Current Engine Act (Title 40 Chapter 1):

http://www.scstatehouse.net/code/t40c001.htm

H.3781 of 2005:

http://www.scstatehouse.net/sess116_2005-2006/bills/3781.htm

 

 

 

Proposed Language

 

9/21/05

 

 

 

§40-1-5.

Application of chapter; conflicts of law.

 

New section added clarifying primacy of practice acts when conflict and range of department’s duties consistent with §40-1-50(A).

This chapter applies to all persons or entities authorized to practice under statutes administered by the Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulation.  This chapter governs all administrative, fiscal, investigative, inspectional, clerical, secretarial, and processing of initial practice authorization and renewal operations and activities undertaken by the department for the boards and commissions listed in Section 40-1-40.  In all other matters, if there is a conflict between this chapter and the statute authorizing a particular practice, the provisions of the particular practice act control.

 

§40-1-10.

Extent of regulation.

 

(A) No substantive change.

(B) Change “article” to “chapter” where appropriate.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

(C)(4) Change “licensing” to “other practice authorization” to reflect more appropriate regulatory terminology that includes authorizations that are not licenses (e.g., registration, permits, certifications).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

(D)(6) Change “practitioner” to “person” to reflect current regulatory language. No substantive change.

(A) The right of a person to engage in a lawful profession, trade, or occupation of choice is clearly protected by both the Constitution of the United States and the Constitution of the State of South Carolina. The State cannot abridge this right except as a reasonable exercise of its police powers when it is clearly found that abridgement is necessary for the preservation of the health, safety, and welfare of the public.

(B) No statute or regulation may be imposed under this article chapter upon a profession or occupation except for the exclusive purpose of protecting the public interest when the:

(1) unregulated practice of the profession or occupation can harm or endanger the health, safety, or welfare of the public and the potential for harm is recognizable and not remote or dependent upon tenuous argument;

(2) practice of the profession or occupation has inherent qualities peculiar to it that distinguish it from ordinary work or labor;

(3) practice of the profession or occupation requires specialized skill or training and the public needs and will benefit by assurances of initial and continuing professional and occupational ability; and

(4) public is not effectively protected by other means.

(C) If the General Assembly determines that a particular profession or occupation should be regulated or that a different degree of regulation should be imposed on the regulated profession or occupation, it shall consider the following degrees of regulation in the order provided and only shall regulate the profession or occupation to the degree necessary to fulfill the need for regulation:

(1) If existing common law and statutory causes of civil action or criminal prohibitions are not sufficient to eradicate existing harm or prevent potential harm, the General Assembly first may consider making statutory changes to provide stricter causes for civil action and criminal prosecution.

(2) If it is necessary to determine the impact of the operation of a profession or occupation on the public, the General Assembly may consider implementing a system of registration.

(3) If the public requires a substantial basis for relying on the professional services of the practitioner, the General Assembly may consider implementing a system of certification.

(4) If adequate regulation cannot be achieved by means less than licensing, the General Assembly may establish licensing other practice authorization procedures.

(D) In determining the proper degree of regulation, if any, the General Assembly shall determine:

(1) whether the practitioner, if unregulated, performs a service to individuals involving a hazard to the public health, safety, or welfare;

(2) what the opinion of a substantial portion of the people who do not practice the particular profession, trade, or occupation is on the need for regulation;

(3) the number of states which have regulatory provisions similar to those proposed;

(4) whether there is sufficient demand for the service for which there is no regulated substitute, and this service is required by a substantial portion of the population;

(5) whether the profession or occupation requires high standards of public responsibility, character, and performance of each individual engaged in the profession or occupation, as evidenced by established and published codes of ethics;

(6) whether the profession or occupation requires such skill that the public generally is not qualified to select a competent practitioner without some assurance that the practitioner person has met minimum qualifications;

(7) whether the professional or occupational associations do not adequately protect the public from incompetent, unscrupulous, or irresponsible members of the profession or occupation;

(8) whether current laws which pertain to public health, safety, and welfare generally are ineffective or inadequate;

(9) whether the characteristics of the profession or occupation make it impractical or impossible to prohibit those practices of the profession or occupation which are detrimental to the public health, safety, and welfare;

(10) whether the practitioner performs a service for others which may have a detrimental effect on third parties relying on the expert knowledge of the practitioner.

 

§40-1-20.

Definitions.

 

Technical text revisions to definitions of terms used throughout for greater clarity.  New definitions of appropriate terms added.

(1) Updates language for clarification.  No substantive change.

(2) Deletes “Authorization to practice.”  Moved to (10).

Renumbers for clarity.

“Board”/”Commission”—deletes “licensing or otherwise” and changes “article” to “chapter” to reflect current regulatory language.  No substantive change.

(4) Adds “South Carolina” to DLLR for clarity.  No substantive change.

(5) Deletes “Licensee.”  New definition—“Lapsed practice authorization.”

(6) Deletes “Licensing act.”  New definition—“Letter of caution.”

(7) Adds “or other authorized entity” to “Person.”

(8) New definition based on old definition of “Licensee.”

(9) New definition based on old definition of “Licensing act.”

(10) Deletes “Authorization to practice” above and inserts here as “Practice authorization.”  No substantive change.

(11) New definition—“POL.”

(12) New definition—“Probation.”

(13) Reworded for clarity.  Changes “article” to “title” to include practice acts in Title 40.

 

(14) New definition— “Program.”

 

(15) New definition—“Public reprimand.”

(16) New definition—“Revocation.”

 

 

(17) New definition—“Suspension.”

 

(18) New definition—“Voluntary surrender.”

As used in this title unless the context requires a different meaning:

(1) 'Administrator' means the individual to whom the director has delegated authority to administer the programs of a specific board or of a professional or occupational group for which the department has regulatory authority or has delegated authority to administer the programs of a specific board a program regulating a profession or occupation;

(2) 'Authorization to practice' or 'Practice authorization' means the approval to practice the specified profession, engage in the specified occupation, or use a title protected under this article, which has been granted by the applicable board. This authorization is granted in the form of a license, permit, certification, or registration;

(3) 'Board' or 'Commission' means the group of individuals charged by law with the responsibility of licensing or otherwise regulating an occupation or profession within the State. Except as otherwise indicated, 'board' is used in this article chapter to refer to both boards and commissions;

(4)(3) 'Department' means the Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulation;

(5)(4) 'Director' means the Director of the South Carolina Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulation or the director's official designee;

(6)(5) 'Licensee' means a person granted an authorization to practice pursuant to this article and refers to a person holding a license, permit, certification, or registration granted pursuant to this article 'Lapsed practice authorization' means the termination of a person's practice authorization due to the person's failure to renew the practice authorization before a specified expiration date;

(7)(6) 'Licensing act' means the individual statute or regulations, or both, of each regulated profession or occupation which include, but are not limited to, board governance, the qualifications and requirements for authorization to practice, prohibitions, and disciplinary procedures 'Letter of caution' means a written caution or warning about past or future conduct issued after it is determined that no misconduct has been committed or that it was only a minor infraction not warranting the imposition of a sanction;

(8)(7) 'Person' means an individual, partnership, or corporation or other authorized entity;

(9)(8) 'Person authorized to practice' means a person who has been granted a license, permit, certification, or registration pursuant to this chapter;

(9) 'Practice act' means the individual statute or regulations, or both, of each regulated profession or occupation which include, but are not limited to, board governance, the qualifications and requirements for a practice authorization;

(10) 'Practice authorization' or 'authorization to practice' means the approval to practice the specified profession, engage in the specified occupation, or use a title protected under this title. This authorization is granted in the form of a license, permit, certification, or registration;

(11) 'POL' is an abbreviation for the Division of Professional and Occupational Licensing of the South Carolina Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulation. POL is responsible for administering all professional and occupational regulatory programs that are cited in Section 40-1-40;

(12) 'Probation' means the conditional issuance of or retention of a practice authorization with terms and conditions;

(13) 'Profession' or 'occupation' means a profession or occupation regulated or administered, or both, by the department pursuant to this article title.;

(14) 'Program' means the governmental activities undertaken to achieve the purpose of public protection by regulation of the profession or occupation;

(15) 'Public reprimand' means a publicly available statement of a board that a violation was committed by a person authorized to practice;

(16) 'Revocation' means the cancellation or withdrawal of a practice authorization or other authorization issued by a board or the department. A person whose practice authorization has been permanently revoked by a board, never may be eligible for any kind of practice authorization from that board;

(17) 'Suspension' means the temporary withdrawal of a practice authorization for either a definite or indefinite period of time and or until specified conditions are met;

(18) 'Voluntary surrender' means the relinquishment of a practice authorization by the subject of an initial or formal complaint pending further order of a board. It anticipates other formal action by a board and allows a suspension subsequently imposed to include this time served.

 

§40-1-30.

Authorization to practice.

 

(A) Rewords for clarity.  No substantive change.

(B) Rewords for clarity and to allow renewal dates to be set by the department. New (1)-(4) for specific regulation of renewals.

(A) It is unlawful for a person to engage in a profession or occupation regulated by a board or commission administered by the Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulation department without holding a valid practice authorization to practice as required by statute or regulation.

(B) An A practice authorization to practice issued pursuant to this title, is valid for up to two years and is renewable on renewal dates as established by the Director of Labor, Licensing and Regulation with the consent of each applicable regulatory board department.

(1) A practice authorization, subject to renewal, must be renewed by the date set by the department. If the application for the practice authorization renewal is not received by the date set by the department, the practice authorization lapses. The applicant bears the burden of submitting the practice authorization renewal application whether or not notice of renewal has been received.

(2) A lapsed practice authorization must not be reinstated without payment of an appropriate fee to cover all costs for processing the reinstatement application.

(3) A person who practices during the period that a practice authorization has lapsed must be penalized by a civil penalty not to exceed five hundred dollars unless another amount is specified in a practice act.

(4) Except as otherwise provided, a practice authorization must not be renewed if it has been lapsed for five years or more.

 

§40-1-40.

Purpose of Division; domain.

 

(A) Rewords and renumbers for clarity and consistency throughout.  Deletes obsolete board, commission, or committee names.  Adds newly created boards and updates name changes from practice acts.  Reorders “Long Term Health Care Administrators Board” to correct incorrect alpha-numeric ordering. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Deletes old (C) as unnecessary following list of separate boards.

(A) The purpose of the POL Division of Professional and Occupational Licensing, South Carolina Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulation, is to protect the public through the regulation of professional and occupational licensees and the administration of boards programs charged with the regulation of professional and occupational practitioners professions or occupations. The following programs are administered by the POL Division, which also shall administer other programs regulating professions or occupation that may be established or transferred by the General Assembly:

(B) The following boards and the professions and occupations they license or otherwise regulate must be administered by the Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulation pursuant to this article:

Board of Accountancy

Board of Architectural Examiners

Athletic Commission

Auctioneers Commission

Board of Barber Examiners

Accessibility Committee of the Building Codes Council

Building Code Council

Board of Chiropractic Examiners

Perpetual Care and Cemetery Board

Contractors' Licensing Board

Board of Cosmetology

Board of Dentistry

Engineers and Land Surveyors Board

Environmental Certification Board

Board of Registration for Foresters

Board of Funeral Service

Board of Registration for Geologists

Liquefied Petroleum Gas Board

Long Term Health Care Administrators Board

Manufactured Housing Board

Massage and Bodywork Panel

Board of Medical Examiners

Modular Buildings Board of Appeals

Board of Nursing

Long Term Health Care Administrators Board

Board of Occupational Therapy

Board of Examiners in Opticianry

Board of Examiners in Optometry

Board of Pharmacy

Board of Physical Therapy Examiners

Pilotage Commission

Board of Podiatry Examiners

Board of Examiners for Licensure of Professional Counselors and Marital and Family Therapists and Psycho-educational Specialists

Board of Examiners in Psychology

Board of Pyrotechnic Safety

Real Estate Appraisers Board

Real Estate Commission

Residential Builders Commission

Board of Social Work Examiners

Board of Examiners in Speech-Language Pathology and Audiology

Board of Veterinary Medical Examiners

(C) Each regulatory board within the department is a separate board.

(D)(B) The Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulation department is a member of the Governor's executive cabinet and must be headed by a director who must be appointed by the Governor with the advice and consent of the Senate, subject to removal from office by the Governor pursuant to Section 1-3-240(B). The director shall supervise the department under the direction and control of the Governor and shall exercise other powers and perform other duties as the Governor requires.

 

§40-1-45.

Public and consumer members of boards and panels.

 

(A) Deletes previous language in favor of adding two or more public members for each POL board/commission. Moves provisions to (B) and (C) for clarity.  Changes 2005 to 2006.

(B) New subsection to more completely explain public membership.  Old language from (A) moved to (1) for clarity.

 

 

(C) Old language from (A) moved to (C) for clarity

(A) The department, in consultation with currently serving board members, the Office of the Governor, members of professional and industry associations, and the general public shall encourage public and consumer membership and participation on all boards and panels associated with the department. Public and consumer membership may not include current or former, active or inactive members of the profession or occupation being regulated. Public and consumer members have the same rights and responsibilities as professionally or occupationally-related board members and shall participate fully in all discussions, deliberations, decisions, and votes of the board or panel on which they serve unless otherwise prohibited by statute or regulation. Effective July 1, 2005 2006, all boards administered by the department as listed in Section 40-1-40 (A) must include two or more public members.

(B) Public membership may not:

(1) include current or former, active or inactive, members of the profession or occupation being regulated;

(2) be associated by legal contract with a member of the profession or occupation that a board regulates except as a consumer of the services provided by a person authorized to practice within the profession or occupation;

(3) have a direct financial interest in the profession or occupation that a board regulates;

(4) have an immediate family member in the profession or occupation. As used in this section, 'immediate family' is defined in Section 8-13-100.

(C) Public members have the same rights and responsibilities as professionally or occupationally-related board members and shall participate fully in all discussions, deliberations, decisions, and votes of a board or panel on which they serve, unless otherwise prohibited by statute or regulation.

 

§40-1-50.

Authority of Department; record of board proceedings; roster of licensees; fee structures.

 

(A) Reorganized, numbered and updated for clarity.  Moves some provisions to other paragraphs for clarity (e.g., Board member compensation to (C)).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Old (B) moved to (G).  New Title 1 provision for the promulgation of regulations.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

(C) Deletes previous language re roster as duplicative of registry requirement in (F) below.  Old language from (A) moved to (C) and updated.

 

 

 

 

 

(D) Reworded for clarity.  Initial fee language in old (D) moved to (E) below and updated.  Fee adjustment procedure language in old (D) moved to (F) and updated.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 (E) Deletes previous language for clarity.  Initial fees formerly in (D) updated.

 

(F) Old language from (F) moved to (G) below and 40-1-70(C) and (D).  Fee adjustment procedure from old (D) moved here and updated.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

(G) Moved from old (A), (B), (H) and (I) and reworded for clarity.

(A) The department is responsible for all administrative, fiscal, investigative, inspectional, clerical, secretarial, processing of initial practice authorization, and license renewal operations and activities of the boards and commissions enumerated in Section 40-1-40.

The director shall employ and supervise personnel necessary to effectuate the provisions of this article for each board provided for in Section 40-1-40 chapter. When hiring a person charged with evaluating or administering professional qualifications or licensing standards, the director must select from a list of three candidates submitted by the appropriate licensing board. However, a candidate whose name is submitted to the director must be chosen from a list of all candidates found to be qualified by the Human Management Office of the department. The authority to remove an employee of the department is vested with the Director of the Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulation. These personnel are subject to Title 8, Public Officers and Employers. The director or his designee shall enter into contracts or agreements the director considers necessary or incidental to provide for all services authorized by this chapter or by a practice act.

The director shall establish compensation for personnel assigned to the boards as the director considers necessary and appropriate for the administration of this article. Compensation and necessary expenses incurred in the performance of duties by personnel assigned to the must be paid as an expense of the board in the administration of this article.

The director shall enter into contracts and agreements the director considers necessary or incidental to carry out the provisions of this article to provide for all services required by each board.

Board members must be compensated for their services at the usual rate for mileage, subsistence, and per diem as provided by law for members of state boards, committees, and commissions and may be reimbursed for actual and necessary expenses incurred in connection with and as a result of their work as members of the board. The director, within the limits set by the Comptroller General, shall establish reimbursement standards for travel and other expenses incurred by a board member in the performance of the board member's official duties. Compensation and reimbursements paid to board members under this subsection must be paid as an expense of the board in the administration of this article and the board's chapter and must be paid from the fees received by the board pursuant to the provisions of this article or in a manner prescribed by the Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulation.

The director shall maintain a separate account for funds collected on behalf of a board and shall indicate the expenses allotted to the board. The director shall adjust fees for revenue-funded boards in accordance with Section 40-1-50 (D).

The director annually shall prepare a report to the Governor and the General Assembly indicating those regulated trades, occupations, and professions that do not meet the spirit and intent of Section 40-1-10.

The director may perform any additional administrative functions requested by the boards.

(B) The department shall keep a record of the proceedings of each board and shall maintain a registry of all applications for licensure, permitting, certification, and registration. The registry shall include the name, age, and last known address of each applicant, the place of business of the applicant, the education, experience, and other qualifications of the applicant, type of examination required, whether or not an authorization to practice was granted, the date of the action of the department, and other information considered necessary by the board.

Except as otherwise required by law, the record of a board's proceedings and its registry of applicants must be open to public inspection, and a copy of the registry must be provided upon request and payment of a fee.

Records of a board and its registry are prima facie evidence of its proceedings, and a copy certified by the administrator or the director under seal is admissible as evidence with the same force and effect as the original. The department shall promulgate regulations, pursuant to Title 1, adopting rules of procedure for hearings before the boards concerning applications for practice authorization and disciplinary matters.

(C) The department may prepare and publish a roster for each respective board containing the names and places of business of persons licensed under this article. A copy of the roster must be provided upon request and upon payment of a fee which may not exceed the cost of printing and distribution of the roster. Board members and other persons authorized and approved by a board and the department to engage in business for a board must be compensated for their services at the usual rate for mileage, subsistence, and per diem as provided by law for members of state boards, committees, and commissions and may be reimbursed for actual and necessary expenses incurred in connection with and as a result of their work on behalf of a board. The director, within the limits set by the Comptroller General, shall establish reimbursement standards for travel and other expenses incurred by a board member or other person in the performance of a board member or other person's official duties.

(D) Initial fees for revenue-funded boards must be established by each board and shall serve as the base for necessary administrative adjustments. Each board, on at least a biennial basis, shall provide the director with a statement of anticipated expenditures, program changes, and other information as may be used in determining fees for the next biennial period. Fees for revenue-funded boards programs must be assessed, collected, and adjusted on behalf of each board program by the department in accordance with this article chapter. Fees may be adjusted biennially to ensure that they are sufficient but not excessive to cover expenses including the total of the direct and indirect costs to the State for the of operations