Does state provide a license: Yes
Current Active Licensees
| Title | Licensees |
|---|---|
| Geologist | 225 |
| Soil Scientist | 57 |
License: Professional Geologist
Exam Entity: ASBOG
Licensing Board: Board of Certification for Geologists and Soil Scientists
Licensing Board Website: https://www.maine.gov/pfr/professionallicensing/professions/geologists/index.html
Degree required:
Majors accepted:
Courses required:
Courses accepted:
Geology credits required: 30
Credit information: The applicant must be a graduate of an accredited college or university with a major in geological sciences, or have completed thirty (30) credits in geological sciences at an accredited college or university, or have at least seven (7) years of professional geological work that shall include either a minimum of three (3) years of professional geological work under the supervision of a qualified geologist or a minimum of five (5) years of responsible charge of geological work.
Education Notes: See the state regulations for a complete explanation of the education requirements for licensure.
Years of experience required: 7
Experience credits needed: 2
Experience information: An undergraduate degree with 30 credit hours or more in geological science courses counts as 2 years of training and each year of graduate study in the geological sciences counts as 1/2 year of training, up to a maximum of 2 years of credit
Continuing education requirements: No
Geologist in Training license available: No
Can take Fundamentals of Geology test before graduation: Yes
Fundamentals of Geology test details: The rules, regulations and board website do not specifically address taking the FG examination before degree completion. The regulations state that to qualify, the applicant must have completed 30 credits in geological sciences at an accredited college or university.
Legal Code Reference for GIT, FG: 32 M.R.S.A. § 4909
Most registration and licensure systems include structural approaches to review both the need and operational effectiveness of the process.
Some states provide formal sunset evaluation processes for their licensure programs. Many also include a periodic audit process of the licensure program/agency, which can range from cursory financial reviews to comprehensive evaluation of program effectiveness.
The audit process is often leveraged when political pressure is applied to eliminate geologist licensure, so awareness of the history and codes for audits and sunset evaluations is critical to montioring the health of the licensure within the state.
Current modes for sunsetting evaluation: Both sunset review and audit
License subject to sunset review: No
License subject to audit review: Yes
Current law to establish new licensure board: Yes
Sunset regulation name: Legislative Oversight of Government Agencies and Programs
Sunset statute: Maine Revised Statutes, Title 3. Legislature, Chapter 37. Legislative Oversight of Government Agencies and Programs.
Sunset statute reference: http://www.mainelegislature.org/legis/statutes/3/title3ch37sec0.html
Sunset committee: Office of Program Evaluation and Government Accountability (OPEGA) and Government Oversight Committee (GOC)
Sunset committee website: https://mainelegislature.org/opega/
Sunset duration: No schedule identified.
Sunset notes: OPEGA individual reports listed from 2005 through 2019. From the OPEGA 2018 Annual Report: Another eight of the unaddressed recommendations were made to the Legislature in OPEGA’s 2008 report on State Boards, Committees, Commissions and Councils. While individual legislators have expressed interest in addressing some of the issues raised from time to time, there has been no formalized or concerted effort to address the report – likely because jurisdiction for these Boards is split among a number of different joint standing committees and the level of State funding to these entities is typically minimal.
Other sunset references: How OPEGA supports legislative oversight
Other sunset references website: https://mainelegislature.org/doc/2249
Auditor name: Office of the State Auditor
Auditor website: https://www.maine.gov/audit/
Audit notes: Licensing boards do not appear to be audited individually by the State Auditor. See sunset information.
| Year | Action | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 1973 | Practice regulation | The Board of Certification for Geologists and Soil Scientists was created. |
| 1977 | Sunset law created | The Maine sunset law was created by L.D. 1206 of 1977 under Title 3, Chapter 23. Justification of State Government Programs. The law provided for the termination of over 60 agencies, primarily regulatory and licensing agencies, from 1980 to 1990, and created the joint Performance Audit Committee. |
| 1979 | Sunset law amended | Sections of the Maine sunset law were amended. |
| 1989 | Sunset law repealed | The Maine sunset law was repealed (1989, c. 483, §A3). |
| 1989 | Sunset law created | The Maine sunset law was created under Title 3, Chapter 33. Justification of State Government Programs. |
| 1993 | Sunset law amended | The Maine sunset law, Title 3, Chaper 33 was amended (c. 714, §1 ). |
| 1995 | Sunset law repealed | The Maine sunset law , Title 3, Chapter 33 was repealed c. 488, §1). |
| 1997 | Sunset law created | Sunset rules were created for state boards under Title 5 Chapter 379 Subchapter 2, Organization and Operation §12015. New boards. |
| 2001 | Sunset law created | The Maine sunset law was created under Title 3, Chapter 39. Legislative Oversight of Government Agencies and Programs. |
| 2003 | Sunset law created | The Office of Program Evaluation and Government Accountability (OPEGA) was created. |
| 2008 | Sunset review | OPEGA published a report on State Boards, Committees, Commissions and Councils. |
| 2019 | The Geologist and Soil Scientist Licensing Laws were updated by House Bill (HB) 1754, introduced in May 2019 and passed in June 2019. |