Public hearing held on changing effective date for National Electrical Code amendments in St. Mary's County

St. Mary's County held a public hearing Sept. 1 on a proposed amendment to the county code to set a predictable effective date for changes to the National Electrical Code.

Mister Sparling, a county staff member who presented the draft, said the change was requested by the Board of Electrical Examiners to give local license holders enough time to complete training on new provisions. "The current provision ... provided, I believe, six weeks after the amendment of the National Electrical Code," Sparling said, and that interval "did not allow them enough time to conduct a 10‑week training session." He said the board had requested April 1 as the effective date each year and county staff refined the draft to provide for "April 1st or six months, whichever becomes later."

Sparling also noted an administrative packaging issue: board documents distributed for the hearing included an earlier draft with the old one‑week/one‑period language, but he said the correct draft for adoption is the April 1 or six‑months provision. No public commenters signed up to speak at the hearing, and the commissioners closed the public comment portion. The commissioners' office will accept written comments for 10 days following the hearing at PO Box 653, Leonardtown, MD 20650, or by email to the commissioners' office address provided in the public notice.

If adopted as drafted, the amendment would change the county's effective‑date rule for NEC revisions to ensure the Board of Electrical Examiners and local licensees have sufficient time for training before new code provisions take effect. The transcript did not include a final adoption vote; the county attorney/staff indicated the final ordinance presented for adoption would be the corrected April‑1-or‑six‑months draft.