BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SENATE COMMITTEE ON
BUSINESS, PROFESSIONS AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT
Senator Jerry Hill, Chair
2015 - 2016 Regular
Bill No: SB 1085 Hearing Date: April 18,
2016
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|Author: |Roth |
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|Version: |April 7, 2016 |
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|Urgency: |No |Fiscal: |Yes |
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|Consultant|Mark Mendoza |
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Subject: Professional engineers: geologists: land surveyors
SUMMARY: Requires licensees under the Board for Professional Engineers,
Land Surveyors, and Geologists, upon renewal of their license,
to complete a board-administered online assessment to reinforce
their knowledge of laws applicable to their practice area;
provides that failure to complete the assessment within the
allowed timeframe is cause for disciplinary action; and provides
that failure to complete this assessment does not prohibit
renewal.
Existing law:
1)Establishes the Professional Engineers Act, administered by
the Board for Professional Engineers, Land Surveyors, and
Geologists (BPELSG or Board), within the Department of
Consumer Affairs (DCA), which licenses and regulates
professional engineers. (Business and Professions Code (BPC)
§ 6700 et seq.)
2) Provides that an applicant who passes the first division exam
will be issued an engineer-in-training certificate. (BPC §
6751(a)(2))
3) Requires an applicant, who is issued an engineer-training
certificate, to successfully complete three years or more of
postsecondary engineering education, three years or more of
engineering experience, or a combination of postsecondary
education and experience in engineering totaling three years
prior to issuance of the certificate. (BPC § 6751(a)(2))
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4) Requires an applicant for a professional engineer's license
to acquire six years of overall professional experience prior
to licensure. (BPC § 6751(b)(2))
5) Requires an applicant for a professional engineer's license
to complete a test on state laws and the Board's rules and
regulations regulating the practice of professional
engineering. (BPC § 6755.1)
6) Provides that a professional engineer license is valid for
two years. (BPC § 6795)
7)Establishes the Geologist and Geophysicists Act, administered
by the BPELSG, within the DCA, which licenses and regulates
professional geologists and geophysicists. (BPC § 7800 et
seq.)
8)Requires an applicant for a geologist license to attend and
graduate from a college or university with a major in
geological sciences. (BPC § 7841(b))
9)Requires an applicant for a geologist license to acquire five
years of overall professional experience prior to licensure.
(BPC § 7841(c))
10)Requires an applicant for a geologist license complete a test
on state laws and the Board's rules and regulations
regulating the practice of geology. (BPC § 7841(d))
11)Provides that geologist, specialty geologist, geophysicist,
or specialty geophysicist's license expires at 12 a.m. of the
last day of the birth month of the certificate holder during
the second year of a two-year term. (BPC § 7880)
12)Establishes the Land Surveyors' Act, administered by the
BPELSG, within the DCA, which licenses and regulates the
practice of land surveying. (BPC § 8700 et seq.)
13)Requires an applicant, who is issued a land
SB 1085 (Roth) Page 3
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surveyor-in-training certificate, to successfully complete
two years of postsecondary education in land surveying, two
years of experience in land surveying, or a combination of
postsecondary education and experience in land surveying
totaling two years prior to issuance of the certificate.
(BPC § 8741)
14)Requires an applicant for a land surveyor's license to
complete a test on state laws and the Board's rules and
regulations regulating the practice of professional land
surveying. (BPC § 8741.1)
15)Requires an applicant for a land surveyor's license to
acquire six years of professional experience prior to
licensure. (BPC § 8742)
16)Provides that a land surveyor's license is valid for two
years. (BPC § 8801)
This bill:
1) Requires licensees under the Board for Professional
Engineers, Land Surveyors, and Geologists, upon renewal of
their license, to complete a board-administered online
assessment to reinforce their knowledge of laws applicable to
their practice area.
2) Provides that failure to complete the assessment above within
60 days after the date of expiration of the license is cause
for disciplinary action.
3) Provides that failure to complete the assessment does not
affect the renewal of the certificate.
FISCAL
EFFECT: Unknown. This bill is keyed "fiscal" by Legislative
Counsel.
COMMENTS:
1. Purpose. The BPELSG is the sponsor of the bill. According
to the Author, "Based on the Board's experience, licensees
fail to adequately and independently stay up-to-date with
critical legal and regulatory changes that directly affect
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the manner in which they provide services to and for the
general public. This bill would require licensees, at the
time of renewal of the license, to complete an assessment
relating to California laws and regulations to reinforce the
licensee's knowledge of the relevant laws."
2. Background. 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 complexity of engineering, land surveying, geology, and
geophysics projects necessitates a very high degree of
technical knowledge and skill that is typically only acquired
after many years of experience. 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 interpreting historical data related to soils,
earth dynamics, groundwater, and the effect those have on
public improvements.
3. Sunset Review. In 2014, the Board recommended to the
Committee that upon renewal of licenses under the Board's
jurisdiction, the licensee should be required to demonstrate
their knowledge of the state laws and the Board's rules
regulating their areas of practice.
The Board recently researched common violations committed by
licensees discovered during complaint investigations that are
not necessarily standard of practice issues. The laws and
regulations of the Board are readily available to its
licensees on the Board's website. While it is expected that
licensees will familiarize themselves of the laws governing
their practice, it is apparent that many licensees do not
review them on a regular basis or even when significant
changes are made.
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For instance, for many years following the requirement of
written contracts for licensees AB 2696 (Cox, Chapter 976,
Statutes of 2000), numerous complaints were received alleging
that a written contract was not executed. In several cases,
it became apparent during the Board's investigation that
compliance with the written contract statute was not
fulfilled. The response from many licensees was that they
were unaware of the new law, even though the Board had
publicized it several times in its newsletter, on its
website, and through in-person outreach opportunities.
Over a three-year period, of the cases against licensees in
which violations were found which did not rise to the level
of warranting formal disciplinary action, approximately 45%
involved violations relating to non-practice related laws,
such as failing to include all of the required elements in a
written contract, failing to execute a written contract,
failing to sign and seal professional documents in the manner
required by law, failing to submit reports of civil judgments
or settlements, and failing to file Organization Record
forms.
While private employees usually are the individuals who
engage in written contracts, the Board reports that there are
other issues with compliance regardless of where the licensee
is employed (i.e., responsible charge criteria, signing and
sealing documents, Code of Professional Conduct, notifying
BPELSG of change of address, etc.). The Board regularly
encounters multiple situations where the licensee, employed
by a public agency, runs a private practice on the side or is
contracted as the licensee in Responsible Charge for multiple
private businesses, all while performing their normal M-F,
9-5 job at the public agency. Caltrans has a form for those
licensees to fill out and get approved by their supervisors.
The Board has a record of this since it receives complaints
on these licensees or private firms and violations typically
include contract issues and lack of adequate responsible
charge.
To ensure adequate public protection and curtail unnecessary
complaint investigations, the Board believes licensees should
be required to periodically demonstrate their knowledge of
the state laws and the Board's rules regulating their areas
of practice. The most effective way to accomplish this would
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be to require licensees, at the time of renewal, to complete
an online assessment that would include questions regarding
state laws and the Board's rules and regulations regulating
their practices. This examination would be modeled after the
examination currently required for professional engineers and
land surveyors at the time of initial licensure. If
licensees were required to demonstrate their knowledge of the
laws at the time of renewal, they would have an incentive to
ensure they stay current on those laws and changes to them.
The sunset bill, AB 177 (Bonilla, Chapter 428, Statutes of
2015), ultimately did not include provisions relating to the
proposed testing requirement.
4. Online Assessment. As written, this bill would require
licensees to complete an online assessment testing them on
California state laws and regulations in relation to their
practice area. The Board reports that it would clearly
indicate, on its homepage, a tab where the licensee could
complete the assessment.
As the licensee moves through the assessment, two to three
pop-ups will appear quizzing the licensee on the reviewed
material. There is no pass/fail component. If the licensee
fails to correctly answer a question, the system will outline
the issue and highlight the correct response. At the end of
the assessment, the licensee would sign a document
highlighting that they have reviewed the information and
provide their license number and last four digits of their
social security number.
The Board underscores that this examination would be
developed in conjunction with DCA's SOLID unit.
5. Continuing Education Requirements. Currently, the BPELSG does
not have any continuing education requirements nor does it
have any plans to implement comprehensive requirements in the
future.
If enacted, this bill would create a semi-continuing
education requirement for licensees every two years.
6. Arguments in Support. The Board writes, "It is anticipated
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that these legislative changes will allow the renewal
candidate to renew their license in much the same manner as
it is currently processed with the additional requirement
that the laws and regulations examination must be completed
and passed within a reasonable timeframe of the licensee's
scheduled renewal date. Additionally, the examination would
be implemented using internet-based technology such that the
renewal candidate can take the examination wherever and
whenever internet access is available with an instantaneous
result so that if the renewal candidate fails to achieve a
passing score, another attempt can be initiated as soon as
the candidate is ready. The primary intent behind this
requirement is to provide an environment in which the Board
can efficiently increase awareness of the laws and
regulations directly affecting the licensee's practice while
providing an effective and more instantaneous communication
model for educating the licensees in addition to typical
outreach efforts."
7. Arguments in Opposition. Opponents believe this would create
another requirement for applicants for licensure under the
BPELSG.
8. Policy Issue : Geophysicists. Unlike professional engineers,
land surveyors, and geologists, applicants for a geophysicist
license are not required to complete a test on state laws and
the Board's rules and regulations regulating the practice of
geophysics. This measure would create a continuing education
requirement that geophysicists demonstrate knowledge of state
laws and the Board's rules and regulations after receiving a
license. While the amount of licensed geophysicists may be
scant, it is important to standardize procedures across all
professions the Board regulates and ensure that licensed
geophysicists know the law.
9. Proposed Amendments. The Author may wish to amend the bill
to also require applicants for a geophysicist license to
complete a test on state laws and the Board's rules and
regulations regulating the practice of geophysics by making
the following change:
Amending BPC § 7841.1(d) to state: Successfully pass a
written examination that shall test the applicant's knowledge
of state laws, rules and regulations, and of the principles
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and practices of geophysics within this state. The board
shall administer the test on the state laws and the board's
rules and regulations as a separate part of the examination
for licensure as a geophysicist .
SUPPORT AND OPPOSITION:
Support:
The Board for Professional Engineers, Land Surveyors, and
Geologists (Sponsor)
Eureka Right of Way Engineering
Several Individuals
Opposition:
Four Individuals
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