| (a) In addition to complying with NFPA §§4.4
and 11.2, effective March 1, 2001, individuals shall comply with the
training and continuing education requirements in this chapter.
(b) Applicants for new licenses or new certificates,
as set forth in §9.7 and §9.8 of this title (relating to
Application for License and License Renewal Requirements, and Application
for a New Certificate, respectively) and persons holding existing
licenses or certificates shall comply with the training or continuing
education requirements in this chapter. Any individual who fails to
comply with the training or continuing education requirements by the
assigned deadline may regain certification by paying the nonrefundable
course fee and satisfactorily completing an authorized training or
continuing education course within two years of the deadline. In addition
to paying the course fee, the person shall pay any fee or late penalties
to AFRED.
(1) The training requirements apply only to applicants
for Category D, E, F, G, I, J, K, or M management-level certificates
and certain employee-level certificates.
(2) The continuing education requirements apply to:
(A) all management-level certificate holders and employee-level
certificate holders as specified in the tables in §9.52 of this
title (relating to Training and Continuing Education Courses); and
(B) any ultimate consumer who has purchased, leased,
or obtained other rights in any LP-gas bobtail, including any employee
of such ultimate consumer if that employee drives or in any way operates
the equipment on an LP-gas bobtail.
(3) The training and continuing education requirements
do not apply to:
(A) an ultimate consumer driving or fueling a motor
vehicle powered by LP-gas;
(B) an individual who fuels motor vehicles as an employee
of an ultimate consumer;
(C) an employee of a state agency, county, municipality,
school district, or other governmental subdivision, unless such an
individual is or becomes certified;
(D) an individual with a general installers and repairman
exemption; or
(E) anyone certified only as a transport driver, or
who holds only an on-road motor fuel, non-road motor fuel, or mobile
fuel certification.
(4) Each individual who performs LP-gas activities
as an employee of an ultimate consumer or a state agency, county,
municipality, school district, or other governmental subdivision shall
be properly supervised by his or her employer. Any such individual
who is not certified by the Commission to perform such LP-gas activities
shall be properly trained by a competent person in the safe performance
of such LP-gas activities.
(c) Individual credit. Successful completion of any
required training or continuing education class shall be credited
to and accrue to the individual.
(d) No partial credit. Individuals attending classes
shall receive credit only if they attend the entire class and pay
any training or continuing education course fees in full. The Commission
shall not award partial credit for partial attendance.
(e) Schedules. Dates and locations of available AFRED
LP-gas training and continuing education classes can be obtained in
the Austin offices of AFRED, and on the Commission's web site at www.rrc.state.tx.us
and shall be updated at least monthly. AFRED classes shall be conducted
in Austin and in other locations around the state. Individuals or
companies may request in writing that AFRED classes be taught in their
area. AFRED shall schedule its classes and locations at its discretion.
(f) Registering for a class.
(1) To register for a scheduled training or continuing
education class, an individual shall complete the registration form
provided by AFRED and file the form with the AFRED training section
prior to the class. AFRED shall also accept class registrations via
regular mail, electronic mail (e-mail), or facsimile transmission
(fax); such requests shall include the applicant's full name, address,
phone number, level (either manager or employee) and category of certification
(such as cylinder filling or service and installation), e-mail address,
and the name or number, location, and date of the requested class.
(2) Costs for classes.
(A) Each registration for a training class shall require
the payment of the applicable nonrefundable class fee as follows:
(i) $75 for an initial eight-hour class;
(ii) $150 for the initial 16-hour Category F, G, I,
and J class; and
(iii) $750 for the initial 80-hour Category E class.
(B) The Category E, F, G, I, and J class fees do not
include the management-level rules examination or license fee described
in §9.6 and §9.10 of this title (relating to Licenses and
Fees, and Rules Examination, respectively).
(C) Current certificate holders who have paid the annual
renewal fee and who want to add a new certification other than Category
E, F, G, I or J shall not be required to pay the $75 class fee.
(D) Continuing education classes shall be offered at
no charge to certificate holders who have timely paid the annual certificate
renewal fee specified in §9.9 of this title (relating to Requirements
for Certificate Renewal).
(E) Requests for classes where no training or continuing
education class credit is given shall be submitted in writing to the
AFRED training section. The AFRED training section may conduct the
requested classes at its discretion. The nonrefundable fee for a non-credit
class is $250 if no overnight expenses are incurred by the AFRED training
section, or $500 if overnight expenses are incurred. AFRED may waive
the fee for a non-credit class in cases where the Commission recovers
the cost of the class from another source, such as a grant.
(F) AFRED may charge reasonable fees for materials
for classes using third-party materials.
(3) AFRED shall schedule individuals to attend classes
on a first-come, first-served basis, except as follows:
(A) Priority for attending the 16-hour Category F,
G, I, and J class, and the 80-hour Category E class is based on when
the class fee is paid.
(B) Priority for attending classes other than the 16-hour
Category F, G, I, and J class, and the 80-hour Category E class shall
be given to applicants or certificate holders who must comply with
training or continuing education requirements by the next May 31 deadline.
(C) If any class has fewer than eight individuals registered
within seven calendar days prior to the class, AFRED may cancel the
class and may reschedule the registered individuals in another class
agreed upon by the individuals and the AFRED training section. The
AFRED training section reserves the right to determine class sizes
for all classes.
(4) If a previously registered individual is unable
to attend the class at the time and place for which the individual
is registered due to illness or other unforeseen circumstances, another
individual from the same company may attend that same class in his
or her place.
(5) Applicants who take classes offered by an entity
other than AFRED shall comply with the registration, fee, and other
requirements specified by that entity.
(g) Retention of records. Individual applicants or
certificate holders shall be responsible for promptly notifying the
AFRED training section in writing of any discrepancies or errors in
the training or continuing education records, and shall notify AFRED
of any discrepancies or errors in examination records or certification
cards. In the event of a discrepancy, AFRED's records, including due
dates, shall be deemed correct unless the individual has copies of
applicable documents which clarify the discrepancy.
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| Source Note: The provisions of this §9.51 adopted to be effective February 1, 2001, 26 TexReg 947; amended to be effective May 28, 2001, 26 TexReg 3742; amended to be effective August 25, 2003, 28 TexReg 6831; amended to be effective September 1, 2005, 30 TexReg 4810; amended to be effective March 1, 2006, 31 TexReg 843; amended to be effective February 1, 2008, 33 TexReg 138; amended to be effective December 24, 2012, 37 TexReg 9913 |
