Rotunno v. Board of Professional Engineers, 1D06-3908.

• Citation: 946 So.2d 51
• Decision Date: 19 December 2006
• Docket Number: No. 1D06-3908.,1D06-3908.
• Parties: Ronald L. ROTUNNO, Appellant, v. BOARD OF PROFESSIONAL ENGINEERS, Appellee.
• Court: Florida District Court of Appeals

946 So.2d 51

Ronald L. ROTUNNO, Appellant, v. BOARD OF PROFESSIONAL ENGINEERS, Appellee.

No. 1D06-3908.

District Court of Appeal of Florida, First District.

December 19, 2006.

Edwin A. Bayó and Andy V. Bardos of Gray Robinson, P.A., Tallahassee, for Appellant.

Charles J. Crist, Jr., Attorney General, and Lee Ann Gustafson, Senior Assistant Attorney General, Tallahassee, for Appellee.

KAHN, J.

In this administrative appeal, Ronald Rotunno seeks review of a final order entered by the Florida Board of Professional Engineers (Board). The Board rejected Rotunno's argument that section 471.013(1)(a)2., Florida Statutes (2005), applies to Rotunno and would allow Rotunno's licensure by endorsement in Florida as a professional engineer. We affirm the Board's order because it is a correct interpretation of the controlling statute.

Rotunno graduated from Pennsylvania State University in 1979 with a Bachelor of Science degree in transportation technology and currently holds professional engineer licenses in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Maryland, and Delaware. He sought licensure by endorsement in Florida pursuant to sections 471.015(3)(a) and 471.013(1)(a)2., Florida Statutes. The Board denied Rotunno's application for licensure by endorsement, finding as a matter of uncontested fact that he does not have "an engineering degree or a technology degree from a Florida state university."

The Florida Legislature has established the requirements for licensure by endorsement in section 471.015(3)(a). Among those requirements is the directive that any applicant for a professional engineering license qualify under Florida law to take the necessary examinations. See § 471.015(3)(a), Fla. Stat. Rotunno argues that he does qualify to take the examination pursuant to a specific provision of section 471.013(1)(a)2., Florida Statutes. This provision provides that the applicant must be "a graduate of an approved engineering technology curriculum of 4 years or more in a school, college, or university within the State University System, having been enrolled or having graduated prior to July 1, 1979." Rotunno has taken the position that the Legislature intended to approve any applicant who could produce an appropriate degree from any university within any system of state universities in the United States. The Board construed the language as limited to an engineering degree or technology degree from "a Florida state university."

Because the statute before us is not ambiguous, we are bound by its plain meaning. See, e.g., State Farm Mut. Auto. Ins. Co. v. Nichols, 932 So.2d 1067, 1073 (Fla.2006); Cassoutt v. Cessna Aircraft Co., 742 So.2d 493, 495 (Fla....