To amend section 18VAC140-20-70 to allow persons who have failed the licensing examination to count their supervision hours beyond the two years currently prescribed.  The amendment would grandfather those applicants who do not meet current requirements for registration of supervision.

 In accordance with Virginia law, the petition was filed with the Register of Regulations and will be published on December 14, 2015 with a request for comment to be received until January 13, 2016.  The petition will also be posted for comment on the Virginia Regulatory Townhall at www.townhall.virginia.gov

At the next meeting held after the close of the comment period, scheduled for February 5, 2016, the Board will consider the petition and any comment received to decide whether or not to initiate the rule-making process.

At its meeting on March 25th, the Board considered the petition; there were two public comments received in support.  Following a lengthy discussion, the Board concluded that the petitioner's supervised experience was approved prior to initially sitting for the licensure examination.  While a person is required to re-apply if he/she does not pass the licensure examination within two years, regulation 18VAC140-20-70 specified a timeframe within which supervised experience that was not pre-registered and approved could be accepted.  Therefore, the Board does not believe an amendment to regulation is necessary to accomplish the request and has declined to initiate rulemaking.