Amended in Senate May 7, 2013

Amended in Senate April 18, 2013

Senate Bill No. 306

Introduced by Senator Price

(Principal coauthor: Assembly Member Gordon)

February 15, 2013

An act to amend Sections 1000, 2530.2, 2531, 2531.75, 2533, 2570.19, 2602, and 2607.5 of the Business and Professions Code, relating to healing arts.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL’S DIGEST

SB 306, as amended, Price. Healing arts: boards.

The Chiropractic Act, enacted by an initiative measure, provides for the regulation and licensing of chiropractors in this state by the State Board of Chiropractic Examiners. Existing law specifies that the law governing chiropractors is found in the act.

This bill would require that the powers and duties of the board, as provided, be subject to review by the appropriate policy committees of the Legislature. The bill would require that the review of the board be performed as if these provisions were scheduled to be repealed on January 1, 2018.

Existing law, the Speech-Language Pathologists and Audiologists and Hearing Aid Dispensers Licensure Act, provides for the licensure and regulation of speech-language pathologists, audiologists, and hearing aid dispensers by the Speech-Language Pathology and Audiology and Hearing Aid Dispensers Board. The act authorizes the board to appoint an executive officer. Existing law repeals these provisions on January 1, 2014, and subjects the board to review by the Joint Committee on Boards, Commissions, and Consumer Protection.

This bill would extend the operation of these provisions until January 1, 2018, and provide that the repeal of these provisions subjects the board to review by the appropriate policy committees of the Legislature. begin delete The bill would also rename the Speech-Language Pathology and Audiology and Hearing Aid Dispensers Board as the California Speech and Hearing Board. The bill would make conforming changes. end delete

The Speech-Language Pathologists and Audiologists and Hearing Aid Dispensers Licensure Act also authorizes the board to refuse to issue, or issue subject to terms and conditions, a license on specified grounds, including, among others, securing a license by fraud or deceit.

This bill would additionally authorize the board to refuse to issue, or issue subject to terms and conditions, a license for a violation of a term or condition of a probationary order of a license issued by the board, as provided.

Existing law, the Occupational Therapy Practice Act, provides for the licensure and regulation of occupational therapists, as defined, by the California Board of Occupational Therapy. Existing law repeals those provisions on January 1, 2014, and subjects the board to review by the Joint Committee on Boards, Commissions, and Consumer Protection.

This bill would extend the operation of these provisions until January 1, 2018, and provide that the repeal of these provisions subjects the board to review by the appropriate policy committees of the Legislature.

Existing law, the Physical Therapy Practice Act, provides for the licensure and regulation of physical therapists by the Physical Therapy Board of California. The act authorizes the board to appoint an executive officer. Existing law repeals these provisions on January 1, 2014.

This bill would extend the operation of these provisions until January 1, 2018.

Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes. State-mandated local program: no.

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:

SECTION 1.  

Section 1000 of the Business and Professions
Code is amended to read:

1000.  

The law governing practitioners of chiropractic is found
in an initiative act entitled “An act prescribing the terms upon
which licenses may be issued to practitioners of chiropractic,
creating the State Board of Chiropractic Examiners and declaring
its powers and duties, prescribing penalties for violation hereof,
and repealing all acts and parts of acts inconsistent herewith,”
adopted by the electors November 7, 1922. Notwithstanding any
other law, the powers and duties of the State Board of Chiropractic
Examiners, as set forth in this article and under the act creating
the board, shall be subject to review by the appropriate policy
committees of the Legislature. The review shall be performed as
if this chapter were scheduled to be repealed as of January 1, 2018.

SEC. 2.  

Section 2530.2 of the Business and Professions Code
is amended to read:

2530.2.  

As used in this chapter, unless the context otherwise
requires:

(a) “Board” means the begin delete California Speech and Hearing Board.
As used in this chapter or any other provision of law,
“Speech-Language Pathology and Audiology and Hearing Aid
Dispensers Board” or “Speech-Language Pathology and Audiology
Board” shall be deemed to refer to the California Speech and
Hearing Board or any successor. end delete begin insert Speech-Language Pathology and
Audiology and Hearing Aid Dispensers Board. end insert

(b) “Person” means any individual, partnership, corporation,
limited liability company, or other organization or combination
thereof, except that only individuals can be licensed under this
chapter.

(c) A “speech-language pathologist” is a person who practices
speech-language pathology.

(d) The practice of speech-language pathology means all of the
following:

(1) The application of principles, methods, instrumental
procedures, and noninstrumental procedures for measurement,
testing, screening, evaluation, identification, prediction, and
counseling related to the development and disorders of speech,
voice, language, or swallowing.

(2) The application of principles and methods for preventing,
planning, directing, conducting, and supervising programs for
habilitating, rehabilitating, ameliorating, managing, or modifying
disorders of speech, voice, language, or swallowing in individuals
or groups of individuals.

(3) Conducting hearing screenings.

(4) Performing suctioning in connection with the scope of
practice described in paragraphs (1) and (2), after compliance with
a medical facility’s training protocols on suctioning procedures.

(e) (1) Instrumental procedures referred to in subdivision (d)
are the use of rigid and flexible endoscopes to observe the
pharyngeal and laryngeal areas of the throat in order to observe,
collect data, and measure the parameters of communication and
swallowing as well as to guide communication and swallowing
assessment and therapy.

(2) Nothing in this subdivision shall be construed as a diagnosis.
Any observation of an abnormality shall be referred to a physician
and surgeon.

(f) A licensed speech-language pathologist shall not perform a
flexible fiberoptic nasendoscopic procedure unless he or she has
received written verification from an otolaryngologist certified by
the American Board of Otolaryngology that the speech-language
pathologist has performed a minimum of 25 flexible fiberoptic
nasendoscopic procedures and is competent to perform these
procedures. The speech-language pathologist shall have this written
verification on file and readily available for inspection upon request
by the board. A speech-language pathologist shall pass a flexible
fiberoptic nasendoscopic instrument only under the direct
authorization of an otolaryngologist certified by the American
Board of Otolaryngology and the supervision of a physician and
surgeon.

(g) A licensed speech-language pathologist shall only perform
flexible endoscopic procedures described in subdivision (e) in a
setting that requires the facility to have protocols for emergency
medical backup procedures, including a physician and surgeon or
other appropriate medical professionals being readily available.

(h) “Speech-language pathology aide” means any person
meeting the minimum requirements established by the board, who
works directly under the supervision of a speech-language
pathologist.

(i) (1) “Speech-language pathology assistant” means a person
who meets the academic and supervised training requirements set
forth by the board and who is approved by the board to assist in
the provision of speech-language pathology under the direction
and supervision of a speech-language pathologist who shall be
responsible for the extent, kind, and quality of the services provided
by the speech-language pathology assistant.

(2) The supervising speech-language pathologist employed or
contracted for by a public school may hold a valid and current
license issued by the board, a valid, current, and professional clear
clinical or rehabilitative services credential in language, speech,
and hearing issued by the Commission on Teacher Credentialing,
or other credential authorizing service in language, speech, and
hearing issued by the Commission on Teacher Credentialing that
is not issued on the basis of an emergency permit or waiver of
requirements. For purposes of this paragraph, a “clear” credential
is a credential that is not issued pursuant to a waiver or emergency
permit and is as otherwise defined by the Commission on Teacher
Credentialing. Nothing in this section referring to credentialed
supervising speech-language pathologists expands existing
exemptions from licensing pursuant to Section 2530.5.

(j) An “audiologist” is one who practices audiology.

(k) “The practice of audiology” means the application of
principles, methods, and procedures of measurement, testing,
appraisal, prediction, consultation, counseling, instruction related
to auditory, vestibular, and related functions and the modification
of communicative disorders involving speech, language, auditory
behavior or other aberrant behavior resulting from auditory
dysfunction; and the planning, directing, conducting, supervising,
or participating in programs of identification of auditory disorders,
hearing conservation, cerumen removal, aural habilitation, and
rehabilitation, including, hearing aid recommendation and
evaluation procedures including, but not limited to, specifying
amplification requirements and evaluation of the results thereof,
auditory training, and speech reading, and the selling of hearing
aids.

(l) A “dispensing audiologist” is a person who is authorized to
sell hearing aids pursuant to his or her audiology license.

(m) “Audiology aide” means any person meeting the minimum
requirements established by the board. An audiology aid may not
perform any function that constitutes the practice of audiology
unless he or she is under the supervision of an audiologist. The
board may by regulation exempt certain functions performed by
an industrial audiology aide from supervision provided that his or
her employer has established a set of procedures or protocols that
the aide shall follow in performing these functions.

(n) “Medical board” means the Medical Board of California.

(o) A “hearing screening” performed by a speech-language
pathologist means a binary puretone screening at a preset intensity
level for the purpose of determining if the screened individuals
are in need of further medical or audiological evaluation.

(p) “Cerumen removal” means the nonroutine removal of
cerumen within the cartilaginous ear canal necessary for access in
performance of audiological procedures that shall occur under
physician and surgeon supervision. Cerumen removal, as provided
by this section, shall only be performed by a licensed audiologist.
Physician and surgeon supervision shall not be construed to require
the physical presence of the physician, but shall include all of the
following:

(1) Collaboration on the development of written standardized
protocols. The protocols shall include a requirement that the
supervised audiologist immediately refer to an appropriate
physician any trauma, including skin tears, bleeding, or other
pathology of the ear discovered in the process of cerumen removal
as defined in this subdivision.

(2) Approval by the supervising physician of the written
standardized protocol.

(3) The supervising physician shall be within the general
vicinity, as provided by the physician-audiologist protocol, of the
supervised audiologist and available by telephone contact at the
time of cerumen removal.

(4) A licensed physician and surgeon may not simultaneously
supervise more than two audiologists for purposes of cerumen
removal.

SEC. 3.  

Section 2531 of the Business and Professions Code is
amended to read:

2531.  

(a) There is in the Department of Consumer Affairs the
begin delete California Speech and Hearing Board end delete begin insert Speech-Language Pathology
and Audiology and Hearing Aid Dispensers Board end insert in which the
enforcement and administration of this chapter are vested. The
begin delete California Speech and Hearing Board end delete begin insert Speech-Language Pathology
and Audiology and Hearing Aid Dispensers Board end insert shall consist
of nine members, three of whom shall be public members.

(b) This section shall remain in effect only until January 1, 2018,
and as of that date is repealed, unless a later enacted statute, that
is enacted before January 1, 2018, deletes or extends that date.
Notwithstanding any other law, the repeal of this section renders
the board subject to review by the appropriate policy committees
of the Legislature.

SEC. 4.  

Section 2531.75 of the Business and Professions Code
is amended to read:

2531.75.  

(a) The board may appoint a person exempt from
civil service who shall be designated as an executive officer and
who shall exercise the powers and perform the duties delegated
by the board and vested in him or her by this chapter.

(b) This section shall remain in effect only until January 1, 2018,
and as of that date is repealed, unless a later enacted statute, that
is enacted before January 1, 2018, deletes or extends that date.

SEC. 5.  

Section 2533 of the Business and Professions Code is
amended to read:

2533.  

The board may refuse to issue, or issue subject to terms
and conditions, a license on the grounds specified in Section 480,
or may suspend, revoke, or impose terms and conditions upon the
license of any licensee for any of the following:

(a) Conviction of a crime substantially related to the
qualifications, functions, and duties of a speech-language
pathologist or audiologist or hearing aid dispenser, as the case may
be. The record of the conviction shall be conclusive evidence
thereof.

(b) Securing a license by fraud or deceit.

(c) (1) The use or administering to himself or herself, of any
controlled substance; (2) the use of any of the dangerous drugs
specified in Section 4022, or of alcoholic beverages, to the extent,
or in a manner as to be dangerous or injurious to the licensee, to
any other person, or to the public, or to the extent that the use
impairs the ability of the licensee to practice speech-language
pathology or audiology safely; (3) more than one misdemeanor or
any felony involving the use, consumption, or self-administration
of any of the substances referred to in this section; or (4) any
combination of paragraph (1), (2), or (3). The record of the
conviction shall be conclusive evidence of unprofessional conduct.

(d) Advertising in violation of Section 17500. Advertising an
academic degree that was not validly awarded or earned under the
laws of this state or the applicable jurisdiction in which it was
issued is deemed to constitute a violation of Section 17500.

(e) Committing a dishonest or fraudulent act that is substantially
related to the qualifications, functions, or duties of a licensee.

(f) Incompetence, gross negligence, or repeated negligent acts.

(g) Other acts that have endangered or are likely to endanger
the health, welfare, and safety of the public.

(h) Use by a hearing aid dispenser of the term “doctor” or
“physician” or “clinic” or “audiologist,” or any derivation thereof,
except as authorized by law.

(i) The use, or causing the use, of any advertising or promotional
literature in a manner that has the capacity or tendency to mislead
or deceive purchasers or prospective purchasers.

(j) Any cause that would be grounds for denial of an application
for a license.

(k) Violation of Section 1689.6 or 1793.02 of the Civil Code.

(l) Violation of a term or condition of a probationary order of
a license issued by the board pursuant to Chapter 5 (commencing
with Section 11500) of Part 1 of Division 3 of Title 2 of the
Government Code.

SEC. 6.  

Section 2570.19 of the Business and Professions Code
is amended to read:

2570.19.  

(a) There is hereby created a California Board of
Occupational Therapy, hereafter referred to as the board. The board
shall enforce and administer this chapter.

(b) The members of the board shall consist of the following:

(1) Three occupational therapists who shall have practiced
occupational therapy for five years.

(2) One occupational therapy assistant who shall have assisted
in the practice of occupational therapy for five years.

(3) Three public members who shall not be licentiates of the
board, of any other board under this division, or of any board
referred to in Section 1000 or 3600.

(c) The Governor shall appoint the three occupational therapists
and one occupational therapy assistant to be members of the board.
The Governor, the Senate Committee on Rules, and the Speaker
of the Assembly shall each appoint a public member. Not more
than one member of the board shall be appointed from the full-time
faculty of any university, college, or other educational institution.

(d) All members shall be residents of California at the time of
their appointment. The occupational therapist and occupational
therapy assistant members shall have been engaged in rendering
occupational therapy services to the public, teaching, or research
in occupational therapy for at least five years preceding their
appointments.

(e) The public members may not be or have ever been
occupational therapists or occupational therapy assistants or in
training to become occupational therapists or occupational therapy
assistants. The public members may not be related to, or have a
household member who is, an occupational therapist or an
occupational therapy assistant, and may not have had, within two
years of the appointment, a substantial financial interest in a person
regulated by the board.

(f) The Governor shall appoint two board members for a term
of one year, two board members for a term of two years, and one
board member for a term of three years. Appointments made
thereafter shall be for four-year terms, but no person shall be
appointed to serve more than two consecutive terms. Terms shall
begin on the first day of the calendar year and end on the last day
of the calendar year or until successors are appointed, except for
the first appointed members who shall serve through the last
calendar day of the year in which they are appointed, before
commencing the terms prescribed by this section. Vacancies shall
be filled by appointment for the unexpired term. The board shall
annually elect one of its members as president.

(g) The board shall meet and hold at least one regular meeting
annually in the Cities of Sacramento, Los Angeles, and San
Francisco. The board may convene from time to time until its
business is concluded. Special meetings of the board may be held
at any time and place designated by the board.

(h) Notice of each meeting of the board shall be given in
accordance with the Bagley-Keene Open Meeting Act (Article 9
(commencing with Section 11120) of Chapter 1 of Part 1 of
Division 3 of Title 2 of the Government Code).

(i) Members of the board shall receive no compensation for
their services, but shall be entitled to reasonable travel and other
expenses incurred in the execution of their powers and duties in
accordance with Section 103.

(j) The appointing power shall have the power to remove any
member of the board from office for neglect of any duty imposed
by state law, for incompetency, or for unprofessional or
dishonorable conduct.

(k) This section shall remain in effect only until January 1, 2018,
and as of that date is repealed, unless a later enacted statute, that
is enacted before January 1, 2018, deletes or extends that date.
Notwithstanding any other law, the repeal of this section renders
the board subject to review by the appropriate policy committees
of the Legislature.

SEC. 7.  

Section 2602 of the Business and Professions Code is
amended to read:

2602.  

The Physical Therapy Board of California, hereafter
referred to as the board, shall enforce and administer this chapter.

This section shall remain in effect only until January 1, 2018,
and as of that date is repealed, unless a later enacted statute, that
is enacted before January 1, 2018, deletes or extends that date.

Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the repeal of this
section renders the board subject to review by the appropriate
policy committees of the Legislature.

SEC. 8.  

Section 2607.5 of the Business and Professions Code
is amended to read:

2607.5.  

(a) The board may appoint a person exempt from civil
service who shall be designated as an executive officer and who
shall exercise the powers and perform the duties delegated by the
board and vested in him or her by this chapter.

(b) This section shall remain in effect only until January 1, 2018,
and as of that date is repealed, unless a later enacted statute, that
is enacted before January 1, 2018, deletes or extends that date.