BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 177
Page 1
CONCURRENCE IN SENATE AMENDMENTS
AB
177 (Bonilla)
As Amended September 4, 2015
Majority vote
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|ASSEMBLY: |80-0 |(June 1, 2015) |SENATE: |40-0 | (September 9, |
| | | | | |2015) |
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Original Committee Reference: B. & P.
SUMMARY: 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) until January 1, 2020, and make other
sunset review-related changes.
The Senate amendments:
1)Repeal the provisions authorizing the BPELSG to discipline a
licensee for failure to respond to a written request or
information from the BPELSG resulting from the investigation
of a complaint on January 1, 2020.
2)Delay merging the Professional Engineers and Land Surveyors
Fund and the Geology and Geophysics Account until July 1,
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2016.
3)Authorize the CAB to allow students enrolled in an Additional
Path to Architectural Licensing program to take the national
examination early.
4)Add double joining language to address chaptering out issues
with AB 179 (Bonilla) and AB 180 (Bonilla) of the current
legislative session.
5)Make other technical and clarifying amendments.
FISCAL EFFECT: According to the Senate Appropriations
Committee:
1)No significant costs are anticipated due to the extension of
the sunset of the BPELSG. Current law imposes a sunset on the
existence of the BPELSG as an appointed board. However, there
is no sunset on the larger body of law requiring licensure and
oversight of the practice of engineering, land surveying, and
geology. If the BPESLG was allowed to sunset, the overall
licensing and regulatory program would still exist in law.
2)Potential one-time costs up to $150,000 for the BPELSG to
develop educational standards for geologists, geophysicists,
and geologists-in-training.
3)No significant costs are anticipated due to the extension of
the sunset of the CAB. Current law imposes a sunset on the
existence of the CAB as an appointed board. However, there is
no sunset on the larger body of law requiring licensure and
oversight of the practice of architecture. If the CAB was
allowed to sunset, the overall licensing and regulatory
program would still exist in law.
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4)No significant costs are anticipated due to the extension of
the sunset of the LATC. Current law imposes a sunset on the
existence of the LATC as an appointed board. However, there is
no sunset on the larger body of law requiring licensure and
oversight of the practice of landscape architecture. If the
LATC was allowed to sunset, the overall licensing and
regulatory program would still exist in law.
COMMENTS:
Purpose. This bill is author sponsored. According to the
author, "This bill is necessary to ensure that consumers
continue to be protected through the ongoing licensure and
regulation of architects, landscape architects, engineers, land
surveyors, and geologists."
Sunset Review. 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. As part of the Sunset
Review, the BPELSG, the CAB, and the LATC each prepared a sunset
report, which was submitted to the committees and committee
staff prepared a background paper on each board.
A "sunset review" is a performance review of a state agency by
the Legislature aimed at determining whether that agency should
continue to exist, and if so, whether any statutory reforms are
needed to increase the agency's effectiveness. Sunset review is
triggered by the statutory expiration date for the agency, which
is commonly called a "sunset." Without an extension of this
sunset date, the boards will cease to exist.
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. This bill also incorporates proposed changes to the
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function of the BPELSG that arose out of the sunset review
process including the merging of the Geology and Geophysics
Account with the Professional Engineers and Land Surveyors Fund;
giving the BPELSG the authority to discipline a licensee for
failure to respond to a request for information relating to a
complaint investigation; and providing clarification of the
licensure requirements for geologist.
BPELSG: Merging the Funds. During the 4th Extraordinary Session
of 2009, the Legislature merged the Board for Professional
Engineers and Land Surveyors and the Board for Geologists and
Geophysicists, AB 20 X4 (Strickland), Chapter 18, Statutes of
2009-10 Fourth Extraordinary Session. At the time of the
subsequent sunset review in 2012, the recommendation was to keep
the funds of each board separate until the functions of the new
board integrated. Initially, the licensing, enforcement, and
administrative units of the BPELSG had separate personnel for
geologists and geophysicists and for engineers and land
surveyors. Presently, the activities and staff of these units
are combined so each unit has authority to regulate all of the
professions under the BPELSG. Despite the merger of these
duties, funds are maintained separately as the Geology and
Geophysics Account within the Professional Engineers and Land
Surveyors Fund. This bill would combine the accounts to enable
the BPELSG to fully integrate its operations and costs.
BPELSG: Enforcement Delays. One major issue raised in the
sunset review hearing relating to the expeditious processing of
a complaint is the lack of authority to require its licensees to
respond to the BPELSG or to provide documents in response to a
request during the course of a complaint investigation. One of
the reasons for delays in the processing of investigations has
been that staff gives the subject of the investigation ample
time and opportunities to respond and provide documents during
the investigation. However, licensees often think that if they
do not respond, the complaint will simply be closed. While some
cases are closed due to lack of substantive information in the
complaint, this is unusual. In most cases, the BPELSG must
either proceed based on the information on file or must expend
additional time and resources such as referring the case to
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Division of Investigation with the Department of Consumer
Affairs to obtain the information. Often, if the BPELSG had
received this information in a timely fashion, the complaint
could have been resolved without any further action being
pursued against the licensee. Presently, the Contractors State
License Board and the Medical Board of California have authority
to pursue disciplinary action against a licensee who fails to
respond to a request from an investigator in the course of an
enforcement action. This bill gives the BPELSG the authority to
initiate disciplinary action for a licensee that fails to
respond to a written request by an investigator in the process
of a complaint investigation.
BPELSG: Education Requirements for Geologists and Geophysicists.
The BPELSG identified a concern relating to the licensure
requirements for geologists. Under the Geology and Geophysics
Act, a bachelor's degree in geology is required; however, the
necessary coursework to qualify for licensure within a geology
major it unclear. This education requirement has created some
confusion in applicants looking for licensure. This results in
an applicant being denied a license because upon review of the
coursework, the applicant may not have insufficient education in
the field. The BPELSG is examining how to better capture new
graduates by clarifying this section of the Geology and
Geophysicists Act. This bill authorizes the BPELSG to formulate
the requirements for licensure through regulation.
BPELSG: Written Contract Requirement. Presently, all of the
regulated professions require a written contract to be executed
prior to performing professional services. The language in the
Business and Professions Code provides a loophole that,
according to the BPELSG, has been used by licensees at the
potential detriment of consumers. Currently, the Business and
Professions Code sections require that a contract include
description of the procedure to be used by any party to
terminate the contract rather than giving both parties the
ability to terminate the contract. This provision has resulted
in some licensees including only a provision giving the licensee
the ability to terminate. This bill would clarify that the
licensee must include language in a written contract about how
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both parties can terminate the contract.
CAB: Additional Path to Architectural Licensing Programs.
Candidates for licensure may take the required 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 CAB will
accept their students for early testing prior to the five year
point. This bill will provide the CAB authority to permit
earlier testing, which would require subsequent action by the
CAB.
Analysis Prepared by:
Eunie Linden / B. & P. / (916) 319-3301 FN:
0002359