(1) Any person or entity wishing to conduct a training course, approved by the department as acceptable for fulfilling educational requirements for boiler operator engineer licensure established in 50-74-304, MCA, shall apply for approval on forms provided by the department.

(2) Minimum training course hours are as follows:

(a) For all low-pressure and third-class boiler operating engineer training courses, a minimum of 30 hours, including classroom instruction and field or shop time is required.

(3) Training course providers shall receive department approval prior to offering courses. Applications for approval of a training course must include the following:

(a) a description of the training course identifying the specific class of license for which the course is designed;

(b) a list of books, publications, and source material to be utilized in the training course;

(c) a course outline, which includes a breakdown of the hours to be used to cover each area of training, including total classroom instruction hours and field or shop time hours;

(d) a copy of the certificate of completion to be awarded to the persons successfully completing the course;

(e) the name of each licensed operator who will act as an instructor for the course; and

(f) a copy of the instructor's boiler operating engineer's license or other documentation acceptable to the department, which outlines the instructor qualifications to teach the course.

(i) Instructors who are not currently licensed by the state of Montana as a boiler operating engineer must have a class of license at least equal to the level of training class being offered and are required to successfully pass the applicable written examination prior to teaching the training course.

(4) The department will review and evaluate each training course application on a case-by-case basis, and will approve only those courses fulfilling the requirements established in this chapter. Once approved by the department, course curriculum cannot be modified until proposed changes are approved by the department.

(a) Approval for a training course remains valid until such time as the department gives the training course provider 30 days notice of the department's justification and intent to withdraw its approval of the course.

(b) Training course providers may petition the department for reconsideration during the 30-day period. The department will notify the provider of its final determination subsequent to the termination of the 30-day period.

(c) The department staff may, at no charge, observe courses for the purpose of auditing the course content, but will not be issued a course completion certificate.

(5) Instructors or entities approved to conduct a training course shall provide a certificate of completion to those persons successfully completing the course, which includes the specific name of the approved course, the number of hours of total training, the name of the person receiving the training, the location (city) of the training, and the date of completion.