California Legislative Council
of Professional Engineers
The California Legislative Council of Professional Engineers (CLCPE) is an organization of engineering societies to provide advice to the State Legislature on engineering issues, including reforming the State Engineers' Act.
Member Organizations
AIChE Southern California Section
American Nuclear Society (ANS)
American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers (ASABE)
American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME)
California Industrial Engineers
California Manufacturing Engineers
California Society of Professional Engineers (CSPE)
Institute of Electrical & Electronic Engineers (IEEE)
International Society of Automation (ISA, formerly Instrument Society of America)
Mechanical Engineers Association of California (MEAC)
Registered Traffic Engineers of America
Society of Fire Protection Engineers (SFPE)
SFPE San Diego Chapter
SFPE Northern California/Nevada Chapter
CLCPE Officers
Officers of CLCPE have a wide engineering background to allow us to represent the entire engineering profession:
- President - Bob Katin, a licensed chemical engineer
- Vice President - Carolyn Jones, a licensed civil engineer and agricultural engineer
- Secretary - Tim Callahan, a licensed fire protection engineer
- Treasurer - Walter Okitsu, a licensed civil engineer and a licensed traffic engineer
Added January 6, 2012
Is the State Engineers' Act Broken
by Bob Katin, PE, President of CLCPE
Many of us thought the State Engineers' Act requires all engineering at facilities that are geographically fixed to be conducted by civil engineers or be "supervised" by civil engineers. Senator Walters, the author of State Senate Bill 692 (SB 692) asked the lawyer for the State Legislature to review the State Engineers' Act to determine if what we understood was true. He said we do not have it quite right: Legislative Council Conclusion on Meaning of State Engineers' Act .
The lawyer concluded the State Engineers' Act requires ALL ENGINEERING at geographically fixed locations to be conducted by civil engineers, including mechanical. electrical, chemical, traffic, instrument, and fire protection engineering! If enforced, this would result in all engineering costing more money. It would require other engineers to teach a civil engineer how to conduct their discipline of engineering, so that the civil engineer can comply with the State Engineers' Act, and then do work which he previously did not know how to conduct.
The conclusion was:
The California State Engineers' Act says civil engineering is exempt from the Industrial Exclusion.
The California State Engineers' Act says civil engineering is anything involving facilities that are geographically fixed, such as chemical plants, petroleum refineries, water treatment plants, wastewater treatment plants, utility plant, environmental remediation, food manufacturing, biopharm, high speed rail stations, Silicon Valley electronics, etc.
The lawyer for the State Legislature has clarified the law. This is NOT AN OPINION. Legislative Council is the final word. This issue is not open for debate.
So, if industry in California hires mechanical, electrical, instrument, chemical, or fire protection engineers, and these engineers are used to conduct engineering (as opposed to management, sales, HR, safety) they are breaking the State Engineers' Act. By State Law, all engineering at geographically fixed sites in California needs to be conducted by a civil engineering PE.
In other words, activities such as those included below, CANNOT legally be performed by any engineer but a civil engineer, in California:
* specifying piping materials of construction, piping diameter, and isolation valves
* sizing heat exchangers (preheaters, feed/effluent, waste heat, reboilers, cooling towers, fin fans)
* specifying cooling water treatment chemicals/concentrations calculating when it is necessary to clean a heat exchanger due to fouling
* designing furnaces (size, specifying refractory, shell metallurgy, heat up rate, cool down rate, etc)
* specifying pumps, troubleshooting pumps, evaluating pump performance
* specifying compressors, troubleshooting compressors, evaluating compressor performance
* specifying control strategy, specifying instrumentation, specifying whether proportional/reset/derivative to be used in a controller, evaluating a loop for proper tuning
* evaluating kinetics of a reactor, designing a reactor, specifying cooling for the reactor
* specifying a refrigerant to be used in a refrigeration loop, sizing or specifying the evaporator, sizing or specifying the compressor, sizing or specifying the condenser, designing the control strategy
* designing or specifying any component of any mass transfer equipment, including distillation, adsorption, absorption, scrubbing, stripping.
* designing or specifying any component of a motor control center (MCC)
* designing or specifying any component of a electrical substation
* specifying or sizing breakers, motor starters, fuses, thermal overloads, conduit, conductors, grounds
* designing a fire protection system
* specifying fire protection components
* designing traffic control
The existing California State Engineers' Act only supports licensed civil engineers.
Because of this conclusion by the lawyer for the State Legislature, an amendment to SB 692 was made on 4 JAN 2012: SB 692 Amendment
Even California Engineering School Deans agree that the State Engineers' Act is Broken. Ten university deans including seven University of California Deans have signed a letter to let the State know that it makes no sense to think civil engineers are capable of doing all engineering activities. The deans agree that approving SB 692 solves the current problem with the State Engineers' Act and recognizes all engineering disciplines and scientists. Read the University of California Deans' letter .
Recent Legislation
SACRAMENTO, Calif., Feb. 18, 2011 - Senator Mimi Walters introduced Senate Bill SB692 on February 18, 2011, to reform the Engineers' Act. Presently the Engineers' Act protects the practice of civil, electrical and mechanical engineering. It provides that only the use of the title of some engineering names is protected, including agricultural engineer, chemical engineer, control system engineer, fire protection engineer, industrial engineer, manufacturing engineer, metallurgical engineer, nuclear engineer, petroleum engineer, or traffic engineer. Use of the engineering title is protected but not the practice of that engineering discipline. The bill proposes that all licensed engineers should be given the protection that all other states provide. SB692 does this by:
- Converting the engineering disciplines that are only title protected to practice protected, the same as the civil, electrical and mechanical engineering disciplines.
- Allowing any licensed engineer to provide services in the converted disciplines without restriction, if competent.
- Maintains the present status of civil engineers to perform any services in any area of engineering.
Click this link to read the bill text.
A brief historical record of recent legislation on the State Engineers' Act includes:
- SB2030 (2000) called for a study of the State Engineers' Act. The Institute of Social Research (ISR) at Cal State University at Sacramento (CSUS) performed the study under the direction of the Department of Consumer Affairs, the Board of Professional Engineers and Land Surveyors (BPELS), and the Legislature.
Download the complete 290-page study, PDF (engineer.zip, 3.5MB)
- BPELS developed recommendations provided to the Legislature based on the ISR study. It also sponsored SB246, as amended 6-20-05. A letter from the then President of the engineering board explained his reason for supporting the actions of the board:
"Why Must California Be Different?"
SB246 was held in the Assembly Business & Professions committee due to opposition by PECG (Professional Engineers in California Government) and CELSOC (Consulting Engineers and Land Surveyors of California now known as ACEC of CA (American Council of Engineering Consultants of California) - SB275 (2010) was introduced by Senator Mimi Walters to reform the State Engineers' Act, cosponsored by the California Farm Bureau Federation and the Chemical Industry Council of California. Industrial supporters included:
- California Farm Bureau Federation--SB 275 co-sponsor
- Chemical Industry Council of California--SB 275 co-sponsor
- California Manufacturers and Technology Association
- Southern California Edison
- Western Growers Association
- California Independent Oil Marketers Association
- Goodrich Corporation
- California Agricultural Irrigation Association
SB275 was held in the Senate Business Professions and Economic Development committee due to opposition by PECG (Professional Engineers in California Government) and ACEC of CA (American Council of Engineering Consultants of California, formerly known as CELSOC).
Updated Jan 6, 2012
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