CALPHO e-News October 2019, Part One

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--  E-News   October 16, 2019  --  Top News                                SB19-181 May Have Greater Impacts on Public Health Than Realized Whether or not oil and gas operations are occurring in your county, SB19-181 may have implications for local public health. SB19-181 increased local governments’ regulatory authority over oil and gas operations. Specifically, it provided them the authority to regulate the surface impacts of oil and gas operations in a reasonable manner to protect and minimize adverse impacts to public health, safety, welfare, and on the environment. What might this mean for you? As local governments wrestle with operationalizing this new authority, you may be called upon as a subject matter expert regarding potential adverse impacts. CALPHO and CDEH were invited to briefings provided by staff with the Colorado Oil and Gas Commission (COGCC) and CDPHE October 10 and October 11 (the recordings for these briefings can be found HERE INSERT GOOGLE DRIVE LINK). They will also be briefing at the CALPHO Directors meeting on November 15.  In addition to expanding local government authority and revising COGCC’s mission, SB19-181 directs CDPHE’s Air Quality Control Commission (AQCC) to adopt rules to minimize emissions of methane and other hydrocarbons, volatile organic compounds, and oxides of nitrogen from oil and gas exploration and production facilities. In particular, it directs the AQCC to consider adopting more stringent requirements, including a requirement that oil and gas operators install and operate continuous methane emissions monitors at certain facilities. CALPHO will closely monitor this rulemaking process, which officially began on September 19, 2019, and perhaps be prepared to provide public comment testimony on the proposed rules. Anyone wanting to participate in the rulemaking hearing December 17-19 must submit a party status application to the AQCC by October 17 – please check with your county or county attorney regrading party status. More information on that can be found here.  Thank you to Liane Jollon, RN executive director San Juan Basin Public Health and Tom Gonzales, MPH, REHS public health director Larimer County Health and Environment for their service on COGCC and AQCC and for bringing this forward.      Upcoming Events  Click HERE for full event calendar Colorado Downtown Streets Workshop October 21 San Luis, CO  Colorado towns are seeking to revitalize downtowns and main streets. This free half-day workshop will explore how communities can strike a balance among the many demands that face our downtown streets. --REGISTER--> 2019 APHA Annual Meeting November 2-6 Philadelphia, PA APHA’s 2019 theme is "Creating the Healthiest Nation: For science. For action. For health." --REGISTER--> Symposium Unplugged: Rural Healthy Housing November 7 Salida, CO Hear from leaders, local experts and people who've experienced housing insecurity at our upcoming Symposium Unplugged: Sparking Ideas for Healthy Homes in Rural Colorado.  --REGISTER--> Power of Black Women Summit November 9 Denver, CO This summit aims to increase understanding of major public policy issues that affect black women, support leadership roles, and identify opportunities to become an integral part of decision making. --REGISTER--> Click HERE for full event calendar  Health Equity                                                                American Journal of PH October Issue on Legacy of Racism At the 400th anniversary of the start of indentured servitude and slavery in the United States, the American Journal of Public Health dedicated an issue to the persistent health effects of slavery and other forms of oppression. If you need access to any non-open articles, email us. Read it here.   Kudos & Accolades                                                         Silver Thread Receives Highly Competitive Grant from Center for Sharing PH Services Hinsdale and Mineral Counties formed the Silver Thread Public Health District in 2016. This year they are one of only seven participants selected for the Center for Sharing Public Health Services’ small grants program. In addition to funding, the program includes extensive technical assistance, which Silver Thread will be using to measure how their merger has impacted quality and customer satisfaction for environmental health services, administration, and management. Congrats, Silver Thread!   News & Current Events                                              HCPF Releases “State Option” Affordable Coverage Plan for Individual Markets House Bill 2019-1004 directed HCPF and the Division of Insurance (DOI) to study the development of a public option health insurance plan for Colorado. On Tuesday, 10/7, they release their plan for a “state option” that all insurers over a certain size would be required to offer. For now, the plan would be limited to the individual market, with the potential of expanding to small group markets in the future, and they estimate that it will save enrollees between 9% and 18% on their premiums. According to the timeline, HCPF and DOI will be pursuing the necessary legislative actions to create the program during the 2020 session. Learn more here.  CMS Announces Wellness Program Demo Project for Individual Markets The Center for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) announced that ten states will get the opportunity to participate in a new wellness program for their individual markets (what great timing!). States will be given some latitude to innovate how payers can reward healthy behavior through “health contingent” wellness programs. CMS has not yet provided a timeline. Learn more here.  EPA Announces Changes to Lead and Copper Rule  (excerpted from NACCHO’s News from Washington)  This week, four years after dangerous levels of lead were detected in drinking water in Flint, MI, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) proposed a new lead and copper rule, which governs how communities test for lead in drinking water. The agency says the changes will help to prevent exposure to dangerous substances in drinking water and allow communities to take more swift action. EPA is proposing for the first time a new lead trigger level of 10 ppb to compel water systems to identify actions that would reduce lead levels in drinking water.   The proposal will be open for public comment for 60 days. Some environmental groups have criticized the new EPA rule because the agency does not advance new requirements for the estimated 6 million lead service lines that remain underground around the country and have begun to degrade over time. EPA and the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) announced a new website that summarizes available federal programs that help finance or fund lead service line (LSL) replacement. The new resource also includes case studies demonstrating how cities and states have successfully leveraged federal resources to support LSL replacement projects.  News from NACCHO                                                       Apply Now for Strong Systems, Stronger Communities TA from NACCHO and CDC NACCHO, with support from the Center for State, Tribal, Local and Territorial Support within the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), announced a second year of the technical assistance (TA) program, Strong Systems, Stronger Communities (SSSC) TA Cohorts for LPHAs. The SSSC initiative provides support to agencies in completing projects to improve their performance, meet national accreditation standards, and promote interconnection across the public health system to improve population health. Through the 2019-2020 SSSC TA Cohorts, NACCHO will support LPHAs in moving upstream to address social determinants of health and health equity by improving the implementation of the community health improvement plan (CHIP), using principles of quality improvement. Applications are now open through 5 PM ET on Friday, October 25. Click here for the full RFP and application.  Highlights from our Partners                                          Census Bureau Representatives on LPHA Roles for 2020 Census Recently CDPHE hosted a session to discuss the upcoming 2020 Census. Kaye Kavanagh and Elizabeth Cypers from the U.S. Census Bureau presented a general overview of the process that will take place in 2020. The presentation also included discussion specific to the role of state and local public health to support the Census in counting everyone. If you are interested in knowing more about how public health can support the census and ensure high quality data in the future, you can access the presentation slides or watch the recorded presentation. Both have contact information if you have additional questions. Also feel free to reach out to Alison Grace Bui with any questions. Mental Health Colorado Releases Early Childhood Mental Health Toolkit The toolkit is designed for communities seeking to improve early childhood mental health by creating environments that  lay “the foundations for children’s ability to make friends, show empathy, resolve conflicts, respond to stress, and take care of others.” The toolkit can plug into ongoing efforts or catalyze new ones, starting with identifying champions and conducting needs assessments. Learn more and download it here.  Provide a Public Health Perspective in this Webinar on RAE-led SDOH Collaborations Want a better understanding of the challenges and opportunities around RAE-initiated collaborations to address social determinants? This webinar hosted by Health Management Associates, from 10-11am on October 23, “will provide a how-to session on effective development and implementation of SDOH partnerships and collaborations for vulnerable Colorado populations, including specific frameworks, tools, and lessons learned from other successful SDOH initiatives nationwide.” Given the challenges many LPHAs are experiencing while trying to engage their RAEs in this and other population health activities, this group could certainly benefit from hearing a public health perspective. Register here.  Federal Grant Application Assistance from the Congressman Perlmutter’s Office For Colorado organizations seeking federal grants, Congressman Perlmutter’s office can help navigate the process or provide letters of support. Check out federal grant resources and the letter of support form on the Congressman’s website, here.  Rural Economic Development for Health Webinar  In the October session of the NW Center for Public Health Practice’s Hot Topics in Practice, Jennifer Little, Director of Klamath County Public Health, discusses a unique community coalition in her area that recognizes these connections and is supporting both health and economic improvements. The webinar will be October 29, from 1pm-2pm MST. Register here.  Opportunities   Strong Systems, Stronger Communities Technical Assistance Cohorts for LHDs (Deadline: October 25) CDC E-Learning Institute (ELI) Fellowship (Deadline: October 25) Economic Impact Initiative Grants (Deadline: on-going through local Rural Development office) The Colorado Health Foundation Funding Opportunities (Deadline: three per year) Community Facilities Direct Loan & Grant Program (Deadline: on-going) Thank you for reading. If you have any comments or ideas for future CALPHO e-newsletters, please email us at info@calpho.org.  The purpose of this e-newsletter is to provide news updates, events and informational resources on hot topics in local public health and CALPHO. Any staff person of a CALPHO member agency is welcome to join our email list to receive this e-newsletter. If you have a colleague interested in receiving this e-newsletter, please forward this message to them. Copyright © Colorado Association of Local Public Health Officials 2019, All rights reserved.   Our mailing address is: 1385 S. Colorado Blvd., Bldg. A, Suite 622 Denver, Colorado 80222

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