5 Colo. Code Regs. § 1003-2-100.16
Current through Register Vol. 47, No. 11, June 10, 2024
Section 5 CCR 1003-2-100.16 - CERTIFICATE RENEWAL, EXPIRATION, REVOCATION AND TRAINING UNIT REQUIREMENTS100.16.1 Renewed certificates shall be valid for three (3) years from the date of the expiration of the prior certificate, not from the issue date of the renewed certificate.100.16.2 Application to Renew Certificates (a) To renew a certificate, an operator must apply as set forth in section 100.14.1 and demonstrate satisfaction of the requirements for renewal, including: (i) verification of regulatory training course completion as described in section 100.14.5(b). (ii) the training unit requirements in section 100.16.6.(b) Renewal Process for Certified Operators Absent Due to Military Service (i) "Military service" means service in the uniformed services, as defined in the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act (USERRA), 38 U.S.C. §§ 4301-4335, as the performance of duty on a voluntary or involuntary basis in a uniformed service under competent authority and includes active duty, active duty for training, initial active duty for training, inactive duty training, fulltime National Guard duty, a period for which a person is absent from a position of employment for the purpose of an examination to determine the fitness of the person to any such duty, and a period for which a person is absent from employment for the purpose of performing funeral honors duty as authorized by section 12503 of title 10 or section 115 of title 32. (ii) During the period a certified operator is participating in military service, his or her certificate(s) shall be tolled relative to certification renewal and training unit requirements (i.e., for every day a certified operator is in military service, all certifications held by that operator will be put on hold for purposes of meeting the renewal and training unit deadlines). In addition to the number of days in service, an extra 90-day grace period shall be afforded to certified operators upon return from military service for purposes of meeting renewal and training unit deadlines. The Board or its contractor shall have the discretion to extend this grace period to address extenuating circumstances on a case-by-case basis.(iii) If the two-year renewal window for any certificate expires while a certified operator is in military service, the operator's certificate(s) will not become invalid during the period the operator is in service. Upon return from military service, the certified operator will have the amount of time accrued while in military service, plus an additional 90 days to obtain the required training unit credits and to submit a renewal application. The operator's certificate(s) will remain valid during that extended time period. In no case will the certified operator be subject to any late fees at the time of submitting a renewal application that is in conformance with section 100.16.1(e).(iv) It is the certified operator's responsibility to alert the Board or its contractor of intervening military service at the time of filing a renewal application. Such notification shall include the dates the operator was in "service in the uniformed services" in accordance with the USERRA definition. Certified operators shall be expected to provide a signature swearing under the penalty of perjury to the veracity of all statements regarding military service.100.16.3 Expired Certificates (a) A certificate becomes invalid on its expiration date.(b) Following expiration of a certificate, the operator shall not represent that he or she holds a certificate in the category or level of the expired certificate.(c) No certified operator in responsible charge of a water or wastewater facility shall operate a facility with an expired certificate.100.16.4 Restoration of Expired Certificates (a) To restore an expired certificate, an operator may apply for renewal up to two years following the expiration date of the certificate. The Board or its contractor will renew the certificate if the operator pays the renewal and applicable late fees, as listed in section 100.17.2, and satisfies all applicable renewal requirements.(b) Certificates renewed after their expiration date shall be valid for three years from the date of expiration of the prior certificate, not from the issue date of renewed certificate.100.16.5 Automatic Revocation of Non-Renewed Certificates (a) Any certificate not renewed by the operator within the two year restoration period is automatically revoked.(b) Any operator whose certificate has been automatically revoked shall be treated as a new applicant for purposes of this regulation and must meet all the initial certification requirements, including passing the appropriate sequential examinations.100.16.6 Training Units(a) In addition to the other requirements of this regulation, all certified operators must earn the appropriate number of training units, as specified in sections 100.16.6 and 100.16.7, before the operator's certificate will be renewed.(b) At least fifty percent (50%) of the training units for certificate renewal must be for courses approved for credit in the specific certificate category (water treatment, domestic wastewater treatment, industrial wastewater treatment, distribution system or collection system) being renewed.(c) Up to fifty percent (50%) of the training units for certificate renewal may come from courses approved for credit in a category (water treatment, domestic wastewater treatment, industrial wastewater treatment, distribution system or collection system) other than that of the certificate being renewed, including supplemental training courses.(d) For renewal of a certificate, the maximum number of training units allowed from a specific course is the total number of training units approved for the course.(e) If applicable, the training units from one course may be applied toward the renewal of more than one certificate.(f) Training units may only be used once in each category to renew a certificate.(g) Training units are earned during the three-year period a certificate is valid. Training units may not carry over from one three-year period to the next.(h) For training that occurs over multiple dates, the training units will be considered to have been obtained on the date of completion of the training course or class.(i) If an operator takes a training course prior to taking a certification examination, passes the examination, and obtains a certificate at a new level, the training course completed prior to the examination will not count toward training units for renewal of the new certificate. Should a certified operator complete such a training course and not pass a new certification examination, that training course can be used, if applicable, to meet the training unit requirements for renewal of the operator's current certificate.(j) Late renewal(i) Training classes taken after the expiration date of a certificate, but before the automatic revocation date, may be used to renew the expired certificate.(ii) If an operator completes training units after the expiration date of a certificate, but before the certificate is renewed and does not use the training units to renew the previous certificate, the training units may be used for the subsequent renewal.(iii) It is the certified operator's responsibility to keep track of when the training unit credits have been used and will be responsible to verify and affirm on the renewal application that he or she is not using the credits more than once.(iv) In the event that a certified operator uses training credits more than once, that could be grounds for disciplinary action, including revocation of a certificate.100.16.7 Table - Training Unit Requirements for Operator Certificate Renewal Certified Operator Class | Training Unit Requirement |
Class T | 1.2 Training Units |
Class D or Class 1 | 1.2 Training Units |
Class S | 1.8 Training Units |
Class C or Class 2 | 1.8 Training Units |
Class B or Class 3 | 2.4 Training Units |
Class A or Class 4 | 3.0 Training Units |
100.16.8 The training units for regulatory training course completion as described in section 100.14.5(b) are included in the total training units required as listed in section 100.16.7, not in addition to those requirements.100.16.9 All training unit subject matter will be determined by the Board or its contractor to be relevant and necessary to the successful operation of a water or wastewater facility. (a) The Board or its contractor shall approve as "core training" courses with topics that are directly applicable to aspects of water and wastewater facility operations that may affect public health or the environment, or the need to maintain compliance with established requirements. Training units from such courses may be used to satisfy the training units requirements for the renewal of an operator's certificate in accordance with sections 100.16.6 and 100.16.7.(b) Eligible "core training" topics may include the following subjects:(i) operation and maintenance of facility mechanical systems, electrical equipment or hydraulics;(ii) physical treatment, chemical treatment, biological treatment;(iii) physical testing, chemical testing, biological testing, or disinfection;(iv) regulatory compliance; or(v) other relevant topics approved by the Board or its contractor.(c) The Board or its contractor may approve as "supplemental training" any courses that are found to provide useful operator knowledge but are not directly related to water or wastewater facility operations. Training units from courses approved as "supplemental training" may be used to satisfy the training unit requirements for renewal of an operator's certificate in accordance with section 100.16.6 and 100.16.7.(d) Minimum course duration for training unit approval is 30 minutes. (i) 1-29 minutes = 0 training units(ii) 30-45 minutes = 0.05 training units(iii) 46-60 minutes = 0.1 training units(e) An operator who has taken a course not approved by the Board or its contractor, such as a course taken in another state, may submit information about the course and pay the applicable fee. If the course is approved the operator may use the course to satisfy training unit requirements. The course approval will only apply to the operator who made the application.100.16.10 Training units shall be awarded to certified operators for teaching a classroom course that has been approved by the Board or its contractor. The training units awarded shall be double the training units approved for the course. If a course is given multiple times in a given year under a single course approval number, double training units will be given the first time the course is taught, and no additional training units will be granted for repeat presentations of the same course with the same course approval number.100.16.11 Institutions, seminar presenters, and others may seek approval of their training or educational courses or programs by application to the Board or its contractor. Such an application must demonstrate that their proposed material, curricula, contact hour equivalency, and facilities meet the criteria established in section 100.16.9.37 CR 18, September 25, 2014, effective 10/30/201438 CR 14, July 25, 2015, effective 8/30/201539 CR 01, January 10, 2016, effective 1/30/201639 CR 24, December 25, 2016, effective 1/30/201740 CR 14, July 25, 2017, effective 8/31/201741 CR 20, October 25, 2018, effective 3/1/201941 CR 24, December 25, 2018, effective 3/1/201942 CR 24, December 25, 2019, effective 1/14/202043 CR 21, November 10, 2020, effective 11/30/202044 CR 05, March 10, 2021, effective 3/31/202144 CR 09, May 10, 2021, effective 5/30/202144 CR 20, October 25, 2021, effective 11/30/2021