MALSCE Government Affairs Update - February 2022

by Abbie Goodman, MALSCE Chief of External Affairs

MALSCE Government Affairs Update - February 2022

MassDOT Directive E-21-005: Subsurface Utility Engineering (SUE) Issued 12/21/2022

Effective immediately, all new projects approved by the Project Review Committee (PRC) and
anticipated to involve subsurface utility relocations shall include scope and workhour provisions
for the completion of Subsurface Utility Engineering (SUE) Level B during the project design
phase. This requirement applies to all new projects, regardless of whether MassDOT, a
municipality or another entity is responsible for funding the design.
Once the design commences, the District Utility and Constructability Engineer (DUCE) will
determine whether SUE Level B is required upon their initial review of the project. Preferably,
all required SUE Level B work will be performed at the pre-25% or 25% design stage. 

MassDOT Highway Issues 2022 (Updated 2/11/22)Standard Specifications:

• 2022 Edition of the Standard Specs for Highways and Bridges 
• More Information  

Still ongoing: Workforce Participation Goal Requirements: Issues related reporting for design professionals to Workforce Participation Goal Requirements under M.G.L. c. 149, § 44A(2)(G), which states that all contracts by a state agency or state-assisted contracts for design, construction, reconstruction, installation, demolition, maintenance, or repair must contain workforce participation goals for minorities and women.

• DCAMM has drafted some contact language on this issue, which ACEC/MA and AIA MA are seeking to clarify to try for consistency in reporting for all public agency contracts for design professionals, including municipal contracts.
• Separate issues: MBTA DEI criteria; Designer Selection Board DEI criteria

PPP /FAR Credits issue and Federal Infrastructure Bills:

Summary: ACEC supports a simple fix to clarify that the FAR credits clause will not apply to PPP loans: Principal amounts of qualifying loans forgiven pursuant to the provisions of Section 1106 of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (Pub. L. 116-136) shall not be considered income, a rebate, allowance, or other credit received by or accruing to a contractor under 48 CFR 31.201-5. The House of Representatives approved an amendment to the annual NDAA bill that would provide a narrowly targeted waiver of the FAR credits clause as it applies to forgiven PPP loans on State DOT and local transit agency contracts.

ACEC is working to have corrective language in a Senate appropriations bills expected to come to the floor in February. ACEC/MA shares this information with MALSCE as a courtesy.

IIJA: President Biden signed into law the $1.2T Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act of 2021 (H.R. 3694 https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2021/11/06/fact-sheet-the-bipartisan-infrastructure-deal/

• Massachusetts Transportation Fact Sheet: https://www.transportation.gov/sites/dot.gov/files/2021-11/Bipartisan_Infrastructure_Law_Massachusetts.pdf
• 40% of the funding is directed to competitive grants programs for which MassDOT and other public agencies will have to compete. Expect some regulatory processes and grants processes over the next year or so

DOER Releases Straw Proposal for Stretch Code Update and New Specialized Stretch Code; Department of Energy Resources Rolls Out New Energy Code Changes; 

Opt-In Net-Zero Code To Be In Place By End Of 2022 https://www.acecma.org/about/news/doer-releases-straw-proposal-for-stretch-code-update-and-new-specialized-stretch-code-4141

Division of Occupational Licensure: Board of Registration of Professional Engineers and Professional Land Surveyors

The next Board of Registration meeting will be March 24, 2022, on Teams. The Board of Registration plans to continue virtual meetings for now, as the Governor and Legislature have extended the law allowing virtual public meetings like this to continue through July 15, 2022. To connect to the meeting, go to this page and scroll down to the meeting listing  to download the agenda with connection instructions.

The PE and PLS  Board does not currently have an Executive Director so Esther Laine, Deputy Commissioner of Boards, will be filling in until the position is filled.

February 24, 2022 Meeting Summary: these are not minutes, but a summary of what I heard.

Chair Paul Tyrell opened the meeting at 9:04AM and did a safety moment about using caution when shoveling snow.

The Board reviewed the minutes of the January 27 Open Meeting.

The next Meeting Date will be  March 24, 2022.

April 2022 JP Exam will be on April 21, 2022 at a location in Boston being confirmed by PCS

LS – JP Exam Review / Subcommittee  is sending a message to PCS about next steps in converting the exam to computer based testing.

Application Review Parameters: no report

FAQ Regarding PE Certification of Site Plan Revision: the board discussed a draft of this document and plans to meet again to clarify several issues before bringing it back to the board at the March 24 meeting

Breakdown of Current EN/LS Licenses by Discipline:  the Board reviewed the chart on licensing data that Abbie Goodman from TECET created in 2003 to review the long list of license types for Professional Engineers in Massachusetts. The chart is here. 

More information on this page.

Note: NCEES only offers the P.E. exam in these categories: Agricultural and Biological Engineering, Architectural Engineering, Chemical, Civil, Control Systems, Electrical and Computer, Environmental, Fire Protection, Industrial and Systems, Mechanical, Metallurgical and Materials, Mining and Mineral Processing, Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering, Nuclear, Petroleum, Structural (structural is a 16 hour exam). Other engineers may be licensed due to comity from other states or because they were licensed at an earlier time when other types of exams were accepted. More information here: https://ncees.org/engineering/pe/

Board Counsel Legal Report from Jenna Hentoff, who was joined by Division of Occupational Licensing General Counsel Clinton Dick

• Local Registered Engineering Licenses – Swansea – still working on this
• Status update on proposed Continuing Professional Competency (CPC) regulations- still working on this
• Joint Policy on Professional Practice – still working on this.

Executive Director Report (given by Eric Funk for Esther Laine, Deputy Commissioner of Boards who is acting as Executive Director while a search is underway:

• NCEES Enforcement Exchange: Eric doesn’t have full access to the emails on this, but is working on it.

The public meeting ended at 10:30 AM

January 27, 2022 Meeting Summary: these are not minutes, but a summary of what I heard.

Chair Paul Tyrell opened the meeting at 9:04 AM. The Board reviewed the minutes of the November 18, 2021 Open Meeting.   

Azu Etoniru express interest in running for NCEES Northeast Zone Secretary. Board passed a motion to send letter of support. NCEES will have an April 2022 Regional Meeting

Joyce Hastings provided the Board with the Jurisprudence Exam Education Sub Committee report on the October 2021 exam results. This was the second administration of the exam since the reduction in the number of exam questions from 50 to 40. The subcommittee’s recommendation was to set the passing rate at 70%.

There were ten (10) exam takers. Six (6) of the 10 exam takers were Massachusetts residents and two (2) of the 10 were first time takers of the exam. Of the ten (10) exam takers, five (5) achieved a passing score of at least 70%.

Ronald Willey motioned to accept the recommendation of the subcommittee, seconded by Kenneth Anderson. Motion passed with a vote of 9-0

Spring exams: The Structural exam will be offered at one site in New England, probably in Hartford in April. PCS will hold the PLS exam in one location in the Boston area, to be announced.

The Board subcommittee on converting the PLS pencil and paper exam to computer based testing has not met recently, but will meet in February.

Jenna Hentoff gave the Board Counsel’s report:

• Swansea Board of Health’s proposal for “local licensure.” She stated that she was finishing up her research and would be providing an update to General Counsel Clinton Dick and would report back to the Board when an update was available.
• No update on Continuing Education
• Dan Walsh at the Board of Building Regulations and Standards (BBRS) was sent a copy of the draft language in “Professional Practice, A Guide to the Practice of Architecture, Engineering, and Land Surveying in Massachusetts” and he provided his feedback. She further stated that she would discuss with AR Board Counsel Lynn Read.
• Board expressed concern about the ongoing delay in resolving these issues.

The public meeting ended at 9:30 AM

Legislature and related

Baker-Polito Administration Files Fiscal Year 2022 Supplemental Budget: Includes an additional $100 million for Chapter 90 on top of the regular $200 million

On 2/18/22, the Baker-Polito Administration filed a FY2022 Supplemental Budget (H4479) which includes an additional $100 million in Chapter 90 funds, $100 million for municipalities to repair roads from winter damage, and $150 million in supplemental grants to fund community climate change and resiliency initiatives. These funds, along with the other funding in the supplemental budget, must still proceed through the legislative process in the House and Senate.

The press release from the Governor’s Office is here: https://www.mass.gov/news/baker-polito-administration-files-fiscal-year-2022-supplemental-budget

The full bill is here: https://malegislature.gov/Bills/192/H4479

S. 2293, An Act supporting safe excavation practices  https://malegislature.gov/Bills/192/S2293 had a virtual hearing before the Joint Committee on Transportation on 1/25/2022.  Abbie Goodman testified on behalf of MALSCE and ACEC/MA.

• MALSCE Letter of Support from MALSCE President J. Dan Bremser, PLS, submitted to Joint Committee on Transportation

H.3297,  An Act supporting safe excavation practices https://malegislature.gov/Bills/192/H3297  had a virtual hearing before the Joint Committee on Telecommunications, Utilities and Energy on 11/02/2021 from 1:00 - 5:00 PM. Ken Conte testified on behalf of MALSCE and ACEC/MA. Here is the written testimony submitted by MALSCE President Dan Bremser in support of this bill.  On 1/24/22, this bill reported favorably by committee and referred to the committee on House Steering, Policy and Scheduling

FY 2023 State Budget: Governor Charlie Baker released his FY2023 budget in late January 2022. Next, the House will craft a proposal, followed by the Senate, and later a compromise version to be sent to the Governor, ideally before June 30, 2022. 

ARPA Spending in Massachusetts: The Legislature still has $2.3B of American Rescue Plan Act dollars to allocate. The Legislature sent Governor Baker a $4B spending plan late last year that used $2.55B of the state's share of ARPA dollars.

Mechanical Engineer Sought for Board of Building Regulations and Standards (BBRS):  https://www.engineers.org/about/news/board-of-building-regulations-and-standards-seeks-mechanical-pe-for-board-service-3105