Module 1a Flashcards
PGA
Professional Governance Act - provides ABCFP duty to serve and protect the public interest through the regulation of the practice of professional forestry.
The legislation sets out broad legal policy principles that professional forestry workers must adhere to.
Regulations FPR
Rules made by the government that dictate how the provisions of the Act are applied. NOT laws but they do have the force of law.
Key regulation related to forestry is Forest Professionals Regulation (FPR)
Bylaws
Rules established by an organization to regulate itself. ABCFP bylaws are established by the ABCFP council in accordance with the PGA.
Administrative Policies
Rules established by and organization to guide decision making. Established by the ABCFP council
Professional Standards and Guidelines
Rules governing the conduct and practice of ABCFP registrants
3 standards of ABCFP professional practice standards and guidelines include
- Standards of ethical and professional conduct
- Standards of competence
- Practice standards for select forest resource activities
Regulatory Framework
- Legislation - PGA
- Regulations - FPR
- ABCFP Bylaws
- ABCFP admistrative policies + ABCFP professional practice standards and guidelines
Describe the structure of the ABCFP
ABCFP is governed by a council and it’s statuatory committees which provide direction and oversight and is led by a CEO who reports to the council and directs staff who administer and implement operations
Functions of the ABCFP
- Setting mission of the ABCFP
- Setting standards of professional conduct
- Setting policy limits about how work of ABCFP is carried out
- Hiring and monitoring performance of CEO
- Passing bylaws
- Monitoring oversight of ABCFP performance
- Monitoring risk
- Annual reporting of ABCFP performance
- Approving ABCFP budget
- Developing stakeholder engagemant plans
- Enforcing compliance with bylaws
Describe the key components of the registration function
- Registration functions are carried out in accordance with bylaw 5 : Registration
- Credentials committee advises on matter related to registration
- Registrar maintains details on all persons registered, category of registrant, and any limitations/ notions regarding cancellation, suspension, or diciplinary action. Registrar also manages compentency assessments , LMS, and issues certificates.
Categories of Registrants
Reserved Practice and Title include:
- RPF (full scope)
- FIT (supervised
- RFT (4 areas of practice)
- TFT (supervised)
Reserved Title of Associate Registrants with limited reserved practice:
- ATC
- ATE
- SAS
- NPR (Natural Resource PRofessionals
- Affiliated Forest Professional
- Retired (not allowed to practice)
Requirements for annual renewal of registration
- payment of registration and other outstanding dsues
- completion of indictable offence declaration
- completion of self-assessment declaration- practice areas and CPD
Role of OSPG
Office of the Superintendant of Professional Governance
- Overseeing the governance of the ABCFP under the PGA
- Providing policy guidance to ABCFP on subject matter that must be addressed in bylaws
- Ensures ABCFP bylaws are in public interest
- Assess regulatory body performance against standards
- Conduct investigations into offences under the PGA, such as use of reserved titles and practice
- Provide reccommendations to government regarding desigantion of a new regulatory body under PGA
- Enforce compliance with PGA
ABCFP Council Roles
- Makes decisions in public interest
- Focuses on vision, goals, objectives, and the future rather than management or operational matters (responsibility of chief execuative officer)
- develops, maintains, and monitors the governance and limitation policies that guide buisness operations
- Has the resposibility of authority and oversight of executive officer and their performance
- filing annual report with OSPG on its general operations
ABCFP Statuatory committee role
PGA established and used by ABCFP council and staff to provide guidance and oversight to ABCFP programs and iniatives
ABCFP staff and buisness functions role
- PGA authorizes council to establish an office with staff to carry out the work of the ABCFP
- Includes appointment of an executive director to lead and direct operational buisness functions under the oversight of the council
Describe the practice of professional forestry
(a) the provision of the services of managing, advising on, performing or directing works, services or
undertakings respecting trees, forests, forest lands, forest resources, forest ecosystems or forest
transportation systems in a natural or managed, rural or urban environment, and any related, incidental or
ancillary services or activities; and
(b) the promotion and implementation of principles of forest stewardship.
Regulated Practice
defines a broad area of practice where FPBC regulates its registrants.
Reserved Practice
Forestry reserved practices are advice or
services that require the experience or technical knowledge of — and may only be carried out by or under the supervision of — a Registered
Professional Forester or Registered Forest Technologist in order to hold paramount the safety, health and welfare of the public, including the
protection of the environment and the health and safety of the workplace.
Reserved Title
The title that is reserved for use by registrants of a regulatory body
Explain the steps to determine when a service is a forestry reserved practice
- Does the advice or service relate to trees, forests, forest lands, forest
resources, forest ecosystems or forest transportation systems?
Reserved practice is a subset of regulated practice - Is there a risk to the safety, health or welfare of the public, including
protection of the environment, if the advice or service is provided
incorrectly or without sufficient knowledge, skill or experience?
A risk that engages the “protective purposes” - Does the advice or service require the experience or technical
knowledge of an RPF or RFT to mitigate risk?
May be carried out by, or under the supervision, of an FPBC
registrant
Also consider: practice of professional forestry as it used to be
defined in the (now repealed) Foresters Act - Are the required competencies (knowledge, skills, ability)
usual and customary to the practice of professional forestry?Indicators:
* Is there related FPBC practice guidance?
* Are there groups or communities of forest professionals supporting the
practice area?
* Does deep subject matter expertise exist within the forestry
profession?
* Is there a supporting forestry related academic or research
community? - Is there a reasonable public expectation that the work will be done
following FPBC’s standards, and that the person performing or
supervising the work will be held accountable by FPBC if it is not? - Is there any other relevant illustrative material about professional
forestry practice from FPBC, including any practice guidance or
technical or policy documents, or any memoranda of understanding
between FPBC and other regulators?
Identify the 36 areas of practice of forest professionals
Auditing, Inspecting, Monitoring and Verifying Forest Operations, Plans and Practices
Compliance and Enforcement in Forest Management
Cultural & Prescribed Fire
Forest Certification
Forest Conservation and Protected Forest Areas
Forest Ecosystem Assessment, Planning and Stewardship
Forest Education and Training
Forest Harvest — Planning
Forest Harvest — Operations Management and Oversight
Forest Health Damage and Invasive Species
Forest Inventory and Analysis
Forest Legislation and Forest Policy Development
Forest Resources Contract Management and Administration
Forest/Watershed Level Planning and Management
Forest Measurements (timber cruising, surveys)
Forest Recreation Planning and Management
Forest Research and Climate Change Adaptation
Forest Roads and Transportation
Forest Tenure, Licence, and Permit Development and Review
Forest Geographic Information Systems and Mapping
Growth and Yield Analysis and Application
Indigenous Forest Management
International and Interprovincial Forestry Management
Landscape Level — Forest Planning and Management (FLP, HLP)
Stand Level — Forest Planning and Management (Site Plans)
Silviculture
Small Scale Forest Management
Supervising, Directing and Advising Forest Plans, Practices and Professionals
Timber Pricing and Appraisals
Timber, Carbon, Ecosystem and Forest Land Valuation
Tree Improvement/Forest Genetics
Tree Seed and Seedling Planning and Production
Urban Forest Management
Visual Resource Management of Forests
Wildland Fire Resiliency & Risk Reduction
Wildfire Coordination & Response
Describe the limiations on reserved practice of various categories of registrants and the implications for supervision of forestry reserved practices
- There is no authority (or requirement) for the supervision of reserved practice of practising RPF
registrants (along with Transferring and Visiting Forest Professionals with the equivalentlicensing).
These registrants are independently accountable for their professional work. - Trainees may only carry out a service thatis a forestry reserved practice if itis performed under the
direct supervision of a practising RPF registrant, a practising RFT registrant, a Visiting Forest
Professional, or a Transferring Forest Professional. - There is no authority for supervision of reserved practice by non-practising registrants or retired
registrants. These registrants are prohibited from the practice of professionalforestry
3 criteria that must be met to carry out a reserved practice
- They have the authority under Bylaw 5 to carry out the practice;
- They have the appropriate competence to carry out the practice (i.e. they have the required education, training, and experience, which will depend on their area of practice); and
- There are no conditions or limitations placed on the registrant’s practice associated with, or resulting from:
i. their registration with the ABCFP (i.e. a RFT registrant’s practice may be subject to limitations under Bylaw 6-7);
ii. audit or practice reviews;
iii. complaints, investigations, or discipline; or
iv. indictable offences.
Describe obligations regarding the identification of professional work
Bylaw 8 establishes requirements and standards regarding how professional work is to be identified.
Work must have:
- regestrants identity
- registrants professional designation
- registrants signature
- date of professional work
- any other information required by standards established by registar
Describe obligations regarding continuing professional development
Bylaw 10 sets out the requirements for the ABCFP’s continuing professional development (CPD) program in accordance with PGA.
Registrants are free to choose learning activities that allign with the following:
- professional competencies
- declared areas of professional practice
- interpersonal competencies
What happens if a registrant does not submit record of CPD
- recieve a notice of non-compliance
- have to pay any applicable late fees within 7 days of notice
- be required to complete any outstanding learning activities
- be refferred to audit and practice review committee for practice review
- be refferred to the investigation committee
Describe the ABCFP practice advisory program
The ABCFP practice advisory program is established under Bylaw 9-3 to provide practice advice to registrants to assist them in dealing with
professional or ethical issues.
Information or practice advice provided by a practice advisor does not relieve any registrant of the responsibility to conduct their own due
diligence and exercise their own professional judgment in any specific situation.
Requirements of forest professionals under the ABCFP bylaws
- Identifyu any professional work prepared by or under their supervisionin accordance in the bylaws
- Annually declare practice areas
- Only carry outforestry reserved practices where they have the authority under the bylaws, have the competency to do the work, and are not otherwise limited from practice under conditions specified in the bylaws
- Annually complete and submit a record of CPD carried out in accordance of bylaws
Factors in determining a forestry reserved practice
- The service includes on or more of 36 identified areas of practice
- The service includes planning, advising, engaging in or reporting any incidental or ancillary forestry services or activities
- The service is related to: trees, forests, forest lands, forest resources, forest transportation systems, or forest ecosystems
- The service is specified in the Forester Act definition of the practice of professional forestry
Describe the legislative and regulatory basis for the Code of Ethical and Professional Conduct
The PGA requires professional regulatory bodies to make
standards of professional and ethical conduct and
competence under section 57 and standards of practice
under section 22(2)(f) that apply to registered professionals.
To meet this requirement, the ABCFP has developed
standards under ABCFP Bylaw 9 that apply to every ABCFP
registrant providing professional service in a forests, forest
lands and forest resources.
What are the nine standards of the code?
- Competence
- Independence
- Conflict of Interest
- Due Dilligence
- Integrity
- Forest Stewardship
- Safety
- Professionalism
- Reporting
Describe how the code is structured
There are nine ethical and professional Standards in the Code. The Standards are general classes of
duties and behaviors that collectively establish an expectation on forest professionals. Generally
speaking, the first four Code Standards are about the way professional service is delivered and the next
four Standards are about the values that are delivered and protected. The last Code Standard is a
capstone responsibility, a reporting standard.
What distinguishes a forest professional from the public or other non-professionals?
Regulated to adhere to a set of professional standards which ensures the pratice of professional forestry is undertaken in a manner that protects the safety, health and welfare of the public and the environment
The top 5 objectives of the Standards in the code
- Describe measures of professional performance
- Performance baseline your practice may be measured against
- Tools to help you assess your practice
- Indicators of quality
- Guide for everyday practice
Explain the significance and value of professional standards
Benefits to the public:
- Transparent and available standards
- Reliance on forest professionals
- Know expectations of professional service
Benefits to registrant:
- Right to regulated practice
- accountability
- application of professional judgement and discretion
- responsible to proctect health, safety, and welfare of public and environment
- understand performance benchmarks
- self-assessment to identify areas of improvement
Benchmarks for standard 1 - Competence
- Training and ability based on education, work experience, and professional development
- Competency maintainance: must self-assess, identify compentency gaps and upskill
- Qualification and experience: obligated to NOT exaggerate or inaccurately protray qualifations
Benchmarks for standard 2 - Independence
- Uphold public interest and professional principles: must adhere to sound principles of stewardship and obligations to their employer/clients and public interest
- Facts, assumptions, and opinons: registrants must slearly distinguish between facts, assumptions and opinions when providing professional opinions in prep of documents and during duscussion in public forums
- Identify contributors: acknowledge contributors
- Confidentiality: all information recieved from employer or client in confidential
- Disregard of professional reccommendations: provide possible consequences if professional decision is overruled or disregarded
Benchmarks of standard 3- Conflict of Interest
- Disclosure of conflicts of interest
- Resolve or Mitigate
- Don’t bias decisions
Benchmarks of Standard 4- Due Dilligence
- Complete, clear, and correct
- Measurable and verifiable
- Regards to Laws
- Regard for government and regulatory policies
- Work and documentation
Benchmarks of Standard 5 - Integrity
- Inspire confidence
- Undignified communication
- Do NOT misrepersent facts
Benchmarks of Standard 6 - Forest Stewardship
- Understand objectives
- Uphold Forest Stewardship
- Resolve Concerns
Benchmarks of Standard 7 - Safety
- Maintain safe work practices
- Uphold safety, health, and welfare of public and promotion of safety in workplace
Benchmarks of Standard 8 - Professionalism
- Truthful and accurate statements
- Retain from criticizing others work
- Contribute to the advance of knowledge
- Be conscientious in providing professional service
- Resolve concerns about conflict
Benchmarks of Standard 9 - Reporting
- Required to report practices that pose risk/harm to the environment or to the health and safety of the public
- report to: ABCFP, PGA regulatory body, ABCFP registrant misconduct
Conditions that trigger reporting
- must have personal knowledge of the continued carrying on of the regulated practice of a registrant
- must have specialized knowledge of the potential outcomes of the regulated practice
- AND your belief is based on “reasonable/probable grounds”
Regulatory bodies under the PGA
- BC Institute of Agrologists
- Applied Science Technologists of BC
- College of Applied Biology
- Engineers and Geoscientists BC
- ABCFP
- Architechual Institute of BC
What type of policy direction does the PGA provide
Advocacy
Declarations of Competence and Conflict of Interest
Duty to Report to Regulatory Bodies
Firm Regulation
Practice Rights
Register
Regulatory Body Complaint and Discipline
Information to be Publicly Available
Standards of Practice
OSPG Audits, Investigation and Performance Reviews
OSPG Standards of Good Regulation
Best Practices
4 practice areas of RFTs
- forest measurements
-silviculture - forest operations
- forest protection
Committees of the ABCFP
- Nomination committe: nominates qualified registrants for election
- Credentials committe: ensures competence of candidates
- Investigations committe: investigates, resolves, and orders discipline hearing, and discloses complaints to public
- Discipline committee: determination of misconduct
- Audit and Practice review committee- Advise council on CPD, appoints assessors, selects registrants for audit and takes action in result of audit