95A.262 Hepatitis B inoculation of firefighters -- Allotment of funds accruing from insurance premium surcharge proceeds -- Qualifications for allotment -- Firefighters training center fund -- Reimbur - Kentucky Statutes

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95A.262 Hepatitis B inoculation of firefighters -- Allotment of funds accruing from insurance premium surcharge proceeds -- Qualifications for allotment --
Firefighters training center fund -- Reimbursement for equipment losses --
Low-interest loan fund -- Implementation of programs. (1) The Commission on Fire Protection Personnel Standards and Education shall, in cooperation with the Cabinet for Health and Family Services, develop and
implement a continuing program to inoculate every paid and volunteer firefighter in
Kentucky against hepatitis B. The program shall be funded from revenues allocated
to the Firefighters Foundation Program fund pursuant to KRS 136.392 and 42.190.
Any fire department which has inoculated its personnel during the period of July 1,
1991 to July 14, 1992, shall be reimbursed from these revenues for its costs incurred
up to the amount allowed by the Cabinet for Human Resources for hepatitis B
inoculations. (2) Except as provided in subsection (3) of this section, the Commission on Fire Protection Personnel Standards and Education shall allot on an annual basis a share
of the funds accruing to and appropriated for volunteer fire department aid to
volunteer fire departments in cities of all classes, fire protection districts organized
pursuant to KRS Chapter 75, county districts established under authority of KRS
67.083, and volunteer fire departments created as nonprofit corporations pursuant to
KRS Chapter 273. The commission shall allot eight thousand dollars ($8,000)
annually to each qualifying department, and beginning on July 1, 2001, the
commission shall allot eight thousand two hundred fifty dollars ($8,250) annually to
each qualifying department. Any qualifying department which fails to participate
satisfactorily in the Kentucky fire incident reporting system as described in KRS
304.13-380 shall forfeit annually five hundred dollars ($500) of its allotment. If two
(2) or more qualified volunteer fire departments, as defined in KRS 95A.500 to
95A.560, merge after January 1, 2000, then the allotment shall be in accordance
with the provisions of KRS 95A.500 to 95A.560. Administrative regulations for
determining qualifications shall be based on the number of both paid firefighters
and volunteer firemen within a volunteer fire department, the amount of equipment,
housing facilities available, and such other matters or standards as will best effect
the purposes of the volunteer fire department aid law. A qualifying department shall
include at least twelve (12) firefighters, a chief, and at least one (1) operational fire
apparatus or one (1) on order. Fifty percent (50%) of the firefighters shall have
completed at least one-half (1/2) of one hundred fifty (150) training hours toward
certification within the first six (6) months of the first year of the department's
application for certification, and there shall be a plan to complete the one hundred
fifty (150) training hours within the second year. These personnel, equipment, and
training requirements shall not be made more stringent by the promulgation of
administrative regulations. No allotment shall exceed the total value of the funds,
equipment, lands, and buildings made available to the local fire units from any
source whatever for the year in which the allotment is made. A portion of the funds
provided for above may be used to purchase group or blanket health insurance and
shall be used to purchase workers' compensation insurance, and the remaining funds
shall be distributed as set forth in this section. (3) There shall be allotted two hundred thousand dollars ($200,000) of the insurance premium surcharge proceeds accruing to the Firefighters Foundation Program fund
that shall be allocated each fiscal year of the biennium to the firefighters training
center fund, which is hereby created and established, for the purposes of
constructing new or upgrading existing training centers for firefighters. If any
moneys in the training center fund remain uncommitted, unobligated, or
unexpended at the close of the first fiscal year of the biennium, then such moneys
shall be carried forward to the second fiscal year of the biennium, and shall be
reallocated to and for the use of the training center fund, in addition to the second
fiscal year's allocation of two hundred thousand dollars ($200,000). Prior to funding
any project pursuant to this subsection, a proposed project shall be approved by the
Commission on Fire Protection Personnel Standards and Education as provided in
subsection (4) of this section and shall comply with state laws applicable to capital
construction projects. (4) Applications for funding low-interest loans and firefighters' training centers shall be submitted to the Commission on Fire Protection Personnel Standards and Education
for their recommendation, approval, disapproval, or modification. The commission
shall review applications periodically, and shall, subject to funds available,
recommend which applications shall be funded and at what levels, together with any
terms and conditions the commission deems necessary. (5) Any department or entity eligible for and receiving funding pursuant to this section shall have a minimum of fifty percent (50%) of its personnel certified as recognized
by the Commission on Fire Protection Personnel Standards and Education. (6) Upon the written request of any department, the Commission on Fire Protection Personnel Standards and Education shall make available a certified training
program in a county of which such department is located. (7) The amount of reimbursement for any given year for costs incurred by the Kentucky Community and Technical College System for administering these funds, including
but not limited to the expenses and costs of commission operations, shall be
determined by the commission and shall not exceed five percent (5%) of the total
amount of moneys accruing to the Firefighters Foundation Program fund which are
allotted for the purposes specified in this section during any fiscal year. (8) The commission shall withhold from the general distribution of funds under subsection (2) of this section an amount which it deems sufficient to reimburse
volunteer fire departments for equipment lost or damaged beyond repair due to
hazardous material incidents. (9) Moneys withheld pursuant to subsection (8) of this section shall be distributed only under the following terms and conditions:
(a) A volunteer fire department has lost or damaged beyond repair items of personal protective clothing or equipment due to that equipment having been
lost or damaged as a result of an incident in which a hazardous material (as
defined in any state or federal statute or regulation) was the causative agent of
the loss; (b) The volunteer fire department has made application in writing to the commission for reimbursement in a manner approved by the commission and
the loss and the circumstances thereof have been verified by the commission; (c) The loss of or damage to the equipment has not been reimbursed by the person responsible for the hazardous materials incident or by any other person; (d) The commission has determined that the volunteer fire department does not have the fiscal resources to replace the equipment; (e) The commission has determined that the equipment sought to be replaced is immediately necessary to protect the lives of the volunteer firefighters of the
fire department; (f) The fire department has agreed in writing to subrogate all claims for and rights to reimbursement for the lost or damaged equipment to the Commonwealth to
the extent that the Commonwealth provides reimbursement to the department;
and (g) The department has shown to the satisfaction of the commission that it has made reasonable attempts to secure reimbursement for its losses from the
person responsible for the hazardous materials incident and has been
unsuccessful in the effort. (10) If a volunteer fire department has met all of the requirements of subsection (9) of this section, the commission may authorize a reimbursement of equipment losses
not exceeding ten thousand dollars ($10,000) or the actual amount of the loss,
whichever is less. (11) Moneys which have been withheld during any fiscal year which remain unexpended at the end of the fiscal year shall be distributed in the normal manner required by
subsection (2) of this section during the following fiscal year. (12) No volunteer fire department may receive funding for equipment losses more than once during any fiscal year. (13) The commission shall make reasonable efforts to secure reimbursement from the responsible party for any moneys awarded to a fire department pursuant to this
section. (14) There shall be allotted each year of the 1992-93 biennium one million dollars ($1,000,000), and each year of the 1994-95, 1996-97, 1998-99, and 2000-01
bienniums one million dollars ($1,000,000) of the insurance premium surcharge
proceeds accruing to the Firefighters Foundation Program fund for the purpose of
creating a revolving low-interest loan fund, which shall thereafter be self-sufficient
and derive its operating revenues from principal and interest payments. The
commission, in accordance with the procedures in subsection (4) of this section,
may make low-interest loans, and the interest thereon shall not exceed three percent
(3%) annually or the amount needed to sustain operating expenses of the loan fund,
whichever is less, to volunteer fire departments for the purposes of major equipment
purchases and facility construction. Loans shall be made to departments which
achieve the training standards necessary to qualify for volunteer fire department aid
allotted pursuant to subsection (2) of this section, and which do not have other sources of funds at rates which are favorable given their financial resources. The
proceeds of loan payments shall be returned to the loan fund for the purpose of
providing future loans. If a department does not make scheduled loan payments, the
commission may withhold any grants payable to the department pursuant to
subsection (2) of this section until the department is current on its payments. Money
in the low-interest loan fund shall be used only for the purposes specified in this
subsection. Any funds remaining in the fund at the end of a fiscal year shall be
carried forward to the next fiscal year for the purposes of the fund. (15) For fiscal year 2004-2005 and each fiscal year thereafter, there is allotted one million dollars ($1,000,000) from the fund established in KRS 95A.220 to be used
by the commission to conduct training-related activities. (16) If funding is available from the fund established in KRS 95A.220, the Commission on Fire Protection Personnel Standards and Education may implement the
following:
(a) A program to prepare emergency service personnel for handling potential man-made and non-man-made threats. The commission shall work in
conjunction with the state fire marshal and other appropriate agencies and
associations to identify and make maps of gas transmission and hazardous
liquids pipelines in the state; (b) A program to provide and maintain a mobile test facility in each training region established by the Commission on Fire Protection Personnel Standards
and Education with equipment to administer Comprehensive Physical
Aptitude Tests (CPAT) to ascertain a firefighter's ability to perform the
physical requirements necessary to be an effective and safe firefighter; (c) A program to provide defensive driving training tactics to firefighters. The commission shall purchase, instruct in the use of, and maintain mobile
equipment in each of the training regions, and fund expenses related to
equipment replacement; (d) A program to annually evaluate equipment adequacy and to provide for annual physical examinations for instructors, adequate protective clothing and
personal equipment to meet NFPA guidelines, and to establish procedures for
replacing this equipment as needed; (e) A program to establish a rotational expansion and replacement program for mobile fleet equipment currently used for training and recertification of fire
departments; (f) A program to expand and update current EMS, first responder, EMT, and paramedic training and certification instruction; and (g) A program to purchase thermal vision devices to comply with the provisions of KRS 95A.400 to 95A.440. Effective: July 15, 2010
History: Amended 2010 Ky. Acts ch. 24, sec. 82, effective July 15, 2010. -- Amended 2008 Ky. Acts ch. 77, sec. 4, effective July 15, 2008. -- Amended 2006 Ky. Acts
ch. 113, sec. 2, effective July 12, 2006. -- Amended 2005 Ky. Acts ch. 99, sec. 114,
effective June 20, 2005. -- Amended 2004 Ky. Acts ch. 71, sec. 1, effective July 13, 2004. -- Amended 2002 Ky. Acts ch. 289, sec. 2, effective July 15, 2002; and
ch. 309, sec. 8, effective July 15, 2002. -- Amended 2000 Ky. Acts ch. 270, sec. 5,
effective July 14, 2000; and ch. 402, sec. 1, effective July 14, 2000. -- Amended
1998 Ky. Acts ch. 244, sec. 5, effective July 15, 1998; ch. 426, sec. 97, effective July
15, 1998; and ch. 510, sec. 5, effective July 15, 1998. -- Amended 1994 Ky. Acts
ch. 43, sec. 9, effective July 15, 1994.