95A.262 Hepatitis A and B inoculation of firefighters -- Allotment of funds --
1,876 words·~9 min read·
/ky/95a-262A research copy — for the controlling text, always check the official state or federal source. Not legal advice.
Qualifications for allotment -- Firefighters training center fund --
Reimbursement for equipment losses -- Low-interest loan fund --
Implementation of programs.
(1)The Kentucky Fire Commission 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 A and B. The
program shall be funded from revenues allocated to the Firefighters Foundation
Program fund pursuant to KRS 136.392 and 42.190, not to exceed five hundred
thousand dollars ($500,000) per fiscal year.
(a)Except as provided in subsection
(3)of this section, the Kentucky Fire
Commission 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.
(b)The commission shall allot eleven thousand dollars ($11,000) annually to
each qualifying department.
(c)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.
(d)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.
(e)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
any other matters or standards that will best effect the purposes of the
volunteer fire department aid law. A qualifying department shall:
1. Include at least twelve
(12)firefighters;
2. Have a chief;
3. Have at least one
(1)operational fire apparatus or one
(1)on order; and
4. Have at least fifty percent (50%) of its firefighters who have completed
at least one-half (1/2) of one hundred fifty
(150)training hours, or as
otherwise established by the commission under KRS 95A.240(6),
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, or as otherwise
established by the commission by KRS 95A.240(6), within the second
year.
These personnel, equipment, and training requirements shall not be made
more stringent by the promulgation of administrative regulations.
(f)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.
(g)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 provided 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
Kentucky Fire Commission 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 Kentucky Fire Commission 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 Kentucky Fire Commission.
(6)Upon the written request of any department, the Kentucky Fire Commission 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)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)Each fiscal year there shall be 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 Kentucky
Fire Commission 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 Kentucky Fire Commission 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 emergency medical services,
emergency medical responder, emergency medical technician, advanced
emergency medical technician, and paramedic training and certification
instruction;
(g)A program to purchase thermal vision devices to comply with the provisions
of KRS 95A.400 to 95A.440; and
(h)A program to reimburse firefighters for out-of-pocket expenses for cancer
screenings. The commission may promulgate administrative regulations
pursuant to KRS Chapter 13A to:
1. Establish a periodic cap and maximum on the reimbursement to the
firefighter seeking reimbursement;
2. Establish which cancer screening tests are eligible for reimbursement,
provided that only cancer screening tests approved by the United States
Food and Drug Administration for cancer detection in humans may be
reimbursed; 3. Determine eligibility requirements for participants, which in the
discretion of the commission may also include retired firefighters; and 4. Establish any other policy to effect the purposes of this program.