Page 42 - NALS Traverse 50_2

lands surveyors or the unified opinion of NALS and so the nature
NALS Legislative Report of the changes, as well as the rapidity of the decision, caught

everyone off guard, just days before the conference. Most of the
NALS Members Join proposed changes were logical and easily supportable, but one of
the proposals was, to put it mildly, shocking. The BPELS propos-
Forces to Retain the es to eliminate the state-specific examination(NAC 625.310 (b)5),
at least for reciprocity applicants! I think it’s safe to say that the
State-Specific Exam average reaction to this plan is something like, “Are you kidding
me!!?” Maybe there would be an expletive or two in there, as
Requirement well. Or maybe that was just me.

In any case, we found out, with very little notice, that there was
th
By: Carl R. C.de Baca, PLS a ‘workshop’ scheduled by the BPELS for Monday, March 27 at
noon. The officers, part of the legislative committee, the past
presidents and other interested parties had a few impromptu
meetings during the conference. Bullet points were discussed,
individuals starting preparing brief narrative s and our executive
director arranged for a Silver Legacy shuttle to take assembled
volunteers to the BPELS offices in order to attend the workshop
and read our statements into the public record. This minimally
planned strategy went from zero full speed ahead in just a couple
days and was accomplished smoothly and professionally.

There are times when an organization like the Nevada Associa-
tion of Land surveyors really shines, when it feels completely
worthwhile to belong, when you know for certain you are on the
right side of the street. In the third week of March, 2023, we
experienced one of those times. A series of events took place
before and during the NALS/CLSA conference that, while not
resolved yet, made me proud to belong to NALS.
The back story: the Nevada Board of Professional Engineers and
Land Surveyors (BPELS), feeling the pressure of recent Gover-
nor’s Executive Order 2023-003 & 2023-004, On the day, at the appointed time, there were 5 or 6 of us in Las
(https://gov.nv.gov/Newsroom/ExecOrders/2023/Executive_
Order_2023-003/ Vegas who read their statements, and then at least twenty of
us, who had shuttled over from the conference took our turns at
https://gov.nv.gov/Newsroom/ExecOrders/2023/Executive_ the microphone and made our case. The public commentary that
Order_2023-004/ day was unanimous in opposition to the proposed elimination of
the state-specific exam. The obvious threats to public health and
safety, the likelihood of increased enforcement actions and the
promise of increased litigation were all articulated. The argu-
ment that making such a change would have little if any effect on
‘streamlining’ reciprocity or helping with our declining numbers
was offered and expanded upon by the passionate participants.
Every surveyor who sat before the microphone was passionate,
insistent, well-spoken and polite. I feel honored to hav e been
there among them. It was a great day to be NALS member!

At the time of writing this is not over. There is a BPELS meeting
scheduled that probably takes place before this is published and
reached you, the readers. So the outcome is unknown to me, right
now. But I am confident that we have made our complete opposi-
tion to this ill-considered proposal plain to the BPELS and hopefully
they will listen to the professionals and take our unified opinion into
account. If not, that sound you might be hearing is the bar being
held a public meeting and drafted a series of proposed changes
to Nevada Administrative Code (NAC). The BPELS did not, in my lowered a notch or two…
opinion, make much of an effort to get the opinion of individual
40 The Nevada Traverse Vol.50, No.2, 2023