BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 177
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Date of Hearing: May 13, 2015
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Jimmy Gomez, Chair
AB
177 (Bonilla) - As Amended April 23, 2015
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Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program: NoReimbursable: No
SUMMARY:
This bill extends the sunset date for the Board for Professional
Engineers, Land Surveyors, and Geologists (BPELSG), the
California Architects Board (CAB), and the Landscape Architects
Technical Committee (LATC) from January 1, 2016, to January 1,
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2020.
FISCAL EFFECT:
1)On-going annual Special Fund costs of approximately $9.6
million (Professional Engineer's and Land Surveyor's Fund) and
$1.4 million (Geology and Geophysics Account) to extend the
BPELSG beyond the January 1, 2016, sunset date. This fund is
self-supporting with fee revenue.
2)On-going annual Special Fund costs of approximately $3.9
million (California Architects Board Fund) to extend the CAB
beyond the January 1, 2016, sunset date. This fund is
self-supporting with fee revenue.
3)On-going annual Special Fund costs of approximately $1.0
million (Landscape Architects Fund) to extend the LACT beyond
the January 1, 2016, sunset date. This fund is self-supporting
with fee revenue.
COMMENTS:
1)Purpose. This bill is one of five author-sponsored sunset
bills. On March 18th, 2015, the Assembly Business and
Professions Committee and the Senate Business, Professions,
and Economic Development Committee held a "sunset review"
hearing for the BPELSG, the CAB, and the LATC. In response to
the recommendations in the background paper and the sunset
hearing, this bill extends the sunset date for the BPELSG, the
CAB, and the LATC from January 1, 2016, to January 1, 2020,
and incorporates changes to the BPELSG that arose out of the
sunset review process.
According to the author, "This bill is necessary to ensure that
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consumers continue to be protected through the ongoing
licensure and regulation of architects, landscape architects,
engineers, land surveyors, and geologists."
2)Background. BPELSG. The BPELSG regulates the practices of
professional engineering, land surveying, geology, and
geophysics. The BPELSG duties include qualifying and
licensing individuals, establishing regulations, enforcing
laws and regulations, and providing information so that
consumers can make informed decisions. The BPELSG licenses
and regulates more than 78,400 professional civil, mechanical,
and electrical engineers, 4,200 land surveyors, 5,300
geologists and geophysicists, over 14,600 others.
CAB and LATC. The CAB regulates the practice of architecture in
California. It establishes regulations for the examination and
licensing of the architecture profession in California, which
today numbers approximately 21,000 licensed architects and
approximately 11,000 candidates who are in the process of
meeting examination and licensure requirements. The LATC,
under the purview of the CAB, was created to establish license
standards and enforce the laws and regulations that govern the
practice of landscape architecture in California. The LATC
currently licenses more than 3,500 of the over 16,400 licensed
landscape architects in the United States.
3)Current Legislation. AB 320 (Wood), pending on the Assembly
Floor, adds the title "environmental engineer" to the list of
professional engineers currently given Title Act protection
and prevents a person from using that title unless licensed by
the Board for Professional Engineers, Land Surveyors, and
Geologists (BPELSG). The bill also exempts licensed civil,
electrical, and mechanical engineers from additional
qualifications to use the title, "environmental engineer."
AB 177
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Analysis Prepared by:Jennifer Swenson / APPR. / (916)
319-2081