The Board is pleased to announce revisions to Title 171 of the Nebraska Administrative Code (NAC) have been approved by the Governor and filed with the Secretary of State as of June 26, 2019. The revisions go into effect on July 1, 2019.

The revisions include a reorganization of former Chapter 3 into four separate chapters for easier referencing, amendment of some rules for better clarification, and the adoption of several new rules. These include, but are not limited to, the following:

• New rule specifying that an applicant's prior criminal or disciplinary history is not an automatic bar to licensure or admittance to the examinations;
• New rule clarifying what constitutes acceptable direct supervision of geologic work;
• New rule allowing for the acceptance of electronic education transcripts;
• New rule clarifying work performed under a conditional approval is deemed to have been performed pursuant to a valid license, certificate, or permit;
• Deletion of duties of the Board in the former Chapter 2 to remove redundant language already found in the Geologists Regulations Act;
• Deletion of definitions already found in Title 53 NAC, Chapter 4 of the Department of Justice which have been adopted and incorporated into Title 171 NAC; and
• Revisions to Chapter 5 to simplify and clarify the enforcement process when undertaken by the Board.

All changes and updates can be viewed here. You can download a copy of the updated Professional Geologists Handbook which incorporates these revisions by clicking here.

If you have any questions about the revisions or would like a hardcopy of the Handbook, please contact the Board at nebog.board@nebraska.gov.