D\u27Angelo, J.

Lindberg, C.

English

University of San Diego

REGULATORY AGENCY ACTIONBOARD OFREGISTRATION FORGEOLOGISTS ANDGEOPHYSICISTSExecutive Officer: John Parrish(916) 445-1920T he Board of Registration for Geolo-gists and Geophysicists (BRGG) ismandated by the Geologist and Geophys-icist Act, Business and Professions Codesection 7800 et seq. The Board was cre-ated by AB 600 (Ketchum) in 1969; itsjurisdiction was extended to include geo-physicists in 1972. The Board's regula-tions are found in Division 29, Title 1.6 ofthe California Code of Regulations (CCR).The Board licenses geologists and geo-physicists and certifies engineering geol-ogists. In addition to successfully passingthe Board's written examination, an appli-cant must have fulfilled specified under-graduate educational requirements and havethe equivalent of seven years of relevantprofessional experience. The experience re-quirement may be satisfied by a combinationof academic work at a school with a Board-approved program in geology or geophys-ics, and qualifying professional experience.However, credit for undergraduate study,graduate study, and teaching, whether takenindividually or in combination, cannot ex-ceed a total of four years toward meeting therequirement of seven years of professionalgeological or geophysical work.The Board may issue a certificate ofregistration as a geologist or geophysicistwithout a written examination to any per-son holding an equivalent registration is-sued by any state or country, provided thatthe applicant's qualifications meet allother requirements and rules establishedby the Board.The Board has the power to investigateand discipline licensees who act in viola-tion of the Board's licensing statutes. TheBoard may issue a citation to licensees orunlicensed persons for violations of Boardrules. These citations may be accompa-nied by an administrative fine of up to$2,500.The eight-member Board is composedof five public members, two geologists,and one geophysicist. BRGG's staff con-sists of five full-time employees. TheBoard's committees include the Profes-sional Practices, Legislative, and Exami-nation Committees. BRGG is funded bythe fees it generates.*MAJOR PROJECTSBRGG Escapes Merger with PELS-For Now. Following the November 1993oversight hearing on BRGG's perfor-mance by the Senate Subcommittee onEfficiency and Effectiveness in StateBoards and Commissions [14:1 CRLR 44-45], Senator Dan McCorquodale introducedSB 2036, which would establish a "sunset"review process for all occupational licensingagencies within the Department of Con-sumer Affairs (DCA). He also amended SB2038 (McCor-quodale) to include a provi-sion merging BRGG with the Board of Reg-istration for Professional Engineers andLand Surveyors (PELS).Senator McCorquodale's bills adoptedthe recommendations of the Subcommit-tee in its final report released on April 11,in which it found that BRGG's enforce-ment activity is "non-existent" and that"the Board does not set standards for theprofession." The Subcommittee concludedthat "no serious public harm would resultif the Geologists and Geophysicists weremerged with the Engineers Board."In anticipation of a May 9 Senate Busi-ness and Professions Committee hearingon both bills, BRGG issued a ten-page,single-spaced memorandum defending itsexistence and its record, and opposing theproposed merger on grounds "there is noevidence, either fiscally, organizationally,or scientific in nature to support the merg-ing of these two boards; to the contrary,there is very strong evidence to advocatethe continued separation of these twoboards based on performance responses ofthe organizations (effectiveness and effi-ciency), fiscal planning and allocation, di-versity of professional responsibilities,and service to the public." Representativesof both boards and affected trade associa-tions intensely lobbied Senator McCor-quodale and the members of the Commit-tee against SB 2038. At the May 9 hearing,Committee members agreed to postponethe merger of the two boards, but sched-uled them for early "sunset" review underSB 2036 (see LEGISLATION).Citation and Fine Regulations. OnApril 1, BRGG published notice of itsintent to adopt new sections 3062, 3062.1,3062.2, 3062.3, 3062.4, 3063, 3063.1,3063.2, 3063.3, and 3063.4, Title 16 of theCCR. The proposed regulations would im-plement BRGG's authority under Busi-ness and Professions Code sections 125.9and 148 by establishing a citation and finesystem for the intermediate discipline ofregistrants and certificants for minor vio-lations and of nonregistrants and non-certificants for engaging in activity forwhich registration or certification is re-quired. [14:1 CRLR 46]The Board's publication of these regu-lations stems in part from criticism of itsenforcement program levied at the No-vember 1993 Senate Subcommittee hear-ing (see above). In its 24-year history,BRGG has received a total of 466 com-plaints. Of these, 332 were against unli-censed practitioners who were outside theBoard's jurisdiction until 1986, when SB2335 (Montoya) (Chapter 1379, Statutesof 1986) authorized the Board to adopt acitation and fine scheme to police unli-censed practice. This leaves only 134complaints lodged against licensees in 24years-about five per year. During this24-year period, BRGG revoked two li-censes; two others were surrendered. TheBoard places the blame for its enforce-ment record on its enforcement options(an expensive and time-consuming li-cense revocation proceeding or a mean-ingless warning), which have been de-scribed by BRGG members as a choicebetween "nuclear weapons or bad breath."The proposed regulations are designed toremedy this deficiency by providing anappropriate sanction for intermediate vio-lations.Under the proposed regulatory scheme,BRGG's Executive Officer would be em-powered to issue citations, which may beaccompanied by orders of abatement and/or a fine of at least $500 but not more than$2,500; the regulations specify ranges offines for particular violations. In deter-mining the fine, the Executive Officermust consider the gravity of the violation,the good faith of the person cited, and thehistory of previous violations. The citationmust be in writing, must describe withparticularity the offense for which it isbeing issued, must be served by certifiedmail on the cited individual, and mustinform the cited individual of his/her rightto appeal the citation by requesting aninformal conference with the ExecutiveOfficer. If the Executive Officer affirmsthe citation after the informal conference,the cited individual is entitled to request ahearing before an administrative lawjudge. The proposed regulations also im-plement the Board's new authority underAB 1807 (Bronshvag) (Chapter 26, Stat-utes of 1994) (see LEGISLATION) bypermitting BRGG, once it has investigateda complaint and found unlicensed practiceby a person who is advertising those unli-censed services in a telephone directory,to issue an order requiring the cited indi-vidual to ask the telephone company todisconnect the service to that businesstelephone number.At this writing, the Board's Profes-sional Affairs Committee is scheduled tohold a public hearing on the proposedcitation and fine regulations on May 19,and the full Board is slated to considerthem at its June 3 meeting.California Regulatory Law Reporter - Vol. 14, Nos. 2&3 (Spring/Summer 1994)CREGULATORY AGENCY ACTIONFollowing OAL Rejection, BRGGModifies Hydrogeology Specialty Cer-tification Regulations. On March 8, theOffice of Administrative Law (OAL) re-jected BRGG's proposed amendments tosection 3001 and adoption of new section3042, Title 16 of the CCR, which woulddefine the term "hydrogeology" and es-tablish a specialty certification programwithin BRGG for hydrogeologists. TheBoard had adopted these proposed regula-tory amendments at its December 1993meeting. [14:1 CRLR 46; 13:4 CRLR 50;13:2&3 CRLR 72]OAL's rejection of the proposed regu-latory changes was based on its findingsthat section 3042(c) was unclear, and thatBRGG failed to properly respond to all ofthe comments received during the publiccomment period. On April 6, BRGG re-leased a modified version of the rulemak-ing file on the proposed regulatory changesto meet OAL's objections. The changes clar-ify section 3042(c) to require applicants forhydrogeology certification to obtain andsubmit with their application three refer-ences from registered hydrogeologists orregistered geologists who have a minimumof five years' experience in responsiblecharge of hydrogeological work. The publiccomment period on these modificationslasted until April 21; at this writing, BRGGis scheduled to vote on the modified ver-sion of this regulatory package at its Junemeeting.BRGG Votes to Join ASBOG WhenFunds are Available. At its March 4 meet-ing, the Board officially voted to join theAssociation of State Boards of Geology(ASBOG). [14:1 CRLR 46] However, be-cause of the high cost of membership(which could exceed $20,000), it will beat least a year before BRGG has sufficientfunds in its budget for the membership fee.In the meantime, the Board will continueto research and identify the differencesbetween ASBOG's licensing exam, whichBRGG would be required to administer,and the Board's current examination. Spe-cifically, there is concern that the ASBOGexam fails to strenuously test on geologytopics related to earthquakes and land-slides, two areas which are consideredimportant in California geological prac-tice. There have been some indicationsthat ASBOG is eager to have California asa member state and would be willing tocompromise on both membership fees andexam questions.U LEGISLATIONSB 2036 (McCorquodale), as amendedMay 18, would create a "sunset" reviewprocess for occupational licensing agen-cies within DCA, requiring each to becomprehensively reviewed every fouryears. SB 2036 would impose an initial"sunset" date of July 1, 1997 for BRGG;create a Joint Legislative Sunset ReviewCommittee within the legislature, whichwould review BRGG's performance ap-proximately one year prior to its sunsetdate; and specify II categories of criteriaunder which BRGG's performance will beevaluated. Following review of the agencyand a public hearing, the Committee wouldmake recommendations to the legislature onwhether BRGG should be abolished, re-structured, or redirected in terms of itsstatutory authority and priorities. Thelegislature may then either allow the sun-set date to pass (in which case BRGGwould cease to exist and its powers andduties would transfer to DCA) or passlegislation extending the sunset date foranother four years. (See agency report onDCA for related discussion of the "sunset"concept.) [S. Appr]SB 2038 (McCorquodale), as amendedApril 5, would have merged BRGG withPELS (see MAJOR PROJECTS). At a May9 hearing of the Senate Business and Pro-fessions Committee, representatives ofBRGG, PELS, and the affected trade as-sociations expressed support for SB 2036(see above) and lobbied tenaciously againstSB 2038, urging Senator McCorquodaleto delete the merger provision and allowthem to participate in the SB 2036 sunsetprocess on an expedited basis. SenatorMcCorquodale agreed to delete themerger provision in SB 2038 and amendSB 2036 to establish sunset dates of JulyI, 1997 for BRGG and July 1, 1998 forPELS; that language appears in the May18 version of the bills. [S. Appr]The following is a status update onbills reported in detail in CRLR Vol. 14,No. I (Winter 1994) at page 47:AB 1807 (Bronshvag), as amendedMarch 23, authorizes BRGG to issue acitation if, upon investigation, it has prob-able cause to believe that a person is ad-vertising in a telephone directory with re-spect to the offering or performance ofservices without being properly licensed,and to require the violator to cease theunlawful advertising.The Contractors State License Lawprovides that it does not apply to licensedarchitects, professional engineers, orstructural pest control operators. This billalso makes that law inapplicable to BRGGlicensees operating within the scope of theGeologist and Geophysicist Act.Existing law authorizes the refund of50% of the amount of the application feefrom a geologist or geophysicist whomBRGG finds to lack the qualifications re-quired for admission to the examinationfor registration. This bill repeals that pro-vision. [13:1 CRLR 40] This bill wassigned by the Governor on March 30(Chapter 26, Statutes of 1994).AB 1392 (Speier), as amended July 1,1993, would-among other things-pro-vide that BRGG's executive officer is tobe appointed by the Governor, subject toSenate confirmation, and that the Board'sexecutive officer and employees are underthe control of the Director of the Depart-ment of Consumer Affairs. [S. B&P]SB 433 (Craven), as amended July 13,1993, would have required BRGG to de-fine, by regulation, professional geologi-cal work for purposes of persons seekingcertification in hydrogeology and criteriato determine whether a geologist is quali-fied in hydrogeology for purposes of su-pervising persons seeking certification inhydrogeology; allowed BRGG to waivethe examination requirement for certifica-tion as a hydrogeologist if the applicant isregistered as a geologist and has specifiedexperience, prior to January I, 1994; andexempted from registration any person,other than a registered geologist, who doesnot use the title of a registered certifiedhydrogeologist and who is licensed by thisstate and whose licensed scope of practiceincludes those activities performed by aregistered certified hydrogeologist, inso-far as he/she practices within the scope ofhis or her licensed practice. This bill wasdropped by its author. [114:1 CRLR 46;13:4 CRLR 50]SB 746 (Rogers), which would haverevised the definition of the term "geol-ogy," and would have revised the defini-tion of the term "responsible charge ofwork" to include supervision or reviewand approval of geologic or geophysicalwork on behalf of the public, died in com-mittee.* RECENT MEETINGSAt its March 4 meeting in San Fran-cisco, BRGG held a roundtable discussionwith geologists to discuss the problemsfacing the Board and the direction itshould take in the future. A number ofgeologists were invited to speak and theBoard held a question and answer sessionwith the audience, which consisted almostentirely of geologists. Prominent topicsincluded the hydrogeology specialty, thedilemma faced by a geologist when con-sidering whether to report a fellow geolo-gist to the Board for violations of the Act,and the poor passage rate of licensure can-didates on BRGG's exam. Although thestatutory purpose of the Board is to protectthe consumer, most of the discussion cen-tered on what geologists, not consumers,would like the Board to do.60 California Regulatory Law Reporter ° Vol. 14, Nos. 2&3 (Spring/Summer 1994)

Board of Registration for Geologists and Geophysicists

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Board of Registration for Geologists and Geophysicists

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