Updated July 29, 2010


California Legislative Council
of Professional Engineers


Added February 22, 2010:
Hearing on SB 275 on 11 JAN 2010

SB 275, a bill to correct the broken State Engineers' Act, was heard in the Senate Business and Professions (B&P) Committee on 11 JAN 2010. Although the bill had no votes of opposition (2 to 0), it failed passage due to lacking a majority of the voters of the Senate B&P Committee. The Chair of the B&P Committee committed to getting a compromise. SB265 was amended on January 4, 2010, prior to the hearing.

- Amended Version (Jan 4, 2010). , - Committee Analysis (Jan 6, 2010). - Committee Vote (Jan 11, 2010).
Industry supports SB 275

1. California Farm Bureau Federation--SB 275 co-sponsor and lobbyist
2. Chemical Industry Council of California--SB 275 co-sponsor and lobbyist
3. California Manufacturers and Technology Association--lobbyist
4. Southern California Edison--lobbyist
5. Western Growers Association--lobbyist
6. California Independent Oil Marketers Association--lobbyist
7. Goodrich Corporation--lobbyist
8. California Agricultural Irrigation Association--lobbyist

SB 275 is amended on January 2, 2010

Senator Gloria Negrette-McLeod, Chair of the Senate Business and Profession Committee, requested that SB 275 be modified. The modification was to show the opposition, PECG (Professional Engineers in California Government) and ACEC of CA (American Council of Engineering Consultants of California, formerly known as CELSOC) that proponents in favor of SB 274 were willing to compromise to correct the broken State Engineers' Act. The current definition of civil engineering in the State Engineers' Act is so broad that it essential includes activities conducted by all disciplines of engineering. Then it says only civil engineers can conduct civil engineering, thereby making it illegal for all non-civil engineers from conducting their own profession. The bill was modified to eliminate the proposal that any licensed engineer, competent based on formal education or "on the job experience", could overlap and conduct activities defined in State law as the exclusive area of expertise of only civil engineers.

The modified bill proposed to

1. recognize all engineers in California as 1st class engineers, if they take and pass the same nation-wide exam given by NCEES to recognize engineers in the remaining 49 states as Practice Engineers;
2. allow all non-civil, mechanical, and electrical engineers to overlap and conduct activities in the remaining engineering disciplines, if the engineer was competent in that area of engineering (based on formal education or "on the job experience");
3. continue to allow the existing practice in State law that allows civil engineers to overlap and conduct all activities of every engineering discipline

Read SB276 as amended January 4, 2010 .




Hearing on SB 275 on April 20, 2009

The first hearing on SB275 was before the State Senate Business, Professions and Economic Development Committee and it occurred on April 20, 2009. It was an eye opener for us engineers, who do not know how legislation is made. Listen to the MP3 audio file of the hearing in which arguments are made for and against the bill. SB275, was defeated, but granted a re-hearing. As a result of comments made by the opposition, the bill text has been altered to try and convince the legislators that the objections of the lobbyist representing PECG (the state union of engineers, mainly Caltrans civil engineers) and the lobbyist from ACEC of California (mainly large civil contractors) are frivolous, self-serving and not in the best interest of sound engineering practice.

Those speaking at the hearing were Sen Mimi Walters , who introduced SB275, other committee members, Don Reisner (CLCPE lobbyist), the lobbyist for the Professional Engineers in Calif Govt (state engineers' union), a representative from American Council of Engineering Companies (civil engr contractors trade org), and any others speaking in favor of the bill to the committee. All speakers were "for" the bill except PECG and ACEC, both of whom are large campaign contributors.




"Why Must California Be Different?"

Walter Okitsu, CLCPE Executive Board member, to speak
August 26, 2008, Los Angeles County (Note new date)
Topic: CLCPE and the Status of the PE License

Details and to RSVP
No cost to attend for members of CLCPE member organizations.



California Dept of Consumer Affairs: THE ENGINEERING TITLE ACT STUDY

California Legislative Council
of Professional Engineers

Member organizations include American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AIChE), 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), ISA - The International Society of Automation (ISA, formerly Instrument Society of America), Mechanical Engineers Association of California (MEAC), Registered Traffic Engineers of America, and Society of Fire Protection Engineers (SFPE).

For information about the CLCPE, please contact the President, download the official organization brochure ( Low Resolution, 425K or High Resolution, 8.4MB ) or click on the thumbnails below to read online.

Robert A. Katin, P.E., President
California Legislative Council of Professional Engineers
(925) 755-1150 Telephone
(925) 754-8524 Fax
rakatin@pacbell.net














Thanks to action taken by CLCPE in JUL-SEP 2000, we were able to modify State Senate Bill 2030 (SB 2030) to require the Engineering Board (BPELS) to retain an independent consultant to evaluate the State Engineers' Act. SB 2030 became law in JAN 2001, and Cal State Sacramento Institute of Social Research (ISR) was retained in JUN 2001. After spending over $400,000, ISR completed their Study and submitted it to the Engineering Board's boss (DCA) in SEP 2002. As a result of the Study conducted by ISR, the Engineering Board (BPELS) drafted legislation and sponsored SB 246 in JUN 2005. This bill was going to fix the broken State Engineers' Act, correcting deficiencies noted in the ISR Study. Virtually everyone supported the bill, from Fortune 500 companies, engineering firms, regulatory agencies, associations, over 100 Professional Engineers in California Government (PECG) members, and seven Deans of Schools of Engineering from prominent California universities. See list of supporters . Even though the majority of PECG members that were contacted had never heard of SB 246, PECG leadership directed their lobbyist to lobby against the bill. So a bill written by the Engineering Board to correct the State Engineers' Act was unfortunately defeated by PECG.

Download the complete 290-page study, PDF (engineer.zip, 3.5MB)