Requirements For Licensed Professional Engineers Certifying Submissions To DEC's Division Of Environmental Remediation
Many technical documents submitted to DEC's Division of Environmental Remediation (DER) are required to be certified by a licensed Professional Engineer (PE). Table 1.5 of DER-10 (PDF, 1.1 MB) identifies which remedial program documents submitted to DER require a PE certification.
The following are prerequisites related to the qualifications of the certifying PE and their firm, if they are affiliated with one, as required by the New York State Education Law (Article 145):
- The PE must be currently licensed and registered to practice engineering in the State of New York - Registered professional engineers of other states who have not received a registration from the New York State Education Department (NYSED) may not submit any PE-certified documents to DEC (reciprocity). This is the basis of the PE requirement as stated in Article 145 of Education Law (NYSED website) (Note: NYSED links on this page take you off the DEC website) and in the DEC's regulatory definitions of a "Professional Engineer" found at 6 NYCRR Part 375-1.2(aj) (link leaves DEC website) and in DER-10 [see definition 1.3 (b) (47)] (PDF, 1.1 MB). A search for New York State registered PEs can be performed on the NYSED Office of Professions' Verification Searches website .
- The licensed PE may only certify work that was done by them or by those under their direct supervision. Firms or consultants that are not registered PEs or otherwise authorized to practice engineering in the State of New York may not contract or hire a PE to certify their work after completion and not under the PE's supervision. This is codified in Article 145 of Education Law, Section 7209 (1) (NYSED website) and is further demonstrated in requirements for the PE certification for Final Engineering Reports, 6 NYCRR Part 375-1.6 (c) (3) and (4) (link leaves DEC website.) It should be noted that this requirement does not necessarily prevent a PE from offering a certification on a Final Engineering Report which references work done prior to the certifying engineer's involvement, specifically for interim remedial measures or separate operable units. This will be decided by DEC on a case-by-case basis, and may require an approved editing of the certification language.
- The firm by which the licensed PE is employed and any firms which produce documents certified by the PE under their employment must also be authorized to practice engineering in the State of New York and must present that authorization upon request. Any firm submitting PE-certified documents is considered to be practicing engineering and, therefore, must hold a Certificate of Authorization from the New York State Department of Education. This is discussed in Article 145 of Education Law, Section 7210 (NYSED website) . A search for authorized firms can be performed on the NYSED, Office of Professions' Verification Searches website. This requirement does not apply to PEs who are doing work independent from a firm, i.e. those who are not employed by a firm but who are employed directly by the client.
More Information
More information can be found at NYSED, Office of the Professions "Frequently Asked Practice Questions" web page
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Division of Environmental Remediation
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