record of attendance for a minimum of five years and follow the course outline
• The different credit options LSPs will have for earning specific hours of continuing education credit
• A statement from the course sponsor that they will conduct an evaluation of the course and the instructor at the end of the course and will retain the evaluation for at least one year

Additional requirements for on-demand courses:

• A statement from the course sponsor that they will: conduct an assessment of learning and provide certification to the Board that the attendee successfully completed the assessment by achieving a score of at least 70%; allow each attendee to retake the assessment until achieving a score of at least 70%; and retain documentation regarding attendee scores for a minimum of five years

Additional requirements for live webinars:

• A statement from the course sponsor that they will: include polling questions at periodic intervals appropriate to the length of the course, with a minimum of two questions for a one-hour course and at least one additional question per hour for classes longer than one hour in length; provide certification to the Board that the attendee has completed the polling questions presented while the attendee was in attendance; and retain documentation that the attendee completed the polling questions for a minimum of five years

Requirements for Board-approved Conferences

A LSP may earn 50% credit for attending LSP Board-approved conferences, and 100% credit for attending LSP Board-approved workshops that occur at these conferences.

A conference approval request must be submitted prior to the conference and must include:

• A description of the conference and schedule for each session, or workshop
• The date, time and location of the conference
• A statement that the course provider will maintain a sign-in and sign-out log
• If the provider seeks 100% credit for any of the workshops, all of the information needed for course approval requests must be submitted for each workshop