HBA-NRS H.B. 1012 77(R) BILL ANALYSIS Office of House Bill AnalysisH.B. 1012 By: Goolsby Licensing & Administrative Procedures 2/16/2001 Introduced BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE Current law does not provide uniform qualification standards for the regulation of the public practice of geoscience in Texas. The Committee on Licensing & Administrative Procedures' interim report to the 74th Legislature recommended that to show its commitment to the public safety, the legislature should favorably consider the public registration of the practice of geoscience. House Bill 1012 establishes the Texas Geoscience Practice Act and provisions relating to licensing the practice of geoscience. RULEMAKING AUTHORITY It is the opinion of the Office of House Bill Analysis that rulemaking authority is expressly delegated to the Texas Board of Professional Engineers in SECTION 1 (Section 1.04, Texas Geoscience Practice Act), the commissioner of licensing and regulation in SECTION 1 (Section 1.04, Texas Geoscience Practice Act), and the Texas Board of Professional Geoscientists in SECTION 1 (Sections 1.04, 2.09, 4.01, 4.03, 4.05, 4.06, 6.07, 6.12, 6.13, 6.14, 7.01, 8.01, 9.03, 10.03, and 12.01, Texas Geoscience Practice Act) of this bill. ANALYSIS House Bill 1012 adopts the Texas Geoscience Practice Act (Act) and establishes the Texas Board of Professional Geoscientists (board). The bill provides for the appointment, administration, and operation of the board (Secs. 2.01, 2.02, 2.03, 2.04, 2.05, 2.06, 2.07, 2.08, 2.09, and 2.10). The bill requires the board to appoint an executive director to carry out the affairs of the board (Secs. 3.01, 3.02, 3.03, 3.04, 3.05, and 3.06). The bill establishes board powers and duties and requires the board to adopt and enforce rules consistent with the Act and necessary for the performance of its duties (Secs. 4.01, 4.02, 4.04, 4.07, 4.08, 4.09 and 4.10). The bill requires the board by rule to adopt a code of professional conduct that is binding on all license holders (Sec. 4.03). The bill authorizes the board by rule to recognize the use of the designations used by a professional organization, society, or association that maintains a certification program in a discipline of geoscience under certain conditions (Sec. 4.05). The bill requires the board by rule to recognize certain engineering titles as legitimate engineering titles separate from geoscience (Sec. 4.05). The bill requires the board by rule to establish the disciplines of geoscience in which a person may be licensed and the requirements for eligibility for such a license (Sec. 4.06). H.B. 1012 prohibits an unlicensed person from engaging in the public practice of geoscience and sets forth license requirements (Secs. 6.01, 6.02, 6.03, 6.04, 6.05, 6.06, 6.08, 6.09, 6.10, 6.11, 6.13, and 6.14). The bill authorizes the board by rule to authorize the licensing of a person who has not met the requirement of passing an examination covering the fundamentals and practice of the appropriate discipline of geoscience if the person is licensed or registered to practice a discipline of geoscience outside of the state (Sec. 6.07). The bill provides that a license is valid for a period not to exceed three years and expires according to a schedule established by board rule (Sec. 6.12). The bill establishes procedures for renewal of a license and authorizes the board by rule to establish conditions and fees for the reissuance of a license that has lapsed, expired, or has been suspended or revoked (Secs. 7.01 and 7.02). H.B. 1012 requires the board to prepare and make available to the public and appropriate state agencies information describing the regulatory functions of the board and the board's complaint and resolution procedures, and sets forth complaint procedures (Secs. 5.01, 5.02, 5.03, 5.04, and 5.05). The bill authorizes a firm or corporation to engage in the public practice of geoscience if the principle business of the firm or corporation is in the public practice of geoscience as determined by board rule. The bill authorizes the board to adopt rules relating to the public practice of geoscience by a firm or corporation and specifies the applicability of such rules (Sec. 8.01). The bill sets forth provisions relating to denial of license and grounds for disciplinary action, and authorizes the board to require a license holder to participate in a peer review program under rules adopted by the board (Secs. 9.01, 9.02, 9.03, 9.04, and 9.05). H.B. 1012 requires the board to adopt rules under the Act not later than September 1, 2002 (Sec. 12.01). In addition, the bill provides for the transition period during which the board is established and the governor is required to make initial appointments to the board (Sec. 12.01). The bill requires the board to hold its first meeting before January 1, 2002, and provides that a person is not required to obtain a license under the Act until September 1, 2003 (Sec. 12.01). The bill sets forth provisions relating to a person who is engaged in the public practice of geoscience before September 1, 2003, and who applies for a license before that date (Sec. 12.01). The bill authorizes the board to impose an administrative penalty against a person who violates the Act or a rule adopted or order issued under the Act (Sec. 10.01). The bill provides for the amount of the penalty, administrative procedures for the imposition of a penalty, collection of the penalty, remittance of the penalty and interest accrued on the penalty, options following a final order, and judicial review (Secs. 10.02, 10.03, 10.04, 10.05, 10.06, and 10.07). The bill authorizes the board to seek an injunction against a violation of the Act or a rule adopted under the Act (Sec. 11.01). The bill does not authorize the practice of professional surveying by a licensed geoscientist and does not apply to a qualified and registered surveyor who confines the surveyor's practice to acts of surveying allowed under the Professional Land Surveying Practices Act. The bill does not authorize the practice of engineering by a licensed geologist and does not require a licensed engineer, or a person acting under the supervision of a licensed engineer, who performs service or work that is both engineering and geoscience to be licensed as a geoscientist or to work under the supervision of a licensed geoscientist (Sec. 1.04). The bill does not permit a licensed geoscientist to perform specified functions unless the action is under the supervision of a licensed engineer. The bill sets forth which actions are and are not permitted of a licensed geoscientist with regard to an environmental and pollution remediation project or a geoscientific investigation of geological conditions affecting an engineered structure, work, or process (Sec. 1.04). The bill requires the board and the Texas Board of Professional Engineers by rule, memorandum of understanding, or other appropriate procedure or document to jointly resolve any conflict between this Act or a rule adopted under this Act and The Texas Engineering Practice Act or a rule adopted under that Act. The bill does not authorize a licensed geoscientist to act as or offer to perform services as a driller or installer and does not apply to specified licensed drillers or installers. The bill requires the board and the commissioner of licensing and regulation by rule, memorandum of understanding, or other appropriate procedure or document to jointly resolve any conflict between this Act or rule adopted under this Act and provisions relating to the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation, water well drillers, or water well pump installers, or a rule adopted under provisions relating to the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation, water well drillers, or water well pump installers (Sec. 1.04). The bill provides that the board is subject to the Texas Sunset Act (Sec. 1.03). EFFECTIVE DATE September 1, 2001, except that provisions relating to administrative penalties and the requirement that a person be licensed under the Act to engage in the public practice of geoscience take effect September 1, 2003.