S*0619(Rat #0205, Act #0185)  General Bill, By Matthews, Ford, Glover, Jackson, 
Mescher, T.W. Mitchell, Patterson and Washington
 A Bill to amend the Code of Laws of South Carolina, 1976, by adding Section
 40-22-195 so as to establish a Category B Associate Professional Engineer and
 to provide the requirements for registration; to amend Section 40-22-10,
 relating to definitions, so as to include additional terms; to amend Section
 40-22-190, relating to requirements for registration as a professional
 engineer, so as to establish this class of registration as a Category A
 Professional Engineer and to revise the educational requirements; to amend
 Section 40-22-200, relating to engineer-in-training certification
 requirements, so as to revise the educational requirements; to amend Section
 40-22-370, relating to the seal required for engineers and land surveyors, so
 as to require the seal to bear the license category for engineers and tier
 designation for surveyors; to amend Section 40-22-390, relating to
 disciplinary actions, so as to add as a ground for such action practicing
 without a license; and to provide that professional engineers licensed on this
 Act's effective date must be recognized as a Category A Professional
 Engineer.-amended title

   03/31/93  Senate Introduced and read first time SJ-3
   03/31/93  Senate Referred to Committee on Labor, Commerce and
                     Industry SJ-3
   04/22/93  Senate Committee report: Favorable Labor, Commerce and
                     Industry SJ-7
   04/28/93  Senate Read second time SJ-26
   04/28/93  Senate Ordered to third reading with notice of
                     amendments SJ-26
   04/29/93  Senate Amended
   04/29/93  Senate Read third time and sent to House
   05/04/93  House  Introduced and read first time HJ-9
   05/04/93  House  Referred to Committee on Labor, Commerce and
                     Industry HJ-9
   05/26/93  House  Committee report: Favorable with amendment Labor,
                     Commerce and Industry HJ-9
   06/01/93  House  Amended HJ-53
   06/01/93  House  Read second time HJ-55
   06/02/93  House  Amended HJ-18
   06/02/93  House  Read third time and returned to Senate with
                     amendments HJ-18
   06/03/93  Senate Concurred in House amendment and enrolled SJ-27
   06/10/93         Ratified R 205
   06/16/93         Vetoed by Governor
   06/25/93  Senate Veto overridden by originating body Yeas-041 SJ-9
   06/25/93  House  Veto overridden Yeas-102 HJ-47
   06/25/93         Effective date 06/25/93
   08/10/93         Copies available

AN ACT TO AMEND THE CODE OF LAWS OF SOUTH CAROLINA, 1976, BY ADDING SECTION 40-22-195 SO AS TO ESTABLISH A CATEGORY B ASSOCIATE PROFESSIONAL ENGINEER AND TO PROVIDE THE REQUIREMENTS FOR REGISTRATION; TO AMEND SECTION 40-22-10, RELATING TO DEFINITIONS, SO AS TO INCLUDE ADDITIONAL TERMS; TO AMEND SECTION 40-22-190, RELATING TO REQUIREMENTS FOR REGISTRATION AS A PROFESSIONAL ENGINEER, SO AS TO ESTABLISH THIS CLASS OF REGISTRATION AS A CATEGORY A PROFESSIONAL ENGINEER AND TO REVISE THE EDUCATIONAL REQUIREMENTS; TO AMEND SECTION 40-22-200, RELATING TO ENGINEER-IN-TRAINING CERTIFICATION REQUIREMENTS, SO AS TO REVISE THE EDUCATIONAL REQUIREMENTS; TO AMEND SECTION 40-22-370, RELATING TO THE SEAL REQUIRED FOR ENGINEERS AND LAND SURVEYORS, SO AS TO REQUIRE THE SEAL TO BEAR THE LICENSE CATEGORY FOR ENGINEERS AND TIER DESIGNATION FOR SURVEYORS; TO AMEND SECTION 40-22-390, RELATING TO DISCIPLINARY ACTIONS, SO AS TO ADD AS A GROUND FOR SUCH ACTION PRACTICING WITHOUT A LICENSE; AND TO PROVIDE THAT PROFESSIONAL ENGINEERS LICENSED ON THIS ACT'S EFFECTIVE DATE MUST BE RECOGNIZED AS A CATEGORY A PROFESSIONAL ENGINEER.

Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of South Carolina:

Category B associate professional engineer requirements

SECTION 1. Chapter 22, Title 40 of the 1976 Code is amended by adding:

"Section 40-22-195. (A) To be eligible for registration as a Category B associate professional engineer an applicant must be of good character and reputation. If the evidence presented in the application does not appear conclusive to the board or does not warrant the issuing of a certificate of registration, the applicant may be required to present further evidence for consideration by the board. The applicant also shall meet the requirements of the other pertinent sections of this chapter.

(B) The minimum evidence satisfactory to the board that an applicant is qualified for registration as a Category B associate professional engineer is graduation in a TAC/ABET accredited engineering technology curriculum of four or more years from a school or college approved by the board as being in satisfactory standing, a specific record after graduation of eight or more years of experience in engineering work of a character satisfactory to the board, and passing a written examination as required by the board.

(C) A Category B professional engineer license holder has the same practice privileges as a Category A license holder, except that holders of the Category B license may not assume direct responsibility, direct supervisory control, or responsible charge for engineering work as an independent private practitioner, or for engineering work provided by a private practice organization."

Definitions

SECTION 2. Section 40-22-10(9) of the 1976 Code, as added by Act 99 of 1991, is amended by adding at the end:

"`TAC' means the Technology Accreditation Commission of ABET."

Definitions

SECTION 3. Section 40-22-10 of the 1976 Code, as added by Act 99 of 1991 is amended by adding at the end:

"(22) `Approved engineering curriculum' means an engineering program of four or more years determined by the board to be substantially equivalent to that of an EAC/ABET accredited curriculum.

(23) `Private practitioner' means a person who individually holds himself out to the general public as able to perform, or who individually does perform, the independent practice of engineering or land surveying.

(24) `Private practice organization' means a proprietorship, partnership, corporation, professional corporation, or similar entity through which the practice of engineering or land surveying would require a certificate of authorization as prescribed in this chapter."

Category A associate professional engineer requirements

SECTION 4. Section 40-22-190 of the 1976 Code, as added by Act 99 of 1991, is amended to read:

"Section 40-22-190. (A) To be eligible for registration as a Category A professional engineer, an applicant must be of good character and reputation. When the evidence presented in the application does not appear conclusive to the board or does not warrant the issuing of a certificate of registration, the applicant may be required to present further evidence for consideration by the board. The applicant also shall meet the requirements of the other pertinent sections of this chapter.

(B) The minimum evidence satisfactory to the board that an applicant is qualified for registration as a Category A professional engineer is:

(1) graduation in an EAC/ABET accredited engineering curriculum of four or more years from a school or college approved by the board as being in satisfactory standing, a specific record after graduation of an additional four or more years of progressive experience in engineering work of a character satisfactory to the board, indicating that the applicant is competent to practice engineering (in counting years of experience, the board may give one year credit for satisfactory completion of a Master's Degree in Engineering or maximum credit of two years for satisfactory completion of the doctorate level degree in engineering), and passing examinations required by the board;

(2) graduation from an approved engineering curriculum from a school or college other than those approved by the board in item (1), a specific record after graduation of eight or more years of experience in engineering work of a character satisfactory to the board, indicating that the applicant is competent to practice engineering, passing a written examination designed to show knowledge and skill approximating that attained through graduation in an EAC/ABET accredited four-year engineering curriculum, and then passing the written examinations required of applicants in item (1); or

(3) graduation in a TAC/ABET accredited engineering technology curriculum of four or more years from a school or college approved by the board as being in satisfactory standing, supplemental post graduate studies in approved engineering science courses sufficient to equate the applicant's cumulative program of formal engineering study as being substantially equivalent to an EAC/ABET accredited program, a specific record after graduation of eight or more years of experience in engineering work of a character satisfactory to the board and which indicates that the applicant is competent to practice engineering, passing a written examination designed to show knowledge and skill approximating that attained through graduation in an EAC/ABET accredited four-year engineering curriculum, and then passing the written examination required of applicants in item (1).

(C) A Category A professional engineer license holder is entitled to the unrestricted practice of engineering."

Engineer-in-training certification requirements

SECTION 5. Section 40-22-200(2) of the 1976 Code, as added by Act 99 of 1991, is amended to read:

"(2) graduation in an approved engineering curriculum from a school or college other than those approved by the board in item (1), or graduation in a TAC/ABET accredited engineering technology curriculum of four or more years from a school or college approved by the board as being in satisfactory standing, a specific record after graduation of four or more years' experience in engineering work of a character satisfactory to the board and passing written examinations in engineering subjects designed to show knowledge and skill approximating that attained through graduation in an EAC/ABET accredited engineering curriculum, and passing of the examination as required in item (1). Upon graduation an applicant qualifying under this item may take the written examination as required by the board; however, the applicant may be certified as an engineer-in-training only after having first attained four years of progressive experience in engineering work of a character satisfactory to the board."

Seal of engineer or surveyor

SECTION 6. Section 40-22-370(1) of the 1976 Code, as added by Act 99 of 1991, is amended by adding at the end:

"The seal also shall bear evidence of the license category for professional engineers and the tier designation for professional land surveyors."

Grounds for disciplinary action

SECTION 7. Section 40-22-390 of the 1976 Code, as added by Act 99 of 1991, is amended by adding at the end:

"(7) practicing in a registration category or tier for which the registrant has not been licensed by the board."

Grandfather provision

SECTION 8. A person licensed as a professional engineer in this State as of this act's effective date must be recognized as a Category A professional engineer license holder. A person licensed after this act's effective date may be recognized as a Category A license holder only if the person meets the qualifications prescribed in Section 40-22-190 of the 1976 Code as amended in Section 4 of this act.

Time effective

SECTION 9. This act takes effect upon approval by the Governor.

Vetoed by the Governor - 6/16/93

Veto overridden by Senate - 6/25/93

Veto overridden by House - 6/25/93