Bill Text: NY S07986 | 2019-2020 | General Assembly | Amended
Bill Title: Relates to continuing education for professional engineers, land surveyors and professional geologists; relates to mandatory continuing education for land surveyors.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 2-0)
Status: (Passed) 2020-11-11 - signed chap.260 [S07986 Detail]
Download: New_York-2019-S07986-Amended.html
STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 7986--A IN SENATE March 6, 2020 ___________ Introduced by Sen. STAVISKY -- read twice and ordered printed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Higher Education -- committee discharged, bill amended, ordered reprinted as amended and recommitted to said committee AN ACT to amend the education law, in relation to continuing education for professional engineers, land surveyors and professional geolo- gists; and to repeal section 7212 of the education law relating to mandatory continuing education for land surveyors The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem- bly, do enact as follows: 1 Section 1. Section 7211 of the education law, as added by chapter 146 2 of the laws of 2002, paragraph (d) of subdivision 1 as amended by 3 section 8 of part B of chapter 103 of the laws of 2004, is amended to 4 read as follows: 5 § 7211. Mandatory continuing education for professional engineers, 6 land surveyors and professional geologists. 1. (a) Each licensed 7 professional [engineer] required under this article to register trienni- 8 ally with the department to practice in this state shall comply with 9 provisions of the mandatory continuing education requirements prescribed 10 in subdivision two of this section except as set forth in paragraphs (b) 11 and (c) of this subdivision. [Professional engineers] Licensed profes- 12 sionals who do not satisfy the mandatory continuing education require- 13 ments shall not practice until they have met such requirements, and have 14 been issued a registration certificate, except that a licensed profes- 15 sional [engineer] may practice without having met such requirements if 16 he or she is issued a conditional registration certificate pursuant to 17 subdivision three of this section. For purposes of this section the term 18 "licensed professional" shall mean any individual licensed under this 19 article as a professional engineer, land surveyor or professional geolo- 20 gist. 21 (b) [Professional engineers] Licensed professionals shall be exempt 22 from the mandatory continuing education requirement for the triennial 23 registration period during which they are first licensed. In accordance 24 with the intent of this section, adjustment to the mandatory continuing EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [] is old law to be omitted. LBD15389-02-0S. 7986--A 2 1 education requirement may be granted by the department for reasons of 2 health certified by an appropriate health care professional, for 3 extended active duty with the armed forces of the United States, or for 4 other good cause acceptable to the department which may prevent compli- 5 ance. 6 (c) A licensed professional [engineer] not engaged in practice as 7 determined by the department[,] shall be exempt from the mandatory 8 continuing education requirement upon the filing of a statement with the 9 department declaring such status. Any licensee who returns to the prac- 10 tice of [professional engineering] his or her profession during the 11 triennial registration period shall notify the department prior to reen- 12 tering the profession and shall meet such mandatory education require- 13 ments as shall be prescribed by regulations of the commissioner. 14 (d) Professional engineers directly employed on a full time basis by 15 the state of New York, its agencies, public authorities, public benefit 16 corporations or local governmental units prior to January first, two 17 thousand four and who are represented by a collective bargaining unit or 18 who are designated managerial or confidential pursuant to article four- 19 teen of the civil service law, at all times when so employed shall be 20 deemed to have satisfied the continuing education requirements of this 21 section, provided however that any such licensees who thereafter leave 22 such employment and enter the practice of professional engineering in 23 other capacities in New York, or otherwise engage in such practice, 24 shall satisfy the requirements of this section in such manner as shall 25 be prescribed by regulations of the commissioner. 26 (e) Professional geologists directly employed on a full-time basis by 27 the state of New York, its agencies, public authorities, public benefit 28 corporations or local governmental units prior to January first, two 29 thousand twenty-two and who are represented by a collective bargaining 30 unit or who are designated managerial or confidential pursuant to arti- 31 cle fourteen of the civil service law, at all times when so employed 32 shall be deemed to have satisfied the continuing education requirements 33 of this section, provided however that any such licensees who thereafter 34 leave such employment and enter the practice of professional geology in 35 other capacities in New York, or otherwise engage in such practice, 36 shall satisfy the requirements of this section in such manner as shall 37 be prescribed by regulations of the commissioner. 38 2. During each triennial registration period an applicant for regis- 39 tration as a professional engineer and/or a professional geologist shall 40 complete a minimum of thirty-six hours of acceptable continuing educa- 41 tion[,] and an applicant for registration as a land surveyor shall 42 complete a minimum of twenty-four hours of acceptable continuing educa- 43 tion as specified in subdivision four of this section[, provided that no44more than eighteen hours of such continuing education may consist of45non-course activities]. Any professional [engineer] geologist whose 46 first registration date following the effective date of the chapter of 47 the laws of two thousand twenty which amended this section occurs less 48 than three years from such effective date, but on or after [January49first, two thousand five] January first, two thousand twenty-three, 50 shall complete continuing education hours on a prorated basis at the 51 rate of one hour per month for the period beginning [January first, two52thousand four] January first, two thousand twenty-two up to the first 53 registration date thereafter. A licensee who has not satisfied the 54 mandatory continuing education requirements shall not be issued a trien- 55 nial registration certificate by the department and shall not practice 56 unless and until a conditional registration certificate is issued asS. 7986--A 3 1 provided for in subdivision three of this section. With the exception of 2 continuing education hours taken during the registration period imme- 3 diately preceding the effective date of this section, [continuing educa-4tion hours taken during one triennium may not be transferred to a subse-5quent triennium] no more than six continuing education hours taken 6 during one triennium may be transferred to a subsequent triennium. 7 3. The department, in its discretion, may issue a conditional regis- 8 tration to a licensee who fails to meet the continuing education 9 requirements established in subdivision two of this section but who 10 agrees to make up any deficiencies and complete any additional education 11 which the department may require. The fee for such a conditional regis- 12 tration shall be the same as, and in addition to, the fee for the trien- 13 nial registration. The duration of such conditional registration shall 14 be determined by the department but shall not exceed one year. Any 15 licensee who is notified of the denial of registration for failure to 16 submit evidence, satisfactory to the department, of required continuing 17 education and who practices [professional engineering] a licensed 18 profession without such registration, may be subject to disciplinary 19 proceedings pursuant to section sixty-five hundred ten of this title. 20 4. As used in subdivision two of this section, "acceptable continuing 21 education" shall mean courses of learning and educational activities 22 [which] in architecture, engineering, interior design, land surveying, 23 landscape architecture and geology that may contribute to professional 24 practice in professional engineering, land surveying and/or geology and 25 which meet the standards prescribed by regulations of the commissioner. 26 Completing courses of learning and educational activities that fall 27 within the scope of practice of another licensed profession does not 28 authorize the licensed professional engineer, licensed land surveyor or 29 licensed professional geologist to lawfully practice a profession that 30 they are not authorized to practice as defined in sections seventy-two 31 hundred one, seventy-two hundred three and seventy-two hundred four of 32 this title. The department may, in its discretion and as needed to 33 contribute to the health and welfare of the public, require the 34 completion of continuing education courses in specific subjects. 35 5. [Professional engineers] Licensed professionals shall maintain 36 adequate documentation of completion of acceptable continuing education 37 and educational activities and shall provide such documentation at the 38 request of the department. 39 6. The mandatory continuing education fee shall be forty-five dollars, 40 shall be payable on or before the first day of each triennial registra- 41 tion period, and shall be paid in addition to the triennial registration 42 [fee] fees required by [section] sections seventy-two hundred six, 43 seventy-two hundred six-a, and seventy-two hundred six-b of this arti- 44 cle. 45 § 2. Section 7212 of the education law is REPEALED. 46 § 3. This act shall take effect on January first, two thousand twen- 47 ty-two.
