Guam § 6233 - Establishment of the Environmental Public Health Officer Series.

§ 6233. Establishment of the Environmental Public Health Officer Series.

(a) The Director of Administration in collaboration with the Department of Public Health and Social

Services shall establish a new series of positions, called Environmental Public Health Officers, within the

Division of Environmental Health to replace the Division’s Environmental Health Specialist, Engineer, and

Public Health Inspector positions.

(b) The new specifications shall be based on the following criteria and then implemented as stated:

(1) The nature of work; summary statement of examples of duties performed; a statement of

minimum qualifications; and the minimum knowledge, abilities, and skills needed to perform the work

of the Environmental Public Health Officer positions, which shall be the various combination of the

class specifications of Public Health Inspectors, Environmental Health Specialists, and Engineers that

are specific to the mission and mandates of the Division of Environmental Health of the Department

of Public Health and Social Services;

(2) Hierarchical position levels of the Environmental Public Health Officer series shall begin with

the Environmental Public Health Officer I, followed by Environmental Public Health Officer II,

Environmental Public Health Officer III, Environmental Public Health Officer Supervisor,

Environmental Health Officer Administrator, and concluding with the Chief Environmental Public

Health Officer;

(3) The minimum education requirements of all positions within the Environmental Public Health

Officer series shall be of the following three (3) standards: a bachelor’s degree in any field of study

from any accredited college or university; a college algebra course of higher level math; and basic

science courses of thirty (30) semester or forty-five (45) quarter hours;

(4) The Director of Administration shall reclassify existing Environmental Health Specialists,

Engineers and Public Inspectors of the Division of Environmental Health in the Environmental Public

Health Officer series in the following manner:

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(A) Environmental Health Specialist I and all Public Health Inspectors shall be reclassified

as an Environmental Public Health Officer I;

(B) Environmental Health Specialist II and Engineer I shall be reclassified as an

Environmental Public Health Officer II;

(C) Environmental Health Specialist III shall be reclassified as an Environmental Public

Health Officer III;

(D) Environmental Health Specialist Supervisor shall be reclassified as an Environmental

Public Health Administrator; and

(E) Environmental Health Specialist Administrator shall be reclassified as a Chief

Environmental Public Health Officer;

(5) Existing Division of Environmental Health employee reclassified pursuant to § 6233(b)(4)

shall possess the minimum education standards of § 6233(b)(3), except that the basic science course

requirements may be substituted for a minimum of ten (10) semester or fifteen (15) quarter hours;

however, the full education requirements of § 6233(b)(3) shall be met to qualify for any other future

position within the Environmental Public Health Officer series;

(6) Existing Division of Environmental Health employees who do not possess the minimum

education standards of § 6233(b)(3), or the substitute standards of § 6233(b)(5), shall remain in his/her

current position until such time the Department of Public Health and Social Services and the

Department of Administration complete an evaluation of the employee in determining whether he/she

possesses the capabilities to perform the duties and responsibilities of an Environmental Public Health

Officer, and

(A) If such employee is deemed capable, the employee shall be reclassified into the new

position that best reflects his abilities, but shall be required to meet the full minimum education

qualification standards of § 6233(b)(3) for any other future position within the Environmental

Public Health Officer series; and

(B) If an employee is deemed unable to perform the duties and capabilities of an

Environmental Public Health Officer, he/she shall be transferred to another position in the

government of Guam in accordance to established laws and rules and regulations;

(7) The Chief Environmental Public Health Officer of the Environmental Public Health Officer

series must possess a master’s degree in the field of environmental health, environmental science,

environmental engineering, biology, chemistry, public health, physical science, or natural sciences;

and

(8) A pay structure consistent with a government-wide pay plan, shall be implemented for the

new position series to provide competitive salaries and compensation to the employees.

(9) An incentive pay shall be provided to employees holding the Environmental Public Health

Officer positions who obtain and maintain professional certification based on the following:

(A) The professional certification that allows the employee to receive the incentive pay shall

be the Registered Environmental Health Specialist (REHS), the Registered Sanitarian (RS), or its

equivalent, issued by the National Environmental Health Association, or its succeeding

association.

(B) Provided it is reasonable, justified, and relevant to their duties and responsibilities, the

Department of Public Health and Social Services (DPHSS) may at its discretion include one (1)

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or more additional certifications, in addition to the REHS, RS, or its equivalent, for the

Environmental Public Health Officer to receive the incentive pay.

(C) The incentive pay amount for Environmental Public Health Officers shall be fifteen

percent (15%) of the employee’s base salary, which shall be calculated and paid each pay period

for every pay period that the employee possesses the required certification(s).

(D) DPHSS shall be responsible for maintaining and monitoring the current list of

Environmental Public Health Officers qualified to obtain the incentive pay, and shall keep the

Department of Administration apprised of these employees’ statuses.

(E) The employee must possess a valid and current required certification(s) to receive the

incentive pay, and any lapse in time that the certification(s) is not current or valid shall prohibit

the employee from receiving the incentive pay for that period; however, upon re-obtaining a valid

and current certifications(s), the incentive pay shall be instituted again for the employee but not

for any period while the employee did not possess a valid and current certification(s).

(F) The incentive pay shall be retroactive to Fiscal Year 2014, provided the employee had

held such title while employed in the Division of Environmental Health of DPHSS and obtained

and possessed the required certification(s) as established pursuant to the criteria in this

Subsection.

(10) Basic sciences referred to in § 6233(c) of this Article shall mean any of the courses in

Biological Science, Natural Science, Physical Science, and Health Science, as established by the

National Environmental Health Association, or its successor.

(11) The incentive pay for Environmental Health Officers within the Division of Environmental

Health, Department of Public Health and Social Services, shall be funded from the Environmental

Health Fund, and/or the DPHSS Sanitary Inspection Revolving Fund and subject to the availability of

funds.