32 §4909. Qualifications - Maine Statutes

Title 32: PROFESSIONS AND OCCUPATIONS

Chapter 73: GEOLOGISTS AND SOIL SCIENTISTS

Subchapter 1: GENERAL PROVISIONS

§4909. Qualifications

1.

[ 2007, c. 402, Pt. S, §8 (RP) .]

1-A. Application. An applicant for licensure as a geologist or soil scientist shall file an application and pay the application fee as set under section 4912. An applicant for licensure as a geologist or soil scientist must be trustworthy and competent.

[ 2007, c. 402, Pt. S, §8 (NEW) .]

2. Geologist examination requirements. As a geologist, to qualify to sit for the examination for licensure, an applicant must:

A. Be a graduate of an accredited college or university with a major in geological sciences, or have completed 30 credits in geological sciences at an accredited college or university, or have at least 7 years of professional geological work that shall include either a minimum of 3 years of professional geological work under the supervision of a qualified geologist or a minimum of 5 years of responsible charge of geological work; [2007, c. 402, Pt. S, §8 (AMD).]

B. Have acquired 7 years of experience in responsible charge of geological work, toward which an undergraduate degree with 30 credit hours or more in geological science courses counts as 2 years of training and each year of graduate study in the geological sciences counts as 1/2 year of training, up to a maximum of 2 years of credit; and [2007, c. 402, Pt. S, §8 (AMD).]

C. Receive credit toward the experience requirement subject to the evaluation of the board. Applicants with less than 30 credit hours in geological science courses may be given proportional work-experience credits for such academic credit hours as they may have acquired. [1975, c. 760, §12 (NEW).]

[ 2007, c. 402, Pt. S, §8 (AMD) .]

2-A. Soil scientist examination requirements. As a soil scientist, to qualify to sit for the examination for licensure, an applicant must:

A. Be a graduate of an approved 4-year college curriculum leading to a Baccalaureate Degree, in which the applicant has successfully completed a minimum of 15 credit hours of soil or soil-related courses of a pedological nature and have a specific record of an additional 3 years or more of experience in soil science of a grade and character that indicates to the board that the applicant may be competent to practice as a soil scientist and be otherwise qualified. Teaching pedological courses in a college or university offering an approved 4-year soil science or agronomic curriculum must be considered as experience in soils investigations. [1999, c. 386, Pt. P, §1 (AMD).]

Applicants may sit for the General practice examination upon graduation from an approved 4-year college and may sit for the professional practice examination upon completion of the experience requirement as stated in this subsection.

"Additional 3 years of experience" does not imply a sequence of obtaining a degree and then experience. Experience time may not be granted for time while enrolled in courses, but summer employment must be counted even though a degree may not have been obtained.

Actual field experience in an acceptable apprenticeship program counts as experience time.

Each degree beyond the bachelor's degree counts as one year of experience.

Soil-related courses may amount to only 20% of the required 15 credits for a maximum of 3 credits.

[ 2007, c. 402, Pt. S, §8 (AMD) .]

3. Examination. An applicant shall sit for and pass an examination before the board or its authorized representatives. Such examination will be held at certain specified times and of such scope as prescribed by the board.

[ 2007, c. 402, Pt. S, §8 (AMD) .]

Generally, the examinations must test the applicant's knowledge basic to geology or soil science and the applicant's ability to apply that knowledge and to assume responsible charge in the professional practice of geology or soil science. [2007, c. 402, Pt. S, §8 (AMD).]

An applicant for licensure must meet all the requirements of this chapter and, in addition, must have 3 years' experience in geology or soil science as defined by this chapter and in the rules and regulations of the board to be provided. [2007, c. 402, Pt. S, §8 (AMD).]

An applicant failing in an examination may be examined again upon filing a new application and the payment of the prescribed fees. [1983, c. 413, §179 (AMD).]

The board, upon application therefor, and upon payment of the application and license fees, may issue a license as a geologist or soil scientist without written examination to any person holding a license as a geologist or soil scientist issued to that geologist or soil scientist by any state or country having equivalent requirements, when the applicant's qualifications meet the other requirements of this chapter and the rules established by the board. [2007, c. 402, Pt. S, §8 (AMD).]

In determining the qualifications of an applicant for licensure, a majority vote of the board is required. [2007, c. 402, Pt. S, §8 (AMD).]

Any applicant who has passed the examination or has otherwise qualified as a geologist or soil scientist upon payment of the fee as set under section 4912 must have a license as a geologist or soil scientist as appropriate. [2007, c. 402, Pt. S, §8 (AMD).]

SECTION HISTORY

1973, c. 558, §1 (NEW). 1973, c. 788, §162 (AMD). 1975, c. 760, §§12,13 (AMD). 1977, c. 694, §646 (AMD). 1981, c. 501, §77 (AMD). 1983, c. 413, §§178-181 (AMD). 1999, c. 386, §P1 (AMD). 2007, c. 402, Pt. S, §8 (AMD).