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S*997 Session 120 (2013-2014)
S*0997(Rat #0180, Act #0167 of 2014) General Bill, By Jackson
AN ACT TO AMEND SECTION 40-67-20, CODE OF LAWS OF SOUTH CAROLINA, 1976,
RELATING TO DEFINITIONS IN THE SPEECH PATHOLOGISTS AND AUDIOLOGISTS PRACTICE
ACT, SO AS TO ADD, REVISE, AND DELETE DEFINITIONS; TO AMEND SECTION 40-67-50,
RELATING TO LICENSURE FEES, SO AS TO ADD, REVISE, AND DELETE FEES; TO AMEND
SECTION 40-67-220, RELATING TO LICENSURE REQUIREMENTS, SO AS TO REVISE THE
REQUIREMENTS; TO AMEND SECTION 40-67-260, RELATING TO ANNUAL AUDITS OF
LICENSURE RECORDS THAT THE BOARD MAY CONDUCT, SO AS TO PROVIDE THE BOARD MAY
CONDUCT THESE AUDITS BIENNIALLY INSTEAD OF ANNUALLY; AND TO AMEND SECTION
40-67-280, RELATING TO ACTIVATION OF AN INACTIVE LICENSE, SO AS TO REQUIRE
SUBMISSION OF A FORM DEVELOPED AND PROVIDED BY THE BOARD. - ratified title
02/05/14 Senate Introduced and read first time (Senate Journal-page 19)
02/05/14 Senate Referred to Committee on Medical Affairs
(Senate Journal-page 19)
03/20/14 Senate Committee report: Favorable with amendment
Medical Affairs (Senate Journal-page 13)
03/21/14 Scrivener's error corrected
03/25/14 Senate Committee Amendment Adopted (Senate Journal-page 11)
03/25/14 Senate Read second time (Senate Journal-page 11)
03/25/14 Senate Roll call Ayes-43 Nays-0 (Senate Journal-page 11)
03/26/14 Senate Read third time and sent to House
(Senate Journal-page 49)
03/27/14 House Introduced and read first time (House Journal-page 11)
03/27/14 House Referred to Committee on Medical, Military,
Public and Municipal Affairs (House Journal-page 11)
04/09/14 House Committee report: Favorable Medical, Military,
Public and Municipal Affairs (House Journal-page 3)
04/10/14 House Debate adjourned until Tues., 4-29-14
(House Journal-page 74)
04/29/14 House Debate adjourned until Tues., 5-6-14
(House Journal-page 30)
05/08/14 House Read second time (House Journal-page 137 )
05/08/14 House Roll call Yeas-100 Nays-0 (House Journal-page  137)
05/13/14 House Read third time and enrolled (House Journal-page 8)
05/15/14 Ratified R 180
05/16/14 Signed By Governor
05/27/14 Effective date 05/16/14
06/02/14 Act No. 167
S. 997
(A167, R180, S997)
AN ACT TO AMEND SECTION 40-67-20, CODE OF LAWS OF SOUTH CAROLINA, 1976, RELATING TO DEFINITIONS IN THE SPEECH PATHOLOGISTS AND AUDIOLOGISTS PRACTICE ACT, SO AS TO ADD, REVISE, AND DELETE DEFINITIONS; TO AMEND SECTION 40-67-50, RELATING TO LICENSURE FEES, SO AS TO ADD, REVISE, AND DELETE FEES; TO AMEND SECTION 40-67-220, RELATING TO LICENSURE REQUIREMENTS, SO AS TO REVISE THE REQUIREMENTS; TO AMEND SECTION 40-67-260, RELATING TO ANNUAL AUDITS OF LICENSURE RECORDS THAT THE BOARD MAY CONDUCT, SO AS TO PROVIDE THE BOARD MAY CONDUCT THESE AUDITS BIENNIALLY INSTEAD OF ANNUALLY; AND TO AMEND SECTION 40-67-280, RELATING TO ACTIVATION OF AN INACTIVE LICENSE, SO AS TO REQUIRE SUBMISSION OF A FORM DEVELOPED AND PROVIDED BY THE BOARD.
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of South Carolina:
Definitions
SECTION 1. Section 40-67-20 of the 1976 Code, as added by Act 96 of 1997, is amended to read:
"Section 40-67-20. As used in this chapter:
(1) 'ASHA' means the American Speech-Language Hearing Association.
(2) 'Audiologist' means an individual who practices audiology.
A person represents himself to be an audiologist when he holds himself out to the public by any title or description of services which incorporates the words 'audiologist', 'audiology', 'acoustician', 'auditory integrative trainer', 'hearing clinician', 'hearing therapist', or any similar variation of these terms or any derivative term or uses terms such as 'hearing', 'auditory', 'acoustic', 'aural', or 'listening' in combination with words such as 'communicologist', 'correctionist', 'specialist', 'pathologist', 'therapist', 'conservationist', 'center', 'clinic', 'consultant', or 'otometrist' to describe a function or service he performs.
(3) 'Audiology' or 'audiology service' means screening, identifying, assessing, diagnosing, habilitating, and rehabilitating individuals with peripheral and central auditory and vestibular disorders; preventing hearing loss; researching normal and disordered auditory and vestibular functions; administering and interpreting behavioral and physiological measures of the peripheral and central auditory and vestibular systems; selecting, fitting, programming, and dispensing all types of amplification and assistive listening devices including hearing aids, and providing training in their use; providing aural habilitation, rehabilitation, and counseling to hearing impaired individuals and their families; designing, implementing, and coordinating industrial and community hearing conservation programs; training and supervising individuals not licensed in accordance with this chapter who perform air conduction threshold testing in the industrial setting; designing and coordinating infant hearing screening and supervising individuals not licensed in accordance with this chapter who perform infant hearing screenings; performing speech or language screening, limited to a pass-fail determination; screening of other skills for the purpose of audiological evaluation; and identifying individuals with other communication disorders.
(4) 'Board' means the South Carolina State Board of Examiners in Speech-Language Pathology and Audiology.
(5) 'Director' means the Director of the Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulation.
(6) 'Intern' means an individual who has met the requirements for licensure as a speech-language pathology or audiology intern under this chapter and has been issued this license by the board.
(7) 'License' means an authorization to practice speech-language pathology or audiology issued by the board pursuant to this chapter and includes an authorization to practice as a speech-language pathology intern, an audiology intern, and a speech-language pathology assistant.
(8) 'Licensee' means an individual who has met the requirements for licensure under this chapter and has been issued a license for speech language pathology or audiology or for speech language pathology or audiology intern or speech-language pathology assistant.
(9) 'Person' means an individual, organization, or corporation, except that only individuals can be licensed under this chapter.
(10) 'The practice of audiology' means the rendering of or the offering to render any audiology service to an individual, group, organization, or the public.
(11) 'The practice of speech-language pathology' means the rendering of or the offering to render any speech-language pathology services to an individual, group, organization, or the public.
(12) 'Regionally accredited institution' means a school, college, or university which is a candidate for accreditation or is accredited by any accreditation body established to serve six defined geographic areas in the United States.
(13) 'Speech-language pathologist' means an individual who practices speech-language pathology.
A person represents himself to be a speech-language pathologist when he holds himself out to the public by any title or description of services incorporating the words 'speech pathologist', 'speech pathology', 'speech therapy', 'speech correction', 'speech correctionist', 'speech therapist', 'speech clinic', 'speech clinician', 'language pathology', 'language pathologist', 'logopedics', 'logopedist', 'communicology', 'communicologist', 'aphasiologist', 'voice therapy', 'voice therapist', 'voice pathologist', 'voice pathology', 'voxologist', 'language therapist', 'phoniatrist', 'cognitive communication therapist clinician', or any similar variation of these terms or any derivative term, to describe a function or service he performs. 'Similar variations' include the use of words such as 'speech', 'voice', 'language', or 'stuttering' in combination with other words which imply a title or service relating to the practice of speech-language pathology.
(14) 'Speech-language pathology' or 'speech-language pathology service' means screening, identifying, assessing, interpreting, diagnosing, rehabilitating, researching, and preventing disorders of speech, language, voice, oral-pharyngeal function, and cognitive/communication skills; developing and dispensing augmentative and alternative communication systems and providing training in their use; providing aural rehabilitation and counseling services to hearing impaired individuals and their families; enhancing speech-language proficiency and communication effectiveness; screening of hearing, limited to a pass-fail determination; screening of other skills for the purpose of speech-language evaluation; and identifying individuals with other communication disorders.
(15) 'Speech-language pathology assistant' means an individual who provides speech-language pathology services as prescribed, directed, and supervised by a speech-language pathologist licensed under this chapter. A person represents himself to be a speech-language pathology assistant when he holds himself out to the public by any title or description of services incorporating the words 'speech aid', 'speech-language support personnel', 'speech assistant', 'communication aid', 'communication assistant', 'speech pathology technician', or any similar variation of these terms, to describe a function or service he performs.
(16) 'Supervised Professional Employment' or 'SPE' means a minimum of thirty hours a week of professional employment in speech-language pathology or audiology for at least nine months whether or not for wages or other compensation under the supervision of a speech-language pathologist or audiologist licensed under this chapter. The supervisor must have a minimum of three years of full-time work experience."
Fees
SECTION 2. Section 40-67-50(A) of the 1976 Code is amended to read:
"(A) These fees must be assessed, collected, and adjusted on behalf of the board by the Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulation in accordance with this chapter and Section 40-1-50(D):
(1) initial license fee - $220.00;
(2) initial intern license fee - $110.00;
(3) biennial license renewal fee - $220.00;
(4) reinstatement fee - $50.00 for renewals received after March thirty-first but before May first;
(5) replacement fee - $10.00 for replacing a license or wallet card;
(6) initial inactive license status fee - $100.00;
(7) biennial inactive license renewal fee - $100.00;
(8) roster (license list) fee - $10.00;
(9) initial speech-language pathology assistant fee - $50.00;
(10) biennial speech-language pathology assistant license renewal fee - $100.00;
(11) change in supervising Speech-Language Pathologist or Audiologist Intern fee - $25.00 for changes during the internship of a Speech-Language Pathologist or Audiologist completing the Supervised Professional Employment (SPE);
(12) reactivation of inactive license status fee - $120.00."
Licensure requirements
SECTION 3. Section 40-67-220 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:
"Section 40-67-220. (A) A license must be issued independently in either speech-language pathology or audiology. A license is valid for two years; however, an intern license only is valid for one year. A license application received after December thirty-first is valid for the next licensure period.
(B) To be licensed by the board as a speech-language pathologist or audiologist an individual must have:
(1)(a) earned a post-graduate degree in speech-language pathology or audiology from a school or program with regional accreditation determined by the board to be equivalent to those accredited by the Council of Academic Accreditation (CAA) for Audiology and Speech-Language Pathology of the American Speech-Language Hearing Association (ASHA) or other board-approved authority;
(b) achieved a passing score on a national examination as approved by the board; and
(c) completed Supervised Professional Employment (SPE) as defined by the board in regulation; or
(2) met ASHA's Standards for Certificate of Clinical Competence, or its equivalent as approved by the board, in speech-language pathology or audiology in effect at the time of application; or
(3) a current ASHA Certificate of Clinical Competence or its equivalent as approved by the board.
(C) An applicant for active licensure in audiology with a master's in audiology degree awarded before January 1, 2007, must submit or cause to be submitted documented evidence of the following:
(1)(a) holding at least a master's degree in audiology or its equivalent from a school or program determined by the board to be equivalent to those accredited by the Council of Academic Accreditation (CAA) for Audiology and Speech-Language Pathology for the American Speech-Language Hearing Association (ASHA);
(b) successful completion of a supervised clinical practicum approved by the board; and
(c) successful completion of postgraduate professional experience approved by the board; or
(2) meeting ASHA's standards for Certificate of Clinical Competence or its equivalent as approved by the board.
(D) An applicant for active licensure in audiology with a doctorate in audiology degree awarded after January 1, 2007, must submit or cause to be submitted documented evidence of:
(1) holding a doctoral degree in audiology from a school or educational institution with regional accreditation determined by the board to be equivalent to those accredited by the Council of Academic Accreditation (CAA) for Audiology and Speech-Language Pathology of the American Speech-Language Hearing Association (ASHA); or
(2) meeting ASHA's standards for Certificate of Clinical Competence or its equivalent as approved by the board.
(E)(1) A speech-language pathology or audiology intern license must be issued to an applicant who has satisfied the requirement of subsection (B)(1)(a) and who has not passed the examination required by subsection (B)(1)(b) or who lacks the supervised professional employment as required by subsection (B)(1)(c), or both.
(2) A person who has been issued a license as an intern who has not met the requirement of subsection (B)(1)(b) must pass an examination approved by the board within twelve months of the issuance of the intern license.
(F) To be licensed as a speech-language pathology assistant, an applicant must have earned a bachelor's degree from a regionally accredited institution in speech-language pathology and must submit an application which includes a supervisory agreement and an on-the-job training plan, both of which must comply with requirements established by the board in regulation. Speech-language pathologists who use a speech-language pathology assistant in their practices must comply with guidelines promulgated by the board in regulation.
(G) A person requesting inactive licensure must demonstrate documented evidence of:
(1) holding a valid unrestricted license issued by this board at the time that inactive licensure is requested;
(2) agreeing not to practice speech-language pathology or audiology while holding an inactive license. An inactive license may be renewed for a maximum of four biennial renewal periods."
Audits of continuing education records
SECTION 4. Section 40-67-260(E) of the 1976 Code is amended to read:
"(E) Each licensee must maintain records of continuing education hours earned for a period of four years, and these records must be made available to the director or the director's designee upon request for audits that the board may conduct biennially."
Activation of inactive license
SECTION 5. Section 40-67-280 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:
"Section 40-67-280. To activate an inactive license an individual must submit a form approved by the board and evidence attesting to satisfactory completion of sixteen hours of approved continuing education for each two years inactive licensure."
Time effective
SECTION 6. This act takes effect upon approval by the Governor.
Ratified the 15th day of May, 2014.
Approved the 16th day of May, 2014.
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