(1) Pilot applicants must pass a written examination administered and scored by the board or the board's designated contracting entity. The board, in consultation with its contracted psychometrician, will develop the written examination and set the minimum passing or "cut" score in conformance with psychometric standards as put forth by The Standards for Educational and Psychological Testing (American Educational Research Association (AERA), American Psychological Association (APA), and National Council on Measurement in Education (NCME), 2014). Notice of the examination shall be published at least four months in advance by one paid advertisement in a major marine industry publication and written notice to any party who has requested notice of such examinations. The board may publish additional notices in such publications or in other media. Applications will be accepted by the board immediately following the publication of the notice of the examination, and the application must be received by the board before the close of business on the first business day of the month preceding the exam month. The board may, in an emergency, call for an examination on less than four months' notice.

The notice shall indicate which pilotage district or districts the examination is for and, if for both districts, the notice shall make it clear that applicants can elect to apply for a license in one or both of the districts. If an exam is given for both the Grays Harbor and Puget Sound pilotage districts, the applicants shall be scored and ranked as one applicant pool.

(2) The examination may be taken by all pilot applicants who the board has determined have met the qualifications of WAC 363-116-0751 and who:

(a) Have complied with the application deadline provided in subsection (1) of this section. This requirement may be waived by the chairperson of the board upon the showing of good cause. The application shall specify whether the applicant is applying for the Puget Sound pilotage district, the Grays Harbor pilotage district or both.

(b) Have tendered with the application a nonrefundable examination administration fee in such amount as may be set by the board prior to each administration period. The board may, at its discretion, refund all or part of the examination administration fee for a pilot applicant who is unable to sit for the written examination.

(3) A comprehensive Job Task Analysis (JTA), consisting of a workshop with a Subject Matter Expert (SME) panel, on-the-job observation, and validation survey, must take place at least every other exam administration period, and at a minimum must occur every five years. The SME panel will be chosen by the board and shall consist of at least five members, of whom at least three members shall be active Washington state-licensed pilots.

For exam administration periods conducted between comprehensive JTAs, a SME panel will conduct a formal review to validate the exam blueprint and content outline prior to examination development. The JTA must be conducted in consultation with the contracted psychometrician and within guidelines set forth by AERA, APA, and NCME (2014).

The validation survey will yield the weightings for the exam blueprint, as established by the contracted psychometrician.

(4) The written examination shall be in compliance with RCW 88.16.090 and must consist of multiple-choice items. Each question on the exam will be aligned with the tasks and knowledge statements on the blueprint resulting from the JTA process. The number of questions that are mapped to each content domain will be determined by the exam blueprint.

The written exam shall be designed to test a pilot applicant's capabilities in the following areas:

(a) Prevoyage planning;

(b) Master pilot-exchange;

(c) Operational safety;

(d) Docking and undocking;

(e) Use of anchors;

(f) Safe navigation;

(g) Shiphandling;

(h) Restricted water transit; and

(i) Use of tugs.

(5) The written exam must be administered in a proctored setting. This must be a live proctor, either in-person or via a proctoring platform chosen in consultation with the contracted psychometrician. It shall not be AI-based nor record-and-review.

(6) A preliminary cut score will be derived via psychometric practices (e.g., a modified-Angoff methodology) prior to the administration of the exam. Following an item analysis (conducted by the contracted psychometrician) and subsequent item revisions or removal recommendations, a secondary cut score will be recommended to the board by the psychometrician. The board will then approve a final cut score, taking into account the preliminary cut score, the item analysis results, and the recommendations of the psychometrician.

(7) The board may require that the cost of the written examination will be at the expense of the pilot applicant.