BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SB 1085
Page 1
SENATE THIRD READING
SB
1085 (Roth)
As Amended June 28, 2016
Majority vote
SENATE VOTE: 38-0
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|Committee |Votes|Ayes |Noes |
| | | | |
| | | | |
| | | | |
|----------------+-----+----------------------+--------------------|
|Business & |12-2 |Salas, Brough, Baker, |Gatto, Gomez |
|Professions | |Bloom, Campos, Dahle, | |
| | |Dodd, Eggman, Jones, | |
| | |Mullin, Ting, Wood | |
| | | | |
|----------------+-----+----------------------+--------------------|
|Appropriations |20-0 |Gonzalez, Bigelow, | |
| | |Bloom, Bonilla, | |
| | |Bonta, Calderon, | |
| | |Chang, Daly, Eggman, | |
| | |Gallagher, Eduardo | |
| | |Garcia, Holden, | |
| | |Jones, Obernolte, | |
| | |Quirk, Santiago, | |
| | |Wagner, Weber, Wood, | |
| | |Chau | |
| | | | |
SB 1085
Page 2
| | | | |
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SUMMARY: Requires the Board for Professional Engineers, Land
Surveyors, and Geologists (BPELSG) to administer an assessment
to licensees covering relevant state laws and regulations, as
specified, and redefines the examination for licensure as a
geophysicist as a two-part test with a separate state law and
regulation component. Specifically, this bill:
1)Defines "assessment" as an online program that contains
educational reading material and questions. Specifies that
the material shall be based on state law and the BPELSG's
rules and regulations relating to the practice of the relevant
licensee. The scope of the assessment shall be limited to the
board's top five types of violations related to the
administrative and procedural aspects of the practice of
professional engineers and any changes or additions to
existing law related to such administrative and procedural
aspects.
2)Requires, at the time of a license's renewal, the BPELSG to
administer an assessment of the renewing licensee.
3)States that failure to complete the assessment within 60 days
after the date of expiration of the certificate may result in
disciplinary action, but shall not affect the renewal of the
certificate.
4)Specifies that the initial examination for licensure as a
geophysicist shall test an applicant's knowledge of state
laws, rules, and regulations, and of the principles and
practices of geophysics within this state.
5)Requires the BPELSG to administer the state law and regulation
portion of the examination for licensure as a geophysicist as
a separate part of the examination.
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FISCAL EFFECT: According to the Assembly Appropriations
Committee, minor and absorbable costs to the Board.
COMMENTS:
Purpose. This bill is sponsored by the BPELSG. The author
wishes to include the following statement from the BPELSG: "It
is anticipated 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.
"The primary intent behind this requirement is to provide an
environment in which the [BPELSG] 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."
Background. The BPELSG is the licensing entity responsible for
licensing and regulating professional engineers, land surveyors,
and geologists. As of November 17, 2015, the BPELSG licenses
93,654 professional engineers, 4,202 land surveyors, 7,534
geologists, and 165 geophysicists.
Renewal Assessment. Currently, licensees under the BPELSG are
not required to complete any continuing education. However,
during the BPELSG's 2014 Sunset Review, the BPELSG reported that
SB 1085
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it receives a high number of non-practice-related infractions.
Specifically, of the violations rising to the level of formal
disciplinary action, the BPELSG found that approximately 45%
related to non-practice-related issues. The examples include:
"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."
According to the BPELSG, the primary reason provided by the
licensees tends to be that the licensees are unaware of the
various administrative requirements. The BPELSG reports that
this is despite having the information readily available on the
BPELSG's Web site. As a result, the BPELSG proposes using the
assessment to ensure licensees are informed.
In addition to protecting both the licensees and the consumers,
the BPELSG believes the proposal will cut enforcement costs and
timelines. By keeping licensees apprised of the relevant
non-practice related laws, the BPELSG anticipates spending fewer
resources on investigations for these types of cases.
Geophysicist State Jurisprudence Exam. Under existing law, an
applicant for licensure as a professional engineer, land
surveyor, or geologist, in addition to the standard national
examination, must take a separate portion that tests the
applicant's knowledge of state-specific laws and regulations.
The purpose of the exam is to cover state law not tested on the
national exam. However, existing law does not state that an
applicant for licensure as a geophysicist (which is a type of
geologist for purposes of licensing) must take the
state-specific examination. Therefore, this bill will update
the statute to conform to the requirement for the other license
types under the BPELSG.
SB 1085
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Analysis Prepared by:
Vincent Chee / B. & P. / (916) 319-3301 FN:
0003822