Debris Management Training August 2024
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Use my desktop and Max, if you're ready, you can start.
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That's good.
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Good morning.
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My name is Max Hughes.
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I work with Neema's Recovery division as a program coordinator.
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So to start off the presentation, I'm going to go into some slides about FEMA's public assistance funding and the criteria that FEMA uses to consider eligible funding for debris management.
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Next slide.
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So here's a list of the document requirements for FEMA that would be used to substantiate what you're eligible funding for your debris would be.
1:04
So starting off basically location, address, GPS locations, photos of the debris you're gonna be removing the basically the same location, address, GPS photos, temporary staging sites and debris, final resting site.
1:22
So these are very important because Deema really needs all these these coordinates and photos to substantiate your claim of debris.
1:36
Next would be quantities and types of debris, debris force, account, labor.
1:42
They would want your employee names, days, hours worked, timesheets, payroll, documentation, post account equipment, Yeah, or rented equipment, operator's name, types of equipments, and the personnel attached that was using that equipment, years makes, model, size and capacity of the equipment.
2:03
Then for contractors they'd want we do all that.
2:05
They'd want your contract, the invoices, load tickets, days and hours used, and certifications of truck size and capacities.
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So for selecting disposal sites, here's some do's and don'ts.
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So for all sites you want to obtain permits for the applicable federal, state, territorial, tribal and local regulatory agencies.
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Another, if you're burning debris as a reduction method, please obtain guidance from the applicable state, territory, tribal, local Regulatory agency to determine where the burning can be conducted.
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Things to avoid areas such as endangered species, critical habitats, archaeological sensitive areas, rare ecosystems, contaminated sites, well fields or surface waters.
3:00
If near these areas, establish a buffer or tributary barriers.
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Another thing is to avoid areas of close proximities to schools, nursing homes, hospitals, historical buildings, residences or public water supplies, especially in windy areas due to dust and odors.
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And then a do not is always do not dispose in flood wetlands and floodplains.
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Next is some types of debris.
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So these are the main types of debris that you would see.
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Vegetative debris is the most common.
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Then we got construction demolition debris, hazardous waste, household hazardous waste, electronic waste, white goods, soil, mud and sand, vehicles and vessels.
3:51
Q Chascent debris, which is carcasses, dead animals and such infectious waste, chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear contaminated debris are all types of debris that are considered eligible under FEMA.
4:08
Now I was gonna touch base on debris monitor in a bit 'cause you'll hear much more when we get into GMC slide at the end.
4:14
But as in FEMA's criteria, it is best interest of local governments to obtain debris monitors to oversee the debris operations.
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Debris monitors will be responsible for initiating debris load tickets at a contractors debris loading sites and estimating the recorded recording the quantities of the debris in cubic yards on the debris load tickets of all vehicles entering temporary debris sites.
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So here's some stuff that applicants debris monitors should be doing.
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Fully understanding the responsibilities in accordance with the terms of the debris removal contract and other guidance provided by the applicant.
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Possesses the capability to establish debris quantities accurately and objectively.
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Understanding all phases of debris management operations including low tickets, debris management sites also known as DMSS, and finally disposition locations.
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Also being able to differentiate between debris types.
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Being able to complete load tickets properly, Understanding site safety procedures, communicating effectively and efficiently.
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Assessing previous construction site experience is preferred but not necessary.
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Having general knowledge pertaining to the operation of large construction machinery is preferred but not necessary.
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You notice debris monitors do not need to be registered professional engineers to be debris monitors.
5:50
So this will break down into types of debris monitors.
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So applicant needs to monitor all aspects of debris removal operations including activities at all loading, staging and disposal sites.
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Debris monitors may have different roles and responsibilities at different stages of or components of the removal operation and individual may assume the role of each monitoring type at various stages of the disaster.
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Bring monitors report directly to the Field Supervisor regarding the daily over daily oversight.
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All logs and load tickets are submitted daily to the Field supervisor.
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So the 1st is a loading site monitor.
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The primary duties are to estimate load volumes and issuing load tickets at the load sites, retaining a copy of the tickets.
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For detailed descriptions of load tickets, chain of custody, reference to in Appendix B Sample debris management and monitoring forms, maintaining logs of daily subcontractors, performance eligibility and other activities as required.
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Can be a roving monitor who follows a truck around throughout the day or checks in on multiple loading trucks.
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Produces roving monitoring reports.
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The 2nd type of Derby monitor is a tower slash site monitor.
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Their primary duties are accurately measuring and documenting load hauling compartments prior to debris hauling operations and recertifying on a regular basis, collecting and physically controlling load tickets and showing that all debris is removed from the truck at the DM s s, monitoring the DM s s development and restoration and overseeing debris reduction, whether it's grinding, burning or chipping, etcetera.
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The third debris monitor type is field supervisor.
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The primary duties are scheduling and deploying the loading and tower debris monitors and overseeing their daily activities at loading sites and disposal and stadium sites.
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They also conduct and oversee truck certifications, load measurements and photo documentation which is required by FEMA.
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Collecting daily logs from the debris monitors and tabulating truckloads data for the daily report.
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This is an example of some physical load tickets.
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So basically it shows that you how they would fill it out if you had a debris monitor providing these load tickets to you and showing what kind of debris that they were picking up the truck numbers, dates, the load capacities and all that.
8:35
So these are the physical load tickets.
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Later on they're going to talk about some virtual systems they also use, but this is the how the old school physical tickets would look, which FEMA would want.
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These are some debris management resources from the state side.
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These are all access links that will bring you over to the debris management plans, for example, and the debris management state plan.
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The next slide will show the federal debris planning and the PA program resources.
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So these will show you all the Papa guy got Papa G guidances, which is FEMA's policy and guidance forms that will dictate what is eligible for federal funding under FEMA.
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Then it also has some other smaller resources about FEMA debris estimating guides and then some policy changes that are going to be occurring with the new Papa G version 5 coming out.
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It's not officially in yet.
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So we're still in effect of version 4 and I believe that's the last slide.
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Great.
9:53
Thanks, Max.
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Next up we have John Fisher from DEP.
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Good morning, everyone.
9:59
Can you can you hear me OK, Mark?
10:01
I can.
10:02
Thanks, John.
10:03
OK, thanks.
10:04
Can I have the next slide please?
10:08
So first, just by way of introduction, I, I should say that I come at this from a solid waste management perspective.
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At Mast EP, I'm our Deputy Division Director for solid waste and oversee our solid waste management programs.
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And among that focused a lot of my time and effort on solid waste capacity issues, which are very relevant when it comes to disaster to be management.
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And as part of that role, I've been, I've been tasked with, with working on disaster to be planning with, with MIMA through the years.
10:40
So you know, several of us will will touch on on these points today.
10:45
So I'm not going to spend a lot of time on this slide, but one some of the real important things about planning for disaster to be management and the critical elements of disaster to be planning include understanding roles and responsibilities in advance.
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That's very difficult to work out in the wake of a disaster event.
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So understanding those roles and responsibilities in advance, it's really important.
11:09
We just heard a little bit about federal reimbursement requirements, including monitoring.
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The more that you plan in advance, the better prepared you are to accurately track and monitor your activities, ensure that you're collecting eligible debris only, and ensure more complete reimbursement in the event of a federal disaster declaration.
11:31
Understanding coordination with state agencies is important as well.
11:34
I'll talk a little bit about what we're looking for at MAS DEP when it comes to temporary debris management sites.
11:41
Of course, clearing debris more quickly and cost effectively is very important.
11:45
Just getting your community back, back on track and back going economically and getting everyone back able to move around and return to their their, their normal activities.
11:59
And then going back to the the point about disposal capacity, maximizing debris segregation is critical element that we can that we look to emphasize in disaster debris planning and minimizing the amount of debris that we send to solid waste disposal facilities is really, really critical given our limited capacity both in Massachusetts and throughout the Northeast United States.
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Next slide please.
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So I think this slide really in a a really simple way shows our limited disposed capacity in Massachusetts.
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We have, you know, for practical purposes, we have 5 active landfills.
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We do have some other landfills that except for example, municipal waste combustion ash.
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But, but in terms of active landfills that accept solid waste from, you know, on a commercial basis, essentially we have 5 active landfills.
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We also have 5 active waste energy facilities, although those facilities often are not a great place to send certain categories of disaster debris.
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And we already on a net basis send a lot of waste to dispose of facilities in other states for disposal when we know that the states around us are facing strain disposal capacity as well.
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So this is not unique to Massachusetts.
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This holds true throughout the throughout New New England and the Northeast US.
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Next slide please.
13:30
So from from my perspective, I'm really attuned to the fact that everyone's busy.
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Probably most of you are wearing multiple hats.
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I know from my own perspective, it's sometimes difficult to focus on disaster debris planning when we're not facing a disaster event and we're, we're trying to do our, our regular jobs, managing our, our regular waste generation, our regular responsibilities.
13:57
But I would just, you know, from my perspective, I think it's really important to do the best you can with disaster debris planning.
14:04
And from my perspective, it's, it's important that you start that, that you have some elements of a disaster to replan and you can build on those over time.
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So identifying roles and responsibilities and resources, whether you're whether that's your own resources or contracted resources available to you.
14:23
Adelia, we'll talk a little bit about mutual aid as another source of resources later and then understanding what sites might potentially be used as temporary disaster to breed management sites.
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These are sites that normally in normal conditions would typically require solid waste site assignment and permit.
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But if they're used on a temporary basis for disaster debris only, can be approved simply with a notice & off from the Mass DP regional solid waste program.
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Of course, that's really best done before the disaster event.
15:00
So I really encourage you to give that some thought.
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Get in touch with our regional solid waste program, Get in touch with me if you like and we can talk with you a little bit about that.
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Last thing you want to do is activate a site, start using a site, and then be told you can't use that location.
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So it's really important to get that cleared up in advance and come to come to some understanding about what sites you'd like to use.
15:23
And you know, one thing is that, you know, different sites may be used for different things.
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So we may say, you know, we don't want household hazardous waste going to a particular area perhaps, but if you want to bring tree debris there, maybe that's OK.
15:36
So this can be customized a little bit and different sites may be used for different material streams.
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And we're happy to have that discussion with you because we do realize that the ideal site is probably not available on most of our communities.
15:51
Next slide please.
15:55
So SDP has prepared our version of disaster debris planning guidance.
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We have that in the form of short guidance document and then also a kind of a checklist plan document to help you kind of work through some of the key issues with disaster re planning.
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We, I think Max had showed the link to the Westboro Disaster Debris Management plan as another example.
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We've tried to keep this really concise and really simple.
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There's much more detailed guidance available from FEMA on disaster debris management planning, but we've tried to capture what we think are the real key points in a real concise and you know, kind of abbreviated fashion.
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As again, with that theme that, that some basic planning is really important.
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And maybe you're not going to do a really long, extensive detailed disaster replan.
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But if you can start with the basics and then as you work through disaster events, add to that over time.
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I think that's, you know, I'd encourage you to go that route if you have time to do a more thorough plan, that's excellent and and beneficial and valuable, but really important to start somewhere.
17:11
Next slide, please.
17:14
So we've worked with with a handful of of communities and regional groups on disaster debris planning and would would be happy to, you know, connect with anyone else after the call to have some more conversations about this, provide some more guidance on on what we're looking for from a, from a debris management site perspective and happy to have more conversations with any community or regional group about that going forward.
17:40
Next slide please.
17:44
So circling back to some of the key themes here, maximizing debris segregation and diversion from the point of collection forward.
17:53
So whether that's right of way collection or whether that's separate collection at a drop off location, keeping debris segregated to begin with is, is obviously really important to enabling as much debris to be diverted from disposal as possible.
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If debris once debris becomes mixed, that's that's virtually impossible.
18:14
Understanding potential debris management sites in advance, we'll hear much more about debris monitoring, which is really critical from a reimbursement perspective.
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And then you know, another really important thing, some of you may be a local Emergency Management directors as well, or you may work closely with them or or maybe you don't.
18:33
So understanding your disaster debris planning in the context of other local Emergency Management planning is really, really critical.
18:40
So if you're thinking about using a particular site as a temporary DMS, you really need to know whether anyone else in your community is planning to use that location as well.
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So that coordination again in advance is really important.
18:53
I would just say one thing that I'll add, it's not in my slides here, but probably most of you have done some form of debris management planning through the years.
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You may not have a a written plan about it, but chances are all of you have experienced a significant storm event that generates, you know, elevated quantities of debris and you've managed that debris in some shape or form.
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Maybe it was a federal disaster declaration, maybe it wasn't, but you've probably done this somewhere along the line or or your colleagues in the community have.
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So I think most of you probably are not starting from Ground Zero here.
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You have some experience you, you've done some work on this before.
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And probably the first step is just, you know, building off of that.
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What do we do in the past, what worked well, what didn't work well?
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Let's put that in writing and build on that going forward and make our our, our planning more efficient and more effective as we go.
19:48
Next slide, please.
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So temporary disaster debris management sites requires a notice to the Mass DEP regional office or solid waste program.
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We assuming we're we're generally OK with that location that does not require a permit from us going up to 90 days of operation.
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We can also potentially extend that beyond 90 days if necessary.
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But we do need to to receive notice about that and have a chance to affirm that that site's OK.
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We do have sighting criteria in our guidance.
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We recognize that, you know, in disaster situations and emergency situations, the perfect site is probably not available.
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So we look to, you know, try to fit those sighting criteria as best as possible.
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Our guidance also has recommended best management practices for opening, operating and closing temporary DMS.
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The the basic theme here is you want to return the site to the pre disaster condition when you're done using it.
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These are not intended to be ongoing sites.
20:59
They're intended to be used on a temporary basis, then closed, then returned to their pre disaster condition.
21:05
Next slide please.
21:09
So you know some of the the DMS criteria that we we look to and again recognizing that probably not, not all of these are are going to be available in every community, but these are some of the things that that you want to think about.
21:26
Publicly owned and controlled sites are obviously preferred to privately owned.
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Sites of sufficient size is a really difficult one for us in Massachusetts and throughout the Northeast.
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But you obviously want to think about the size of a site.
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How can you move trucks in and out of it?
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Do you have sufficient space to store debris piles?
21:47
That's where sometimes having multiple sites for multiple debris categories may be helpful.
21:52
Having the ability to get in and out of the site is obviously critical.
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Ideally, you know, you don't want to be going through, you know, residential neighborhoods.
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You want to try to get to the site from major transportation arteries, ideally being able to open the site without major modifications.
22:13
Think about sites that are not in a floodplain that's obviously problematic.
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And then as best as we can, we we want to look to meet a setbacks including drinking water, surface water bodies and residences, as well as other sensitive land uses, schools, healthcare facilities, things like that.
22:34
Next slide, please.
22:37
OK, so this is our web page for disaster debris management.
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I think as was mentioned in the chat, these slides will be shared following following the training here.
22:49
You can also just go to the Mass DEP website and search for disaster debris and it will bring you to our resources.
22:55
This is my e-mail address if you want to follow up with me after the training today.
23:01
Email's best way to reach me initially.
23:03
Happy to to talk more about any questions that we don't get to hear today.
23:08
And that's the end of my slides.
23:10
Thank you very much.
23:14
I really appreciate it, John.
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Thanks for that.
23:16
Next up, we'll have our Ash print team.
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Good morning, everybody.
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It is such a great pleasure to be here today.
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I'm Delia Camacho, vice president at Ashbridge, and joining me here today from Team Ashbridge is Senior Vice President Rob Wray.
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So today's presentation, we're going to review the historical disaster events that have impacted the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, take a little dive into the Commonwealth's contract for disaster debris management services, discuss the importance of blue sky preparedness, and what are the requirements for contract activation.
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We'll also go ahead and review the Ashford's mutual and benefit use agreement, review the differences and phases of the operational and planning cycle, and also provide helpful training and educational preparedness resources that are available to you through Ashford.
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So Ashford is a government solutions provider and a national leader in rapid response, Emergency Management, turnkey logistics and disaster debris removal.
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We have over 32 years of experience across 34 states to include Puerto Rico and Haiti.
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And our seniors operations team has worked together for over 20 years.
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We've been activated in over 100 federally declared disaster events and 52 special environmental projects.
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And we've managed over 500 disaster recovery projects over the last 10 years.
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We've collected over 48 million cubic yards of debris.
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Now to put that into perspective, that equates to about 19,200 Olympic sized swimming pools or about 17 Empire State Buildings.
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So Ashford has been a committed contracting partner with the Commonwealth of Massachusetts since 2011.
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And since then, we've had 23 activations that required the use of the Commonwealth's state contract.
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These events included, it was there were in 2011 and they included the Halloween Nor'eastern.
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I'm not, I'm sure everybody remembers that we collected over 100,000 cubic yards of debris within the city of Agawam, the town of Wilbraham and the city of Chicopee.
25:32
And in addition to that, in 2011, we also saw some EF 3 tornadoes impact the state mostly in three jurisdictions which included the city of Springfield, the town of Monstone and the town of Wilbraham.
25:50
So the Commonwealth Massachusetts Disaster Debris Management service contract was just recently re procured in 2021 and it actually extends through November of 2032.
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It is one of the most comprehensive state contracts designed to handle large scale and standard storm events, and it offers an extra layer of protection during emergency events.
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This is great because it allows for pre planning and preparation to expedite the recovery efforts to restore normalcy, and it's also available to all municipalities within the Commonwealth.
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Some of the scopes and services offered under the contract include emergency Rd.
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clearance service, temporary debris management, sites and aggregation, site management and operations, right of way collection, processing, disposal of uncontaminated vegetative debris, C&D, electronic waste, household hazardous waste, white goods and also the removal, processing and disposal of hazardous limbs, trees and stumps.
26:57
So when do you use a state contract?
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Basically you use a state contract when there is no pre position contract in place and there's a need for procurement Ave.
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in the event of emergencies.
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Also you use a contract when local response and resource have been exhausted or overwhelming.
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Additional support is required and resources to manage that to breed removal.
27:23
So what are the requirements for counter contract activation?
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Basically agencies that do not have those pre positioned contracts in place can utilize the state contract.
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The only thing that's required is the signing of the mutual benefit and use agreement with Ashbritt and basically it's a mutual agreement that consents to the terms, conditions, procurement and services provided under the state contract.
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Also what's required a notice to proceed and a purchase order from the municipalities.
27:52
Now these Mbuas can be signed in any time post or pre event.
27:57
There's really no need to wait for a declaration.
27:59
They are benefits to signing the the mutual and benefit of use agreement pre event.
28:04
And basically the benefits are it's advanced planning, you know, it helps us build that client relationship and building that relationship.
28:11
We determine the operational needs and services required for that particular municipality.
28:17
We also assist with temporary debris management site assessments to make sure they're viable.
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We provide customized in house training annually and also provide customized education, outreach and resources.
28:35
So these next couple of slides will focus on the importance of blue sky preparedness.
28:40
Now, Blue sky preparedness begins with a pre position contract.
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Whether you utilize the state contract or procure your own contract, a pre position contract is the first step to blue sky preparedness.
28:52
Now the state's contract is it's an added tool in your toolbox.
28:56
It's the easy button that you push, and it's an insurance policy for which you don't have to pay a premium and you can utilize it only when needed.
29:05
So why is debris planning important?
29:09
Well, if you look at the picture, that picture speaks 1000 words.
29:12
And this picture was taken in the aftermath of Hurricane Michael in 2018 in Panama City Beach.
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Now, disaster planning plans for worst case scenario events.
29:25
It minimizes the risk of public health and safety and also ensure safe, efficient, responsible removal, disposal and recycling of debris.
29:33
It also plans for a coordinated response effort pre event and identifies key stakeholders, their roles and responsibilities and helps plan and develop partnerships and sharing their resources through those mutual aid agreements.
29:45
Now, these are important because normally, you know, you're not always going to have that big catastrophic event.
29:52
You're going to have smaller events that really they don't get that emergency declaration.
29:57
So what happened in debris removal is costly and it's wise to go ahead and sharing those resources, ensuring those costs through those mutual aid agreements between towns and municipalities.
30:12
In addition, debris planning determines the resiliency and critical infrastructure of your assets.
30:18
It identifies your vulnerabilities.
30:20
And that's important because it helps you plan for support services and resources that you need to maintain that critical infrastructure.
30:28
And it also pre plans for public communication and outreach pre event.
30:36
And lastly, disaster debris planning enables rapid mobilization of contractors and resources to minimize delays and recovery efforts, ensuring regulatory, regulatory compliance and it streamlined your operations, the requirements for a successful debris recovery operations.
30:58
And we're just gonna, I'm gonna highlight a couple of these are extremely important.
31:02
And as John mentioned earlier, it's that development and that update to your debris management plan annually.
31:07
Now as you go through events, it's important to also implement those lessons learned in in your debris management plan to really strengthen that plan.
31:16
Maintain updated collection zones and GIS maps and also very important if you do plan on utilizing the state contract, review the state contract and the services that are offered under that contract pre event.
31:29
Identify those scopes of services that might be required and performed using federal grant for category A and category B funds.
31:35
Now this chart really provides an overview.
31:42
It's a visual look of what the operations look like from a visual perspective.
31:48
It's the operational flow and the different phases of debris management for category A debris removal and category B emergency protective measures.
31:56
And if you look at the first three boxes, the they guide you through your post award, your contract post award, your event monitoring and alerts pre event and also that pre event planning that blue sky preparedness as well.
32:09
The next couple of slides was the six slides that are highlighted in red.
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They take they guide you through your category B, which is your emergency protective measures, your force account labor, your emergency Rd.
32:21
clearance, your damage assessments, mobilization and debris management site operations.
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The last six boxes are your category A work which includes your right of way collections, your processing haul out disposal, temporary debris management, sites restoration.
32:40
And the last box highlighted in green just references your project close out and your reconciliation.
32:53
So Ashbridge's training and resources off the comprehensive strategy centered on the client, the community and local vendors.
33:00
Ashbridge's pre planning strategy engages local vendors by providing them with opportunities to actively participate in the recovery mission.
33:08
And this is very important because this actually helps have that local economy drive that recovery process.
33:16
Now if you have vendors currently that you are using and would like them to participate and like them to be part of our subcontracting network, please, we have opportunities via subcontractor workshops and also they can register via online, which is accessible to the Ashbritt website.
33:37
It's better to do that now pre event so we can vet them through our system and they'll be set to go in the event of an emergency.
33:46
Another available resource is Ashbritt's online training Academy.
33:50
So we actually our group has developed 4 videos that serve as refresher courses and are great for new staff entering the field.
33:57
The first video is all about debris.
34:00
5 Primary safety topics Debris Management 101 and monitoring one-on-one.
34:05
These are all available at the ashbritt.com website and the password to access these trainings is Disaster recovery with the Exclamation Point.
34:18
Additional resources that are available through Ashford for planned community outreach includes a debris separation guide at This guide is customizable to your local waste collection program and aims to inform residents on how to properly segregate the storm debris.
34:33
It's available in English and Spanish and this is really important because it really starts with the residents on how to separate that debris for that right away collection.
34:43
We also have customizable public service announcements and we've developed a family preparedness campaign.
34:49
It's a series that guides and helps families prepare for storm events.
34:53
These are great for social media postings.
34:56
They have one short, sweet, clear and concise message and can be customizable just by placing your logo on them.
35:03
We also have kid friendly activity books.
35:07
Kids can be hero helpers and it it helps children recover, reconnect and develop resiliency through tough times.
35:15
It also it highlights the Emergency Management heroes and our last edition is Henry and the Hurricane written by our Ashford CEO, Brittany Perkis Castillo.
35:25
It's a story about how Henry and his family prepare for hurricane.
35:28
These all these resources are available for download@strongerthanthestorm.com.
35:40
Now we're going to talk a little bit about temporary debris management site setups and operations.
35:45
So as John spoke earlier, temporary debris management sites are permitted parcels of land utilized for staging and processing of debris.
35:53
They go through baseline environmental testing to capture a snapshot of the site's original condition, and this includes soil testing, the cataloging of known hazards, and historical and archaeological investigations of the site.
36:08
Now I have, I'm going to play a short video of what those temporary debris management site operations look like.
36:16
Please let me know if you can see it.
36:19
Can you all see that?
36:20
Yes, we can, Delia.
36:21
Thank you.
36:22
OK, great.
36:23
So basically this temporary debris management site was used in Collier County, Florida for Hurricane Irma.
36:30
TDMS set up included the clearing of of 40 acres.
36:34
We had approximately 5500 feet of road construction for stability.
36:39
Hurricane Irma was a windstorm and generated more vegetative debris than C&D.
36:44
And as you can see here, we have the excavators working to keep the debris away from their roadway to allow the trucks to make full passage through and offload their their debris.
36:57
Now Hurricane Irma generated about 3.6 million cubic yards of debris and this 40 acre parcel provided enough room to store and process a portion of the storm debris.
37:11
In total, we had about probably 6 temporary debris management sites and four residential drop off sites.
37:19
Now taking into consideration this is a massive site and I know that in Massachusetts space is very limited and this would be the ideal parcel for temporary debris management site.
37:30
And as you can see, we have the separation of debris.
37:34
We have the C&D at the far end, we have your veg in the middle, you have your grinding activities.
37:41
And then over here at the corner, this is the ingress where you have the tower monitor up here and then you have your exit monitor at the bottom here to ensure that when the trucks come through, those trucks are empty and they'll go back out and do more collections.
38:02
So we are gonna go into right of way collections and I'm gonna go ahead and play a short video as well.
38:08
It may be a little noisy, so just bear with me.
38:14
All right, so here we can see the clocks are collecting the debris on the right of way.
38:19
You see the field supervisor assisting with sweeping up the debris for collections.
38:25
Now if you notice, although it looks close, the quad truck is far away enough from those power lines not to cause to that power line.
38:37
But depending on the storms in fact multiple right of way collection passes may be required.
38:43
Standard is probably about two to three.
38:47
The debris monitor you can see in a minute about more re monitor is on site.
38:54
He's reporting the location, location and collection debris through their ADMS.
39:02
Now the information captured in the now it's for the generation of the of your operational status report.
39:13
Now, once the debris is processed at the temporary, Julia, I'm sorry, we're, we're losing your audio.
39:26
I, I knew it was a little bit noisy.
39:29
So anyway, once the temporary debris management site, the material is hauled there, then to the permanent, it's held to a permanent facility once everything is processed.
39:41
And it's important to note that every effort is made to maximize the recycling and the beneficial use of that storm debris, keeping in mind that landfill airspace is limited and debris that's generated from these storms really can really have a high impact to these landfills and the life of expectancy of that landfill in that facility.
40:09
So once the debris haulout is complete, the temporary debris management site undergoes a complete environmental baseline evaluation to restore the site to its pre-existing condition.
40:20
The execution and final release is provided by the municipality and the site then becomes officially closed.
40:28
Joint surveys are completed to complete the missions reconciliation, which includes a punch list of the debris collections, making sure that all of the piles have been picked up on the right of way and also any of the hotspots has has also been cleared out.
40:47
And so for final reconciliation, we work closely with the monitoring contractors to validate documents and project work by leveraging our database to expedite close out and provide reimbursement support.
40:59
We also assist clients with audits and documents requests for years after the project is completed.
41:06
And this concludes my presentation.
41:07
Thank you so much.
41:09
I'll turn it over to her.
41:16
All right.
41:16
Good morning, y'all.
41:17
My name is Kurt Johnson.
41:19
I am the senior project manager for GMC.
41:24
Prior to my time here with GMCI, actually worked with Wit O'Brien's for the better part of 12 years.
41:33
And much like Delia mentioned, Wit O'Brien's, which has now been acquired by GMC actually has held the the statewide contract for the Commonwealth since 2011.
41:47
And I've actually been the the point of contact for the Commonwealth for the last 12 years.
41:52
So I see quite a few familiar faces and and names on the call today.
41:57
So first thing there, just the, the statewide contract number, that PSE 02, that's pretty important.
42:05
So I'll make sure to include that and I think it's on the end as well.
42:09
But next slide, do you So just topics for discussion today, I'll provide y'all some some contact information.
42:24
We'll go through the what, why and how of debris monitoring, the different phases that we use as an approach.
42:31
We'll go through our proprietary ADMS system, which is the automated debris management system, Debris Pro Plus, and then we'll dive a little bit deeper into the recent and upcoming changes to the Papaji that Max mentioned in the beginning.
42:52
So I'll drop my contact information in the in the chat once this is over as well.
42:57
I know the slides are going to be provided that way.
42:59
Maybe you just don't have to dig back through it.
43:00
But as I said, my name is Kurt Johnson.
43:02
I've also provided contact information for Victoria Kelly, who is our leader of debris.
43:07
She also comes to GMC from Widowbrien's as well with 10 plus years there.
43:13
And then Robert Ramsey who is our executive vice president for the disaster recovery Division.
43:22
So the what, why and how of the remonitoring.
43:25
So we'll talk about what is the remonitoring.
43:27
It's the process of overseeing the pre removal operations to ensure that the there's compliance with local, state and federal regulations.
43:35
Why is debris monitoring important?
43:37
That one's pretty simple, and it's because FEMA requires it.
43:41
It's required for reimbursement.
43:44
If your debris removal efforts aren't properly monitored, it could jeopardize your PA funding.
43:50
How is debris monitoring accomplished?
43:53
We monitor all removal operations in the field as well as at the DMS sites.
43:59
We certify the capacity of all the trucks and any other equipment that are that's being used.
44:03
We ensure that the debris is being properly segregated.
44:07
We ensure that no household hazardous waste or any other type of hazardous waste gets mixed with any other of the debris types or debris streams.
44:15
We ensure that only eligible debris is removed and tracked appropriately.
44:19
We ensure that debris haulers work within their contractual scope of work.
44:23
And most importantly, we produce and maintain the necessary documentation of all eligible debris removal operations which again are needed for reimbursement.
44:37
So now we'll take a look at the the five step phased approach that we use with GMC for the life cycle of the project.
44:46
Those go through pre initiation, mobilization, project initiation, execution, and then close out.
44:53
We'll go through each of these slides or each each of these phases on the following slides.
45:02
So the first step is the pre initiation phase.
45:05
Here we're meeting with the clients.
45:07
This is typically done pre season as Delia mentioned, and it's mainly to ensure your readiness should an event occur.
45:15
This includes reviewing your DMP, making any updates to that that may be needed, providing Technical Support, guidance in selecting ADRC if you don't already have one, which you do for Asgrid, making sure that your contracts are up to date with current policy.
45:33
Those are ever changing.
45:34
So that's that's something that we make sure that we focus on obtaining shape files in the hauling contracts, assisting in identifying DMS sites as well as offering to re monitoring training to your staff.
45:51
So like Delia mentioned, you know this, this contract is in place now for your utilization.
45:57
And much like Delia said, we, we do recommend having these contracts pre positioned, having that mutual aid done pre event so that it allows us to, to do all of these things now so that we're not playing catch up.
46:12
We're actually seeing this a lot.
46:13
I'm, I'm traveling on the road right now in Georgia because of we have several municipalities reaching out that were just hit by Debbie and they didn't have anything in place.
46:24
And now they're scrambling trying to get an emergency contract into place.
46:27
So those establishing those relationships and building on that pre event is, is parallel for sure.
46:38
Next slide.
46:40
So again, talking about the annual planning meeting, these are just some of the topics that we typically cover in our annual pre event meeting to ensure the client's readiness.
46:51
Again, huge, huge benefit to having these that mutual aid agreement signed pre event so that we're able to go through all of these topics and and not having to play catch up.
47:06
Next slide.
47:09
This will take us into the operations phase as we move into phase two, which is the mobilization phase.
47:20
Once that notice to proceed and the the not to exceed is issued, our project management team will deploy along with any available trained field personnel as well as one of our rapid response packages.
47:35
These are enclosed trailers that we store and maintain around the country and they contain everything that we need to stand up a project from our electronics to the paperwork, our PPE, office supplies, water field supplies, generators, and our health and safety equipment.
47:54
If this is in response to an anticipated event, we would more than likely shelter in place prior to that notice to proceed or noticed not to exceed being issued.
48:07
Myself as well as Ashbury.
48:09
I believe Rob and Delia were both there.
48:12
We did this for Hurricane Henri a few years back and we were actually in Maine's EOC prior to that storm's arrival.
48:22
And that again, there's a, there's a huge benefit to that just because it allows, you know, a, a more rapid response to the operations.
48:30
Our goal is to begin operations as soon as possible.
48:32
That's obviously going to be dependent on the type and severity of the event as well as the available resources.
48:42
We then go into the kickoff meeting, which we'll always include the client as well as aspirate to prioritize the efforts, discuss project timeline and any procedures that need to be implemented.
48:57
And that will take us into phase three, which is the project initiation phase.
49:05
The big focus here is establishing the resources needed based on, again, the type and the severity of the event, the hauling resources that are available and the project timeline.
49:17
We're implementing our standard plans and practices here, setting up project tracking systems and hiring locals.
49:24
That's something that we always like to emphasize.
49:27
A lot of people think that the monitoring side kind of works like the hauling side where it doesn't.
49:33
The hauling side, they're professionals.
49:34
That's this is what they do all of their Subs and everybody for the your monitoring firms, our management team is brought in, they are trained, they're professionals.
49:45
This is what we do.
49:46
But almost everyone else that we hire is as the monitors.
49:51
They're hired locally.
49:53
We do this by advertising jobs in the impacted area, which are done pre and post storm on the ground recruiting and social media.
50:03
This is not only more cost effective to us and the client, it it also ensures that there's revenue remaining or staying in that impacted area.
50:15
So that that's a that's a big, a big part of of why we hire locals there.
50:21
All right, so that'll take us into phase four, which is the execution phase here.
50:30
We're monitoring all the removal operations, coordinating any type of special debris removal operations such as private property debris removal, household hazardous waste, white goods, etcetera.
50:41
We support your PIO.
50:45
If you don't have APO, we have a a database of public information that we can help you get out.
50:53
We're also reviewing and reconciling the hauling invoices, hauler's invoices throughout the life cycle.
50:59
And I will go through that, that reconciliation process once we get into the Debris Pro Plus section a little deeper.
51:08
So this one, the next slide shows just an example.
51:13
This is something that we recommend all of our clients to get out to their citizens, if not pre event at at least immediately after an event, as was mentioned, making sure that that debris is placed on the right of way properly and that that debris is properly segregated.
51:31
It speeds up the project timeline tremendously.
51:35
This this is beneficial to everybody to ensure that your residents know kind of their the the expectation of of how their debris should be placed and segregated.
51:46
Next slide.
51:48
So this graphic kind of gives you a snapshot of our ticketing process in the field.
51:54
I know Max, in the beginning we were talking about paper tickets.
51:59
We thankfully have gotten away from paper tickets.
52:03
And so Debris Pro plus again being an automated re management system is fully electronic and it's, it's quote UN quote paperless.
52:11
We do still print tickets at the DMS sites.
52:14
We do that primarily for the debris haulers so that they're able to, to track their, their debris amounts as well as you know, for their subcontractors.
52:24
But you are also provided actual hard copy tickets as part of your part of your project documentation, which we'll go through that a little bit later.
52:32
But so this again shows the ticketing process in the field.
52:36
Each truck that's picking up debris will have a monitor with them.
52:40
That process begins when the truck begins picking up the debris.
52:44
The monitor will initiate the ticket when the truck arrives, and then the monitor ensures that they're only picking up eligible, eligible debris.
52:53
And then once the truck is full, the field monitor will complete the ticket.
52:56
They will then write that information to the NFC tag, which each truck has its own placard, its own truck number, and its own individual NFC tag.
53:08
That truck then leaves, goes to the DMS.
53:11
Once the truck arrives at the DMS, the tower monitor will then scan that NFC tag to retrieve the load ticket data.
53:19
The tower monitor goes up, they make a load call from a tower, the driver then goes offloads the debris while the tower monitor is completing that ticket.
53:29
Once the truck is empty, the as Delia mentioned, that truck will come back to the tower so the tower monitor can ensure that they're empty.
53:37
Trucks empty.
53:38
I didn't say them no.
53:39
I've got a ophthalmologist that I see.
53:43
Sorry, I think the speaker was muted also.
54:07
Are you able to come back?
54:09
Yep, I think we Yep, I'm back.
54:11
Sorry, I, I, I didn't realize that I was muted as well there.
54:16
So I'm not sure where I got cut off there.
54:17
But when when the once the truck is empty, they return back to the tower to make sure that that they're empty as as Delia mentioned, if the truck is empty, that drivers then issued their ticket and then they go back out for their next load and that process starts all over again.
54:34
If there's debris remaining in the truck, the drivers asked to go back to the debris pile, finish off loading and then they come back for re inspection to make sure that they're empty before they go out and next slide.
54:57
All right, so now we'll talk about the Repro Plus.
55:00
As I mentioned, the Repro Plus is GM CS proprietary ADMS.
55:05
This graphic shows you the features and some of the features and capabilities of our system to ensure not only proper documentation, but but also to ensure your reimbursement.
55:16
The graphic to the right is an actual ticket.
55:20
As I mentioned earlier, you know, back in the day whenever I, when I started doing this, we, we were on handwritten tickets.
55:27
FEMA pushed all of the, the debris monitoring firms to go paperless.
55:32
We did that and then they came back and said, well, we still want to see the paper tickets as well.
55:37
So even though the our ADMS, the Repro Plus allows us to be completely paperless and electronic in the field, we do still print these tickets every single night.
55:49
Once the data is QAQCD and reconciled properly, our data manager will actually print these tickets.
55:56
So there'll be an actual 8 1/2 by 11 full page ticket that you'll receive for every load of debris or every hazard removed for the duration of the of the project.
56:08
And that again, that's provided to you at the end of the project or during the project if you're seeking early reimbursement, we can provide that information, that data as often as possible or, or or as often as needed at the end of the project.
56:23
We also provide a, an external hard drive, which will contain an electronic copy of all of your project documentation, the logs from the field, the, the daily reports, any incidents and accidents as well as your load tickets.
56:40
Just so that that's, that's easier during the audit process, if, if FEMA requests something or if the state requests something, it's easier to go back and find that electronically rather than than going through banker boxes full of paperwork.
56:54
So next slide.
56:58
So another component of Debris Pro Plus is our ability to map and track the, the removal efforts and the progress.
57:06
We do this by utilizing the Collector app which is an Esri product.
57:10
It allows us to track the number, status and completion of each pass being made.
57:16
Allows us to mark debris by type and delineate whether it's eligible or ineligible debris, as well as being able to generate flight paths which are live streamed.
57:26
And it it ensures that every Rd.
57:28
is checked and that all eligible debris has been removed from the onset of the project.
57:35
You as the client as well as Ashbrith, we'll be given a read only access to Debris Pro Plus.
57:43
That way everyone is able to see the the progress in real time as well as the data and progress the project, project, project progress, sorry, in real time.
58:00
Next slide.
58:01
So this is just a a screenshot showing what the debris collection map looks like.
58:07
Each one of these are pins that are associated with a load of debris that was removed.
58:13
This was from the city of New Orleans from an active project.
58:17
There you'll be able to click on each one of these pins to view the full ticket data, which which like you saw a while ago, it'll include the date, the time, the type of debris, the truck number, what zone they were in, who the monitor was, et cetera.
58:33
So again, just gives you a a real time snapshot or view of of what's going on in the field.
58:43
Next slide, another feature of Debris Pro Plus is our damaging our damage reporting feature.
58:50
This allows our monitors as well as our management team to log in and all damages in the field in real time.
58:58
These include the date and time, the pictures, location, home owner information, who the responsible party is, details of the damage and the remedial actions necessary.
59:09
These reports again will be shared with the client and Ashprett and are kept open until they're rectified.
59:16
Once the remedial action is satisfactory to the property owner, that report is then signed off on by the property owner as well as us and Ashbritt.
59:28
And that's done to protect not only us, but Ashbritt being the hauler and then you as the client as well.
59:34
So that that resident isn't able to come back, you know, six months later and say, well, they never fixed my mailbox or, or whatever the case may be.
59:41
So, and again, all of this is would also be included in your project documentation both hard copy and electronically so that you have it for your records as well.
59:53
Next slide.
59:55
So this graphic shows the hauler invoice reconciliation process that we discussed a few slides back.
1:00:02
I know Delia touched on this as well, The hauler.
1:00:07
In this case, which is Ashbritt obviously would, they would import their ticket data from Debris Pro Plus and reconcile it against their records.
1:00:15
Once that their reconciliation process is satisfactory, Ashbritt would would then generate an invoice and they would submit it to us at GMC for review.
1:00:27
Those invoices always go to the the monitoring firm first for reconciliation before the client receives it.
1:00:35
So we then reconcile their invoice against our record.
1:00:39
If there's no discrepancies, we would then notify Ashbritt that their invoice is correct and we would generate a recommendation of payment and submit that to you along with Ashbritt's invoice and and any and all supporting documentation.
1:00:55
If there's any discrepancies identified during the reconciliation process, the invoice is then sent back to Ashbritt with the discrepancies for correction and then resubmit them.
1:01:06
Then the invoice would then be reconciled again.
1:01:09
To ensure that 100% accuracy, recommendation of payment would be created and then submitted to the client along with Ashbritt's invoice and the supporting documentation for payment.
1:01:19
This process just implements an additional level of QA QC that check, double check, triple check just to ensure that there are no issues on the back end with your reimbursement.
1:01:35
And finally, this takes us to the fifth step, which is the close out phase in the in this final stage, we're coordinating with Ashbridge and the client for final pass, ensuring that the DMS sites are returned to the their pre use conditions, providing the project documentation needed for reimbursement.
1:01:55
Again, that's hard copy and electronically we're demobilizing our project staff and then providing any PA support that may be needed as well.
1:02:08
Next slide.
1:02:10
All right, so now we're gonna talk about the current policies and the upcoming changes to the Papa G and I'm going to focus on specifically as it relates to the hazardous limbs, trees and stumps, which are also known as leaners, hangers and stumps.
1:02:28
There's a lot of changes coming with the upcoming release of the V5.
1:02:33
So why why do I want to focus on leaner hangers and stumps?
1:02:37
Because typically they are higher value line items and they are also the most scrutinized by FEMA.
1:02:46
So this graphic here shows you the current FEMA requirements, that being it must be storm generated debris.
1:02:54
You have to include GPS coordinates for each threat, documentation of the diameter of each hazard removed, photo documentation which establishes a threat to the right of way or public property, and the equipment used.
1:03:07
On the next few slides, we'll look at the criteria for each of these hazards individually.
1:03:17
So for hazardous limbs, the current eligibility requirements as according to the Papa GV 4, the limbs must be two inches or or larger in diameter, measured at the at the point of the break, the limb or the branch must extend over the public right of way.
1:03:35
It must pose an immediate threat and the contractor would remove the hazard from the right of way without entering onto private property.
1:03:44
And then only the minimum cuts necessary to remove the hazard is eligible.
1:03:48
So, you know, making sure that you're not going in and cutting out half the tree to, to remove one limb.
1:03:54
That's that's the current criteria eligibility criteria for hazardous limbs for hazardous trees.
1:04:05
The current eligibility according to the Papa GB 4 the tree needs to have it must be I'm sorry must be 6 inches or or more measured 4 1/2 feet or breast high above the ground.
1:04:20
It must also have either a split trunk, a broken canopy and or leaning at an angle greater than 30°.
1:04:29
They also established that trees with 50% or more of the root ball exposed, that not only the tree but the root ball is also eligible for removal and that that's a, that's a 11 ticket cost.
1:04:43
So that's, that's all inclusive.
1:04:45
They won't reimburse for two separate cost of removal of the tree and removal of the stump.
1:04:50
If the tree has less than 50% of the root wall exposed, FEMA will only pay for that tree to be flush cut at the ground level and then the disposal of the cut portion based on volume or weight.
1:05:04
Grinding the residual stump after cutting is not eligible.
1:05:09
Crews are not allowed to go past the right of way to cut a leaner and the tree again must be cut at the right of way.
1:05:15
Line and hazardous stumps.
1:05:21
The current eligibility according to the V4 stumps with 50% or more of the root ball exposed, removal of the stump and filling of the root ball hole is eligible if grinding in place is more cost effective than extraction, grinding is also eligible.
1:05:39
Stumps that are smaller than two feet in diameter or those not requiring extraction.
1:05:44
FEMA will provide funding based on volume or weight only.
1:05:49
The additional requirements for stumps.
1:05:51
They must be two feet or larger in diameter, measured 2 feet above the ground.
1:05:56
Extraction is mandatory for removal eligibility and then the eligible cost including extraction, transport, disposal and filling of the root ball hole again.
1:06:07
And that's, that is an all inclusive cost there.
1:06:11
All right.
1:06:18
So the current documentation requirements for leaners, hangers and stumps as per the B4, is that the client must retain and provide FEMA, provide this documentation to FEMA if if requested.
1:06:33
The specifics of the hazard removed, including the GPS coordinates, pictures establishing the threat to the right of way or public property.
1:06:40
The quantity removed, including the diameter of each hazard removed.
1:06:44
The quantity, location and source of the dirt that's used to backfill the root ball holes as well as the equipment used.
1:06:55
So what's changing with the Papa GV 5, which the the V5 is out for review right now.
1:07:02
I believe we still have at least another week for review.
1:07:06
We provided the links for that in the link library earlier in the presentation.
1:07:13
So you'll actually be able to go in and see what the V5 looks like.
1:07:18
And I also included a link there that has a summary of all of the the proposed changes for the V5.
1:07:26
So I would encourage you to to take a look at those if you have time, especially before that that question period ends in about a week.
1:07:36
Next slide.
1:07:38
So these are the upcoming criteria changes for hazardous limbs.
1:07:44
So for the V5, the lamb or branch must extend over the the public right of way, which hasn't changed.
1:07:53
The limber branch must pose an immediate threat and the contractor removes the hazard from the right of way without entering onto private property.
1:08:03
Again, only the eligible cuts necessary or the necessary cuts to remove the hazard are eligible.
1:08:13
Next slide for hazardous tree.
1:08:16
Again, these are the upcoming criterias for hazardous trees.
1:08:21
FEMA considers incident damaged trees to be hazardous and eligible for removal if the tree prevents a hazard to the public due to conditions such as, but not limited to, deterioration or physical damage to the root system, trunk, stem or limbs and the direction and lean of the tree.
1:08:39
Per the Occupational Safety health standards.
1:08:43
Same tree trees with 50% or more of the root wall exposed, removal of the tree and the root ball and the filling of the root ball hole are eligible.
1:08:54
FEMA will not reimburse 2 separate unit cost trees with less than 50% of the root ball is exposed.
1:09:00
FEMA will only provide funding to flush, cut the item at the ground and dispose of the court.
1:09:06
The cut portion based on volume or weight.
1:09:09
Grinding any residual stump after the cutting is not eligible.
1:09:16
Then the upcoming criteria for hazardous stumps.
1:09:20
Stumps with 50% or more of the root ball exposed, removal of the stump and filling of the root ball hole are eligible.
1:09:26
Give grinding in places less costly and than extraction grinding is eligible.
1:09:32
Stumps that have less than 50% of the root ball exposed.
1:09:35
FEMA will only provide funding to flush cut the item at the ground and dispose of that cut portion.
1:09:40
Again, grinding any residual stump is ineligible.
1:09:46
So here are these are the the major changes that if if put into effect in the V5 are are are concerning to to not only us as the monitoring company.
1:10:02
I can assure you I've, we've had these conversations with, with all of the, the prom debris haulers, including Ashbury, and they all kind of feel the same that these are, are some pretty major changes.
1:10:12
But they're updating the requirements, which encourages the applicants to work with qualified individuals to perform an assessment of hazardous trees to determine if they can be saved by bracing rather than removal.
1:10:27
They removed the condition that bracing a tree is eligible only when doing so is less costly than removal and disposal.
1:10:36
They are removing the size requirements for limbs, trees and stumps.
1:10:41
So whereas now a hanger has to be two inches, a tree has to be 6 inches and a stump has to be 24 inches.
1:10:49
All those size requirements have been removed.
1:10:52
And that actually FEMA actually put out a memorandum a few years ago that was made policy that wasn't included into the V4, but they actually removed those size requirements a few years ago via a memorandum.
1:11:09
And I can tell you that every project that we've worked since then, the state has always asked for those size requirements as well as the photo documentation.
1:11:23
So even though that that size requirement has already already been removed, the states still want to see it when they do their audit and FEMA has even requested it doing their 1% sample audit as well.
1:11:38
They also removed the specifics of the immediate threat with the location for GPS coordinates and photo or video documentation to be required to establish that the item is on public property.
1:11:52
They also removed the note if a contractor charged an individual price for each limb, tree or snump removed that FEMA requires a diameter of each item removed.
1:12:02
For stumps, the measurement must be two feet up the trunk from the ground.
1:12:05
For trees must be 4 1/2 feet up from the ground.
1:12:08
All of that was removed from the OR will be removed I guess in the V5 which is current policy in V4.
1:12:20
So the documentation requirements.
1:12:23
Again, this is as per the V5 that is out right now for review.
1:12:28
They are again removing the size requirements, the GPS locations and photo documentation requirements.
1:12:36
Again, why is this a big deal?
1:12:38
Like I just said, you know, I can tell you again, every storm that we've worked since the States and FEMA are still asking for those GPS locations, the size requirements as well as the pictures.
1:12:53
Our recommendation again and, and I'm sure you know, like I said, we've, we've had these conversations with Ashbritt and the other prime hauling contractors all agree to follow your current contract.
1:13:06
So the, the current contract for the Commonwealth with Ashbritt, all of these are identified.
1:13:11
These line items are identified by size and because you're going to be paying those line items according to the size difference specifically for the stumps and the hazardous trees, we recommend that you follow your current contract until this policy changes and or until the contracts are amended to align with this new policy.
1:13:38
We have not had any issue with following current contracts and current policy again, providing that, that additional information that, that either they no longer require or in the future will no longer require.
1:13:54
We, we're still following the V4 and, and prior to the memorandum coming out just to make sure that there's no issues and you can't argue following a, a, a procured contract.
1:14:06
So that's, that's our, our recommendation on that.
1:14:11
And that is the end of my presentation.
1:14:13
Again, providing that contract number there.
1:14:16
Again, thank you all for your time today.
1:14:20
Any questions, obviously be happy to take them if you can think of something.
1:14:24
If you think something after the call, please feel free to shoot me an e-mail.
1:14:27
Like I said, I will drop my contact information in the chat here as well.
1:14:33
Thank you.
1:14:34
Great.
1:14:35
So thanks, Max, John, Delia and Kurt for all that great information today.
1:14:40
I'm just going to run back through the chat quick.
1:14:42
And Phil, I see you with your hand up as well, but just to address some of these questions, Tom Hutchinson, can you provide a debris removal contract template?
1:14:50
I'll see what we have here and what we can find for you.
1:14:53
Phil, can you provide a list of critical contacts for state and federal agencies with the slides?
1:14:58
We can certainly work on that.
1:14:59
Todd, a list of attendees, Yes, we can get you that.
1:15:04
So the first up that'll look to our panel to address how are trucks weighed in temp scales.
1:15:09
And Phil, if that's the same question that you have now or if you want to come off mute and either add context to that.
1:15:16
And I'll that was one during his presentation.
1:15:18
You had a, a system in the field and I presume you're going to temperate debris sites and you mentioned a lot of tracking and so forth.
1:15:26
So I don't know if you're doing it a, a, a cubic yardage conversion for density on certain materials or are you having to put temporary scales insight.
1:15:34
I have other questions.
1:15:36
So for that one and, and do you may want to take this too, But the, the contract is by is based on cubic yardage and not it's, it's a volume and not a weight contract.
1:15:48
So we, there's not a necessity for scales in the field.
1:15:53
Everything's done by a volume load call.
1:15:58
Gotcha 'cause it obviously in, you know, emergency you don't have scales everywhere.
1:16:02
I was unclear of the relationship between Ashbritt and GMC.
1:16:07
Sounds like we have to have two contracts.
1:16:09
I, I didn't understand the relationship.
1:16:10
Are you the data tracker and Ashbritt's the response on the ground is that, do I have that right?
1:16:17
Yes, Sir.
1:16:17
So Ashbritt is the, is the debris hauler.
1:16:20
So they're the ones that are actually picking up the debris.
1:16:23
We're the monitoring firm that is monitoring those efforts and then providing you the documentation that that you need for reimbursement.
1:16:30
So we should have relationships with both of you.
1:16:32
That's good.
1:16:33
Good to know.
1:16:33
I did not never heard of you before today.
1:16:36
So my, my, my suggestion and just comment when I think a tabletop exercise as a follow up for Part 2, where we take real data and then walk us through an example of how this was done in the community.
1:16:50
Have the Rep from the community there, you know, the paperwork, the internal municipal finance folks, how they were involved, the DPWS, you know, just kind of walk through because this is a tremendous amount of material.
1:17:02
And now we have to translate this and put it in an action plan.
1:17:05
But you know, where we have some examples of Massachusetts love to see, you know, where would we be?
1:17:10
And, and you know, at the disposal site for these, for those of you don't know me, I'm Phil Goddard to work with the town of Bourne.
1:17:15
We're one of the five landfills.
1:17:18
I think what is missing a little bit is the towns need to understand where their trash goes right now, where their debris goes, where the hazardous waste goes and need to identify and you know, assumptions may be made that all those five landfills will take care of everything.
1:17:34
Well, you know, we have limits and we also there are a lot of rail transfer facilities out there now that John, I think maybe need to be put into the mix for identification to go to our state landfills.
1:17:45
I'm thinking when waste innovations that go to Tunnel Hill, as you know, 10,000 tons a day at capacity for C&D goes out of state.
1:17:53
Now just having that in the mix and especially those communities that go to waste and energy facilities, they may, they may think they've got their disposal handed, but you know C mass is not going to take wet couches and carpets and mattresses and things like that.
1:18:06
So I just throw that out there for the disposal community in the logistics that we're trying to meet internally on all those the, the landfills and folks, because we're going to get the phone calls that you all are going to call us.
1:18:20
And I just think that tabletop exercise comes into play.
1:18:24
And and the rail folks, I didn't see them listed, John, but there's 15,000 tons a day of rail capacity in the state now.
1:18:32
So I just throw that out there for consideration.
1:18:33
Lots of great information.
1:18:34
Thank you for doing this.
1:18:39
Great.
1:18:39
Thanks Phil and John, go ahead.
1:18:47
I need there.
1:18:49
I just wanted to add a a little bit to follow up on, on Phil's comment.
1:18:53
Yeah, Phil, I totally agree.
1:18:55
I didn't represent the the transfer capacity in my slides.
1:18:59
And of course there's, there's a lot of rail transfer capacity, but I really wanted, what I wanted to emphasize is the limited in state capacity.
1:19:06
And also what I, what I didn't say is that especially with landfills, that capacity is finite and the more disaster debris we put in there, the less we have available for other debris.
1:19:16
So we're, we're really cognizant about trying to preserve that capacity as best we can just for our ongoing solid waste management needs.
1:19:24
And the other thing that that I didn't say, but but I'll add here is that Mass DP has in the past and and would again issue approvals for solid waste facilities to take more material and to temporary increases in tonnage limits and things like that.
1:19:43
We would stand ready to do that.
1:19:45
However, even when we do do that, there may be operational limits to what those facilities can do.
1:19:50
So even with a, with a permit increase, there may still be limits and what they can can take, but we would have some flexibility in that regard.
1:19:59
Thank you.
1:19:59
And that's what I would.
1:20:00
This is the next level the town's need to consider.
1:20:03
Who they're going to, what their capacity is and then there's going to be only so much each site can do.
1:20:09
We were there when C mass had a propane tank fire.
1:20:11
We took all the keeps trash overnight and it was a massive, you know, impact and you did increase our permits as did meet Thank you Commission.
1:20:19
So that's just the next level on the local area.
1:20:22
You need to, you know, contact your disposal network for those very reasons.
1:20:26
You may find that you, you know, you, you were the last caller to get in.
1:20:29
So sorry, we're all full.
1:20:31
You need to go to the next site and you don't want to be on that phone call and not have a backup plan.
1:20:36
So thank you for those additions.
1:20:41
Awesome, great discussion.
1:20:42
Thank you.
1:20:44
Chris Bouchard from mass dot IC had a question and and Chris, if you want to expand on it at all, please feel free to jump off mute.
1:20:49
But how does this work when using ANSI standards for trimming and removals for trees and future health of the trees that this could affect?
1:20:57
Yeah, they're just talking about, you know, the standards, just removing the hazard and stuff when there's ANSI standards for trimming trees, you know, back to the back to the trunk.
1:21:09
And once you remove 30% of the tree, you have to remove the tree because this just creates a hazard down the road.
1:21:15
And, you know, with previous events, we've run into that and it just creates a burden on the communities, you know, one year, three years, five years down the road.
1:21:24
So, you know, is anybody looking at that just to remove the hazard today, Now it's a hazard five years down the road that, you know, I know what they're looking at, but is this being considered that instead of just cutting and clearing that little hanger that this is going to create a, a longer term hazard that they're actually creating a bigger hazard?
1:21:45
You know what their proposed changes to that, that there's a standard for for trimming and removals.
1:21:53
That's that's what I'm asking.
1:21:56
Are they following that or they just creating their own standard for it?
1:22:02
So the, the, the, the policy as it relates to only removing the, the hazard that that portion hasn't changed from the, the 325, the 327, the V4, or even the V5 that's coming out, FEMA will only pay for that hazard to be removed specifically.
1:22:25
That's more so for the the hangers.
1:22:27
What they don't want to see is they don't want to see, they don't want to see someone come in and cut out half of a tree to remove, you know, one, you know, one small hanger.
1:22:37
However, the, the criteria for the, the hazardous tree, as you mentioned, 30% or more, you know, being removed if the, the canopy is broken.
1:22:49
And that's something again, that has changed over the years and, and the different versions of the Papaji that have come out.
1:22:55
It used to be it had to have 50% of the crown had to be broken or blown out for that tree to be removed.
1:23:04
Now the policy, the current policy says it just has to have a broken canopy.
1:23:09
So if, if there's 30% of that tree missing per SE, that that entire tree is going to be removed depending on, you know, whether the root ball is exposed or not, if the, the stump's going to be extracted as well.
1:23:21
But if, if there's substantial damage to that tree, they will pay for that entire threat to be removed, the entire tree to be removed.
1:23:29
The biggest, their biggest concern again is for the, the hazardous limbs making sure that, that we're not going in and, and cutting out, you know, 1/3 of a tree to, to remove 1/2 inch hanger.
1:23:49
Great.
1:23:49
Thanks Kurt for that additional context there.
1:23:51
And, and Phil, great suggestion there for the next time we host a training like this to add some context from one of our municipalities that has been through this whole process.
1:24:01
We have about 5 minutes left.
1:24:03
If there are any other questions, now is a great time to either throw them in the chat or certainly can come off mute.
1:24:09
If it's a longer question, we'll give it another minute or so if there's none.
1:24:15
Otherwise, I just want to thank everybody for their attendance today.
1:24:18
And it's a point of clarification.
1:24:20
Tomorrow's training is, is a repeat of this training.
1:24:22
So it's not there's no new information necessarily being presented tomorrow.
1:24:26
So if you receive both meeting invites, certainly no time, no need to take up time tomorrow evening at 6:00.
1:24:32
But if you have other staff that didn't weren't available this morning and now that you've sat through it, if you want them to sit through it, certainly let me know and I can, I can forward the the meeting invite to follow up on that comment I made at the end there.
1:24:46
There's we talked a lot about the physical response and the just re management obviously is the paperwork response.
1:24:53
And that involves a whole sector.
1:24:54
It's different from staff at the town and they're not on this call.
1:24:59
That's the finance directors, the town administrators, managers, city managers.
1:25:03
So I think maybe having a class on that with all the FEMA paperwork, how you going to pay for it, how you can get reimbursed, you know, all the all the TS you get a cross and I's you get a dot.
1:25:13
You know, what's the timeline, you know, all those, all that, you know, sort of detail when where people are stressed out.
1:25:19
But afterwards, the weeks afterwards, it's all the fights over, you know, this is now you're getting into like, you know, group ball sizes and, you know, getting audited and, you know, count counting audits and DO Rs going to get involved potentially.
1:25:31
So I think there's so much detail there that that would be very, very helpful for the that staff as well.
1:25:38
So yeah, it's just a suggestion because I know that's you've got 1/2 of the town worried about just picking it up and the other half's kind of like, how are we going to pay for all this?
1:25:47
You know, especially if borne, for example, we're processing debris from 5 different towns.
1:25:52
Who's who's paying borne right now?
1:25:54
You know, I don't know.
1:25:56
I mean, we'll figure it out.
1:25:57
But you know, hopefully you have a pre a blue sky plan.
1:26:00
I like that Delia, certainly and and point well made, Phil Yeah, and we've we've got our work under us for the next time we we host this training and and how we can continue to make this valuable for everyone.
1:26:16
Any other thoughts from the group as we wind down here?
1:26:27
All right, it's great.
1:26:28
Thank you everyone for attending today.
1:26:29
I really appreciate it.
1:26:30
And I'll send the slides as well as the recording later this afternoon.
1:26:34
I really appreciate everybody.
1:26:35
Have a great day.
1:26:38
Thank you.