The Texas Board of Veterinary Medical Examiners (Board) proposes an amendment to §571.1, concerning Definitions.
The amendment to §571.1 adds to and changes the definitions of defined words used in Chapter 571 as necessary to include equine dental providers as licensees. These amendments are necessitated by House Bill (HB) 414, 82nd Legislative Session, which gave the Board the authority to license and regulate equine dental providers, and required that the Board administer a jurisprudence examination to candidates for equine dental provider licensure under Texas Occupations Code §801.261 and §801.264.
Nicole Oria, Executive Director, has determined that for each year of the first five years that the proposed rule is in effect, there will be minimal increased cost to state government required to conduct licensing examinations and review licensing applications for the newly licensed equine dental providers. The increased cost to the state required to enforce the rules for licensed equine dental providers will be offset by the reduction in the costs the Board previously spent on enforcing the unlicensed practice of veterinary medicine by unlicensed equine dentists. Ms. Oria does not anticipate any fiscal implications for local government as a result of the proposed rule. Moreover, Ms. Oria has determined that there will be no local employment impact as a result of adoption of the proposed rule.
Ms. Oria has determined that equine dental providers, including micro-businesses operating as equine dental provider practices, will incur minor economic costs associated with complying with the proposed rule for each of the first five years that the rule is in effect, due to the costs associated with the fees and time required to take the Board's jurisprudence examination for equine dental providers, but the legal employment and advertising opportunities that come with licensure should outweigh these costs. The Board estimates that there are approximately 30 equine dental provider micro-businesses in Texas. The proposed rules regarding equine dental providers are necessary to implement HB 414, which required that equine dental providers be licensed and regulated by the Board. In HB 414, the Texas Legislature itself set many of the parameters that are creating costs for equine dental providers under the proposed rule revisions including, but not limited to, the requirement that equine dental providers licensed after September 1, 2012 take a jurisprudence examination prior to licensure. Thus, the Board determined that there are no legal and feasible alternatives or other less expensive methods of regulating equine dental providers without requiring them to take a jurisprudence examination and incur the resulting costs.
Ms. Oria has also determined that for each year of the first five years the rule is in effect, the public benefit anticipated as a result of the proposed revisions is that the public will be able to rely on the training and quality of service from the regulation of licensed equine dental providers.
The Texas Board of Veterinary Medical Examiners invites comments on the proposed amendment from any member of the public. A written statement should be mailed or delivered to Loris Jones, Texas Board of Veterinary Medical Examiners, 333 Guadalupe, Suite 3-810, Austin, Texas 78701-3942, by facsimile (FAX) to (512) 305-7574, or by e-mail to vet.board@tbvme.state.tx.us. Comments will be accepted for 30 days following publication in the Texas Register.
The amendment is proposed under the authority of the Veterinary Licensing Act, Occupations Code, §801.151(a), which states that the Board may adopt rules necessary to administer the chapter, and §801.151(e), which states that the Board shall adopt rules to implement a jurisprudence examination for licensed equine dental providers.
Texas Occupations Code, Chapter 801, is affected by this proposal.
§571.1.Definitions.
The following words and terms, when used in the Veterinary Licensing Act (Chapter 801, Texas Occupations Code) or the Rules of the Board (Texas Administrative Code, Title 22, Part 24, Chapters 571 - 577) shall have the following meaning:
(1) Board--the Texas Board of Veterinary Medical Examiners.
(2) EDPE--Equine Dental Provider Examination.
(3) [(2)] Locally derived scaled
score--the equivalent of the criterion referenced passing point for
the national examination or the NAVLE.
(4) [(3)] Name on license--licenses
will be issued to successful applicants in the name of the individual
as it appears on the birth certificate, court order, marriage license,
or documentation of naturalization.
(5) [(4)] National Board of
Veterinary Medical Examiners (NBVME)--the organization responsible
for producing, administering and scoring the NAVLE.
(6) [(5)] National examination--the
examination in existence and effective prior to the inauguration date
of the NAVLE and which consists of the national board examination
(NBE) and the clinical competency test (CCT).
(7) [(6)] North American Veterinary
Licensing Examination (NAVLE)--the examination which replaced the
national examination in the year 2000.
(8) [(7)] Passing Score--an
examination score of at least 75 percent on the national examination
and NAVLE which is based on a locally derived scaled score, and an
examination score of at least 85 percent on either the
SBE or the EDPE. The examination score on
either the SBE or the EDPE is valid for one year past the date of
the examination.
(9) [(8)] SBE--State Board Examination.
(10) [(9)] School or college
of veterinary medicine--a school or college of veterinary medicine
that is approved by the Board and accredited by the Council on Education
of the American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA). Applicants
who are graduates of a school or college of veterinary medicine not
accredited by the Council on Education of the AVMA are eligible provided
that the applicant presents satisfactory proof to the Board that the
applicant is a graduate of a school or college of veterinary medicine
and possesses an Educational Commission for Foreign Veterinary Graduates
(ECFVG) certificate or a Program for Assessment of Veterinary Education
Equivalence (PAVE) certificate.
This agency hereby certifies that the proposal has been reviewed by legal counsel and found to be within the agency's legal authority to adopt.
Filed with the Office of the Secretary of State on January 26, 2012.
TRD-201200359
Loris Jones
Executive Assistant
Texas Board of Veterinary Medical Examiners
Earliest possible date of adoption: March 11, 2012
For further information, please call: (512) 305-7563