03/07/1995 01:35 PM Senate L&C

                                                                               
 SL&C - 3/7/95                                                                 
         SB  43 ARCHITECTS, ENGINEERS, LAND SURVEYORS                         
                                                                              
 SENATOR LEMAN, sponsor of SB 43, made the following comments.  He             
 introduced the bill at the request of the AELS Board which they               
 consider their omnibus housekeeping measure.  The same bill was on            
 the senate floor last year but did not pass because of the utility            
 issue.  Section 1 deletes the requirement that one of the seven               
 members of the board be a mining engineer.  The intention is not to           
 take anything away from the mining profession in the state of                 
 Alaska, but to be more reflective of the categories of engineers.             
 It has become increasingly difficult for the governor to find a               
 mining engineer to serve on the board.  The deletion does not                 
 prevent the appointment of a mining engineer; it no longer requires           
 it.  Section 2 gives the board the flexibility to design comparable           
 requirements including both education and experience.  Section 3              
 deletes reference to a council that no longer exists.  Section 4              
 adds the word "or" on line 27 to allow the board to take action               
 against a person meeting any one of the conditions.  Section 5                
 requires that teachers of land surveying at a postsecondary                   
 education institution be registered land surveyors.  Section 6 adds           
 a definition of the practice of teaching land surveying at an                 
 institution of higher learning.  This allows a person to use that             
 experience to count toward registration qualifications.  It also              
 makes other definitional changes to bring the definition of land              
 surveying current with existing practice.                                     
                                                                               
 Number 284                                                                    
                                                                               
 MICHAEL KENNY, representing the Technical Engineers of Alaska,                
 Local 959, testified against SB 43, particularly Section 2, which             
 deletes the statutory requirement for an individual to show                   
 evidence of no more than eight years of a combination of education,           
 experience or training.   He noted in his experience, people with             
 a combination of six or seven years of experience in construction             
 and land surveying are more than minimally qualified to take the              
 land surveyor examination.  He stated if this statutory requirement           
 is removed, the comparable amount for engineering is 12 years, and            
 he feels that is an extreme amount of experience to require for the           
 minimal qualifications to take the land surveyor test.  He                    
 expressed concern that Section 6 would affect contractors                     
 installing water and sewer lines, and curbs and gutters, and would            
 require those people to be licensed land surveyors.                           
                                                                               
 Gerry Kurtz, a licensed land surveyor, testified in opposition to             
 SB 43.  He felt the current board is unnecessarily weighted in                
 favor of engineers.  Out of nine board members, only one is a                 
 surveyor.  He would prefer to see two engineers, two architects,              
 two surveyors and one public member comprise the board. Regarding             
 Section 2, he was opposed to the deletion of the eight year                   
 provision.  He felt people with eight years of training should be             
 allowed to take the exam.  He stated making the work experience               
 requirement 12 years would scare people away from the profession              
 and would discriminate against certain members who, through                   
 tradition, have not been college trained, primarily native people.            
 He believed Section 5 is discriminatory to land surveyors and felt            
 college administrators should be given the leeway to hire whomever            
 they feel is qualified.  He agreed with Mr. Kenney that Section 6             
 may take away work traditionally performed well by other people.              
 He felt SB 43 to be unnecessary, and that a good exam and testing             
 procedure designed by the AELS Board would solve any problems.                
                                                                               
 Number 181                                                                    
                                                                               
 STEVE BORELL, representing the Alaska Miners' Association (AMA),              
 commented on Section 1.  The AMA opposed the change as there are              
 many ways in which mining applications provide for different                  
 aspects of engineering than in other fields.                                  
                                                                               
 COLIN MAYNARD, Alaska Professional Design Council, testified in               
 support of SB 43 as the bill cleans up problems in the current                
 statute.  He noted the change in Section 1 would make it much                 
 easier to find people to serve on the board.  He commented mining             
 engineers want to secure a spot on the board but they do not want             
 to be governed by their regulations.  Regarding the board                     
 composition, he felt if all types of engineers were represented,              
 the board would be too large and costly.  He commented the land               
 surveyor provisions were requested by the ASPLS to require higher             
 qualifications for land surveyors, possibly because of the large              
 number of claims made to the AELS board.  He noted the university             
 requested the provision for teacher qualifications be reinstated in           
 SB 99 after it had been removed four years ago.  He agreed teachers           
 in higher level design courses should have experience in design and           
 in the practice.  He explained it would still be possible to teach            
 at a postsecondary institution without the qualifications if                  
 supervision by a licensed land surveyor is available, and that                
 experience would count toward licensure.