PRINTER'S NO. 2124
No. 1434 Session of 2008
INTRODUCED BY DINNIMAN, COSTA, ERICKSON, FONTANA, ORIE,
RAFFERTY, WASHINGTON, WAUGH, C. WILLIAMS, WONDERLING AND
WOZNIAK, JUNE 9, 2008
REFERRED TO VETERANS AFFAIRS AND EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS,
JUNE 9, 2008
AN ACT
1 Establishing the Student Volunteer Firefighter Housing Grant
2 Program; providing for the powers and duties of the State
3 Fire Commissioner; and making an appropriation.
4 The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
5 hereby enacts as follows:
6 Section 1. Short title.
7 This act shall be known and may be cited as the Student
8 Volunteer Firefighter Housing Grant Act.
9 Section 2. Definitions.
10 The following words and phrases when used in this act shall
11 have the meanings given to them in this section unless the
12 context clearly indicates otherwise:
13 "Commissioner." The State Fire Commissioner of the
14 Commonwealth.
15 "Eligible student." A student who joins a sponsoring
16 volunteer fire company or an emergency medical service company
17 and enters into a contractual agreement with the sponsoring
1 company under a local program to provide at least the minimum
2 amount of service per week in the activities of a sponsoring
3 company.
4 "Emergency medical service company." A nonprofit chartered
5 corporation, association or organization that is located in this
6 Commonwealth, is licensed by the Department of Health, is not
7 associated or affiliated with a hospital and is regularly
8 engaged in the provision of emergency medical services,
9 including basic life support, advanced life support services and
10 advanced life support squads as defined in 28 Pa.Code § 1005.1
11 (relating to general provisions). The term does not include a
12 corporation, association or organization that is primarily
13 engaged in the operation of invalid coaches intended for the
14 routine transport of persons who are convalescent or otherwise
15 nonambulatory and do not ordinarily require emergency medical
16 treatment while in transit.
17 "Full-time basis." The term shall have the meaning given to
18 it under the term "full-time basis," except for purposes of the
19 Federal Stafford Loan and Federal PLUS Loan Programs, in 22
20 Pa.Code § 121.1 (relating to definitions).
21 "Grant program." The Student Volunteer Firefighter Housing
22 Grant Program established by this act.
23 "Institution of higher education." The term shall have the
24 meaning given to it in section 2301-A of the act of March 10,
25 1949 (P.L.30, No.14), known as the Public School Code of 1949.
26 "Invalid coach." The term shall have the meaning given to it
27 in the act of July 3, 1985 (P.L.164, No.45), known as the
28 Emergency Medical Services Act.
29 "Local program." A program established by a volunteer fire
30 company or an emergency medical services company to:
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1 (1) Construct or renovate a facility to house eligible
2 students.
3 (2) Enroll and enter into contractual agreements with
4 students.
5 (3) House eligible students.
6 (4) Monitor and enforce eligible students' compliance
7 with the provisions of the contractual agreement.
8 "Sponsoring company." A volunteer fire company or an
9 emergency medical services company that has established a local
10 program.
11 "Student." A student who is a resident of this Commonwealth
12 and enrolled at an institution of higher education on a full-
13 time basis.
14 "Volunteer fire company." A nonprofit chartered corporation,
15 association or organization located in this Commonwealth that
16 provides fire protection or rescue services and may offer other
17 voluntary emergency services within this Commonwealth. Voluntary
18 emergency services provided by a volunteer fire company may
19 include voluntary emergency medical services.
20 Section 3. Grant program.
21 (a) Establishment.--The Student Volunteer Firefighter
22 Housing Grant Program is established and shall be administered
23 by the commissioner.
24 (b) Purpose of grants.--Grants may be awarded to sponsoring
25 companies for the purpose of constructing or renovating
26 facilities owned by the sponsoring fire company as housing units
27 for students in order to increase student membership in
28 sponsoring companies to maintain and improve the current level
29 of firefighting and rescue services and emergency medical
30 services.
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1 (c) Applications.--A sponsoring company must submit an
2 application to the agency for a grant in a manner and a form to
3 be established by the commissioner. The application shall
4 include a certificate of occupancy issued for the housing units
5 and a written copy of the local program.
6 (d) Contents of local program.--A local program shall
7 contain all of the following:
8 (1) A sufficiently detailed description of the
9 construction and renovation of the facility, including
10 compliance with relevant Federal, State and local building
11 codes.
12 (2) A requirement that an eligible student has completed
13 and received certification from either:
14 (i) the Pennsylvania Fire Academy, or one of its
15 delegated authorities, for Firefighter I, II or III, Fire
16 Officer I or II or Fire Instructor I or II; or
17 (ii) the Department of Health, for certification as
18 an emergency medical technician.
19 (3) A contractual agreement in which a student agrees
20 to:
21 (i) become a member of the sponsoring company prior
22 to occupation of the provided housing and remain a member
23 of the sponsoring company during the entire period of
24 time the student occupies the provided housing;
25 (ii) participate in the function of the sponsoring
26 company during each semester, any agreed-upon service
27 during vacation periods and other periods between
28 semesters;
29 (iii) comply with the requirement for providing
30 certain types of service and a minimum number of hours of
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1 service, that on average equals 30 hours per week, and
2 any conditions for any time extension or modification of
3 the type of service, as determined by the agreement;
4 (iv) pay an amount equal to the total value of the
5 services, as determined by the agreement, in the event
6 that the eligible student does not provide the types and
7 minimum number of hours of service, contained in the
8 agreement; and
9 (v) at the end of the school year and any additional
10 time periods as set forth in the agreement, cooperate
11 with the sponsoring company in a review of the nature and
12 hours of service rendered by the eligible student by the
13 sponsoring company to determine compliance with the
14 minimum service requirement.
15 (4) A description of the remedies and procedures
16 contained in the agreement whereby the sponsoring company may
17 seek to recover the value of the hours of service not
18 provided by an eligible student, including any time
19 extensions for complying with the service requirements.
20 (5) A description of the manner in which the value of an
21 hour of service is determined.
22 (6) A copy of a sample contractual agreement.
23 (7) Any other information determined to be necessary by
24 the commissioner.
25 Section 4. Award of grants.
26 (a) General rule.--The commissioner may approve a grant
27 award to a sponsoring company for the purposes of funding
28 construction of a new facility and renovation of an existing
29 facility owned by the sponsoring company for the housing of
30 eligible students.
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1 (b) Second grants.--A sponsoring company shall be eligible
2 to apply for and receive one grant under the grant program. An
3 application from a sponsoring company for a second grant to
4 expand its local program may be submitted in any year following
5 the year when the initial grant was received and shall require
6 an additional showing to the satisfaction of the commissioner
7 that the initial grant received by the sponsoring company
8 achieved the goals for improved firefighting, rescue services or
9 emergency medical services, as stated in the local program.
10 (c) Amounts.--
11 (1) The maximum amount of a grant shall not exceed
12 $50,000. The total amount of grants awarded per fiscal year
13 shall not exceed $2,500,000.
14 (2) If the applications for a grant exceed the total
15 amount of funding for the program, the amount of the grant
16 shall not be reduced pro rata, and the total number of grants
17 awarded shall be accordingly reduced.
18 (d) Local program required.--The commissioner may award a
19 grant only to a sponsoring company that has established and
20 submitted to the commissioner a local program with its
21 application.
22 (e) Use of grant.--A grant awarded under this act shall be
23 used for the purposes authorized by this program.
24 Section 5. Reports.
25 (a) Duty of sponsoring companies.--
26 (1) A sponsoring company that receives a grant shall
27 submit an annual report for two consecutive years following
28 the receipt of the grant. The initial annual report shall be
29 submitted one year following the receipt of the grant and on
30 that date for the two subsequent years.
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1 (2) The annual report shall include such information as
2 the commissioner deems necessary to determine the
3 effectiveness of the grant program and shall include the
4 number of eligible students who participated, the number of
5 students who did not comply with the minimum service hour
6 requirements and the measures undertaken by the sponsoring
7 company.
8 (b) Duty of commissioner.--The commissioner shall prepare
9 and submit a report to the General Assembly by September 30,
10 2014, on the level of participation by sponsor companies, the
11 level of participation by eligible students, the effectiveness
12 of the program to maintain and increase the number of volunteer
13 fire company members and volunteer emergency medical service
14 company members and the overall operation of the program. The
15 report shall include a statement as to whether the commissioner
16 recommends reenactment of the grant program.
17 Section 6. Publication and notice.
18 The commissioner shall file notice of the grant program's
19 availability through the Legislative Reference Bureau for
20 publication in the Pennsylvania Bulletin:
21 (1) within 90 days of the effective date of this section
22 for the fiscal year beginning July 1, 2008; and
23 (2) by August 8 for fiscal years beginning after June
24 30, 2009.
25 Section 7. Appropriation.
26 (a) General rule.--The sum of $12,500,000 is hereby
27 appropriated from the General Fund to the Office of the State
28 Fire Commissioner to carry out the purposes of this act.
29 (b) Continuing nature.--This appropriation shall be a
30 continuing appropriation and shall not lapse until the close of
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1 the fiscal year on June 30, 2013, when the remaining unspent and
2 unencumbered funds shall lapse back to the General Fund.
3 (c) Restriction on use.--No moneys from the appropriation
4 for grants shall be used for expenses or costs incurred by the
5 commissioner for the administration of the grant program under
6 this act.
7 Section 8. Regulations.
8 The commissioner shall:
9 (1) Promulgate regulations necessary to carry out the
10 purposes of this act.
11 (2) Upon completion of at least one public hearing,
12 publish interim regulations to carry out the purposes of this
13 act within 90 days of the effective date of this section. The
14 interim regulations shall not be subject to the act of
15 October 15, 1980 (P.L.950, No.164), known as the Commonwealth
16 Attorneys Act, or the act of June 25, 1982 (P.L.633, No.181),
17 known as the Regulatory Review Act. The interim regulations
18 shall expire 18 months following the effective date of this
19 section or when final regulations are promulgated, whichever
20 occurs first. Final regulations shall be promulgated no later
21 than 18 months following the effective date of this section.
22 Section 9. Expiration of authority.
23 The authority of the commissioner to award grants under this
24 act shall expire June 30, 2013.
25 Section 10. Effective date.
26 This act shall take effect July 1, 2009.
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