BILL ANALYSIS Ó
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | AB 177|
|Office of Senate Floor Analyses | |
|(916) 651-1520 Fax: (916) | |
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THIRD READING
Bill No: AB 177
Author: Bonilla (D), et al.
Amended: 9/4/15 in Senate
Vote: 21
SENATE BUS, PROF. & ECON. DEV. COMMITTEE: 9-0, 7/6/15
AYES: Hill, Bates, Berryhill, Block, Galgiani, Hernandez,
Jackson, Mendoza, Wieckowski
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE: 7-0, 8/27/15
AYES: Lara, Bates, Beall, Hill, Leyva, Mendoza, Nielsen
ASSEMBLY FLOOR: 80-0, 6/1/15 - See last page for vote
SUBJECT: Professions and vocations: licensing boards
SOURCE: Author
DIGEST: This bill extends the sunset date for the Board for
Professional Engineers, Land Surveyors, and Geologists, the
California Architects Board, and the Landscape Architects
Technical Committee until January 1, 2020 and provides the
California Architects Board the authority to allow students
enrolled in an Additional Path to Architectural Licensing
Program to take the national examination early.
Senate Floor Amendments of 9/4/15 remove chaptering conflicts.
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ANALYSIS:
Existing law:
1) Establishes the California Architects Board (CAB) within the
Department of Consumer Affairs (DCA), which licenses and
regulates professional architects under the Architects
Practice Act. (BPC § 5500 et seq.)
2) Establishes the Landscape Architects Technical Committee
(LATC), under the CAB, which licenses and regulates landscape
architects. (BPC § 5615 et seq.)
3) Establishes the Professional Engineers Act, administered by
the Board for Professional Engineers, Land Surveyors, and
Geologists (BPELSG), within the DCA, which licenses and
regulates professional engineers. (BPC § 6700 et seq.)
This bill:
1) Extends the sunset date for the BPELSG, CAB, and the LATC
from January 1, 2016 to January 1, 2020.
2) Creates the Professional Engineers, Land Surveyors, and
Geologists Fund by merging the Geology and Geophysics Account
with the Professional Engineers and Land Surveyors Fund by
July 1, 2016.
3) Until January 1, 2010, provides BPELSG the authority to
discipline a licensee for failure to respond to a written
request or information from the BPELSG resulting from the
investigation of a complaint.
4) Clarifies that the written contract requirement for a
licensee must contain a provision for both party's ability to
terminate and the procedure for termination of a contract.
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5) Gives the BPELSG the ability to develop the education
standards for licensure as a geologist, geophysicist, or a
geologist-in-training.
6) Provides the CAB the authority to allow students enrolled in
an Additional Path to Architectural Licensing Program to take
the national examination early.
7) Makes other technical and clarifying changes.
Background
In 2015, the Senate Business, Professions and Economic
Development Committee and the Assembly Business and Professions
Committee (Committees) conducted joint oversight hearings to
review 12 regulatory entities including the Board for
Professional Engineers, Land Surveyors, and Geologists, the
California Architects Board, and the Landscape Architects
Technical Committee. This bill is intended to implement
legislative changes as recommended by staff of the Committees
reflected in a Background Paper on the aforementioned Boards and
Committee, as well as the discussion stemming from the sunset
hearing.
BPELSG. The BPELSG is charged with safeguarding the life,
health, property, and public welfare by regulating the practices
of professional engineering, land surveying, geology, and
geophysics. The BPELSG provides this public service by
qualifying and licensing individuals, establishing regulations,
enforcing laws and regulations, and providing information so
that consumers can make informed decisions. The vast majority
of licensed engineers hold a college degree in engineering.
Land surveyors make decisions and form opinions based upon
interpretation of legal documents, field evidence, and the use
of technically advanced instrumentation. Licensed geologists
and geophysicists often obtain post-secondary degrees in earth
sciences and devote many years of experience studying and
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interpreting historical data related to soils, earth dynamics,
groundwater, and the effect those have on public improvements.
CAB and LATC. The CAB was created in 1901 by the Legislature to
fulfill the mission of protecting the health, safety, and
welfare of the public through the regulation of the practice of
architecture. The CAB 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
mission of the CAB is to protect the public health, safety, and
welfare through the regulation of the practice of architecture
and landscape architecture in California.
California began regulating the practice of landscape
architecture in 1953. The LATC, under the purview of the CAB,
was created by the Legislature to protect the health, safety,
and welfare of the public by establishing license standards and
enforcing the laws and regulations that govern the practice of
landscape architecture in California. The LATC is responsible
for the examination, licensure, and enforcement programs
concerning landscape architects. The LATC currently licenses
more than 3,500 of the over 16,400 licensed landscape architects
in the United States. The mission of the LATC is to regulate
the practice of landscape architecture in a manner which
protects the public health, safety, and welfare and safeguards
the environment, as specified.
Additional Path to Architectural Licensing Programs. Current law
stipulates that candidates may take the examination after
completing five years of education/experience. A new degree
type is being developed that will integrate the national Intern
Development Program into the degree programs, as well as course
content that correlates with divisions of the national
examination (Architect Registration Examination). Three
California universities are developing "Additional Path to
Architectural Licensing programs" and such programs have been
vetted by the National Council of Architectural Registration
Boards (of which CAB is a member). Before the three California
schools finalize their programs and allocate significant
resources, they require some level of assurance the Board will
accept their students for early testing prior to the five year
point. This bill will provide the Board authority to permit
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earlier testing will provide sufficient assurances to
universities that the Board will authorize earlier testing.
Subsequent regulations and/or amendments to the Architects
Practice Act can provide additional implementation requirements
or further authority.
FISCAL EFFECT: Appropriation: Yes Fiscal
Com.:YesLocal: No
According to the Senate Appropriations Committee, this bill will
not result in any significant costs due to the extension of
BPELSG, will result in potential one-time costs up to $150,000
for BPELSG to develop educational standards for geologists,
geophysicists, and geologists-in-training and will not result in
any significant costs due to the extension of CAB and LATC.
SUPPORT: (Verified9/9/15)
Board of Professional Engineers, Land Surveyors, and Geologists
California Council of the American Society of Landscape
Architects
Professional Engineers in California Government
OPPOSITION: (Verified9/9/15)
D. Woolley & Associates, Inc.
ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT: Supporters like BPELSG believe that
this bill would add a much needed cause for disciplinary action
by the Board if a licensee or certificate holder fails or
refuses to respond to a written request from a representative of
the board to cooperate in the investigation of a complaint
against that licensee or certificate holder and state that
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continued licensure of these professionals are necessary to
ensure ongoing public protection.
Supporters also believe that the LATC has a strong record in
providing an appropriate balance between protecting the interest
of consumers and regulating the practice of landscape architects
through their licensing and regulatory programs.
ARGUMENTS IN OPPOSITION: D. Woolley & Associates, Inc. believes
that one section of current law is overreaching and violates
licensees' constitutional rights and protections.
ASSEMBLY FLOOR: 80-0, 6/1/15
AYES: Achadjian, Alejo, Travis Allen, Baker, Bigelow, Bloom,
Bonilla, Bonta, Brough, Brown, Burke, Calderon, Campos, Chang,
Chau, Chávez, Chiu, Chu, Cooley, Cooper, Dababneh, Dahle,
Daly, Dodd, Eggman, Frazier, Beth Gaines, Gallagher, Cristina
Garcia, Eduardo Garcia, Gatto, Gipson, Gomez, Gonzalez,
Gordon, Gray, Grove, Hadley, Harper, Roger Hernández, Holden,
Irwin, Jones, Jones-Sawyer, Kim, Lackey, Levine, Linder,
Lopez, Low, Maienschein, Mathis, Mayes, McCarty, Medina,
Melendez, Mullin, Nazarian, Obernolte, O'Donnell, Olsen,
Patterson, Perea, Quirk, Rendon, Ridley-Thomas, Rodriguez,
Salas, Santiago, Steinorth, Mark Stone, Thurmond, Ting,
Wagner, Waldron, Weber, Wilk, Williams, Wood, Atkins
Prepared by:Mark Mendoza / B., P. & E.D. / (916) 651-4104
9/9/15 10:55:11
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