Disparate industries could be free from state regulation

They're an odd threesome.

One line of work specializes in extracting potentially dangerous fungi from homes and offices. Another seeks to beautify those places. A third weaves hair into plaits.

What unites them is Gov. Bob McDonnell's proposal to free all three occupations - mold remover, interior designer and hair braider - from state regulation.

Virginia's requirements involve education, experience and passing exams. The schooling or tests can cost hundreds or thousands of dollars. The state also charges application and renewal fees for licenses, which range from $45 to $140 every two years.

The plan, which requires legislative approval, follows the recommendations of the Governor's Commission on Government Reform and Restructuring.

"Government regulation is important when there's an impact on the health and safety of the population," said Jeff Palmore, McDonnell's policy director, "and they tried to identify those areas where that interest is not required."

Yet the proposal has drawn flak from consumer advocates and even from members of the fields, who say deregulation would remove a useful measure of quality control.

Irene Leech, president of the Virginia Citizens Consumer Council, said she opposes dropping requirements for mold removers and interior designers.

"For consumers, they can sound like they know everything," said Leech, also an associate professor of consumer studies at Virginia Tech. "But I need a credential of some sort to know they have proper training."

Nicole Watford, owner of Masusu Kinks, with three shops in Norfolk and Newport News, said it wouldn't be good for hair braiders, either.

"It wouldn't necessarily affect the business," Watford said last week, "but it would make it seem less professional if we weren't licensed or certified to do it."

Tiffany Myint was getting her hair done for the first time at another store, African Hair Braiding by Penda in Virginia Beach, last week. "I go by the referral and what service they give and what the finished product is," said Myint, who lives in Virginia Beach. "Whether they hold a piece of paper or not is a moot point to me."

Palmore said Virginians still could contact the state's Office of Consumer Affairs if they feel they have been mistreated by members of those occupations.

The regulations in the three fields cover individuals, not the businesses they work for - except for 50 braiding schools and salons. About 1,300 people in the mold removal, interior design and braiding businesses are licensed or certified by the state, said Mary Broz-Vaughan, a spokeswoman for the Virginia Department of Professional and Occupational Regulation, which regulates more than 30 fields.

Punitive action is rare. Inspections are generally triggered by complaints, Broz-Vaughan said. Among all three occupations, the department received 14 complaints since 1990, she said.

One led to the revocation of a license. In that case, she said, a braider failed to notify the state of an address change and was found to have issued a check with insufficient funds.

The financial impact of deregulating the occupations would be "virtually zero," Palmore said in an email.

The Department of Professional and Occupational Regulation subsists on fees and gets no state funding, he said, but the members of the three fields make up a tiny fraction of the 300,000 workers it regulates.

Like the jobs to which they apply, the scope and history of the regulations vary substantially. Braiders have been regulated since 2004 and mold removers only since July, Broz-Vaughan said.

In both fields, practitioners must be "licensed" to work in Virginia. Interior designers don't face that requirement. They may apply for an optional state "certification."

Here are more details on the rules for each occupation and reactions to the proposal:

Mold removers. McDonnell's plan would upend the new regulations, put in place last summer as a result of a 2009 bill passed by the General Assembly. Requirements include a state-approved class, which Broz-Vaughan said costs $300 to $645; a range of experience minimums, going up to two years for some mold inspectors, and a $25-a-year fee.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency issues guidelines - but not mandates - for mold removers, said Bart Brown, the mold remediation manager for First Atlantic Restoration in Virginia Beach. Three other states regulate the field, according to Palmore.

Mold "is everywhere," said David Collier, president of First Atlantic, which does about 25 mold-remediation jobs a month. "You're breathing it right now." The question is whether it has reached dangerous levels.

The onset of regulation last summer brought a flurry of confusion, Collier said. It wasn't clear whether his employees' previous training met the new education standards, so he sent them to a state-approved course, at $395 per worker.

Collier and Brown voiced ambivalence at the prospect of abandoning the rules.

"Too much government regulation can be stifling," Collier said, "but there is a need for regulation because of the simple fact that it's hard to define at what point do you have a mold-remediation problem?"

David Guy, the owner of Healthy Environments, an air-quality consulting firm based in Norfolk, wasn't keen on the regulation, but now "I think it's a good thing. We see a lot of fly-by-nights come and go. I think it will stop that. At least you will have investments in training."

Hair braiders. A 2003 bill submitted by then-Del. Thelma Drake, R-Norfolk, triggered the requirements for braiders. They must undergo 170 hours of education, with tuition costing $1,500 to $3,000, and pass a $75 exam, Broz-Vaughan said. Application and renewal fees are $140 every other year.

A report from the reform commission said the braiding industry "poses a minimal risk of public harm." But Watford, the owner of Masusu Kinks, said, "Someone who is licensed and has been educated would be able to recognize different diseases associated with the scalp and know certain hairstyles you can't do."

Penda Ndiaye, the owner of African Hair Braiding by Penda, where Myint got her hair done, doesn't think the training requirement is necessary. Many local braiders are from Africa - Ndiaye is from Senegal - and "we knew how to do braiding before we got to the United States."

Yet she believes the license is important for some customers "so they know and respect what we're doing."

Interior designers. To win certification, designers must graduate from a four-year program approved by the Council for Interior Design Accreditation; pass a national exam, costing $1,130, and a state test, and have two years of experience working for a professional such as a certified designer. Fees are $45 every two years.

Only 10 other states have regulations for the field, the reform panel's report said.

Lisa Odom, an interior designer at Willis Furniture in Virginia Beach, said she's been certified since 1992. She hopes the state doesn't drop the credential.

"I just think that's important for the consumer so they know they're working with somebody who knows what they're doing," Odom said, "versus a decorator who might have a flair for it and all of a sudden starts decorating, but maybe she's not as experienced and knowledgeable."

Philip Walzer, (757) 222-3864, phil.walzer@pilotonline.com