# Title 43 — Occupations and Professions

## Chapter 43-43 — Environmental Health Practitioners

### § 43-43-01. Definitions.

As used in this chapter, unless the context or subject matter otherwise requires:
1. "Advisory board" means the following or their appointed agents: state health officer or
designee as chairperson, the commissioner of the North Dakota department of
agriculture, and the president of the North Dakota environmental health association.
The state health officer or designee shall appoint one agent of a district or local health
unit environmental health practitioner and one consumer.
2. "Environmental health practitioner" means a person who, by environmental health
science education and experience, is qualified and licensed under this chapter to
practice environmental health.
3. "Practice of environmental health" means any service or work, such as consultation,
investigation, evaluation, surveys, and inspections in the environmental program areas
of food, beverage, housing, and lodging sanitation.
### § 43-43-02. Licensure required.

No person may engage in the practice of environmental health, nor use the title
"environmental health practitioner" or the initials "E.H.P." or otherwise hold out as able to
engage in the practice of environmental health unless the person is licensed pursuant to this
chapter.
### § 43-43-03. Advisory board duties and compensation.

The advisory board shall meet at the request of the state health officer or designee to assist
in implementation of duties as defined in section 43-43-04. The advisory board must be
reimbursed for any necessary expenses, but shall serve without further compensation except as
may be authorized and fixed by the department of health and human services by rule.
### § 43-43-04. Powers and duties of department of health and human services.

The department of health and human services shall adopt rules consistent with and
necessary for the implementation and enforcement of this chapter, including rules concerning
the:
1. Qualifications and requirements for licensure under this chapter.
2. Application for licensure and renewal of license.
3. Licensure.
4. Fees that may not exceed fifty dollars for licensure fees.
5. Scope of practice.
6. Ethical standards of conduct.
7. Continuing competency and education requirements.
8. Grievances and complaints.
9. Reimbursement of advisory board expenses.
10. Emergency exemptions as to requirements for licensure under this chapter.
11. Qualifications and requirements for specialty licenses or credentials within the scope
of practice of an environmental health practitioner, including specialty licenses or
credentials for limited practice areas.
### § 43-43-05. Exception from requirements.

The department of health and human services must license all persons actually engaged in
the practice of environmental health in this state upon receipt of proof of a bona fide practice in
this state; however, the applicant must file an application and present such proof prior to July 1,
1986, or become subject to licensure requirements of this chapter.

### § 43-43-06. Environmental health practitioner licensure fee administration fund.

There must be maintained in the state treasury a special fund to be known as the
environmental health practitioner licensure fee administrative fund. All money deposited or paid
into this fund must be continuously available to the department of health and human services for
reimbursement to the advisory board, and may not lapse at any time or be transferred to any
other fund. The fund must consist of any money collected by the department of health and
human services in accordance with section 43-43-04.
### § 43-43-07. Denial, suspension, revocation of license.

The department of health and human services may refuse to issue or renew a license or
may suspend or revoke a license when the licensee or applicant for license has engaged in
unprofessional conduct. Unprofessional conduct includes:
1. Obtaining a license by means of fraud, misrepresentation, or concealment of material
facts.
2. Engaging in unprofessional conduct, as defined by the rules adopted by the
department of health and human services, or violating the code of ethics adopted by
the department of health and human services.
3. Conviction of an offense, as defined by section 12.1-01-04, determined by the
department of health and human services to have a direct bearing on the person's
ability to serve the public in the capacity of a licensed environmental health
practitioner; or the department of health and human services determines that such
applicant or licensee, following conviction of any offense, is not sufficiently
rehabilitated under section 12.1-33-02.1.
4. Violation of any order or rule adopted by the department of health and human
services.
5. Violation of this chapter.
The person may apply to the department of health and human services for reinstatement after
one year from the date of revocation of a license. The department of health and human services
may accept or reject an application for reinstatement, or may require conditions and an
examination for reinstatement.
### § 43-43-08. Penalty.

Any person who violates this chapter is guilty of a class B misdemeanor.
