North Carolina General Statutes 90A-52. Practice without certificate unlawful
(a) In order to safeguard life, health and the environment, it shall be unlawful for any person to practice as an environmental health specialist or an environmental health specialist intern in the State of North Carolina or use the title “registered environmental health specialist” or “registered environmental health specialist intern” unless the person shall have obtained a certificate of registration from the Board. No person shall offer services as a registered environmental health specialist or registered environmental health specialist intern or use, assume or advertise in any way any title or description tending to convey the impression that the person is a registered environmental health specialist or registered environmental health specialist intern unless the person is the holder of a current certificate of registration issued by the Board.
(b) (Effective until May 1, 2024) Notwithstanding the provisions of subsection (a) of this section, a person may practice as an environmental health specialist intern for a period not to exceed three years from the date of the initial registration, provided the person has obtained a temporary certificate of registration from the Board.
(b) (Effective May 1, 2024) The following limited exceptions apply to the practice prohibitions in subsection (a) of this section:
(1) A person may practice as an environmental health specialist intern for a period not to exceed two years from the date of the initial registration, provided the person has obtained a temporary certificate of registration from the Board.
Terms Used In North Carolina General Statutes 90A-52
- Board: means the Board of Environmental Health Specialist Examiners. See North Carolina General Statutes 90A-51
- Certificate of registration: means a document issued by the Board as evidence of registration and qualification to practice as a registered environmental health specialist or a registered environmental health specialist intern under this Article. See North Carolina General Statutes 90A-51
- Environmental health specialist: means a public health professional who meets the educational requirements under this Article and has attained specialized training and acceptable environmental health field experience effectively to plan, organize, manage, provide, execute, and evaluate one or more of the many diverse elements comprising the field of environmental health practice. See North Carolina General Statutes 90A-51
- following: when used by way of reference to any section of a statute, shall be construed to mean the section next preceding or next following that in which such reference is made; unless when some other section is expressly designated in such reference. See North Carolina General Statutes 12-3
- Registered environmental health specialist: means an environmental health specialist registered in accordance with the provisions of this Article. See North Carolina General Statutes 90A-51
- Registered environmental health specialist intern: means a person who possesses the necessary educational qualifications as prescribed in N. See North Carolina General Statutes 90A-51
- state: when applied to the different parts of the United States, shall be construed to extend to and include the District of Columbia and the several territories, so called; and the words "United States" shall be construed to include the said district and territories and all dependencies. See North Carolina General Statutes 12-3
(2) A registered environmental health associate, directly reporting to a registered environmental health specialist, may perform all of the following duties in accordance with the rules adopted by the Commission for Public Health:
a. Permitting and inspections of private water wells.
b. Inspections of Category I food establishments, temporary food establishments, and limited food service establishments.
c. Inspections of lodging establishments.
d. Permitting and inspections of any Type II or Type III on-site wastewater systems, including system layouts and existing wastewater systems.
e. Inspections of migrant housing.
f. Inspections of private, public, and religious schools.
g. Inspections of local confinement facilities.
h. Inspections of residential care facilities. (1959, c. 1271, s. 12; 1981 (Reg. Sess., 1982), c. 1274, s. 2; 2009-443, s. 3; 2023-90, s. 10.1(b).)