(a)
(1) The local apprenticeship committee shall establish criteria for eligibility for hardship status. The applicant for hardship status must reside at least thirty (30) miles by the most direct route from the nearest established apprenticeship school.
(2) The thirty-mile criterion is a minimum qualification to be considered as hardship, and complete qualifications will be established by the local apprenticeship committee or the State Apprenticeship Committee.
(b) If the local apprenticeship committee does not act on the application within forty-five (45) days of the date it was filed, the application shall be automatically transmitted to the State Apprenticeship Committee, which shall act on the application at its next regularly scheduled meeting after receipt thereof.
(c) If the State Apprenticeship Committee fails to act, the application shall be automatically transmitted to the Career Education and Workforce Development Board, which shall act on the application within forty-five (45) days after receipt.