We're excited to work with you on becoming a certified Alaska Clean Harbor!

To be certified, our Advisory Council reviews your application and supporting documentation. An application consists of a completed Best Management Practices Checklist, with a short answer or reference (i.e. to standard operating procedures, local ordinances, etc) for each implemented BMP. To be certified, your facility must have in place 100% of the applicable legally-required BMPs and a few additional BMPs that are applicable to your facility.

steps to certification

At some point in this process you will need to get your Council or Assembly to sign-off on your participation in Alaska Clean Harbors by signing the ACH pledge (see below). The following are the typical steps towards certification:

  1. Conduct a best practices assessment of your facility. What are you currently implementing?

  2. Action plan. What can you implement to reach the certification goals? ACH staff can help develop this plan and provide resources.

  3. Implement and document BMPs

  4. Submit your application for review by the ACH Advisory Committee

  5. Enjoy an award ceremony with ACH staff, your Council/Assembly and associated positive press

certification Materials and resources

Clean Harbors Pledge. You will want to get your managing body (usually your City Council/Assembly) to sign off on your participation in Alaska Clean Harbors. This often goes first before your Port & Harbor Advisory Commission, and then to Council/Assembly for a resolution of support. You can read example resolutions from Homer and Seward.

University of Alaska Southeast Clean Harbors Course. (Follow the link to view currently scheduled non-credit courses and find Clean Harbors) We highly recommend signing up for this Clean Harbors Course through UAS. This course is designed to walk you through the ACH best practices checklist, and provide a robust background and understanding of waste management and pollution prevention solutions that can be implemented at your facility. The course is part of the Career Training for Ports and Marinas program. It costs $100 for the first person at your facility to enroll; additional employees at the same facility can sign up for $30 each. The course is self-paced, and should take around 15 hours to complete if you follow all of the links and read through all of the resources. At the end of the course, you will have completed the majority of your facility's self assessment for ACH certification.

This video introduces a module of our Clean Harbors course, available through the University of Alaska Southeast Career Training for Ports and Marinas distance education program.

 

Best Management Practices Checklist. This checklist is the backbone of the ACH certification. In it, you will document what best practices your facility implements and how. For each practice that you implement, we'll ask you to write in a brief explanation, reference local ordinances/standard operating procedures/other documents, and/or provide a photo. This is what our Advisory Committee will use to review your application for certification.