PROPOSED RULEMAKING
STATE BOARD OF FUNERAL DIRECTORS
[49 PA. CODE CH. 13]
Continuing Education
[33 Pa.B. 4569] The State Board of Funeral Directors (Board) proposes to amend §§ 13.12 and 13.231 (relating to fees; and biennial registration; unregistered status and inactive status; failure to renew) and to add §§ 13.401--13.406 (relating to continuing education) to read as set forth in Annex A.
Effective date
The proposed rulemaking will be effective upon publication of the final-form rulemaking in the Pennsylvania Bulletin.
Statutory Authority
The proposed rulemaking is authorized under sections 10(b) and 16(a) of the Funeral Director Law (act) (63 P. S. §§ 479.10(b) and 479.16(a)).
Background and Need for the Proposed Rulemaking
The act of June 22, 2000 (P. L. 376, No. 48) required the Board to adopt regulations implementing continuing education for licensed funeral directors.
Description of the Proposed Rulemaking
The proposed rulemaking will require licensed funeral directors to successfully complete 6 hours of continuing education each biennial renewal period, beginning with the 2004-06 biennial renewal period. Upon application for renewal, each licensee will provide verification of successful completion of the required continuing education. The Board may require documentary proof of successful completion. The Board will not renew the license of a licensee who did not complete the required continuing education prior to the renewal date; upon completion of continuing education, the Board may then renew that license.
In addition, the proposed rulemaking provides for approval by the Board of providers of courses of continuing education, including limited approval for specific courses. Without additional review, the Board will approve any provider currently approved by the Conference of Funeral Service Examining Boards or the American Board of Funeral Service Education or by the licensing authority of Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, Ohio or West Virginia. Approval of a provider is considered to include approval of each course offered by the provider. The Board may deny approval of any course whose provider has failed to or is unable to comply with the provider responsibilities of the proposed rulemaking and the Board may withdraw approval where the applicant has made material misstatements in the application.
The proposed rulemaking also provides for the payment of a fee for application for approval of a provider or course. Because the fees are set to enable the Board to recover the cost of providing the service of application review and approval, the fee for approval of a course or provider that is already approved by one or more of the identified bodies ($50) is lower than the fee for full review ($100). Additionally, provider or course approval registration is subject to biennial renewal and a fee ($50) will be charged for renewal. In general, renewal fees are set at an amount sufficient to fund the entire operations of a licensing board and to spread that cost out over all licensees. However, providers of continuing education are not licensees, and the total cost of all Board operations cannot fairly be imposed on continuing education providers as well as funeral directors and other licensees. Because the Board has not previously required continuing education, there is no historical basis upon which the Board could estimate its total cost associated with continuing education. Therefore, the fee to renew registration of approval as a continuing education provider is set at the same amount as the lower fee for initial application for approval, which would also be consistent with the cost of processing the renewal.
Under the proposed rulemaking, each provider will be required to disclose to prospective attendees in advance the objective, content, teaching method and number of hours of continuing education credit, to open the course to licensees, to provide adequate physical facilities, to provide accurate instructional materials, to employ qualified instructors and to evaluate the program. Each provider will also be required to provide to each attendee a record of the continuing education, including the participant's name, the dates of the program, the name of the program, the provider's name and the number of continuing education credits.
The proposed rulemaking does not address the issue of a waiver of continuing education, because section 10(b)(4) of the act adequately addresses this issue.
Finally, the proposed rulemaking will permit demonstration of embalming techniques as part of a program of continuing education, so long as it is approved in advance by the Board and performed by a licensed funeral director.
Fiscal Impact and Paperwork Requirements
The Board will track compliance by licensees with the required continuing education. Also, the Board will review and approve providers of courses of continuing education. The proposed rulemaking will have no other adverse fiscal impact on the Commonwealth or its political subdivisions. The proposed rulemaking will impose no other additional paperwork requirements upon the Commonwealth, political subdivisions or the private sector.
Sunset Date
The Board continuously monitors the cost effectiveness of its regulations. Therefore, no sunset date has been assigned.
Regulatory Review
Under section 5(a) of the Regulatory Review Act (71 P. S. § 745.5(a)), on September 3, 2003, the Board submitted a copy of this proposed rulemaking and a copy of a Regulatory Analysis Form to the Independent Regulatory Review Commission (IRRC) and to the Chairpersons of the Senate Consumer Protection and Professional Licensure Committee and the House Professional Licensure Committee. A copy of this material is available to the public upon request.
Under section 5(g) of the Regulatory Review Act, IRRC may convey any comments, recommendations or objections to the proposed rulemaking within 30 days of the close of the public comment period. The comments, recommendations or objections shall specify the regulatory review criteria which have not been met. The Regulatory Review Act specifies detailed procedures for review, prior to final publication of the rulemaking, by the Board, the General Assembly and the Governor of comments, recommendations or objections raised.
Public Comment
Interested persons are invited to submit written comments, suggestions or objections regarding the proposed rulemaking to Michelle Smey, Administrative Officer, State Board of Funeral Directors, P. O. Box 2649, Harrisburg, PA 17105-2649 within 30 days of publication of this proposed rulemaking in the Pennsylvania Bulletin. Reference No. 16A-489 (Continuing Education) when submitting comments.
JAMES O. PINKERTON, FD,
ChairpersonFiscal Note: 16A-489. No fiscal impact; (8) recommends adoption.
Annex A
TITLE 49. PROFESSIONAL AND VOCATIONAL STANDARDS
PART I. DEPARTMENT OF STATE
Subpart A. PROFESSIONAL AND OCCUPATIONAL AFFAIRS
CHAPTER 13. STATE BOARD OF FUNERAL DIRECTORS
LICENSURE § 13.12. Fees.
Following is the schedule of fees charged by the Board:
* * * * *
Application for continuing education course with approval in other jurisdiction $50 Application for continuing education course without approval in other jurisdiction $100 Application for continuing education provider with approval in other jurisdiction $50 Application for continuing education provider without approval in other jurisdiction $100 Renewal of registration of continuing education provider or course registration $50
LICENSE RENEWAL § 13.231. Biennial registration; unregistered status and inactive status; failure to renew.
(a) A licensee shall register each biennial period to retain the right to practice. Initial registration shall automatically occur when a license is issued. Registration for a biennial period expires on the first day of February of every even numbered year. The Board will grant an application for renewal of a funeral director license only when the licensee has certified that the licensee has completed the amount of continuing education required by § 13.401 (relating to credit hour requirements). If requested by the Board, an application for renewal shall also include the documentation required by § 13.402 (relating to reporting completion of continuing education).
* * * * * (d) A licensee whose licensure status has lapsed by failing to register biennially with the Board may apply to the Board for reactivation of licensure status by satisfying the requirements of paragraph (1) on forms prescribed by the Board. An application for reactivation of an inactive or lapsed funeral director license shall also include the documentation required by § 13.402.
* * * * *
CONTINUING EDUCATION § 13.401. Credit hour requirements.
(a) During each biennial renewal period, a licensed funeral director shall complete 6 hours of continuing education. This provision does not require a funeral director to complete continuing education during the renewal period in which the funeral director is first issued a license.
(b) A funeral director who has not completed the required continuing education during one or more renewal periods may complete the required continuing education subsequent to the applicable biennial renewal period. However, unless excused by the Board for good cause under section 10(b)(4) of the act (63 P. S. § 479.10(b)(4)), the Board will not renew or reactivate any funeral director license until all continuing education required prior to the current biennial renewal period has been successfully completed.
(c) The requirement of subsection (a) will take effect, beginning with the biennial renewal period of February 1, 2004--January 31, 2006.
§ 13.402. Reporting completion of continuing education.
(a) In general, proof of completion of a course of continuing education shall consist of a certified continuing education record, as defined in § 13.405(b) (relating to provider responsibilities).
(b) A licensed funeral director for whom the Board has not been provided certified continuing education records sufficient to comply with § 13.401 (relating to credit hour requirements) shall otherwise demonstrate completion of courses of continuing education.
§ 13.403. Credit for approved continuing education.
(a) Credit for continuing education will be granted only for courses that have been approved in advance by the Board.
(b) Approval will not extend to any course for which continuing education credit is precluded by section 10 of the act (63 P. S. § 479.10) (regarding expiration of licenses; renewal; continuing education).
(c) The Board will be deemed to have approved any course of continuing education provided by a provider of continuing education that is approved by the Board.
§ 13.404. Approval of continuing education courses or providers.
(a) Anyone, to include any college, university, school, association, professional society and organization, seeking approval to offer continuing education shall apply for approval on forms provided by the Board and shall fully provide the information required by those application forms for the Board to fulfill its duties under this section. The application shall include payment of the fee required under § 13.12 (relating to fees).
(b) The Board will approve without further review any course or provider of continuing education that is approved by one or more of the following:
(1) Conference of Funeral Service Examining Boards.
(2) Delaware Board of Funeral Services.
(3) Maryland Board of Morticians.
(4) State Board of Mortuary Science of New Jersey.
(5) New York Department of Health, Bureau of Funeral Directors.
(6) Ohio Board of Embalmers and Funeral Directors.
(7) West Virginia Board of Embalmers and Funeral Directors.
(8) American Board of Funeral Service Education.
(c) The Board will approve without further review any course or provider of continuing education that is approved by the appropriate licensing authority of one or more jurisdictions other than those listed in subsection (b). The Board will grant credit for a course of continuing education that has been approved under this subsection only for those licensees who are also licensed by the appropriate licensing authority in another jurisdiction that previously approved the course or provider.
(d) The Board may deny approval of a provider or course of continuing education when the applicant has previously failed or is not currently able to comply with § 13.405 (relating to provider responsibilities). The Board may approve in part and deny in part an application for approval of a provider or course.
(e) The Board may terminate its prior approval of a provider or program of continuing education when the applicant made one or more false or misleading material statements on the application. The Board may also terminate in part or in whole its prior approval of a provider or program when it is later determined that the Board has grounds to deny approval in accordance with this section.
§ 13.405. Provider responsibilities.
(a) For each course of continuing education, the provider shall:
(1) Disclose in advance to prospective attendees the objectives, content, teaching method and number of hours of continuing education credit.
(2) Open each course to all licensees.
(3) Provide adequate physical facilities for the number of anticipated participants and the teaching methods to be used.
(4) Provide accurate instructional materials.
(5) Employ qualified instructors who are knowledgeable in the subject matter.
(6) Evaluate the program through the use of questionnaires of the participants and instructors.
(7) Issue a certified continuing education record to each participant.
(8) Retain attendance records, written outlines and a summary of evaluations for 5 years.
(b) Each continuing education record must include:
(1) The name of the participant.
(2) The dates of the program.
(3) The name of the program.
(4) The provider's name.
(5) The number of hours of continuing education credit.
§ 13.406. Demonstration of embalming techniques.
(a) With prior approval of the Board, embalming of human remains to demonstrate techniques during a program of continuing education will not be considered to be the practice of funeral directing at an establishment not authorized by the Board.
(b) Only a licensed funeral director may demonstrate embalming techniques at a program of continuing education in this Commonwealth.
[Pa.B. Doc. No. 03-1791. Filed for public inspection September 12, 2003, 9:00 a.m.]
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