Project Status

[  s u s t a i n a b i l i t y :  total cost assessment  ]

NAAChE has promoted and encouraged the work of BRIDGES to Sustainability, a not-for-profit, public charity operated by Earl R. Beaver (a NAAChE Board member) and Beth R. Beloff. BRIDGES to Sustainability has completed the methodology for estimating intangible societal costs for input into the Center for Waste Reduction Technologies' (CWRT) Total Cost Assessment Tool (TCAce). An article was published in the latest issue of Environmental Progress. Other recent publications by Beaver and Beloff are in Proceedings of Society of Petroleum Engineers and Environmental Quality Management Journal.

Bridges to Sustainability has also completed calculations of sustainability metrics for more than 50 product/process combinations. Information on the results is available at www.bridgestos.org. Bridges to Sustainability also completed work on facility metrics and industry  sector metrics. Contact Beaver at Erbeav@aol.com or Beloff at Bbeloffjr@aol.com for more details.

Bridges to Sustainability has recently started a new project, aimed at estimating practical minimum energy reductions for major processes.

Prepared for NAAChE by M. J. Markette, AIChE

INTRODUCTION - This review of engineering licensure regulations in the United States is based on the Engineering Licensure Laws: Summary and Analysis published by National Society of Professional Engineers (1999)*. The detailed publication, first published in 1997, includes information on 55 jurisdictions that regulate the practice of engineering in the United States (including the 50 states, the District of Columbia, Guam, Northern Mariana Islands, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands). The 1999 edition also includes a summary section on the Canadian provinces and territories. (This review will not include analysis of Canadian provinces or territories.)

LICENSING BOARDS - Each of the 50 states has an established Board that regulates professional engineering, solely, or jointly with other professions such as architecture, land surveying, landscape architecture, and/or geology. In 12 states, the Board regulates only professional engineers. All other state Boards are joined with one or more of the other professions noted.

Total number of Board members, by state, range from five to 30; however 70% of these Boards have between seven and 10 members. Thirty-eight state Boards have a minority non-engineer (public) membership, usually one or two members. Only in California is there more non-engineer members with five professional engineers, one professional land surveyor, and seven public members. By definition, public members can not be licensed in the profession under regulation. Board appointments are usually made by the state Governor.

DEFINITIONS OF PRACTICE OF ENGINEERING  - Most states define the practice of engineering by service or creative work, including adequate performance requirements in all or some of the areas of education, training and experience, application of, and/or special knowledge of mathematical, physical, and engineering sciences. Some states have specifically adopted all or part of the model definition of practice of engineering as supplied by the National Council of Examiners for Engineering and Surveying (NCEES). All but the three states of Illinois, Pennsylvania, and Tennessee include the aforementioned terms of service or creative work in their definition. Illinois' definition focuses on consultation, while Pennsylvania's definition includes design and consultation. The broadest definition of the practice of engineering was found in Tennessee, where "a person is construed to practice or offer to practice engineering who, by verbal claim, sign, advertisement, letterhead, card, or in any other way, represents such person to be an engineer, with or without qualifying adjective, or through the use of some other title implies that he or she is an engineer".

RERUIREMENTS OF LICENSURE - Nearly all states, with the exceptions of Nevada and New York, do not require U.S. citizenship for licensure. None of the 50 states requires state residency for licensure. Less than 20% of states require English proficiency for registration. Over 80% of the states (41 of 50) license generically, not by engineering discipline. Of the nine states that license by discipline, six restrict use of title by discipline. Each state defines specific education, experience, and examination requirements for licensure. Most states require five professional references for licensure, three of which are licensed professional engineers having personal knowledge of the applicant's experience.

EXEMPTIONS - Many states include a licensure exemption for engineers who are employees or subordinates of a person holding a license from the state or who are full time employees of private corporations or business entities. (In AIChE terms, this is often called the industrial exemption). Most states also exempt employees and officers of the U.S. government while engaged in the practice of engineering within the state for the federal government.

COMITY AND RECIPROCITY  - While licensure is state regulated and administered, several states indicate the ability for individuals from another state or country to apply for Board licensure if licensure requirements from that territory are of a standard not lower than those required by the state. With the varying licensure requirements by state, this Board application is a case-by-case effort.

The states of Connecticut, Nebraska, Nevada, and North Dakota indicate reciprocity relations with Canada. The state of New Hampshire indicates reciprocity relations with Canada and Mexico. The state of Texas does not offer true reciprocity, but does conform to the Mutual Recognition Document associated with NAFTA. Details on these state reciprocity relations were not available in this review.

SUMMARY - Licensure in the United States is governed by state. These multiple state regulations lead to diverse and complex licensure processes. Reciprocity by state is not automatic. Thus, reciprocity via NAFTA countries would have similar or greater difficulty.

* Engineering Licensure Laws: Summary and Analysis (4-inch binder) can be purchased from the National Society of Professional Engineers (NSPE), 1420 King Street, Alexandria, VA, USA, 22314-2794, www.nspe.org.

[  m o b i l i t y :  in Canada  ]

This document summarizes mobility of Engineers both East-West within Canada and North-South between Canada and the United States and Mexico. The information has been condensed from the website of the Canadian Council of Professional Engineers (CCPE). 

NATIONAL MOBILITY - Until 1999, licensed engineers in one province of Canada could not easily obtain a license to practice in another province until they had reached five consecutive years of licensure. The CCPE and the provincial and territorial engineering associations of Canada realized that this was an artificial barrier to the free movement of engineers between jurisdictions. The Inter-Association Mobility Agreement was created in 1999. The agreement removed the five-year licensure requirement and allows licensed professional engineers from one part of Canada to obtain their license in another province with relative ease. Engineers are also able to hold licenses in multiple provinces at the same time.

INTERNATIONAL MOBILITY - In 1999, the CCPE created the Canadian Engineering International Board (CEIB). One of its roles was to negotiate international recognition agreements on behalf of the CCPE. One such agreement is the Mutual Recognition of Registered/Licensed Engineers by Jurisdictions of Canada, the United States of America and the United Mexican States to Facilitate Mobility in Accordance with the North American Free Trade Agreement.  Similar to the mutual recognition between provinces in Canada, this agreement facilitates the North-South movement of Engineers between Canada, the United States and Mexico.