§ 7211. Mandatory continuing education for professional engineers,
land surveyors and professional geologists. 1. (a) Each licensed
professional required under this article to register triennially with
the department to practice in this state shall comply with provisions of
the mandatory continuing education requirements prescribed in
subdivision two of this section except as set forth in paragraphs (b)
and (c) of this subdivision. Licensed professionals who do not satisfy
the mandatory continuing education requirements shall not practice until
they have met such requirements, and have been issued a registration
certificate, except that a licensed professional may practice without
having met such requirements if he or she is issued a conditional
registration certificate pursuant to subdivision three of this section.
For purposes of this section the term "licensed professional" shall mean
any individual licensed under this article as a professional engineer,
land surveyor or professional geologist.

(b) Licensed professionals shall be exempt from the mandatory
continuing education requirement for the triennial registration period
during which they are first licensed. In accordance with the intent of
this section, adjustment to the mandatory continuing education
requirement may be granted by the department for reasons of health
certified by an appropriate health care professional, for extended
active duty with the armed forces of the United States, or for other
good cause acceptable to the department which may prevent compliance.

(c) A licensed professional not engaged in practice as determined by
the department shall be exempt from the mandatory continuing education
requirement upon the filing of a statement with the department declaring
such status. Any licensee who returns to the practice of his or her
profession during the triennial registration period shall notify the
department prior to reentering the profession and shall meet such
mandatory education requirements as shall be prescribed by regulations
of the commissioner.

(d) Professional engineers directly employed on a full time basis by
the state of New York, its agencies, public authorities, public benefit
corporations or local governmental units prior to January first, two
thousand four and who are represented by a collective bargaining unit or
who are designated managerial or confidential pursuant to article
fourteen of the civil service law, at all times when so employed shall
be deemed to have satisfied the continuing education requirements of
this section, provided however that any such licensees who thereafter
leave such employment and enter the practice of professional engineering
in other capacities in New York, or otherwise engage in such practice,
shall satisfy the requirements of this section in such manner as shall
be prescribed by regulations of the commissioner.

(e) Professional geologists directly employed on a full-time basis by
the state of New York, its agencies, public authorities, public benefit
corporations or local governmental units prior to January first, two
thousand twenty-two and who are represented by a collective bargaining
unit or who are designated managerial or confidential pursuant to
article fourteen of the civil service law, at all times when so employed
shall be deemed to have satisfied the continuing education requirements
of this section, provided however that any such licensees who thereafter
leave such employment and enter the practice of professional geology in
other capacities in New York, or otherwise engage in such practice,
shall satisfy the requirements of this section in such manner as shall
be prescribed by regulations of the commissioner.

2. During each triennial registration period an applicant for
registration as a professional engineer and/or a professional geologist
shall complete a minimum of thirty-six hours of acceptable continuing
education and an applicant for registration as a land surveyor shall
complete a minimum of twenty-four hours of acceptable continuing
education as specified in subdivision four of this section. Any
professional geologist whose first registration date following the
effective date of the chapter of the laws of two thousand twenty which
amended this section occurs less than three years from such effective
date, but on or after January first, two thousand twenty-three, shall
complete continuing education hours on a prorated basis at the rate of
one hour per month for the period beginning January first, two thousand
twenty-two up to the first registration date thereafter. A licensee who
has not satisfied the mandatory continuing education requirements shall
not be issued a triennial registration certificate by the department and
shall not practice unless and until a conditional registration
certificate is issued as provided for in subdivision three of this
section. With the exception of continuing education hours taken during
the registration period immediately preceding the effective date of this
section, no more than six continuing education hours taken during one
triennium may be transferred to a subsequent triennium.

3. The department, in its discretion, may issue a conditional
registration to a licensee who fails to meet the continuing education
requirements established in subdivision two of this section but who
agrees to make up any deficiencies and complete any additional education
which the department may require. The fee for such a conditional
registration shall be the same as, and in addition to, the fee for the
triennial registration. The duration of such conditional registration
shall be determined by the department but shall not exceed one year. Any
licensee who is notified of the denial of registration for failure to
submit evidence, satisfactory to the department, of required continuing
education and who practices a licensed profession without such
registration, may be subject to disciplinary proceedings pursuant to
section sixty-five hundred ten of this title.

4. As used in subdivision two of this section, "acceptable continuing
education" shall mean courses of learning and educational activities in
architecture, engineering, interior design, land surveying, landscape
architecture and geology that may contribute to professional practice in
professional engineering, land surveying and/or geology and which meet
the standards prescribed by regulations of the commissioner. Completing
courses of learning and educational activities that fall within the
scope of practice of another licensed profession does not authorize the
licensed professional engineer, licensed land surveyor or licensed
professional geologist to lawfully practice a profession that they are
not authorized to practice as defined in sections seventy-two hundred
one, seventy-two hundred three and seventy-two hundred four of this
title. The department may, in its discretion and as needed to contribute
to the health and welfare of the public, require the completion of
continuing education courses in specific subjects.

5. Licensed professionals shall maintain adequate documentation of
completion of acceptable continuing education and educational activities
and shall provide such documentation at the request of the department.

6. The mandatory continuing education fee shall be forty-five dollars,
shall be payable on or before the first day of each triennial
registration period, and shall be paid in addition to the triennial
registration fees required by sections seventy-two hundred six,
seventy-two hundred six-a, and seventy-two hundred six-b of this
article.