House regulations subcommittee approves suite of agency rule updates; multiple items adopted unanimously

The House Regulations Administrative Procedures, Artificial Intelligence and Cyber Security Committee met to consider an array of agency regulations and technical corrections and approved each item on the agenda by recorded voice roll calls.

The measures approved ranged from a scrivener's correction for the State Board of Pharmacy to regulatory updates affecting cosmetology endorsement for out-of-state licensees, athletic event rules, and continuing-education requirements for social workers and counselors. Several items implemented statutory changes from the 2024 session.

Why it matters: the rules affect licensing, public-safety protocols at athletic events, the scope of practice for aesthetic services, and continuing-education requirements that licensees must meet to keep professional credentials current.

Key outcomes: the committee approved at least 10 separate documents, each by recorded roll call. Most items were technical corrections or regulatory updates recommended by the agency subcommittees; a few prompted substantive member questions about industry scale, public-safety tradeoffs, or implementation details.

Votes at a glance

- Document 5339 (State Board of Pharmacy) — corrected a cross-reference from “manufacturer’s permit” to “wholesale distributor permit.” Approved 7–0. - Document 5272 (South Carolina Board of Examiners in Opticianry) — removed outdated or duplicative sections and simplified continuing-education approvals; approved 7–0. - Document 5351 (State Athletic Commission) — amended event rules, clarified medical suspension handling, established fines for late permit applications, prohibited contact lenses at events, and adopted related guidance from recognized organizations unless conflicting with state law; approved 7–0. - Document 5301 (Board of Social Work) — updated continuing-education requirements to conform with Act 158 of 2024, specifying one hour in suicide assessment, treatment and management; approved 7–0. - Document 5354 (Associate and marriage and family therapy associates) — required one hour of suicide-related CE, clarified minimum graduate hours for licensure, and added a doctoral-degree pathway for certain supervisors; approved 7–0. - Document 5334 (Board of Examiners for Licensure of Professional Counselors) — added addiction counselor supervisors to reinstatement rules and clarified reinstatement for licenses lapsed less than five years; approved 7–0. - Document 5310 (Board of Registration for Professional Engineers and Land Surveyors) — corrected a regulatory cross-reference; approved (recorded aye votes). - Document 5307 (Cosmetology) — allowed endorsement of out-of-state cosmetology licenses after two years of good standing plus four hours of South Carolina CE; approved 7–0. - Document 5306 (Continuing education for code enforcement officers) — adjusted reimbursement timing to allow reimbursement of 24 credits across the two-year license period; approved 7–0. - Document 5276 (Practice of aesthetics; sanitation and safety rules) — updated permitted treatments, clarified device and chemical limits, and relaxed some laundering requirements tied to chemical services; approved 7–0.

Committee discussion and context

Several items prompted substantive member questions. Representatives asked about practical effects and implementation: why contact lenses are prohibited at athletic events, whether license applicants from out of state would face backlog delays, how aesthetic services are bounded from the practice of medicine, and whether laundering rules would affect sanitation. Agency staff and counsel answered each question on the record. The committee repeatedly noted that most changes were intended to align regulations with statute or to reduce unnecessary burdens while preserving public safety.

Process notes and next steps

All documents on the agenda carried subcommittee recommendations for approval and passed by recorded roll calls. Several items referenced statutory requirements or recent legislation; where the transcript specified a statutory source (for example, Act 158 of 2024 for suicide-related CE), the committee recorded that conformity on the record. Agencies and boards were represented at the meeting and will proceed with implementation according to their standard processes.

Ending: With the agenda completed and no other matters offered for the good of the committee, the chair adjourned the meeting.