Committee adopts amendments to extend AELS board, add interior designers and narrow wastewater and gas exemptions

At a March 7, 2025 hearing in Juneau, the Alaska Senate Labor and Commerce Committee adopted three sponsor amendments to Senate Bill 54, which would extend the statutory authorization for the Board of Architects, Engineers and Land Surveyors, add registered interior designers to the board’s jurisdiction and revise several exemptions to professional registration.

The bill matters because it updates who must hold professional registration for design and construction work in Alaska and narrows exemptions that previously allowed some small commercial wastewater and certain pipeline projects to proceed without a professional stamp. Supporters said the changes balance safety and regulatory burden.

Serena Hackenmiller, staff to bill sponsor Senator Matt Klayman, summarized the bill: "This bill does 3 things." The committee adopted amendment I.2 at the sponsor’s request to add "salary range 23" into statute for the board’s executive administrator so that the position’s compensation aligns with other licensing boards. The committee approved the amendment by voice vote after brief explanation and no further objection.

Two additional sponsor-requested amendments change exemptions in what Hackenmiller identified as AS 08.48.331, the statute addressing exemptions to professional registration. Amendment I.5 narrows an exemption for conventional on-site wastewater systems so it applies only to systems that both service a commercial facility and have a design flow of less than 500 gallons per day. Colin Maynard, chair of the AELS legislative liaison committee, told the committee the change was negotiated with the Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation and "it was only for small commercial, wastewater facility[s] that were less than 500 gallons per day." Maynard said the amendment was intended to prevent the prior language from applying to a broader set of wastewater work.

Amendment I.6 revises the industrial exemption to require professional registration (stamped drawings) for natural gas pipeline work above a 100 pounds‑per‑square‑inch threshold. Lindsey Hobson, director of legal and administration for NSTAR Natural Gas, said the change was meant to align Alaska’s statute with National Transportation Safety Board recommendations that followed the 2018 over‑pressurization event near Boston. "We wanted to ... come up with a solution that is narrowly tailored," Hobson said, and the amendment keeps lower‑pressure service lines outside the stamping requirement. She told the committee NSTAR performed more than 1,800 service‑line installations last year and employs five professional engineers, who would otherwise face an unsustainable workload if every service line required a stamped drawing.

Committee chair Senator Bjorkman removed his earlier objection for the purposes of explanation and each of the three amendments was adopted without recorded roll‑call tallies. Senator Dunbar made the motions to adopt the amendments. The committee set Senate Bill 54 aside for further consideration at its next meeting on Wednesday, March 12.

No formal roll‑call votes were recorded in the transcript for the bill itself; the transcript shows the three sponsor amendments were adopted by voice and the bill will return to committee for further action.

Details recorded during the hearing that were not changed in committee include: the salary range insertion described as "salary range 23"; the wastewater exemption limited to commercial facilities with design flow under 500 gallons per day; and the industrial exemption change taking effect on January 1, 2026, for the pipeline provision only, per staff explanation.

The committee moved on to other items after adopting the amendments; Senate Bill 54 will be considered again at the committee’s March 12 meeting.