SECTION 295.216. Accreditation and Certification Fee Exemption

(a) Accreditation. Accreditation fees for training programs operated by any federal, state, or local government, or nonprofit entities shall be waived.

(b) Certification.

(1) Government employees who currently possess a fee-exempt certification which was issued prior to September 1, 2003, for the sole purpose of executing governmental duties in the course of their employment shall continue to remain exempt from annual fees until their certification expires, provided that the certified individual remains employed by the government and the governmental nature of the duties performed remain unchanged. Except as specified in paragraph (2) of this subsection, upon expiration of this fee-exempt certification, the appropriate fee shall be paid upon submission of a complete certification application for renewal.

(2) Employees of the Department of State Health Services, who engage in a lead-based paint activity as a condition of their employment, shall be exempt from certification fees and examination fees. Fee-exempted certifications shall be restricted for use only in required departmental duties and the credentials will indicate the restriction. If the department employee is no longer required to possess certification as a condition of employment or the individual terminates employment from the department, all unexpired fee-exempt certification credentials shall immediately be returned to the Environmental Lead Program and closed. If fee-exempt certifications are used to perform non-department related lead-based paint activities, penalties may be assessed against the individual.

Source Note: The provisions of this §295.216 adopted to be effective February 19, 1996, 21 TexReg 968; amended to be effective May 10, 1998, 23 TexReg 4280; amended to be effective March 23, 2003, 28 TexReg 2347; amended to be effective January 1, 2005, 29 TexReg 11987