A person seeking approval as a speech-language pathology assistant shall make application to the board for that approval.

The regulations shall provide that speech-language pathology assistants are not authorized to conduct evaluations, interpret data, alter treatment plans, or perform any task without the express knowledge and approval of a supervising speech-language pathologist.

A person applying for approval as a speech-language pathology assistant shall have graduated from a speech-language pathology assistant associate degree program, or equivalent course of study, approved by the board. A person who has successfully graduated from a board-approved bachelor’s degree program in speech-language pathology or communication disorders shall be deemed to have satisfied an equivalent course of study.

This article shall not be construed to limit the utilization of a speech aide or other personnel employed by a public school working under the direct supervision of a credentialed speech-language pathologist as set forth in subdivision (c) of Section 3051.1 of Title 5 of the California Code of Regulations.

For the purposes of this article, the following definitions shall apply:

The practice of fitting or selling hearing aids does not include the act of concluding the transaction by a retail clerk.

When any audiometer or other equipment is used in the practice of fitting or selling hearing aids, it shall be kept properly calibrated and in good working condition, and the

calibration of the audiometer or other equipment shall be checked at least annually.

A licensee may conduct hearing screenings at a health fair or similar event by the application of a binary puretone screening at a preset intensity level for the purpose of identifying the need for further hearing or medical evaluation.

Upon the conclusion of each hearing screening, the licensee shall present to the person whose hearing was screened a written statement containing the following provisions:

“Results of a hearing screening are not a medical evaluation of your ear nor a diagnosis of a hearing disorder but are only the identification of the need for further medical or hearing evaluation.”

A licensee conducting hearing screenings pursuant to this

section shall not make or seek referrals for testing, fitting, or dispensing of hearing aids.

In fitting hearing aids, a hearing aid dispenser shall not take facial measurements or fit, adjust, or adapt lenses or spectacle frames, except that a hearing aid dispenser may replace the temple or temples of a person’s spectacle frames with a temple or temples incorporating hearing aid components.

“Hearing aid dispenser,” as used in this article, means a person engaged in the practice of fitting or selling hearing aids to an individual with impaired hearing.

“Sell” or “sale” means any transfer of title or of the right to use by lease, bailment, or any other contract, excluding wholesale transactions with distributors or dealers.

The board shall keep a record of all prosecutions for violations of this article and of all examinations held for applicants for licenses together with the names and addresses of all persons taking examinations and of their success or failure to pass them.

The board may recommend the preparation of and administration of a course of instruction concerned with the fitting and selection of hearing aids. The board may require applicants to first complete the required course of instruction or otherwise satisfy the board that the applicant possesses the necessary background and qualifications to fit or sell hearing aids. If the board promulgates regulations to implement this section to require a course of instruction concerned with fitting and selling hearing aids, the board shall obtain the advice of persons knowledgeable in the preparation and administration of a course of instruction.

The board may publish and distribute information concerning the examination requirements for obtaining a license to

engage in the practice of fitting and selling hearing aids within this state.

All holders of licenses to sell or fit hearing aids shall continue their education after receiving the license. The board shall provide by regulation, as a condition to the renewal of a license, that licensees shall submit documentation satisfactory to the board that they have informed themselves of current practices related to the fitting of hearing aids by having pursued courses of study satisfactory to the board or by other means defined as equivalent by the board.

Continuing education courses shall be subject to monitoring to ensure compliance with the regulations adopted by the board pursuant to this section.

It is unlawful for an individual to engage in the practice of fitting or selling hearing aids, or to display a sign or in any other way to advertise or hold themselves out as being so engaged without having first obtained a license from the board under the provisions of this article. Nothing in this article shall prohibit a corporation, partnership, trust, association, or other like organization maintaining an established business address from engaging in the business of fitting or selling, or offering for sale, hearing aids at retail without a license, provided that any and all fitting or selling of hearing aids is conducted by the individuals who are licensed pursuant to the provisions of this article. A person whose license as a hearing aid dispenser has been suspended or revoked shall not be the proprietor of a business that engages in the

practice of fitting or selling hearing aids nor shall that person be a partner, shareholder, member, or fiduciary in a partnership, corporation, association, or trust that maintains or operates that business, during the period of the suspension or revocation. This restriction shall not apply to stock ownership in a corporation that is listed on a stock exchange regulated by the Securities and Exchange Commission if the stock is acquired in a transaction conducted through that stock exchange.

This article does not apply to a person engaged in the practice of fitting hearing aids if their practice is for a governmental agency, or private clinic, or is part of the academic curriculum of an accredited institution of higher education, or part of a program conducted by a public, charitable institution or other nonprofit organization, and who does not engage directly or indirectly in the sale or offering for sale of hearing aids.

This article does not apply to nor affect any physician and surgeon licensed under Chapter 5 (commencing with Section 2000) of Division 2 who does not directly or indirectly engage in the sale or offering for sale of hearing aids, nor to any audiologist licensed under this chapter, or to an individual supervised by the audiologist in conducting fitting procedures, and who does not directly or indirectly engage in the sale or offering for sale of hearing aids.

Section 2538.36 and subdivision (b) of Section 2538.49 have been complied with.

Each person desiring to obtain a license to engage in the practice of fitting or selling hearing aids shall make application to the board. The application shall be made upon a form and shall be made in the manner as is provided by the board and shall be accompanied by the fee provided for in Section 2538.57.

safely and competently.

The board shall issue a license to all applicants who have satisfied this chapter, who are at least 18 years of age, who possess a high school diploma or its equivalent, who have not committed acts or crimes constituting grounds for denial of licensure under Section 480, and who have paid the fees provided for in Section 2538.57. No license shall be issued to any person other than an individual.

license prior to expiration of the one-year period.

that decision.

only one new trainee license under this subdivision.

A trainee licensed under Section 2538.28 shall take the licensure examination within the first 12 months after the trainee license is issued. Failure to take the licensure examination within that time shall result in expiration of the trainee license, and it shall not be renewed unless the trainee licensee has first taken the licensure examination. The board, however, may in its discretion renew the trainee license if the licensee failed to take the licensure examination due to illness or other hardship.

Practical examinations shall be held by the board at least twice a year. The time and place of any practical examination shall be fixed by the board at least 45 days prior to the date it is to be held.

Every applicant who obtains a passing score determined by the Angoff criterion-referenced method of establishing the point in each examination shall be deemed to have passed that examination. An applicant shall pass the written examination before they may take the practical examination. An applicant shall obtain a passing score on both the written and the practical examination in order to be issued a license.

hearing aid dispenser may, without obtaining a duplicate license for a branch office, engage on a temporary basis in the practice of fitting or selling hearing aids at the primary or branch location of another licensee’s business or at a location or facility that they may use on a temporary basis, provided that the hearing aid dispenser notifies the board in advance in writing of the dates and addresses of those businesses, locations, or facilities at which they will engage in the practice of fitting or selling hearing aids.

the following: “The hearing aid being purchased uses proprietary or locked programming software and can only be serviced or programmed at specific facilities or locations.” The written notice shall be signed by the purchaser before the sale. The licensee shall keep and maintain a copy of the notice in accordance with Section 2538.38.

nonaffiliated providers.

consultation regarding the purchase of the hearing aid.

A copy of the written recommendation shall be retained by the licensee for the period provided for in Section 2538.38. A person receiving the written recommendation who elects to purchase a hearing aid shall sign a receipt, and the receipt shall be kept with other documents retained by the licensee for the period provided for in Section 2538.38. Nothing in this section required to be performed by a licensee shall mean that the licensee is engaged in the diagnosis of illness or the practice of medicine or any other activity prohibited by the provisions of this code.

No hearing aid shall be sold by an individual licensed under this chapter, to a person 16 years of age or younger, unless within the preceding six months a recommendation for a hearing aid has been made by both a board-certified, or a board-eligible physician specializing in otolaryngology, and by a state licensed audiologist. A replacement of an identical hearing aid within one year shall be an exception to this requirement.

A licensee shall, upon the consummation of a sale of a hearing aid, keep and maintain records in the licensee’s office or place of business at all times and each record shall be kept and maintained for a seven-year period. All records related to the sale and fitting of hearing aids shall be open to inspection by the board or its authorized representatives upon reasonable notice. The records kept shall include:

2538.36 when applicable.

A hearing aid dispenser who is the owner, manager, or franchisee at a location where hearing aids are fit or sold, shall be responsible for the adequacy of the fitting or selling of any hearing aid fit and sold by any licensee or licensees at that location.

Before setting aside the revocation or suspension of any license or modifying the probation of any licensee, the board may require the petitioner to pass the regular examination given for applicants for licenses.

Any person who violates any of the provisions of this article is guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction thereof, shall be punished by imprisonment in the county jail for not less than 10 days nor more than one year, or by a fine of not less than one hundred dollars ($100) nor more than one thousand dollars ($1,000), or by both such fine and imprisonment.

It is unlawful to sell or barter, or offer to sell or barter, any license issued by the board.

It is unlawful to purchase or procure by barter any license issued by the board with intent to use the same as evidence of the holder’s qualification to practice the fitting or selling of hearing aids.

It is unlawful to alter with fraudulent intent in any material regard a license issued by the board.

It is unlawful to use or attempt to use any license issued by the board that has been purchased, fraudulently issued, counterfeited, or materially altered as a valid license.

It is unlawful to willfully make any false statement in a material regard in an application for an examination before the board for a license.

It is unlawful to engage in the practice of fitting or selling hearing aids in this state without having at the time of so doing a valid, unrevoked, and unexpired license or temporary license.

It is unlawful for a licensed hearing aid dispenser to fit or sell a hearing aid unless they first do all of the following:

It is unlawful to advertise by displaying a sign or otherwise or hold themselves out to be a person engaged in the practice of fitting or selling hearing aids without having at the time of so doing a valid, unrevoked license or temporary license.

It is unlawful to engage in the practice of fitting or selling hearing aids without the licensee having and maintaining an established business address, routinely open for service to their clients.

When tests are conducted by persons licensed under this article in connection with the fitting and selling of hearing aids, the provisions of this article shall apply.

Except as otherwise provided in this article, an expired license may be renewed at any time within three years after its expiration on filing of an application for renewal on a form prescribed by the board, and payment of all accrued and unpaid renewal fees. If the license is renewed after its expiration the licensee, as a condition precedent to renewal, shall also pay the delinquency fee prescribed by this article. Renewal under this section shall be effective on the date on which the application is filed, on the date on which the renewal fee is paid, or on the date on which the delinquency fee, if any, is paid, whichever last occurs. If so renewed, the license shall continue in effect through the date provided in Section 2538.53 which next occurs after the effective date of the

renewal, when it shall expire if it is not again renewed.

A license which has been suspended is subject to expiration and shall be renewed as provided in this article but such renewal does not entitle the holder of the license, while it remains suspended and until it is reinstated, to engage in the fitting or selling of hearing aids, or in any other activity or conduct in violation of the order or judgment by which the license was suspended. A license which has been revoked is subject to expiration, but it may not be renewed. If it is reinstated after its expiration, the licensee, as a condition precedent to its reinstatement, shall pay a reinstatement fee in an amount equal to the renewal fee in effect on the last regular renewal date before the date on which it is reinstated, plus the delinquency fee, if any, accrued at the time of its

revocation.

A license that is not renewed within three years after its expiration may not be renewed, restored, reissued, or reinstated thereafter, but the holder of the expired license may apply for and obtain a new license if all of the following apply:

in the practice of fitting or selling hearing aids. The board may, by regulation, provide for the waiver or refund of all or any part of the application fee in those cases in which a license is issued without an examination under this section.

The amount of fees and penalties prescribed by this article shall be those set forth in this section unless a lower fee is fixed by the board: