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.
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