Local and state government agencies and private companies providing hazardous material emergency response services are attempting to meet the minimum training requirements for their employees as specified in federal law. However, none of the employers in a pilot survey met the requirements of the federal law for employer certification of employee competence. This failure represents a potentially enormous liability for such organizations as fire departments or industry-based emergency response units. In some cases, employers may believe they are immune from certain federal regulations, whereas others may be indifferent to the requirements and continue to conduct business as usual. A majority of the other employers are casually attempting to evaluate the performance of their employees; however, they have yet to demonstrate their ability to comply with the intent of the federal law. Emergency response team employers should investigate partnerships that can assist them in the following ways: producing legally defensible, verified job and job position analyses; making recommendations to improve the quality of their current training programs to reflect actual job requirements; and developing defensible first responder, technician, and specialist certification processes. In addition, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration and the Environmental Protection Agency need more precise guidelines for employers to follow during the certification of their employees in order to minimize the potential for legal challenges. (25 references) (Author/KC)