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Volume 22 — Issue 4 | January 27, 2022 |
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This month, the State of New York passed legislation banning the sale of upholstered furniture, mattresses and electronic enclosures that contain harmful flame retardant chemicals. The new legislation, referred to as New York’s Family and Firefighter Protection Act, regulates entire classes of chemicals used as flame retardants in furniture, mattresses and upholstery, including all compounds in the halogenated, organophosphorus, organonitrogen, and nanoscale classifications. It bans the sale of plastic enclosures for electronics containing any intentionally added organohalogen flame retardant. The law is to take effect in 2023 for reupholstered furniture, and in 2024 for mattresses, upholstered furniture and electronic enclosures.
Flame retardants are commonly found in consumer goods such as TVs, phones, and mattresses, as well as certain building materials such as insulation, solder paste, recycled plastics, and automobile replacement parts. These chemicals are meant to prevent the start of a fire or slow its growth. However, a growing body of research links many of the chemicals to serious health effects, from cancer and reproductive issues to developmental disabilities. One of the biggest dangers of some flame retardants is that they bioaccumulate in humans, causing long-term chronic health problems as bodies contain higher and higher levels of these toxic chemicals.
Children and firefighters are particularly at risk from the effects of the chemicals contained in flame retardants. Exposure to these compounds is associated with adverse effects on fetal and child development. When flame retardants within common household items and building materials burn, they produce toxic chemicals that firefighters are regularly exposed to in the line of duty, contributing to higher cancer rates among firefighters than those in the general population.
According to Safer States, New York is among five states that have already passed legislation regulating use of flame retardant chemicals. Among states who do not yet have legislation, sixteen states have adopted policies for risk evaluation and future action.
At the federal level, amendments to the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) in 2016 required the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to issue updated regulations for potentially harmful chemicals, including several flame retardant substances. Once the risk evaluations are completed and regulations are updated, the EPA could completely ban the chemicals, mandate personal protective equipment (PPE) or ban certain uses of the chemicals.
The EPA released a draft revised risk evaluation in December 2021 for a particular subclass of flame retardants – the cyclic aliphatic bromide cluster (HBCD) – which are a type commonly used in building materials, including extruded and expanded polystyrene foams, textiles, paints, and coatings. The risk evaluation determined that this cluster of chemicals carries “unreasonable risk of injury to health and the environment under the conditions of use.”
Legislation at the state and federal levels restricting the use of these flame retardant chemicals could greatly reduce firefighters’ exposure to them, which will ultimately be a step forward for firefighters’ health.
(Sources: Various)
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In 2021, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Science and Technology Directorate (S&T) and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s (NASA’s) Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) completed successful field testing of a new location tracking technology to enhance situational awareness for first responders. The technology is called POINTER, which stands for Precision Outdoor and Indoor Navigation and Tracking for Emergency Responders.
San Diego Fire and Rescue recorded first responder testimonials on why POINTER is so vital and how it works to support firefighter operations and responder safety. These testimonials were released in December 2021 and can be found on DHS S&T’s POINTER website.
DHS S&T works hand-in-hand with first responders to understand their technology needs, design and develop innovative prototypes, and field-test products before they transition to the commercial marketplace. This type of location and tracking technology was the number one priority identified by members of S&T’s First Responder Resource Group, and the responders’ input has been incorporated throughout the research and development process. DHS S&T continues to engage with members of the fire service from across the country to make sure that this groundbreaking technology is meeting their needs.
For more information on DHS S&T’s POINTER project, please visit DHS S&T’s POINTER website, or email POINTER@hq.dhs.gov.
(Source: DHS S&T)
On March 11, 2021, the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) was signed into law and established the Coronavirus State Fiscal Recovery Fund and Coronavirus Local Fiscal Recovery Fund, which together make up the Coronavirus State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds (SLFRF) program.
The SLFRF program provides $350 billion to state, territorial, local, and tribal (SLTT) governments to assist in responding to the economic and public health impacts of COVID-19 and assist in their efforts to mitigate impacts on their communities, residents, and businesses.
The U.S. Treasury published an Interim Rule outlining how the funds in the SLFRF program could be used by SLTT governments on May 17, 2021, and this week, on Jan. 27, Treasury published the Final Rule. The Final Rule is scheduled to go into effect April 1, 2022, but SLTT governments can take advantage of some of the funds prior to the effective date.
The funding includes $65.1 billion in direct, flexible aid to every county in America. The National Association of Counties (NACo) has worked closely with Treasury to ensure county recommendations and priorities were included in the Final Rule. NACo provides an analysis of the Final Rule published this month, including an overview of authorized uses of the funds. Changes included new flexibility to use SLFRF funds to invest in broadband infrastructure, services and programs to contain and mitigate the spread of COVID-19, including capital investments in public facilities, and investments in housing and neighborhoods.
According to NACo, several authorized uses of this funding can directly benefit local public safety agencies. The following list highlights some of these uses:
- Payroll, staffing, and re-hiring expenses for police officers, sheriffs and deputy sheriffs, firefighters, emergency medical responders, correctional and detention officers, and dispatchers or supervisory personnel that directly support public safety staff.
- Police, first responders and other public safety services (including purchase of fire trucks and police vehicles).
- Improvements to or construction of emergency operations centers and purchasing of emergency response equipment such as emergency response radio systems.
- Emergency medical response expenses, such as uncompensated care costs for medical providers.
For more information on eligible uses of this funding, visit NACo’s State and Local Fiscal Recovery Fund Resource Hub.
In January 2021, Treasury opened a web portal to begin disbursement of funding to SLTT governments. SLTT governments can visit the portal to apply for available funding.
(Source: NACo, U.S. Treasury)
The Rural Domestic Preparedness Consortium (RDPC) provides small, rural, and tribal emergency responders and stakeholders DHS-certified training and resources developed specifically for rural practitioners and communities.
On Feb. 21, RDPC is offering an 8-hour awareness level course, AWR 148-V Crisis Management for School-Based Incidents: Partnering Rural Law Enforcement, First Responders and Local School Systems. The course is delivered virtually with a live instructor via the Zoom web conference platform.
Crisis Management for School-Based Incidents is designed for school administrators and emergency responders to help responders and school staff effectively respond to an emergency involving a school building or an entire school system. The training will provide representatives of rural law enforcement departments with a foundation of knowledge and skills that will enable them to progressively establish a school-based emergency response plan and crisis management team through information sharing and training.
RDPC is leading the rural first responder training initiative by developing courses that are created using a rigorous, standardized curriculum development process that ensures consistency with the principles and priorities set forth by the National Preparedness System (NPS) and the National Incident Management System (NIMS). Once complete, the curriculum is certified and authorized by DHS for delivery at no cost to tribal and rural communities nationwide.
For more information and to register for this training opportunity, complete the registration form on the AWR-148-V course page on RDPC’s website. To explore other training opportunities from RDPC, see RDPC’s training schedule.
(Source: RDPC)
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CISA Webinar Recording - Cyber Supply Chain: Risk Management for State, Local, Tribal, and Territorial Governments
As the global supply chain grows more dynamic and complex, it is increasingly vulnerable to threats like natural disasters and malicious cyber attacks. This webinar featured government and industry experts speaking on supply chain risk reduction strategies, lessons learned from recent cyber supply chain events, and best practices for organizations of any size – including state and local governments.
View the webinar recording from CISA on YouTube.
(Source: CISA)
NIST releases final cybersecurity assessment guidance
The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) issued its newest and final copy of guidance for organizations to assess their internal security IT systems, following a draft copy and comment period. The document, titled Assessing Security and Privacy Controls in Information Systems and Organizations, focuses on helping entities manage cybersecurity risks across their individual networks.
Guidelines included in the final draft emphasize improving organizational assessments of current cybersecurity infrastructure, promoting better cybersecurity awareness among users, enabling cost-effective security assessment procedures and privacy controls, and creating reliable security information for executives. The guidance concludes by recommending ongoing privacy and security assessments within a given organization.
(Source: NextGov)
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Center for Internet Security Podcast Episode 22 - CIS Behind the Veil: Log4j
In early December, the cybersecurity world was introduced to a new foe when researchers discovered a vulnerability in the code of a software library called Log4j. The library is built on Java, the popular coding language used in other software and applications around the world. Because of its ubiquity, the vulnerability was estimated to be present in over 100 million instances – and was rated a "10 out of 10" on the Common Vulnerability Scoring System (CVSS) due to its potential impact if exploited by bad actors.
In the latest episode of Cybersecurity Where You Are, the Center for Internet Security (CIS) Chief Information Security Officer (CISO) and CIS Chief Evangelist were joined by two colleagues who walked them through the steps CIS took to address the Log4j vulnerability.
(Source: Center for Internet Security)
F5 releases January 2022 Quarterly Security Notification
F5 has released its January 2022 Quarterly Security Notification addressing vulnerabilities affecting multiple versions of BIG-IP, BIG-IQ, and NGINX Controller API Management. A remote attacker could exploit these vulnerabilities to either deny service to, or take control of, an affected system.
CISA encourages users and administrators to review the F5 security advisory and install updated software or apply the necessary mitigations as soon as possible.
(Source: CISA)
Florida hospital's quick thinking thwarts ransomware attack
Marianna, Florida-based Jackson Hospital's IT department quickly stopped a ransomware attack on its charting software by shutting down the hospital's computer systems, CNN reported Jan. 16.
On Jan. 16, the hospital's emergency room noticed that it couldn't get access to its charting system, used by doctors to look up a patient's medical history. This is when the hospital's IT director realized the charting system, maintained by an outside vendor, was infected with ransomware. The hospital decided to shut down its computer systems to stop the attack from spreading throughout the entire hospital. Jackson Hospital's staff had to quickly shift from electronic records to handwritten records to maintain hospital flow.
(Source: Becker’s Hospital Review)
Bernalillo County (New Mexico) approves funding for ransomware recovery
As Bernalillo County continues to repair its systems from a ransomware attack, county commissioners have approved $2 million for the recovery. The county was hit by a ransomware attack on January 5 affecting several of its services.
Some are still down including at the Metropolitan Detention Center. The county says several laptops were ruined. Now, the Information Technology Department says it will cost nearly $200,000 to replace them. They say most of that money would eventually be covered by the county’s cyber liability policy but the county needs the money for immediate use. According to a news release from the county, the recovery funding was approved by the commission on a 5 – 0 vote.
(Source: KRQE News – Albuquerque, New Mexico)
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