90-501. Board of Employee Assistance Professionals; members.

(a) The Board of Employee Assistance Professionals is created.

(b) The Board consists of five members to be appointed by the Governor. Members shall serve for terms of five years. All members must be residents of North Carolina.

(c) The following requirements shall apply to appointments to the Board:

(1) Two members shall be licensed employee assistance professionals who are privately employed.

(2) One member shall not be directly or indirectly engaged in the employee assistance profession.

(3) Two members shall be licensed employee assistance professionals.

(d) The licensed employee assistance professionals appointed pursuant to subdivision (1) or (3) of subsection (c) of this section must have been engaged in the active practice of being an employee assistance professional for no less than five years.

(e) The North Carolina Chapter of the Employee Assistance Professionals Association shall submit a list of at least three nominees for each appointment. The Governor may make appointments from this list.

(f) Any member of the Board shall be removed from the Board upon certification by the Board to the Governor that the member no longer satisfies the employment requirements set forth in subsection (c) of this section for appointment to the Board. The Governor shall appoint a replacement from a list of nominees submitted by the North Carolina Chapter of the Employee Assistance Professionals Association within 60 days of the Governor's receiving the list of nominees.

(g) Members shall serve until their successors are appointed and duly qualified. Any vacancy occurring on the Board shall be filled by the Governor appointing a member for the balance of the unexpired term. A Board member who has served a five-year term shall not be eligible for reappointment during the one-year period following the appointment of that member's successor.

(h) In making appointments to the Board, the Governor shall strive to ensure that at least one member serving on the Board is 60 years of age or older and that at least one member serving on the Board is a member of a racial minority.

(i) For each day engaged in the business of the Board, members shall receive compensation of fifty dollars ($50.00) and shall receive reimbursement for actual expenses.

(j) Annually, the members of the Board shall elect a chair and a secretary.

(k) The Board shall meet as frequently as is reasonably necessary to implement the provisions of this Article. Three or more members of the Board shall constitute a quorum for the purpose of transacting business.

(l) For administrative purposes, the Board shall be an independent entity. The Department of Health and Human Services shall provide staff to the Board to assist the Board in transacting its business.