During the last eight years I have had the pleasure of serving as a Gubernatorial Appointee to the DPOR (Department of Professional and Occupational Regulation) Board for Waterworks, and Wastewater Works Operators and Onsite Sewage System Professionals.  My term of office expired on June 30, 2015, and Governor McAuliffe finally appointed my replacement to the Board in October. 

There were several areas of concern that the Board heard from onsite licensees over and over again.  In several cases, there was absolutely nothing that the Board could do to address those comments.  Some of the issues could not be written into regulation as there are "other" regulations or Boards that conflicted with what our licensees wanted the Board to do or thought that the Board could do.

Practitioner Comment:   Contracts should be required and minimum contractual requirements should be included in the regulation.

The Board licenses individuals, not business entities.  The Board for Contractors already governs contract requirements and it lists minimum contractual requirements in its regulations.

Practitioner Comment:  There should be a stronger “Ethics” portion in the regulation as well as “Conflict of Interest" provision .

Some practitioners may not understand that when the Board writes Ethic and Conflict of Interest requirements into the regulation, it does not solely apply to Onsite Sewage System Professionals, but also applies to Waterworks and Wastewater Works Operators. The Ethics portion was "tightened" as was "conflict of interest".

Practitioner Comment:   Require and specify a “Seal” for all AOSE submissions. 

Many practitioners may not understand the background of this issue.  For instance, the licensing Board for Notary Publics are changing their regulationsELIMINATE  the mandate or requirement for a SEAL and to allow  electronic signatures.  In addition, VDH and DEQ both trying to move toward electronic submission of permit applications and permit packages, which will most likely require electronic signatures.  Requiring an original SEAL on OSE submissions at a time when VDH and DEQ are trying to figure out how to accept electronic submissions would likely have a negative impact on those initiatives. 

Practitioner Comment:   Need to enforce or regulate or make VDH Environmental Health Specialists permit submissions conform to what VDH requires of Private Sector permit submissions.

The Board DOES NOT regulate VDH or DEQ.  The Board regulates individual licensees, who need to comply with VDH and DEQ regulations.  There is no mechanism for the Board to make VDH EHS staff conform unless they are licensed under the Board.  In the current regulations, at least one person in the practitioner’s office or company MUST have the appropriate license and act as the “Supervisor” or “Responsible Individual in Charge” of all non-licensed staff.  For instance, in my company, I am the license holder and I accept responsibility for my non-licensed staff to perform maintenance activities.  If they screw up, I am the one that goes in front of the Board to answer for their mistakes. 

In an effort to address this situation, the Board has proposed in the regulations to created a “Journeyman” license” category that would require ALL individuals working in the Onsite Industry to be in possession of some type of  license.  For instance, if you are a Licensed Installer, even the person working for you that operates the backhoe would have to have, at a minimum,  the Journeyman Installer license.  As a Licensed Operator, the person running your pump truck would have to have the Journeyman Operator license.  As a licensed OSE, the person you may have in your office turning the auger for you would have to have the Journeyman OSE license.  This should have the effective of bringing all VDH EHS staff under the purview of the Board.  There is a minimum amount of continuing education required, but no test is required to obtain a Journeyman license.

Practitioner Comment:   We need to codify “Standards of Practice”

The Board had intentions of incorporating the “Standards of Practice” from the VDH Regulation 12VAC5-615 (GMP 126.B) (the old Authorized Onsite Soil Evaluator regulation) into the proposed regulations.   The Board’s plan was to wait until those regulationswere repealed, and then incorporate the “Standards of Practice” from them into the Board’s proposed licensing regulations.  Unfortunately, a small number of individuals managed to  stop the fast track process of repealing 12VAC5-615 through the public comment process.  The net effect of this was that 12VAC5-615 remains an active Regulation, managed by VDH.

In short, this regulation update reflects a year of work.  The Board did listen to the constituents / licensees at public comment sessions and the Board did develop a set of regulations that took those comments into consideration.  The regulations incorporate those concerns and I and my staff fully support them.

K.R. "Trapper" Davis,