S T A T E O F N E W Y O R K
________________________________________________________________________
544
2021-2022 Regular Sessions
I N S E N A T E
(PREFILED)
January 6, 2021
___________
Introduced by Sen. KAMINSKY -- read twice and ordered printed, and when
printed to be committed to the Committee on Energy and Telecommuni-
cations
AN ACT to amend the public service law and the education law, in
relation to certain engineering plans or specifications for engineer-
ing work or services that could pose a material risk to public safety
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND ASSEM-
BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
Section 1. Section 5 of the public service law is amended by adding a
new subdivision 7 to read as follows:
7. THE COMMISSION MAY PROMULGATE RULES AND REGULATIONS NECESSARY FOR
THE IMPLEMENTATION OF SECTION SEVENTY-TWO HUNDRED THIRTEEN OF THE EDUCA-
TION LAW RELATING TO ENGINEERING PLANS OR SPECIFICATIONS FOR ENGINEERING
WORK OR SERVICES THAT COULD POSE A MATERIAL RISK TO PUBLIC SAFETY DEVEL-
OPED BY OR ON BEHALF OF A GAS COMPANY.
§ 2. Section 7208 of the education law, as added by chapter 987 of the
laws of 1971, the section heading as amended by chapter 475 of the laws
of 2014, subdivision g as amended by chapter 994 of the laws of 1971,
subdivision l as amended by section 15 of part A of chapter 173 of the
laws of 2013, and subdivision p as added by chapter 954 of the laws of
1972, is amended to read as follows:
§ 7208. Exempt persons for the professions of engineering and land
surveying. 1. This article shall not be construed to affect or prevent
the following, provided that no title, sign, card or device shall be
used in such manner as to tend to convey the impression that the person
rendering such service is a professional engineer or a land surveyor
licensed in this state or is practicing engineering or land surveying:
a. Offering to practice in this state as a professional engineer or
land surveyor by any person not a resident of, and having no established
EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[ ] is old law to be omitted.
LBD01021-02-1
S. 544 2
place of practice in this state, provided that such person is legally
qualified for such practice in his own state or country;
b. Practice as a professional engineer or land surveyor in this state
by any person not a resident, or having no established place of practice
in this state, or any person resident in this state but who has arrived
in this state within six months, provided, however, such a person shall
have filed an application for license as a professional engineer or land
surveyor, and is legally qualified for such practice in the state or
country in which he resides or has his place of practice or in which he
had his previous residence or place of practice, such exemption continu-
ing for only such reasonable time as the board requires to grant or deny
the application for license, and a person intending to practice under
this subdivision shall so state on the application;
c. Practice of engineering or land surveying, by an employee of a
county or town, in the construction, improvement or maintenance of a
county road or town highway, or by an employee of a county, city, town
or village, in the construction, improvement or maintenance of any
public work wherein the contemplated expenditure for the completed
project does not exceed five thousand dollars;
d. Operation or maintenance of steam, power, or refrigeration plants
by legally authorized persons not licensed under this article or persons
engaged or employed as an engine man, operator or driver of any engine
or of any mechanical, electrical, chemical or other device or machine;
e. Making of surveys by professional engineers, except that the deter-
mination of real property boundaries may be done only by a licensed land
surveyor;
f. Employment or supervision of interns or other persons qualified by
education or experience by professional engineers or land surveyors as
assistants in the performance of engineering or land surveying, or as
consultants or employees in special fields related to but not uniquely
engineering or land surveying, provided that the engineers or land
surveyors employing or supervising such persons shall not be relieved of
any responsibility whatsoever by delegation to such persons, and
provided further that such persons who have attained the bachelor's
level of studies in accordance with the requirements of section seven-
ty-two hundred six of this title may be employed as junior or assistant
engineers or junior or assistant land surveyors, or similar titles, to
act under the general direction of a professional engineer or land
surveyor, or in work not covered by this article;
g. Employment of any person as a junior or assistant engineer or
junior or assistant land surveyor in the civil service of the state or
its political subdivisions in a position the title of which was approved
and in use as of July first, nineteen hundred seventy-one, provided such
person acts under the general direction of a licensed professional engi-
neer or land surveyor;
h. Execution by a contractor or by others of work designed by a
professional engineer, or land surveyor, or the superintendence of such
work as a superintendent, foreman, or inspector;
i. The practice of architecture by an architect licensed in this
state, or the practice of landscape architecture by a landscape archi-
tect licensed in this state, provided that no such architect or land-
scape architect shall use the designation "engineer" or "engineering"
unless licensed as a professional engineer in this state;
j. The practice of engineering or land surveying or having the title
"engineer" or "surveyor" solely as an officer or an employee of a corpo-
ration engaged in interstate commerce;
S. 544 3
k. The practice of engineering by a manufacturing corporation or by
employees of such corporation, or use of the title "engineer" by such
employees, in connection with or incidental to goods produced by, or
sold by, or nonengineering services rendered by, such corporation or its
manufacturing affiliates;
l. The practice of engineering or land surveying, or using the title
"engineer" or "surveyor" (i) exclusively as an officer or employee of a
public service corporation by rendering to such corporation such
services in connection with its lines and property which are subject to
supervision with respect to the safety and security thereof by the
public service commission of this state, the interstate commerce commis-
sion or other federal regulatory body and so long as such person is thus
actually and exclusively employed and no longer, or (ii) exclusively as
an officer or employee of the Long Island power authority or its service
provider, as defined under section three-b of the public service law, by
rendering to such authority or provider such services in connection with
its lines and property which are located in such authority's service
area and so long as such person is thus actually and exclusively
employed and no longer;
m. The making of land surveys by a professional engineer where such
land surveys are essential to engineering projects, provided he was
licensed as a professional engineer in this state on or before the first
day of January in the year in which this act shall become a law and
files evidence satisfactory to the board on or before the first day of
July in the year next succeeding the year in which this act shall have
become law, that he is competent and experienced in such land surveys;
n. The design by a land surveyor of roads, drainage, water supply or
sanitary sewerage facilities of a minor nature in connection with subdi-
visions and the extension and inspection thereof, but not including
sewage disposal or treatment plants, lift stations, pumping stations,
commercial buildings or bridges, provided the surveyor was licensed as a
land surveyor in this state on or before the first day of January in the
year in which this act shall have become a law and files evidence satis-
factory to the board on or before the first day of July in the year next
succeeding the year in which this act shall have become a law, attesting
that he is competent and experienced in the engineering required for
design of such facilities appurtenant to subdivisions; or
o. Using the title "marine operating engineer", "stationary engineer",
"port of customs surveyor", or "ship surveyor".
p. Contractors or builders from engaging in construction management
and administration of construction contracts.
2. THE EXEMPTIONS PROVIDED FOR IN THIS SECTION SHALL NOT APPLY TO
ENGINEERING WORK OR SERVICES THAT COULD POSE A MATERIAL RISK TO PUBLIC
SAFETY, AS DETERMINED BY THE PUBLIC SERVICE COMMISSION, PERFORMED BY OR
ON BEHALF OF A GAS COMPANY THAT DISTRIBUTES AND SELLS GAS WITHIN THE
STATE.
§ 3. The education law is amended by adding a new section 7213 to read
as follows:
§ 7213. ENGINEERING PLANS; PUBLIC SAFETY. ANY ENGINEERING PLANS OR
SPECIFICATIONS FOR ENGINEERING WORK OR SERVICES THAT COULD POSE A MATE-
RIAL RISK TO PUBLIC SAFETY, AS DETERMINED BY THE PUBLIC SERVICE COMMIS-
SION, DEVELOPED BY OR ON BEHALF OF A GAS COMPANY SHALL BEAR THE STAMP OF
APPROVAL OF A PROFESSIONAL ENGINEER; PROVIDED, HOWEVER, THAT ANY SUCH
PLAN OR SPECIFICATION SHALL BE HOUSED WITHIN THE APPLICABLE GAS COMPANY
SUBJECT TO REVIEW AND AUDIT BY THE PUBLIC SERVICE COMMISSION. THE
S. 544 4
PUBLIC SERVICE COMMISSION MAY PROMULGATE ANY RULES AND REGULATIONS
NECESSARY FOR THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THIS SECTION.
§ 4. This act shall take effect eighteen months after it shall have
become a law.
