Ohio Engineers Legislative Day 

SCHEDULE

8:00 am    Registration
                   Coffee & light breakfast provided

8:55 am    Welcome
                   Owen March, PE, FNSPE, President, OSPE
                   Joe Warino, PE, PS, FNSPE, VP of OSPE Legislative & Government Affairs

9:00 am    Autonomous Vehicles – Leading From the Edge
                   Randy Cole, Executive Director, Ohio Turnpike and Infrastructure Commission
                   Peter Voderberg, Managing Director, ODOT Regulations & Policy for DriveOhio

10:00 am    Pipeline Safety and Regulations
                     Ed Gortner, Assistant Environment Administrator, Ohio EPA Office of Environmental Response
                     Hoby Griset, PE, President, Utility Technologies International

11:00 am    10 Minute Break

11:10 am    State Board of Registration Update
                     John Greenhalge, Executive Director, Ohio State Board of Registration for PEs and PSs

11:55 am    5 Minute Break

12:00 pm    Lunch & Speaker
                     Can Congress Tackle the Nation's Infrastructure Crisis
                     Brian Pallasch, CAE, Lobbyist, American Society of Civil Engineers, Ohio Council

1:30 pm    Legislative Update - Movement on Bills
                   Rep. Louis Blessing, III, PE, District 29

2:00 pm    Upgrading Our Nation’s Electric Grid
                   Kamran Ali, PE, Director, Transmission Planning, American Electric Power

2:45 pm    Legislative Visits

TOPICS & SPEAKERS 

Autonomous Vehicles - Leading From the Edge

Participants will learn:

• Update on scheduled progress to date
  
• What was learned
• What were unintended consequenses   
  
•  Broad overview of DriveOhio
  

Randy Cole, Executive Director, Ohio Turnpike and Infrastructure Commission  

Randy Cole serves as Executive Director of the Ohio Turnpike. He previously served as Controlling Board   president and Policy Advisor to the Office of Budget and Management (OBM) in the administration of Gov. John Kasich. He currently serves on the Advisory Board of DriveOhio, a multi-agency partnership, which is focused on bringing connected and autonomous vehicle transportation technologies to Ohio. His commitment to using technology to transform government operations led Government Technology magazine to name Randy as one of the nation’s Top 25 Doers, Dreamers & Drivers of 2013. He also serves on the Board of Directors of the International Bridge, Tunnel and Turnpike Association (IBTTA). You can follow him on Twitter @OHTurnpikeGuy.

Peter Voderbert, Managing Director, ODOT Regulations & Policy for DriveOhio 

Peter Voderberg is the Managing Director for Regulations and Policy for DriveOhio, a statewide center for all things smart mobility established by Governor John Kasich in January 2018. DriveOhio is bringing together those responsible for building infrastructure and regulating transportation in Ohio with those who are developing advanced mobility technologies.  He provides leadership and insight on complex questions of how policies at all levels of government are and will be affected by the development of these technologies.  Prior to his appointment with DriveOhio, Peter served as an Assistant Policy Director and Associate Counsel in the Office of Governor Kasich. Peter earned his J.D. from the University of Dayton School of Law in 2012 and has a bachelor’s degree in English from The Ohio State University.  

Pipeline Safety and Regulations

Participants will learn:   

• Government perspective on safety and regulations
  
• How the EPA manages environmental emergencies
• How envronmental safety can be improved
  
• What pipeline safety regulations exist
• What the pipeline industry's track record is on safety
• How pipeline saftey can be improved
  

Ed Gortner, Assistant Environment Administrator, Ohio Environmental Protection Agency

 
Hoby Griset, PE, President, Utility Technologies International

Mr. Griset is a 1978 Cum Laude graduate of the University of Utah with a Bachelor of Science degree in Mining Engineering.  He is a registered Professional Engineer in Ohio, Kentucky, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia, and has over 37 years of experience in the natural gas industry.  Mr. Griset was a long-time board member of the Ohio Gas Association, serving as president in 1998-1999, and holds a seat on the board of directors of Kentucky Energy Development.

State Board of Registration Update

Participants will learn:visions of the Ohio transportation budget signed by Governor John Kasich

• Major Commercial CPD provider's hours banned in Ohio
• New online accounts
• Comity & decoupling experience requirement from PE exam requirement
• Accommodations for part-time experience
• CPD Audit Update
• Reminder - 2 CPD hours of ethics/rules education hours per biennium are now mandatory

John Greenhalge, Executive Director, Ohio State Board of Rgeistration for PEs and PSs  

In April 2006, the Board appointed John Greenhalge as Executive Director.  John has been with the Board since 1998 previously serving as the enforcement officer and as the assistant executive director.  Prior to joining the Board, John worked for the Franklin County Prosecuting Attorney’’s office and Sears Roebuck & Co. John has a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration and a Masters of Business Administration degree from Ashland University.

Can Congress Tackle the Nation's Infrastructure Crisis
(Lunch Speaker)

Participants will learn:

• Details on President Trump’s infrastructure plan
• What is Congress doing to address the infrastructure problem
• What is the federal vs. state vs. local role for infrastructure funding
• How can engineers engage with legislators to pass legislation

Brian Pallasch, CAE, Managing Director, Government Relations & Infrastructure Initiatives, American Society of Civil Engineers, Washington, DC  

Legislative Update - Movement on Bills

Participants will learn:   

• Update on HB 75
• Update on HB 121
  
• Update on HB 289
• Update on SB 95
  
• Policy discussion
  

Louis Blessing, III, PE, State Representative, House District 29                                    

State Representative Louis W. Blessing, III is serving his second term in the Ohio House of Representatives.    He represents the 29th Ohio House District, which includes portions of western Hamilton County.  Representative Blessing has an extensive background in electrical engineering. He currently works as an engineer at Super Systems, Inc. in Cincinnati and previously worked at Duke Energy and Nova Engineering.  He earned his Bachelor of Arts in mathematics and Bachelor of Science in electrical engineering at the University of Cincinnati.  The Representative is a licensed professional engineer and is a member of the Ohio Society of Professional Engineers.

Click here to locate your legislator.  You will need to mark "Zip Code" and then type in your home zip code with its 4-digit extension.