Public Law, Chapter 402, Part S, 123rd Legislature, First Regular Session

Chapter 402 S.P. 659 - L.D. 1842

PART S

Sec. S-1. 32 MRSA §4902, sub-§1-A is enacted to read:

1-A. Approved. "Approved" means approved by the board.

Sec. S-2. 32 MRSA §4903, sub-§1, as enacted by PL 1981, c. 501, §70, is amended to read:

1. Licensure required. No person may practice or offer to practice geology or soil science in the State without certification in accordance with a current license issued under this chapter, unless specifically exempted from the certification license requirement by this chapter.

Sec. S-3. 32 MRSA §4906, first ¶, as amended by PL 1981, c. 501, §72, is further amended to read:

The following persons shall be are exempt from the certification license requirement imposed by this chapter:

Sec. S-4. 32 MRSA §4906-A, as amended by PL 1985, c. 748, §42, is further amended to read:

§ 4906-A. Subsurface sewage disposal

Persons who have been licensed by the Department of Professional and Financial Regulation pursuant to Title 22, section 42, subsection 3-A , to evaluate soil for subsurface sewage disposal are exempt from the certification license requirement if their soil evaluation work relates solely to subsurface sewage disposal systems.

Sec. S-5. 32 MRSA §4907, as amended by PL 1995, c. 397, §§65 and 66, is further amended to read:

§ 4907. Board

The State Board of Certification for Geologists and Soil Scientists as established by Title 5, section 12004-A, subsection 19, shall administer this chapter and its office shall be within the Department of Professional and Financial Regulation. The board shall consist consists of 7 members, 5 of whom shall be are appointed by the Governor from the following categories: One academic geologist; one independent consultant or salaried geologist; one independent consultant or salaried soil scientist; one other soil scientist; and a representative of the public member as defined in Title 5, section 12004-A. The 4 geologist members appointed by the Governor must be licensed under this chapter. The 6th and 7th members shall be are the State Soil Scientist with the Maine Soil and Water Conservation Commission, ex officio, and the State Geologist or the State Geologist's designee, who shall must be a geologist employed in State Government, ex officio. No person, except the representative of the public member, may be is eligible for appointment to the board unless certified under this chapter.

1. Qualifications. Each member of the board shall be a citizen of the United States and shall must have been a resident of this State for at least 5 years immediately preceding his the appointment.

2. Term. Appointments are for 5-year terms. Appointments of members must comply with Title 10, section 60 8009. A board member may be removed for cause by the Governor.

4. Meetings; chair; quorum. The board shall meet at least once a year to conduct its business and to elect its officers a chair. Additional meetings shall must be held as necessary to conduct the business of the board , and may be convened at the call of the chairman chair or a majority of the board members. The board shall, every 2 years, elect a chairman who shall be a member of the board. No chairman may serve more than 2 consecutive terms. Four members of the board constitute a quorum.

Four members shall constitute a quorum.

The board shall keep such records and minutes as are necessary to the ordinary dispatch of its functions.

5. Hearings. Hearings may be conducted by the board to assist with investigations, to determine whether grounds exist for suspension, revocation or denial of a license, or as otherwise deemed necessary to the fulfillment of its responsibilities under this chapter.

The board shall not refuse to renew a license for any reason other than failure to pay a required fee, unless it has afforded the licensee an opportunity for an adjudicatory hearing. The board shall hold an adjudicatory hearing at the written request of any person who is denied a license without a hearing for any reason other than failure to pay a required fee, provided that the request for hearing is received by the board within 30 days of the applicant's receipt of written notice of the denial of his application, the reasons therefor and his right to request a hearing. Hearings shall be conducted in conformity with the Maine Administrative Procedure Act, Title 5, chapter 375, subchapter IV, to the extent applicable. The board may subpoena witnesses, records and documents in any hearing it conducts.

Sec. S-6. 32 MRSA §4908, sub-§1, as amended by PL 1987, c. 395, Pt. A, §176 and PL 1995, c. 502, Pt. H, §48, is repealed.

Sec. S-7. 32 MRSA §4908, sub-§2, as amended by PL 1995, c. 397, §68, is repealed.

Sec. S-8. 32 MRSA §4909, as amended by PL 1999, c. 386, Pt. P, §1, is further amended to read:

§ 4909. Qualifications

An application for certification as a geologist or soil scientist shall be made to the board on a form prescribed by it and shall be accompanied by the prescribed application fee.

An applicant for certification as a geologist or soil scientist shall have all the following qualifications:

1. Be of high ethical professional standards;

1-A. Application. An applicant for licensure as a geologist or soil scientist shall file an application and pay the application fee as set under section 4912. An applicant for licensure as a geologist or soil scientist must be trustworthy and competent.

2. Geologist examination requirements. As a geologist, to qualify to sit for the examination for certification licensure, an applicant shall must:

A. Be a graduate of an accredited college or university with a major in geological sciences, or have completed 30 credits in geological sciences at an accredited college or university, or have at least 7 years of professional geological work which that shall include either a minimum of 3 years of professional geological work under the supervision of a qualified geologist or a minimum of 5 years of responsible charge of geological work;

B. Have acquired 7 years of experience in responsible charge of geological work, toward which an undergraduate degree with 30 credit hours or more in geological science courses shall count counts as 2 years of training and each year of graduate study in the geological sciences shall count counts as 1/2 year of training, up to a maximum of 2 years of credit; and

C. Receive credit toward the experience requirement subject to the evaluation of the board. Applicants with less than 30 credit hours in geological science courses may be given proportional work-experience credits for such academic credit hours as they may have acquired.

2-A. Soil scientist examination requirements. As a soil scientist, to qualify to sit for the examination for certification licensure, an applicant must:

A. Be a graduate of an approved 4-year college curriculum leading to a Baccalaureate Degree, in which the applicant has successfully completed a minimum of 15 credit hours of soil or soil-related courses of a pedological nature and have a specific record of an additional 3 years or more of experience in soil science of a grade and character that indicates to the board that the applicant may be competent to practice as a soil scientist and be otherwise qualified. Teaching pedological courses in a college or university offering an approved 4-year soil science or agronomic curriculum must be considered as experience in soils investigations.

Applicants may sit for the General practice examination upon graduation from an approved 4-year college and may sit for the professional practice examination upon completion of the experience requirement as stated in this subsection.

"Additional 3 years of experience" does not imply a sequence of obtaining a degree and then experience. Experience time may not be granted for time while enrolled in courses, but summer employment must be counted even though a degree may not have been obtained.

Actual field experience in an acceptable apprenticeship program counts as experience time.

Each degree beyond the bachelor's degree counts as one year of experience.

Soil-related courses may amount to only 20% of the required 15 credits for a maximum of 3 credits.

3. Examination. Sit An applicant shall sit for and pass an examination before the board or its authorized representatives. Such examination will be held at certain specified times and of such scope as prescribed by the board.

Generally, the examinations shall must test the applicant's knowledge basic to geology or soil science and his the applicant's ability to apply that knowledge and to assume responsible charge in the professional practice of geology or soil science.

An applicant for certification shall licensure must meet all the requirements of this chapter and, in addition, shall must have 3 years' experience in geology or soil science as defined by this chapter and in the rules and regulations of the board to be provided.

An applicant failing in an examination may be examined again upon filing a new application and the payment of the prescribed fees.

The board, upon application therefor, on its prescribed form and upon the payment of the application and certification license fees, may issue a certificate license as a geologist or soil scientist without written examination to any person holding a certificate license as a geologist or soil scientist issued to him that geologist or soil scientist by any state or country having equivalent requirements, when the applicant's qualifications meet the other requirements of this chapter and the rules established by the board.

In determining the qualifications of an applicant for certification licensure, a majority vote of the board is required.

Any applicant who has passed the examination or has otherwise qualified as a geologist or soil scientist upon payment of the certification fee fixed by this chapter as set under section 4912 , shall must have a certificate license as a geologist or soil scientist as appropriate.

Sec. S-9. 32 MRSA §4911, as amended by PL 1999, c. 685, §15, is further amended to read:

§ 4911. Expiration and renewal

Certification expires Licenses expire on December 31st annually or at such other times as the Commissioner of Professional and Financial Regulation may designate and becomes become invalid on that date unless renewed. It is the duty of the Office of Licensing and Registration within the Department of Professional and Financial Regulation to notify, at the last known address, every person registered under this chapter of the license expiration date and the amount of the fee that is required. The notice must be mailed at least one month in advance of the expiration date.

A certificate license may be renewed up to 90 days after the date of expiration upon payment of a late fee in addition to the renewal fee as set under section 4912. Any person who submits an application for renewal more than 90 days after the license renewal date is subject to all requirements governing new applicants under this chapter, except that the board may, in its discretion, giving due consideration to the protection of the public, waive examination if the renewal application is made received, together with the late fee and renewal fee, within 2 years from the date of the expiration.

Sec. S-10. 32 MRSA §4912, as repealed and replaced by PL 1999, c. 685, §16, is amended to read:

§ 4912. Fees

The Director of the Office of Licensing and Registration within the Department of Professional and Financial Regulation may establish by rule fees for purposes authorized under this subchapter in amounts that are reasonable and necessary for their respective purposes, except that the fee for any one purpose may not exceed $250 annually. Rules adopted pursuant to this section are routine technical rules pursuant to Title 5, chapter 375, subchapter II-A 2-A.

Sec. S-11. 32 MRSA §4913, as amended by PL 1983, c. 413, §184 and PL 1999, c. 547, Pt. B, §72 and affected by §80, is repealed and the following enacted in its place:

§ 4913. Denial or refusal to renew license; disciplinary action

The board may deny a license, refuse to renew a license or impose the disciplinary sanctions authorized by Title 10, section 8003, subsection 5-A for any of the reasons enumerated in Title 10, section 8003, subsection 5-A, paragraph A.

Sec. S-12. 32 MRSA §4915, as amended by PL 1975, c. 760, §19, is repealed.

Sec. S-13. 32 MRSA §4919, as amended by PL 2001, c. 421, Pt. B, §99 and affected by Pt. C, §1, is further amended to read:

§ 4919. Unlicensed practice

A person who violates any of the provisions of this chapter for which a penalty has not been prescribed commits a civil violation for which a forfeiture of not more than $1,000 may be adjudged section 4903 is subject to the provisions of Title 10, section 8003-C.

The State may bring an action in Superior Court to enjoin any person from violating this chapter, regardless of whether other administrative, civil or criminal proceedings have been or may be instituted.

Sec. S-14. 32 MRSA §4920, as enacted by PL 1985, c. 389, §22, is repealed.

Public Laws

123rd Legislature

First Regular Session

Chapter 402

S.P. 659 - L.D. 1842