Tomorrow is the deadline for submitting innovative ideas
The 2023 open campaign is coming to its end on Friday, February 17. So you still have time to share your ideas to improve MPCA’s products, services, programs, processes, operations, or business model that would deliver value to our agency and those whom we serve?
Submit your ideas now to IdeaScale: MPCA Innovation Forum. Register with your state email address and submit your ideas for the 2022-2023 Innovation Campaign.
|
Vote for your favorite innovative ideas!
The 2023 Innovation Open Campaign was a resounding success! As an agency, you embraced the campaign and submitted your innovative ideas in IdeaScale.
BUT WAIT, we’re not done! Idea generation is coming to close and now it’s time to VOTE! So, show your support during the voting phase February 17-24. It’s easy. Go to IdeaScale and cast your votes for the ideas you think would most benefit the MPCA.
You can be like that person on social media that just likes posts! There is no commitment. Voting helps senior leaders know which ideas have the most support!
Deadlines to claim reciprocity exemption from Minnesota withholding
For Michigan and North Dakota residents who work in Minnesota: An effective-dated Minnesota tax withholding record for reciprocity must be entered no later than close of business, February 28, for employees to maintain their reciprocity status without interruption. The record’s effective date must be after December 31, 2022, and no later than February 28. The deadline to enter these transactions in Self Service is 7 p.m. on Tuesday, February 28.
The Minnesota state tax status of any employee who filed for exempt status on Form MWR in the year 2022 but did not refile for 2023, will be reset to reflect the same tax status appearing on the employee's federal tax record that is in effect on February 28. The new tax status will be reflected beginning with the paycheck dated March 10.
IDI Qualified Administrator Certification Course
Interested in becoming a Qualified Administrator (QA) of the Intercultural Development Inventory (IDI)? As we roll out the IDI agency-wide, the MPCA is in need of more qualified administrators to host group and individual debriefs for staff. Minnesota Management and Budget is offering an online IDI qualifying seminar for individuals to be trained and licensed as IDI QAs.
The seminar runs April 3-6, 11 a.m.-3:30 p.m. The cost of the three half-day qualifying seminar will be paid for by the MPCA. Registration deadline: March 20.
During the seminar, participants will:
- Gain proficiency in using the IDI for increasing intercultural competence for individuals, teams, and organizations
- Learn how the IDI differs from traditional measures of intercultural competence
- Learn how to interpret individual and group IDI profiles of intercultural competence
- Practice giving IDI Profile Report debriefs in supportive role-play scenarios
- Receive introductory training to use the Intercultural Conflict Style Inventory®
For more information about the IDI QA Certification course, email here. Check out step-by-step instructions on how to enroll.
|
MNIT will be doing routine maintenance
MNIT will be doing routine maintenance to the MPCA network switches located in the St. Paul office on Wednesday, February 22, 4-6 a.m. This will cause a network outage for the building.
If you have systems running that need network access during this time, please plan accordingly to reschedule to a time outside of the maintenance window. This maintenance should not affect the badge readers to access the building.
|
Job openings
Construction stormwater supervisor: This position performs the supervisory duties of the Municipal Division's Construction Stormwater Unit. Duties include leading a team of staff responsible for compliance and enforcement activities related primarily to the Construction Stormwater General Permit and other stormwater permits as applicable. Job ID: 62889. Various locations. Closing date: March 7.
Hydrologist 3: This position provides hydrological work to support the Municipal Stormwater Unit's Stormwater Regulatory Program. The incumbent in this role will develop and maintain the program's regulatory and non-regulatory guidance and outreach materials to support water quality improvement. Job ID: 62811. Various locations. Closing date: February 24.
To search for more details on this job posting, sign into Self Service. Click on Careers Portal and enter the Job ID number in "Search Jobs."
|
The Minnesota GreenCorps host site application is open!
Do you work with local governments, nonprofit organizations, and educational institutions? Help these organizations advance their environmental initiatives by encouraging them to host a Minnesota GreenCorps member!
Minnesota GreenCorps is an environmentally focused AmeriCorps program administered by the MPCA. The program plans to place up to 48 full-time members with host site organizations statewide from September 2023 to August 2024. Members spend a year of service on projects in the topic areas of air pollutant reduction, community readiness and outreach, green infrastructure improvements, and waste reduction, recycling and organics management.
The Minnesota GreenCorps host site application is open through Tuesday, March 14, 2023. Please spread the word about this opportunity with external organizations you think may be interested in applying. For more information, visit the Minnesota GreenCorps webpage and direct questions to mngreencorps.pca@state.mn.us.
|
IDI group debrief sessions
As part of the MPCA's Intercultural Competency Professional Development Program, all agency employees will need to complete the Intercultural Development Inventory (IDI). Please wait to sign up for a group debrief until after you have received your IDI code and taken the assessment. Important: Please put your full first and last name on the assessment! During the group debrief, employees will receive one IDEA credit as well as further instructions and options for next steps in continuing the IDI process. Find out more on the Lorax.
IDI group debrief session #1.4
Tuesday, Feb. 21, 1:30-3 p.m.
Join Teams meeting.
IDI group debrief session #1.5
Tuesday, March 2, 1:30-3 p.m.
Join Teams meeting.
February's Equity Experience events
Equity Experience events offer a variety of ways to “experience” equity, so we can hold ourselves accountable to learning, growing, and engaging with this important work and our commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion.
Check out the event list on The Lorax. In order to receive an IDEA credit for attending an Equity Experience event, you will be required to report what you learned, thought, experienced, etc. to your team, so that there will be accountability and shared learning.
Black History Month: Into the Depths Podcast Series
Historians estimate that some 36,000 ships brought nearly 12.5 million Africans across the Atlantic Ocean, according to the Transatlantic Slave Trade Database. But not all survived. Somewhere between 500 and 1,000 ships are believed to have wrecked, but only a handful have been found and documented. Join National Geographic Explorer Tara Roberts on a historic journey as she documents some of the thousand slave ships that wrecked in the Atlantic Ocean during the transatlantic slave trade and follows a group of Black divers who are dedicated to finding and helping document the wrecks. A new six-part podcast series, Into the Depths, and National Geographic Magazine explore the complex history of the global slave trade and the stories of the estimated 12.5 million Africans forced to make the Middle Passage. Listen to this 7 minute NPR audio clip as an intro to the series, and find out more about the IDEA credit listening sessions on the Lorax.
Join the IDEA Credit Book Club!
First discussion: Tuesday, February 28, 2-3:30 p.m.
Join Carolyn Kammeyer (she/her), recruitment & retention consultant, and Riley Spielman (they/them), diversity consultant, throughout 2023 for the IDEA Credit Book Club! We will read four books throughout the year. Our first book to kick things off is a non fiction work by Sabrina Strings, Fearing the Black Body: The Racial Origins of Fat Phobia. The first discussion will take place Tuesday, February 28, 2-3:30 p.m. Find out more on the Lorax calendar.
8 Hour HAZWOPER Refresher classes
This course is required for staff who respond to hazardous substances released in the environment. The course satisfies the OSHA requirements for uncontrolled hazardous waste operations, response, and management. The course will cover the levels of PPE, toxicology, chemical safety, and managing an incident. Sign up through ELM. A minimum of eight attendees is required to hold each class. Below are upcoming classes.
R32PCASAF002-092 In-person – St. Paul March 15
R32PCASAF002-093 In-person – St. Paul April 6
R32PCASAF002-090V Virtual May 31
In the news
2023 marks the 50th anniversary of the Clean Water Act. The key to clean water? Wastewater treatment plants
Minnesotans take pride in our lakes and rivers. Community wastewater treatment facilities and their operators play a critical role in maintaining a health community and preserving and protecting our waters. These facilities treat wastewater that comes from our household sinks, toilets, showers, and laundry, as well as industrial sources like manufacturers and hospitals. — Boreal
State taking input on new air permit for Water Gremlin
The public has another chance to weigh in new requirements proposed for an eastern Twin Cities manufacturer with a history of pollution problems. The Minnesota Pollution Control Agency is accepting comments until March 3 on the draft air permit for Water Gremlin, which manufactures fishing sinkers and battery terminals in White Bear Township. — MPR News
|
Recently in social media at the MPCA!
The MPCA supports legislative proposals that protect Minnesotans from PFAS. One bill (HF1000) heard in committee today would ban PFAS from some consumer products such as carpets, cookware, ski wax, cosmetics, etc. Learn more about our PFAS strategy: https://bit.ly/40ZEeQz
|
|
