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NEHA > NEHA in Action > Initiatives

The following list describes NEHA’s involvement in a wide variety of national environmental and public health related initiatives.

• NEHA voiced its support via letter for a MAHC (Model Aquatic Health Code).
   

• Developed an Overview of Climate Considerations in response to a request to more clearly define the specific areas where EH can play a role and actions EH can take in mitigating the negative impacts of climate change. This paper also describes the challenge of workforce development that is foundational to EH’s response and some specific steps NEHA is currently and aiming to take to engage EH more deeply in climate change response;
   

• Presented a public-health-workforce-development needs assessment to staff of the U.S. Senate Subcommittee on Bioterrorism and Public Health Preparedness;
   

• Collaborated with CDC on developing national performance standards for the environmental health workforce;
   

• Developed and submitted a position paper on including environmental health in public health education;
   

• Developed a position paper that detailed the relationship between generalist and specialist credentialing in environmental health as it relates to the R.E.H.S./R.S. and C.F.S.P. credentials;
   

• Developed a formal position on the relationship between environmental health and public health nursing for CDC;
   

• Facilitated work with the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) hazard analysis critical control point (HACCP) workgroup reviewing HACCP standards for school food operations;
   

• Serves as lead organization in a workgroup developing a military career guide for public/private-sector placement in environmental health;
   

• Collaborates with CDC in defining the environmental health role in emergency planning/terrorism response;
   

• Served as lead, in cooperation with the CDC Food Safety Office, in developing, promoting, and conducting training for Epi-Ready foodborne-outbreak investigation strategies;
   

• Developed the Epi-Ready Train-the-Trainer Program in cooperation with the CDC Food Safety Office and the FDA Office of Regulatory Affairs;
   

• Set up strategic board committees to develop and advocate for positions on sustainability, workforce development, international environmental health, and the marketing of our profession;