The Texas Board of Veterinary Medical Examiners (Board) proposes new §571.60, concerning Expired Equine Dental Provider Licenses.

Proposed new §571.60 sets out how an equine dental provider licensee can go into and come out of expired status. The proposed new rule parallels §571.59, which sets the requirements for expired veterinary licenses. The Texas Legislature in House Bill (HB) 414, 82nd Legislative Session, gave the Board authority to license and regulate equine dental providers and did not exempt equine dental providers from the restriction under Texas Occupations Code §801.303 regarding expired licenses.

Proposed new §571.60 also includes a subsection allowing equine dental providers who are the spouses of active-duty members of the United States armed forces and who have been licensed in Texas within the preceding five years but whose licenses have been cancelled for failure to renew while the licensees lived in another state for at least six months to reinstate retired licenses without going before the Board. This proposal is intended to fulfill the mandate of Senate Bill (SB) 1733, 82nd Legislative Session, which requires that state agencies adopt rules for the issuance of licenses to licensees who have been licensed in Texas within the past five years but have allowed their licenses to expire while living in another state for six months and are spouses of active-duty members of the armed forces, with "alternative demonstrations of competency" to meet the requirements for obtaining the license. The Board has determined that allowing a military spouse meeting the requirements described above to return to licensure through a provisional license without having to go before the Board to petition for licensure is an appropriate "alternative demonstration of competency" in accordance with SB 1733.

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 rules. Moreover, Ms. Oria has determined that there will be no local employment impact as a result 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 rule 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 new rule, 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 pay licensing fees, and 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 anticipated public benefit of the proposed new rule 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 rule 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 new rule 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.

§571.60.Expired Equine Dental Provider Licenses.

(a) An equine dental provider's license expires on March 1 of each calendar year and is considered delinquent. On or before March 1, a licensee must renew an unexpired license, in writing, by paying the required fee and furnishing all information required by the Board for renewal.

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-201200374

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