ASPRS Membership Ratified
The full NCEES Council ratified an earlier NCEES Board action
approving ASPRS as a member of the Participating Organizations Liaison
Council (POLC). ASPRS now takes its place on the Council along with
American Congress on Surveying and Mapping, National Society of Professional
Surveyors (NSPS), American Society of Civil Engineers, and many other professional
organizations. I thanked the full Council, on behalf of ASPRS, for
allowing us to participate, and briefly explained the photogrammetric community’s
interest in the modifications outlined in the multi-organization Task Force
report. The report, which addressed several issues of concern to
photogrammetrists, was transmitted to NCEES in December 1997. NSPS
President Bob Prescott also addressed the full Council and strongly supported
the Task Force recommendations.
Savings Clause Passed
The full NCEES Council passed a motion to adopt a “Savings Clause”
as a part of the Model Law on Surveying. The “Savings Clause” is
the NCEES technical term for the “grandfather” language that protects those
currently practicing photogrammetric surveying when a given jurisdiction
(state) adopts the 1995 revised NCEES definition of surveying, which includes
photogrammetry. The language in the Savings Clause adopted by NCEES
is essentially identical to what the Task Force recommended, and accomplishes
all of the intent.
Nomenclature Discussed
The NCEES Surveying Forum discussed many of the recommendations
contained within the Task Force report, with little overall dissension.
Time did not permit a full elaboration of the report, as the discussion
became focused on the NCEES Uniform Practices and Legislative Guidelines
(UP&LG) Committee’s motion to remove the term “land” from “land surveying”
throughout the Model Law. The UP&LG Committee had recommended,
and the NCEES Board had endorsed, this action as the first step in addressing
the nomenclature concerns of the Task Force. It was designed to set
the stage for further work on a three-tier strategy recommended by the
Task Force (Surveying and Mapping Intern, Geomatics Professional, and Land
Surveyor).
There was clear resistance to the motion during the Surveying
Forum, although many who expressed concern also agreed that the overall
thrust the Task Force report’s recommendations were sound. Representatives
from North Carolina raised some of the strongest concerns.
They concentrated on the fact that the Model Law is both a “titling” act
(what the practice is to be called, and consequently what terms are off
limits for non-licensed individuals) and a “definition of practice” act
(which activities require licensure and which do not). Although the
Task Force made recommendations about both titling and the definition of
practice in its report, only the “definition of practice” was clearly addressed
by specific Task Force-recommended language changes to the Model Law.
The discussion continued during an informal meeting with representatives
from North Carolina, Virginia, and Kentucky. Given the legal ramifications,
and Board attorneys involved, it became clear that before the Council considers
additional changes to the Model Law, further work needs to be done to more
clearly address the “titling” language concerns expressed by the Board
attorneys. The UP&LG Committee motion was withdrawn from the
full Council debate until a later time. The full Council, consequently,
did not debate the motion to delete the term “land” from the Model Law.
UP&LG to Continue its Work
From follow-up discussions with NCEES President Andrew Liston,
I believe the UP&LG Committee will be charged to continue its work
with the Task Force report during the 1998-1999 work cycle. I anticipate
that UP&LG will work with the NCEES Law Enforcement Committee and the
Task Force on the three-tier approach. In addition, I believe the
Examinations for Professional Surveyors Committee will be charged to work
on the recommendations concerning the inclusion of photogrammetric practices
within the examination structure. Hopefully sufficient progress will
be made during this cycle to place additional proposed actions before the
full Council at its
Task Force on the NCEES Model Law for Surveying
Copyright © 1999 American Society
for Photogrammetry & Remote Sensing
5410 Grosvenor Lane, Suite 210, Bethesda, Maryland 20814-2160
http://www.asprs.org,
for assistance select here.
(19 January 1999)