BILL ANALYSIS Ó ----------------------------------------------------------------- |SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | AB 177| |Office of Senate Floor Analyses | | |(916) 651-1520 Fax: (916) | | |327-4478 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------- 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. AB 177 Page 2 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. AB 177 Page 3 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 AB 177 Page 4 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 AB 177 Page 5 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 AB 177 Page 6 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 **** END ****