51 N.J.R. 938(a)

VOLUME 51, ISSUE 12, JUNE 17, 2019
RULE PROPOSALS

Reporter
51 N.J.R. 938(a)
NJ - New Jersey Register  >  2019  >  JUNE  >  JUNE 17, 2019  >  RULE PROPOSALS  >  LAW AND PUBLIC SAFETY -- DIVISION OF CONSUMER AFFAIRS

Interested Persons Statement

INTERESTED PERSONS

Interested persons may submit comments, information or arguments concerning any of the rule proposals in this issue until the date indicated in the proposal. Submissions and any inquiries about submissions should be addressed to the agency officer specified for a particular proposal.

The required minimum period for comment concerning a proposal is 30 days. A proposing agency may extend the 30-day comment period to accommodate public hearings or to elicit greater public response to a proposed new rule or amendment. Most notices of proposal include a 60-day comment period, in order to qualify the notice for an exception to the rulemaking calendar requirements of    N.J.S.A. 52:14B-3. An extended comment deadline will be noted in the heading of a proposal or appear in a subsequent notice in the Register.
At the close of the period for comments, the proposing agency may thereafter adopt a proposal, without change, or with changes not in violation of the rulemaking procedures at    N.J.A.C. 1:30-6.3. The adoption becomes effective upon publication in the Register of a notice of adoption, unless otherwise indicated in the adoption notice. Promulgation in the New Jersey Register establishes a new or amended rule as an official part of the New Jersey Administrative Code.

Agency


LAW AND PUBLIC SAFETY > DIVISION OF CONSUMER AFFAIRS > STATE BOARD OF VETERINARY MEDICAL EXAMINERS

Administrative Code Citation

Proposed Amendment: N.J.A.C. 13:44-5.1

Proposed New Rule: N.J.A.C. 13:44-4.13
Text

Consent for Veterinary Student Providing Veterinary Services; Fee Schedule

Authorized By: State Board of Veterinary Medical Examiners, Jonathan Eisenmenger, Executive Director.

Authority: N.J.S.A. 45:16-3 and P.L. 2013, c. 122.

Calendar Reference: See Summary below for explanation of exception to calendar requirement.

Proposal Number: PRN 2019-071.

Submit comments by August 16, 2019, to:

   Jonathan Eisenmenger, Executive Director
   State Board of Veterinary Medical Examiners
   PO Box 45020
   Newark, New Jersey 07101
   or electronically at: http://www.njconsumeraffairs.gov/Proposals/Pages/default.aspx.

The agency proposal follows:

Summary

P.L. 2013, c. 122 permits a student enrolled in an accredited veterinary school to provide veterinary services without a license, as long as the student is assigned to provide those services by a qualified instructor and the student is under the direct supervision of a licensed veterinarian. The State Board of Veterinary Medical Examiners (Board) proposes new N.J.A.C. 13:44-4.13 to set forth requirements for a licensed veterinarian who provides direct supervision of a veterinary student. Such a licensed veterinarian will be required to notify the Board that he or she is supervising the student and to maintain written documentation as to an instructor's assignment of services. The licensed veterinarian will also be required to provide a patient's owner with written notification that a student who is not licensed will be providing services to the patient. The notification also must identify the supervising licensed veterinarian. This notification would have to be signed by the patient's owner and maintained as part of the licensed veterinarian's records.

The Board previously amended its rules to delete the requirement that applicants successfully pass a jurisprudence examination and pay the jurisprudence examination fee of $ 250.00. In 2014, the Board determined that it could accomplish the training in New Jersey laws related to veterinary medicine through an online orientation course, which it has offered for free since that time. The last time the Board changed the underlying $ 75.00 application fee was 1991, and at this juncture, the costs of reviewing applications and licensing new veterinarians can no longer be supported by the 1991-level fees alone. In order to cover the costs it incurs in processing applications, which it is required to do by N.J.S.A. 45:1-3, the Board proposes to amend N.J.A.C. 13:44-5.1 to raise the application fee from $ 75.00 to $ 150.00. It plans to continue to offer the orientation for free.

As the Board has provided a 60-day comment period on this notice of proposal, this notice is excepted from the rulemaking calendar requirement pursuant to N.J.A.C. 1:30-3.3(a)5.

Social Impact

The proposed amendment and new rule will benefit animal owners and animals who receive veterinary services from students. The proposed amendment and new rule will help to ensure that students are properly supervised and that animal owners are aware that the individual providing veterinary services is an unlicensed student.

Economic Impact

The proposed amendment and new rule will have an economic impact on applicants for veterinary licenses. Applicants will see an increase in the application fee from $ 75.00 to $ 150.00. As N.J.A.C. 13:44-5.1 was previously amended to delete the $ 250.00 jurisprudence examination fee, the overall economic impact on applicants will be a savings of $ 175.00 over what they were required to pay in the past. The Board does not anticipate that the proposed amendment and new rule will have any other economic impact.

Federal Standards Statement

A Federal standards analysis is not required because there are no Federal laws or standards applicable to the proposed amendment or new rule.

Jobs Impact

The proposed amendment and new rule will not increase or decrease the number of jobs in New Jersey.

Agriculture Industry Impact

The Board does not believe that the proposed amendment and new rule will have any impact on the agriculture industry of this State.

Regulatory Flexibility Analysis

The Regulatory Flexibility Act (Act), N.J.S.A. 52:14B-16 et seq., requires the Board to give a description of the types and an estimate of the number of small businesses to which the proposed amendment and new rule will apply. A regulatory flexibility analysis is not required for applicants as they cannot be considered "small businesses" because they do not yet have a license to practice veterinary medicine. If, for purposes of the Act, licensed veterinarians are deemed "small businesses," then the following analysis applies.

The proposed amendment and new rule will impose no costs on licensed veterinarians. The Board does not believe that licensed veterinarians will need to employ any professional services to comply with the proposed amendment and new rule. The proposed amendment and new rule impose compliance, recordkeeping, and reporting requirements as outlined in the Summary above.

The compliance, recordkeeping, and reporting requirements in the proposed amendment and new rule will protect consumers by ensuring that students providing veterinary services without a license are being supervised by licensed veterinarians and that animal owners are adequately notified as to the unlicensed status of such students. Therefore, the Board believes that the proposed amendment and new rule must be applied uniformly to all licensed veterinarians regardless of the size of a business.

Housing Affordability Impact Analysis

The proposed amendment and new rule will have an insignificant impact on the affordability of housing in New Jersey and there is an extreme unlikelihood that the proposed amendment and new rule would evoke a change in the average costs associated with housing because the proposed amendment and new rule concern the supervision of students providing veterinary services without a license.

Smart Growth Development Impact Analysis

The proposed amendment and new rule will have an insignificant impact on smart growth and there is an extreme unlikelihood that the proposed amendment and new rule would evoke a change in housing production in Planning Areas 1 or 2, or within designated centers, under the State Development and Redevelopment Plan in New Jersey because the proposed amendment and new rule concern the supervision of students providing veterinary services without a license.

Racial and Ethnic Community Criminal Justice and Public Safety Impact

The Board has evaluated this rulemaking and determined that it will not have an impact on pretrial detention, sentencing, probation, or parole policies concerning adults and juveniles in the State. Accordingly, no further analysis is required.

Regulations

Full text of the proposal follows (additions indicated in boldface thus; deletions indicated in brackets [thus]):

[page=939] SUBCHAPTER 4.         GENERAL RULES OF PRACTICE

13:44-4.13        Consent for veterinary student providing veterinary services

(a) A licensee providing direct supervision to a veterinary student who is providing veterinary services pursuant to N.J.S.A. 45:16-9 shall:

1. Provide the Board with written notification that he or she will be providing direct supervision to the veterinary student;
2. Maintain written documentation from an instructor at the student's accredited veterinary school identifying the duties or actions assigned to the student; and
3. Provide the owner of an animal receiving services from the student with written notification identifying the licensed veterinarian providing the student with direct supervision and notifying the animal's owner that the veterinary student is not a licensed veterinarian. The licensed veterinarian shall maintain a copy of this notification, signed by the animal's owner, in his or her patient records.

SUBCHAPTER 5.   FEE SCHEDULE

13:44-5.1   Fee schedule

(a) The following fees shall be charged by the Board:
1. Application fee ...............................…  [$ 75.00] $150.00
2.-10. (No change.)