^All very good points.
I have no CPESC but I would like to take the exam just as a "notch" on my belt.
As far as additional certifications beyond the PE exam, I believe that it is appropriate in some instances. In the case of erosion and sediment control, neither the Civil or the Environmental PE exam covers this topic, at all. Yes, you get a little rudimentary runoff calculating, but absolutely nothing on BMPs, SWPPP, etc.
As a state regulator, I constantly have to deal with plans from PE's that show an almost complete lack of understanding of the principles, even though we have a free design manual that they could consult prior to working up their designs. This requires more time and more tax-payer money for me to review the plans and step them through learning the ropes, which often gets further delayed when said PE's get indignant and self righteous about being a PE already and how dare I quesiton them when the state has already sanctioned their knowledge and blah blah.
States and local governments can choose a number of ways to improve the situation. At the most non-invasive, they can offer education (free on-line manuals, training courses, etc.) and then hope that avoiding delays with permitting will be incentive enough. Or the states can require such training, as a pre-requisite for cerifying plans. After offering voluntary learning for over 10 years now and getting virtually no results, I am of the opinion that most engineers will not take the time to learn this non-PE stuff on their own, unless they are forced to. And unfortunatley, many small permitting authorities just don't have the expertise on-hand to contantly have to train the local engineers on-the-job.
And quite frankly, some of the worst-performing ESC systems I have seen implemented have been designed by engineers who "have been desiging sites for over 20 years, Dleg, I don't think I need any training on how to design my site". If your locale is one where water quality can affect the bottom line (i.e., tourism), the it really is important.
So until ESC, stormwater BMPs, septic systems, etc. are covered on the PE exam and in college, you can probably expect to have to deal with some additional certification requirements from the state. Now, whether it is a state-specific certification, or some standardized, privately run-certificaiton that you can carry with you to other states, well, it remains to be seen which method is better. As I have said, we run our own certification program for our state. But it can't be taken with you when you move somewhere else.
I have no CPESC but I would like to take the exam just as a "notch" on my belt.
As far as additional certifications beyond the PE exam, I believe that it is appropriate in some instances. In the case of erosion and sediment control, neither the Civil or the Environmental PE exam covers this topic, at all. Yes, you get a little rudimentary runoff calculating, but absolutely nothing on BMPs, SWPPP, etc.
As a state regulator, I constantly have to deal with plans from PE's that show an almost complete lack of understanding of the principles, even though we have a free design manual that they could consult prior to working up their designs. This requires more time and more tax-payer money for me to review the plans and step them through learning the ropes, which often gets further delayed when said PE's get indignant and self righteous about being a PE already and how dare I quesiton them when the state has already sanctioned their knowledge and blah blah.
States and local governments can choose a number of ways to improve the situation. At the most non-invasive, they can offer education (free on-line manuals, training courses, etc.) and then hope that avoiding delays with permitting will be incentive enough. Or the states can require such training, as a pre-requisite for cerifying plans. After offering voluntary learning for over 10 years now and getting virtually no results, I am of the opinion that most engineers will not take the time to learn this non-PE stuff on their own, unless they are forced to. And unfortunatley, many small permitting authorities just don't have the expertise on-hand to contantly have to train the local engineers on-the-job.
And quite frankly, some of the worst-performing ESC systems I have seen implemented have been designed by engineers who "have been desiging sites for over 20 years, Dleg, I don't think I need any training on how to design my site". If your locale is one where water quality can affect the bottom line (i.e., tourism), the it really is important.
So until ESC, stormwater BMPs, septic systems, etc. are covered on the PE exam and in college, you can probably expect to have to deal with some additional certification requirements from the state. Now, whether it is a state-specific certification, or some standardized, privately run-certificaiton that you can carry with you to other states, well, it remains to be seen which method is better. As I have said, we run our own certification program for our state. But it can't be taken with you when you move somewhere else.
