Certification Programs Catch on in a Big Way in Malaysia
In their enthusiastic embrace of two EnviroCert International Inc. programs—Certified Professional in Erosion and Sediment Control (CPESC) and Certified Erosion, Sediment and Storm Water Inspector (CESSWI)—Malaysia’s engineering and regulatory communities serve as a model for those in other areas of the world seeking to strengthen protection of soil and water resources from the impacts of wide-scale land development activities.
“The strong interest in these certification programs has been prompted by the thirst for practical knowledge and methods of systematically addressing accelerated erosion and controlling sediment,” says civil engineer Wing Leong, CPESC, CPSWQ (Certified Professional in Storm Water Quality), CESSWI. He’s president of CHT-Natural Solutions SDN BHD, an erosion control product and consulting firm in Petaling Jaya, Malaysia, who played a key role in bringing the CPESC program to the country.
Since August 2006, when the first CPESC review course and exam was offered, the number of CPESC registrants in Malaysia has grown to 91. Meanwhile, the first CESWWI review and exam, held last June, resulted in 27 registrants for this certification.
The Erosion Threat
Such acceptance of the two programs recognizes the significance of the threat of accelerated erosion to Malaysia’s surface waters, reports Eric Berntsen, CPESC, a senior specialist with the Stormwater Unit at California’s State Water Resource Control Board. He and Leong have taught each of the CPESC review courses.
“Accelerated erosion is one of Malaysia’s top national environmental issues, owing to rapid and continuing urban development, conversion of rain forests to agriculture, and other land-disturbing activities,” Berntsen says.
Heavy rains and erosive soils only add to the problem. Annual rainfall averages about 100 inches, frequently falling at the rate of 3 inches an hour. As a result, inland and coastal rivers carry heavy sediment loads. “This sediment impacts many productive in-stream habitat and near-shore spawning grounds for fish and inundates coral reefs in a country that is one of the most biodiverse in the world,” Berntsen says. “Environmental protection officials see the erosion issues as too significant to risk leaving the job of controlling it to those who lack the qualifications of a CPESC.” Although the government of Malaysia had developed a stormwater management manual in 2000 and began requiring erosion control plans on site development projects in 2005, regulators—as well as contractors, developers, and site engineers—were ill-equipped with erosion and sediment control technology, reports Dato Ahmad Fuad, a retiree from JPS (Department of Drainage), which oversees the country’s drainage and irrigation districts. “It made sense to get people certified in this field so they could practice it well,” he says. “This would solve a lot of the problems with poorly prepared erosion and sediment control plans and weak regulation of earthworks. Adopting the CPESC program would also be a much faster way of producing qualified people than starting our own education or certification programs from scratch.”
The CPESC program in Malaysia is being promoted by a new NGO—the Malaysian Stormwater Organisation (MSO) led by Dato Ahmad Husaini, the present head of JPS. Key committee members include Dr. Ir. Shamsuddin, CPESC, CESSWI, from JAS (Department of Environment) and Abu Harith from JKR (Department of Public Works).
A Tailored Program
Candidates for the CPESC review and exam have included engineers (civil, environmental, geotechnical, highway, and mechanical), soil scientists, environmental impact assessment officers, and university professors and instructors. The structure of the review course, but not the exam, has been modified to meet their needs and interests. For example, instead of the one-day review class offered in the United States, the candidates attend a three-day session.
There, Berntsen discusses the concepts, principles, and practices of erosion control, while Leong relates such information as the analysis and design process to specific procedures used in Malaysia. The fourth day is an open forum for discussing specific issues and questions that candidates may have. The half-day exam is conducted on the fifth day.
“I’ve been impressed by the proactive approach of the Malaysian designers, consultants, and regulators in adopting the CPESC program as a way to improve their environmental protection practices,” Berntsen says.
The benefits of certification have extended beyond the individual registrants, notes Leong. “Collectively, the knowledge and tools that individuals acquired in becoming certified add to the ability of their organizations to meet the challenges of controlling accelerated erosion. And that is having a positive effect on policies at the national level.”
The government agency benefiting the most has been JAS (Department of Environment), notes Fuad. “It no longer relies on other departments, which lacked properly trained people, to oversee erosion and sediment control in environmental impact assessment areas,” he says. “Now that JAS has its own core group of CPESC people and is rapidly adding to the CESSWI program for its field inspectors, the department is taking over the regulation of erosion and sediment control in all environmental impact assessment areas.”
Sue Clarke, a retired engineer who managed the Stormwater Quality Section of the King County (Washington) Water and Land Resources Division, taught the CESSWI review course and gave the exam to 65 candidates.
“Dr. Shamsuddin, JAS deputy director general, wanted to improve the ability of field supervisors to review and inspect erosion and sediment control plans, including BMPs, for compliance,” says Leong, who helped set up the certification training and exam. “This keen direction from the government has been a key reason for the rapid growth in the number of CESSWI registrants.”
“The agency officials saw the CESSWI program as a good way to provide a source of well-informed inspectors,” adds Clarke.
The CESSWI review course included a half-day visit to a construction site so candidates could compare concepts and practices presented in the classroom to those actually used onsite.
“The developers and contractors I met were spending extra money to control erosion and manage stormwater runoff properly,” Clarke says. “They saw the CESSWI and CPESC programs as valuable in helping to level the playing field among the various construction companies.”
The JAS now requires that erosion and sediment control plans for environmental impact assessment areas be developed by a CPESC and will begin requiring that all field inspectors be CESSWIs.