NOTICES

Notice of Comments Issued

[40 Pa.B. 5657]
[Saturday, October 2, 2010]

 Section 5(g) of the Regulatory Review Act (71 P. S. § 745.5(g)) provides that the Independent Regulatory Review Commission (Commission) may issue comments within 30 days of the close of the public comment period. The Commission comments are based upon the criteria contained in section 5.2 of the Regulatory Review Act (71 P. S. § 745.5b).

 The Commission has issued comments on the following proposed regulation. The agency must consider these comments in preparing the final-form regulation. The final-form regulation must be submitted within 2 years of the close of the public comment period or it will be deemed withdrawn.

			IRRC
		Close of the Public	Comments
Reg. No.	Agency/Title	Comment Period	Issued
16A-5724	State Board of Veterinary Medicine License Renewal; Continuing Education 40 Pa.B. 4154 (July 24, 2010)	8/23/10	9/22/10

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State Board of Veterinary Medicine
Regulation #16A-5724 (IRRC #2858)

License Renewal; Continuing Education

September 22, 2010

 We submit for your consideration the following comments on the proposed rulemaking published in the July 24, 2010 Pennsylvania Bulletin. Our comments are based on criteria in Section 5.2 of the Regulatory Review Act (71 P. S. § 745.5b). Section 5.1(a) of the Regulatory Review Act (71 P. S. § 745.5a(a)) directs the State Board of Veterinary Medicine (Board) to respond to all comments received from us or any other source.

1. Comments on behalf of the House Professional Licensure Committee.—Reasonableness; Clarity.

 In a letter dated September 13, 2010, Chairman Michael P. McGeehan and Republican Chair Julie Harhart, on behalf of the House Professional Licensure Committee (Committee), submitted comments on this regulation. The Committee comments are:

 • The Committee brings to the Board's attention that, in the Background and Need for Amendments, reference is made to the fact that the American Association of Veterinary State Boards (AAVSB) program has approved over 400 candidates and is now accepted in 29 ''jurisdictions states'', including New York and Virginia (spelling was corrected since delivery). The Committee requests a clarification of what is meant by ''jurisdictions states.''

 • The Committee brings to the Board's attention that, in the Background and Need for Amendments, addressing the deletion of provisions and fees regarding temporary permits, the citation should be corrected to read (63 P. S. § 485.10).

 • The Committee brings to the Board's attention that since § 31.13, License renewal, is being amended, the fourth sentence should read in part ''Upon renewing their licenses, licensees will receive. . . .''

 • The Committee questions that in § 31.13(b) whether the District of Columbia is included in the amended reference of ''another state, territory, country, or by a Federal authority in the United States.''

 • The Committee requests an explanation for the use of the term licensee in § 31.13(e)(i) when referring in a list of individuals who are required to apply for a license in accordance with Section 9 of the Act if practicing veterinary medicine in the Commonwealth is to be resumed. Could reference be made to ''veterinarian'' as is done in § 31.13(e)(ii) and (iii)?

 • The Committee questions the term used for a veterinarian who fails to renew a license. Is the term ''holder of an expired license'' the technical status or is it ''licensee''? Reference is made to a holder of an expired license in § 31.13(d) and in newly proposed § 31.13(e)(i), lists individuals who will be required to apply for a license in accordance with § 9 of the Act as ''a licensee who practiced veterinary medicine in this Commonwealth on an expired Pennsylvania license for a period of more than 5 years.'' The Committee recommends some consistency in the use of terms.

 • The Committee brings to the Board's attention that upon publication of the proposed regulation in the Pennsylvania Bulletin, a subheading caption ''Veterinary Technicians and Noncertified Employees'' was added. In Proposed Regulation 16A-5718 which is winding its way through the process, the term and definition of Noncertified Employee are being deleted and replaced with the term and definition ''Veterinary Assistant.'' For future consistency, the Committee recommends that the newly proposed term and definition be used in the final rulemaking.

 We will review the Board's responses to these issues in our determination of whether the final regulation is in the public interest.

2. Section 31.12. Temporary permits.—Need.

 In the Preamble, the Board states:

The Board proposes to rescind § 31.12 because veterinary students currently take the licensure examination prior to completing veterinary school and applicants for licensure by reciprocity do not need temporary permits because the processing time for a license and a permit is the same.

 As noted in Section 31.12, temporary permits are established in statute at 63 P. S. § 485.10. Why is the Board deleting the provisions and fee relating to temporary licenses in its regulations while the underlying statute is still in place? Will the statutory provision be deleted before the final-form regulation is submitted? The Board should further explain in its final-form submittal the need to delete Section 31.12 and the associated temporary permit fee of $35 from Section 31.41 while 63 P. S. § 485.10 remains in place.

3. Section 31.13. License Renewal.—Clarity.

 Under the statute (63 P. S. § 485.18), certification of completion of continuing education ''shall be in accordance with regulations of the board.'' In Subsection (d) of the regulation, the Board proposes to delete the requirement to demonstrate continuing education for periods in which the license was expired by deleting the following phrase:

certificates of attendance at continuing education courses as required by § 31.15 (relating to continuing education) for the current and preceding biennial renewal periods in which the license was expired, and

 The Board replaces this requirement with new language that states:

documentation that the licensee has complied with § 31.15 (related to continuing education).

 The amended language does not provide direction on what documentation the Board will accept, whereas the existing language is clearer by requiring certificates of attendance at continuing education courses for the current and preceding biennial renewal periods. We recommend that the Board amend Subsection (d) to provide clear direction on what proof of continuing education the holder of an expired license must provide and for what periods.

4. Section 31.15. Continuing education.—Consistency with statute; Need; Reasonableness; Clarity.

 The Board proposes to delete the phrase ''As a condition of licensure renewal under § 31.13 (relating to licensure renewal)'' which appears at the beginning of this section in existing regulation. Under 63 P. S. § 485.18, licensees are required to complete continuing education preceding each renewal date. We are very concerned that the Board is deleting language from the regulation which clearly states that continuing education is a condition of license renewal. We believe the existing language is in the best interest of the licensees and the Board. We strongly recommend maintaining this language so that it is clear to licensees that a license cannot be renewed if the licensee fails to complete continuing education credits as required by the statute.

5. Fiscal impact of the regulation.

 In its Regulatory Analysis Form (RAF), the Board repeatedly states the amendments have no adverse effect and that there are no costs or savings associated with the amendments. See responses to RAF Questions 15, 17, 18, 19, 20 and 21. Yet, the Board is making three amendments to fees in Section 31.41. The Board should explain, for instance, its response to RAF Question 17 that ''No costs or savings to the regulated community are anticipated'' when it is imposing new fees on the regulated community for duplicate licenses. We recommend that the Board review the amendments to the regulation and provide amended responses to RAF Questions 15, 17, 18, 19, 20 and 21 in the final-form submittal of the regulation.

ARTHUR COCCODRILLI, 
Chairperson

[Pa.B. Doc. No. 10-1903. Filed for public inspection October 1, 2010, 9:00 a.m.]

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