Texas Administrative Code › Title 22 - EXAMINING BOARDS › Part 39 - TEXAS BOARD OF PROFESSIONAL GEOSCIENTISTS › Chapter 851 - TEXAS BOARD OF PROFESSIONAL GEOSCIENTISTS LICENSING AND ENFORCEMENT RULES › Subchapter A - DEFINITIONS › Section 851.10 - Definitions

Current through Reg. 49, No. 28; July 12, 2024
The following words and terms, when used in this chapter,
					 have the following meanings, unless the context clearly indicates
					 otherwise:
(1) Act--Texas Occupations
				  Code, Chapter 1002, cited as the Texas Geoscience Practice Act.
(2) Accredited institutions or programs--An
				  institution or program which holds accreditation or candidacy status from an
				  accreditation organization recognized by the Council for Higher Education
				  Accreditation (CHEA) or other appropriate accrediting entity accepted by the
				  Appointed Board.
(3) Address of
				  record--In the case of an individual or Firm licensed, certified, or registered
				  by the Texas Board of Professional Geoscientists (TBPG), the address which is
				  filed by the licensee with the TBPG.
(4) Advertising or Advertisement--Any
				  non-commercial or commercial message, including, but not limited, to verbal
				  statements, bids, web pages, signage, provider listings, and paid advertisement
				  that promotes geoscience services.
(5) Applicant--An individual making
				  application for a Professional Geoscientist (P.G.) license or a
				  Geoscientist-in-Training (GIT) certification or a firm and/or the Authorized
				  Official of a Firm making application for a Geoscience Firm (Firm)
				  registration.
(6) Application--The
				  forms, information, attachments, and fees necessary to obtain a license as a
				  Professional Geoscientist, the registration of a Firm, or a certification as a
				  Geoscientist-in-Training (GIT).
(7)
				  Appointed Board--Those persons who are appointed by the Governor and confirmed
				  by the Senate and qualify for office who may deliberate, vote, and be counted
				  as a member in attendance of the Texas Board of Professional
				  Geoscientists.
(8)
				  ASBOG®--Association of State Boards of Geology. ASBOG® serves as a
				  connective link among the individual state geology regulatory boards for the
				  planning and preparation of uniform procedures and the coordination of geologic
				  protective measures for the general public. One of ASBOG® 's principal
				  services is to develop standardized written examinations for determining
				  qualifications of applicants seeking licensure as professional geologists.
				  State boards of registration are provided with uniform examinations that are
				  valid measures of competency related to the practice of the
				  profession.
(9) Authorized Official
				  of a Firm (AOF)--The individual designated by a Geoscience Firm to be
				  responsible for submitting the application to TBPG for the initial registration
				  of the Firm; ensuring that the Firm maintains compliance with the registration
				  requirements; ensuring that the Firm renews its registration status for as long
				  as the Firm offers or provides professional geoscience services; ensuring that
				  the designated geoscientist is a currently licensed P.G.; and communicating
				  with the TBPG regarding any matter.
(10) Board staff--The Executive Director and
				  all other staff employed by the Texas Board of Professional Geoscientists
				  (administrative, investigative, and other support staff, etc.).
(11) Cheating--Attempting to obtain,
				  obtaining, providing, or using answers to examination questions by deceit,
				  fraud, dishonesty, or deception.
(12) Complainant--Any individual who has
				  submitted a complaint to the TBPG, as provided in this chapter.
(13) Complaint--An allegation or allegations
				  of wrongful activity related to the practice or offering of professional
				  geoscience services in Texas. A complaint is within the TBPG's jurisdiction if
				  the complaint alleges a violation of statutes or rules applicable to the public
				  practice of geoscience or the requirements of licensure of a Professional
				  Geoscientist (P.G.) or registration by an individual, firm, or other legal
				  entity.
(14) Council of Soil
				  Scientist Examiners (CSSE)--The Council of Soil Science Examiners is a national
				  organization that creates, scores and maintains examinations for State Soil
				  Scientists regulatory programs. CSSE develops professional criteria to confirm
				  that individuals meet and exceed minimum qualifications to practice the
				  profession.
(15) Default--The
				  failure of the Respondent to respond in writing to a notice or appear in person
				  or by legal representative on the day and at the time set for hearing in a
				  contested case or informal conference, or the failure to appear by telephone,
				  e-mail, fax or other electronic media in accordance with the notice of hearing
				  or notice of informal conference. Default results in the actions being taken
				  that were described in the notice of the hearing for a contested case or
				  informal conference in the event of a failure to appear.
(16) Digital Signature--A digital
				  authentication attached to, or clearly associated with, an electronic document.
				  A digital signature that meets the requirements of board rules carries the same
				  weight, authority, and effects as an original signature.
(17) Direct supervision--Critical watching,
				  evaluating, and directing of geoscience activities with the authority to
				  review, enforce, and control compliance with all geoscience criteria,
				  specifications, and procedures as the work progresses. Direct supervision will
				  consist of an acceptable combination of: exertion of significant control over
				  the geoscience work, regular personal presence, reasonable geographic proximity
				  to the location of the performance of the work, and an acceptable employment
				  relationship with the supervised individual(s).
(18) Discipline--One of three recognized
				  courses of study under which an individual may qualify for a license as a
				  Professional Geoscientist. Geoscience is comprised of the following
				  disciplines: geology, geophysics, and soil science.
(19) Executive Director--The individual
				  appointed by the Appointed Board who shall be responsible for managing the day
				  to day affairs of the board, in accordance with the Act.
(20) Filed date--The date that the document
				  has been received by the TBPG or, if the document has been mailed to the TBPG,
				  the postmark date of the document.
(21) Geology--The discipline of geoscience
				  that addresses the science of the origin, composition, structure, and history
				  of the Earth and its constituent soils, rocks, minerals, fossil fuels, solids,
				  fluids and gases, and the study of the natural and introduced agents, forces,
				  and processes that cause changes in and on the Earth, and is applied with
				  judgment to develop ways to utilize, economically, those natural and introduced
				  agents, forces, and processes for the benefit of mankind. There are many
				  subdivisions of geology, which include, but are not limited to, the following:
				  historical geology, physical geology, economic geology, mineralogy,
				  paleontology, structural geology, mining geology, petroleum geology,
				  physiography, geomorphology, geochemistry, hydrogeology, petrography,
				  petrology, volcanology, stratigraphy, engineering geology, and environmental
				  geology.
(22) Geophysics--Refers to
				  that science which involves the study of the physical Earth by means of
				  measuring its natural and induced fields of force, and its responses to natural
				  and induced energy or forces, the interpretation of these measurements, applied
				  with judgment to benefit or protect the public.
(23) Geoscience--The science of the Earth and
				  its origin and history, the investigation of the Earth's environment and its
				  constituent soils, rocks, minerals, fossil fuels, solids, and fluids, and the
				  study of the natural and introduced agents, forces, and processes that cause
				  changes in and on the Earth as applied with professional judgment to develop
				  ways to utilize, those natural and introduced agents, forces, and processes for
				  the benefit of the public.
(24)
				  Geoscience Firm (Firm)--A firm, corporation, or other business entity that
				  engages in or offers to engage in the practice of professional geoscience
				  before the public in the State of Texas and that is registered by the board to
				  engage in the public practice of geoscience.
(25) Geoscience services (also professional
				  geoscience services, and professional geoscience)--Services that must be
				  performed by or under the direct supervision of a Professional Geoscientist and
				  that meet the definition of the practice of geoscience as defined in the Texas
				  Occupations Code, §
										1002.002(3).
				  A service shall be conclusively considered a professional geoscience service if
				  it is delineated in that section; other services requiring a Professional
				  Geoscientist by contract, or services where the adequate performance of that
				  service requires a geoscience education, training, or experience in the
				  application of special knowledge or judgment of the geological, geophysical or
				  soil sciences to that service shall also be conclusively considered a
				  professional geoscience service. These services may include consulting,
				  investigating, evaluating, analyzing, planning, mapping, and inspecting
				  geoscientific work, and the responsible supervision of those tasks.
(26) License--The legal authority granted the
				  holder to actively practice geoscience upon meeting the requirements as set out
				  in the Act and this chapter.
(27)
				  License certificate--Any certificate issued by the TBPG showing that a license,
				  registration, or certificate has been granted by the TBPG. A certificate is not
				  valid unless it is accompanied by a card issued by the TBPG that shows the
				  expiration date of the license, registration or certification.
(28) License status--The status of a
				  Professional Geoscientist license, Geoscience Firm registration, or GIT
				  certification is one of the following:
(A)
				  Current license--A license, registration, or certification that has not
				  expired.
(B) Expired license--A
				  Professional Geoscientist license that has been expired for less than three
				  years and is therefore renewable, or a Geoscience Firm registration or GIT
				  certification that has been expired for less than one year and is therefore
				  renewable.
(C) Permanently expired
				  license--A license, registration, or certification that is no longer
				  renewable.