An Act To Update the Licensing Laws for Occupational Therapy Practice
Maine Legislature, Session 129, LD 1716
Committee: Health Coverage, Insurance and Financial Services
Sponsors: MASTRACCIO
Amends: 32 MRSA §2271, 32 MRSA §2272, 32 MRSA §2276, 32 MRSA §2279, 32 MRSA §2281, 32 MRSA §2282, 32 MRSA §2283, 32 MRSA §2284, 32 MRSA §2285

Legislative Document
No. 1716
H.P. 1227
House of Representatives, May 14, 2019
An Act To Update the Licensing Laws for Occupational Therapy 
Practice
Submitted by the Department of Professional and Financial Regulation pursuant to Joint 
Rule 204.
Reference to the Committee on Health Coverage, Insurance and Financial Services 
suggested and ordered printed.
ROBERT B. HUNT
Clerk
Presented by Representative MASTRACCIO of Sanford.
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows:
Sec. 1.  32 MRSA §2271, as amended by PL 1997, c. 294, §1, is repealed.
Sec. 2.  32 MRSA §2272, sub-§4, as repealed and replaced by PL 1997, c. 294, 
§2, is amended to read:
4.  Certification examination.  "Certification examination" means the certification 
examination for a registered an occupational therapist or the certification examination for 
certified an occupational therapy assistant, both of which are administered by NBCOT.
Sec. 3.  32 MRSA §2272, sub-§5, as repealed and replaced by PL 1997, c. 294, 
§2, is repealed.
Sec. 4.  32 MRSA §2272, sub-§8, as repealed and replaced by PL 1997, c. 294, 
§2, is repealed.
Sec. 5.  32 MRSA §2272, sub-§8-A is enacted to read:
8-A.  Director. "Director" means the Director of the Office of Professional and 
Occupational Regulation within the department.
Sec. 6.  32 MRSA §2272, sub-§9, as enacted by PL 1997, c. 294, §2, is amended 
to read:
9.  Level II fieldwork.  "Level II fieldwork" means the experience required to 
prepare occupational therapy and occupation occupational therapy assistant students to 
carry out professional responsibilities under appropriate supervision and professional role 
modeling.
A minimum of 6 months, or 940 hours, of level II fieldwork is required for occupational 
therapy educational programs.
A minimum of 12 weeks, or 440 hours, of level II fieldwork is required for occupational 
therapy assistant educational programs.
Sec. 7.  32 MRSA §2272, sub-§12-A, as amended by PL 1999, c. 386, Pt. I, §1, is 
repealed.
Sec. 8.  32 MRSA §2272, sub-§§12-B and 12-C are enacted to read:
12-B.  Occupational therapy assistant. "Occupational therapy assistant" means an 
individual who has passed the certification examination of the NBCOT for an 
occupational therapy assistant or who was certified as an occupational therapy assistant 
prior to June 1977 and who is licensed to practice occupational therapy under this chapter 
in the State under the supervision of a licensed occupational therapist.
12-C.  Occupational therapy practitioner.  "Occupational therapy practitioner" 
means an individual who is licensed as an occupational therapist or an occupational 
therapy assistant.
Sec. 9.  32 MRSA §2272, sub-§14, as enacted by PL 1997, c. 294, §2, is amended 
to read:
14.  Supervision of OTA.  "Supervision of COTA OTA" means initial directions and 
periodic inspection of the service delivery and provision of relevant in-service training.  
The supervising licensed occupational therapist shall determine the frequency and nature 
of the supervision to be provided based on the clients' required level of care and the 
COTA's OTA's caseload, experience and competency.
Sec. 10.  32 MRSA §2276, sub-§1-A, as amended by PL 1999, c. 386, Pt. I, §2, is 
further amended to read:
1-A.  License required.  A person may not practice, or profess to be authorized to 
practice occupational therapy, as an occupational therapist or certified occupational 
therapy assistant in this State or use the words "occupational therapist," "registered 
licensed occupational therapist," "occupational therapy assistant" or "certified licensed 
occupational therapy assistant" or the letters "O.T.," "O.T.R.," "O.T.A.," "C.O.T.A." or 
other words or letters to indicate that the person using the words or letters is a licensed 
occupational therapist or certified licensed occupational therapy assistant, or that may 
misrepresent to the public that the person has received formalized training in the field of 
occupational therapy, unless that person is licensed in accordance with this chapter.
This subsection is not intended to prohibit occupational therapy students and occupational 
therapy assistant students completing fieldwork from using the letters "O.T.S." and 
"O.T.A.S." respectively.
Sec. 11.  32 MRSA §2279, sub-§1, as enacted by PL 1983, c. 746, §2, is repealed.
Sec. 12.  32 MRSA §2281, as amended by PL 2013, c. 217, Pt. J, §3, is further 
amended to read:
§2281.  Waiver of requirements for licensure
The board shall grant a license to any person who, prior to July 25, 1984, successfully 
completed an examination administered by the Psychological Corporation under contract 
with the American Occupational Therapy Certification Board if that person meets the 
requirements of section 2279, subsections 1 and subsection 3.
Sec. 13.  32 MRSA §2282, as amended by PL 2007, c. 402, Pt. L, §7, is repealed.
Sec. 14.  32 MRSA §2283, sub-§2-A is enacted to read:
2-A.  Inactive status.  An occupational therapy practitioner who is no longer actively 
practicing occupational therapy within this State may apply for inactive license status. 
The holder of an inactive license may not practice occupational therapy in the State. The 
holder of an inactive license must renew the license annually and pay the renewal fee as 
set under section 2285. An occupational therapist with an inactive license who wishes to 
reinstate that holder's license to active status must pay the license fee as set under section 
2285. An occupational therapy assistant with an inactive license who wishes to reinstate 
that holder's license to active status must pay the license fee as set under section 2285 and 
submit documentation of supervision from an occupational therapist licensed in this State 
on a form provided by the board.
Sec. 15.  32 MRSA §2283, sub-§3, as amended by PL 1991, c. 509, §17, is 
repealed.
Sec. 16.  32 MRSA §2284, sub-§2, as enacted by PL 1997, c. 294, §11, is 
repealed.
Sec. 17.  32 MRSA §2285, as repealed and replaced by PL 2007, c. 402, Pt. L, §10 
and amended by PL 2011, c. 286, Pt. B, §5, is further amended to read:
§2285.  Fees
The Director of the Office of Professional and Occupational Regulation within the 
department director may establish by rule fees for purposes authorized under this chapter 
in amounts that are reasonable and necessary for their respective purposes, except that the 
fee for any one purpose may not exceed $120.  Rules adopted pursuant to this section are 
routine technical rules pursuant to Title 5, chapter 375, subchapter 2-A.
Sec. 18.  Maine Revised Statutes headnote amended; revision clause.  In 
the Maine Revised Statutes, Title 32, chapter 32, in the chapter headnote, the words 
"occupational therapists" are amended to read "occupational therapy practice" and the 
Revisor of Statutes shall implement this revision when updating, publishing or 
republishing the statutes.
SUMMARY
This bill updates language in the laws governing occupational therapy practice, 
including occupational therapists and occupational therapy assistants, establishes an 
inactive license status for licensees and repeals the continuing education requirement for 
licensees.  The bill also repeals a residency provision for applicants and the character 
reference requirement for foreign-trained applicants.