Title 18 . Environmental Conservation

Chapter 74 . Administrative Enforcement

Section 50. Experience and education requirements

18 AAC 74.050. Experience and education requirements

(a) Except as provided in (f) and (g) of this section, the department will use the basic criteria set out in Table A of this section to evaluate an operator's qualifications.

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(b) Additional experience criteria referred to in Table A and used by the department to evaluate qualifications of operators are subject to the following provisions:

(1) if employed as an operator at the time of application, that employment experience must be verified by the employer's signature on the application; the operator is responsible for providing verification of past experience; the department will, in its discretion, contact the operator's previous employers;

(2) at least 50 percent of the operating experience, including direct responsible charge experience, must be obtained in the same system type at no more than one level lower than the level of certification requested; the department will not allow substitution of education or operating experience gained in another system type to meet the requirement of this paragraph;

(3) the department will issue a conditional level III certificate to allow a level II operator to accumulate direct responsible charge experience if the operator meets the level III examination and operating experience requirements and submits an application to the department; a conditional certificate is valid for one year after the operator passes the examination and may be renewed for a maximum of one year with department approval; a conditional certificate is valid only for the system the operator is operating at the time of application;

(4) the operator must document to the department the required direct responsible charge experience used to meet basic requirements and substitutions by using a department-approved affidavit; that affidavit must accompany the application for certification; and

(5) the department will consider a total of 1,950 or more hours worked during a period of 12 consecutive months as one year of experience; the department will prorate less than 1,950 hours worked during a period of 12 consecutive months to a portion of one year of experience.

(c) Except as provided in (b)(2) of this section, the department will allow substitutions for experience required in Table A only as follows:

(1) for level OIT certification, a department-approved college, correspondence, or short course completed within the three years before application may be substituted for experience and must be in the area of certification requested;

(2) water and wastewater treatment experience are interchangeable;

(3) water distribution and wastewater collection experience are interchangeable;

(4) the following are interchangeable at 10 percent:

(A) approved water and wastewater laboratory and water or wastewater treatment experience;

(B) wastewater collection and wastewater treatment experience;

(C) water distribution and water treatment experience;

(5) postsecondary education as described in (d) of this section may be substituted for up to 50 percent of the required operating experience for levels II, III, IV; the rate of exchange of education for experience is one year of experience for each year of department-approved, full-time postsecondary education successfully completed that meets the requirements of this section; and

(6) education substituted for an operating experience requirement may not also be applied to the education requirement for certification.

(d) Additional education criteria referred to in Table A and used by the department to evaluate qualifications of operators are subject to the following provisions:

(1) the operator must provide a transcript, a certificate of completion, or similar verification approved by the department to document education used for certification requirements;

(2) 45 continuing education units (CEU's) in specialized operator training or education approved by the department will be counted as one year of post-secondary education toward the certification requirements; 10 hours of coursework approved by the department equals on CEU; the department will approve specialized training or education coursework if it is directly related to, or can be applied to, the operation, maintenance, or management of a water supply or wastewater system; the department will consider the advice and recommendations of the board in approving this specialized training or coursework;

(3) the department will credit no more than 45 CEU's for one year of trade school; any time during trade school spent in on the job training will count toward the experience requirement separate from the education requirement;

(4) the department will apply a technical degree in physical science, biology, chemistry, physics, engineering, or another related field toward certification requirements; for example, a four-year biology degree will be counted as four years of post-secondary education toward the certification requirements, but a four-year English degree would not; and

(5) if approved by the department, the department will apply college or technical coursework in a non-related field toward certification requirements as calculated under (2) of this subsection.

(e) The department will allow substitutions for the minimum education requirements of Table A of this section only as follows:

(1) one year of accrued excess direct responsible charge experience may be used to satisfy a maximum of one year of the postsecondary education requirement for level III and level IV certification;

(2) one year of operating or direct responsible charge experience may be substituted for either two years of elementary school, or one year of high school education;

(3) experience substituted for an education requirement may not also be applied to the operating or direct responsible charge experience requirements;

(4) for certification of an operator in training (level OIT) and level I certification, the department will waive the minimum education requirements for an applicant who passes a written examination and an oral or practical examination.

(f) For an operator who is simultaneously supervising and operating more than one system type on an active, daily basis and has meet the education requirements of this chapter, the department will, in its discretion, and upon the recommendation of the board, approve a written request to grant full-time operating experience for each system type toward a level I or level II certification. A certificate issued under this subsection applies only to the system the operator is operating when examined. When an operator submits an application and meets the standard experience requirements of (a) - (e) of this section for each system type that the operator operates, the department will, in its discretion, upgrade the certificate to one that is transferable. The department will consider a request under this section only if the operator is a supervising operator of a system that is required to have a certified operator under this chapter. In reviewing a request under this subsection, the department will consider

(1) the complexity of the system types;

(2) whether the operator is supervising and in control of each system type;

(3) the percentage of time devoted to each system type;

(4) whether the simultaneous supervising and operating experience claimed was acquired at the system that the operator will be operating when examined;

(5) whether the operator has a minimum of

(A) one year of simultaneous operating experience toward a level I certification;

(B) three years of simultaneous operating experience toward a level II water or wastewater treatment certification; or

(C) four years of simultaneous operating experience toward a level II water distribution or wastewater collection certification;

(6) whether all other applicable requirements of this chapter have been met; and

(7) other relevant factors.

(g) A supervising operator may not claim direct responsible charge experience during the same period that another operator who is certified under this chapter has been designated to assume the supervising operator's duties.

History: Eff. 8/21/78, Register 67; am 8/24/85, Register 95; am 5/29/93, Register 126; am 1/18/2001, Register 157

Authority: AS 46.30.080