Bill Text: CA AB2601 | 2009-2010 | Regular Session | Amended
Bill Title: Firefighting.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 28-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2010-11-30 - From committee without further action pursuant to Joint Rule 62(a). [AB2601 Detail]
Download: California-2009-AB2601-Amended.html
BILL NUMBER: AB 2601 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY APRIL 12, 2010
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Jeffries
(Coauthors: Assembly Members Bill Berryhill, Tom Berryhill,
Conway, Cook, DeVore, Emmerson, Fletcher, Gaines, Garrick, Harkey,
Logue, Miller, Nestande, Niello, Nielsen, Smyth, Tran, and Villines)
(Coauthors: Senators Aanestad, Ashburn, Cogdill, Dutton, Harman,
Hollingsworth, Runner, Strickland, and Wyland)
FEBRUARY 19, 2010
An act to amend Section 8589.19 of, and to add Section 8589.24 to,
the Government Code, relating to firefighting, and making an
appropriation therefor.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 2601, as amended, Jeffries. Firefighting.
The State Assistance for Fire Equipment Act authorizes the
Secretary of Emergency Management to acquire specified firefighting
apparatus and equipment for resale to a local agency, as defined,
that provides fire suppression services or a fire company. Existing
law also establishes the State Assistance for Fire Equipment Account,
a continuously appropriated fund, for purposes of the act. Existing
law requires the secretary to consult with a specified committee
before adopting regulations implementing the act.
This bill would annually appropriate $45,600,000 of revenue
received by the state from the accessing of oil and gas reserves
located beneath state coastal waters, generally known as the "T-Ridge
Project," for firefighting purposes, including, but not limited to,
the purchase of firefighting and rescue vehicles and equipment,
vegetation management and defensible space projects, and specified
training courses and materials, thereby making an appropriation. This
bill would also require the secretary to consult with additional
specified individuals involved in firefighting before adopting
certain regulations.
Vote: 2/3. Appropriation: yes. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: no.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. This act shall be known as the California Emergency
Fire and Rescue Apparatus Funding Act of 2010.
SEC. 2. (a) The Legislature finds and declares that California's
emergency fire service personnel and equipment are routinely called
upon to mitigate the effects of terrorist acts, fires, floods,
earthquakes, and other mass casualty rescues and fires, including,
but not limited to, significant regional emergencies directly related
to train derailments, commercial and passenger aircraft accidents,
oil pipeline and hazardous waste spills and fires, landfill and
electrical infrastructure fires, mass casualty accidents on state
highways, and urban interface wildland fires as evidenced by the
destruction caused by, but not limited to, the 1989 Loma Prieta and
the 1994 Northridge earthquakes, the 1989 San Bernardino Duffy Street
train derailment disaster, the 1978 San Diego and the 1986 Cerritos
midair collisions, the 2005 La Conchita landslide, the 1991 Oakland
hills firestorm, the wildland firestorms in 2003, 2007, and 2008, and
the environmental damage caused by the 1996 Panoche and the 1998
Tracy used tire stockpile fires.
(b) The Legislature finds and declares that, given the increase in
the state population and the intensity and frequency of disasters
within the state, it is evident that assistance is needed to enable
the state to purchase additional firefighting and emergency equipment
and apparatus for state and local emergency response and further
build the ability to mitigate the effects of all forms of disasters.
SEC. 3. Section 8589.19 of the Government Code is amended to read:
8589.19. (a) After consultation with the California Emergency
Management Fire Advisory Committee, the chairperson of the Blue
Ribbon Fire Commission, the Director of Forestry and Fire Protection,
the State Fire Marshal, and the chairperson of the State Board of
Fire Services, the secretary shall adopt rules and regulations
governing the operation of the programs created by this article
pursuant to the Administrative Procedure Act, Chapter 3.5 (commencing
with Section 11340) of Part 1 of Division 3.
(b) The rules and regulations adopted pursuant to subdivision (a)
shall include, but not be limited to, all of the following:
(1) The specific types of firefighting apparatus and equipment
which may be acquired, rehabilitated, and resold.
(2) The amount and terms of resale contracts.
(3) The time, format, and manner in which local agencies may apply
for resale contracts.
(4) Priorities for assisting local agencies which shall give
preference to local agencies which meet all of the following:
(A) Demonstrated need for primary response firefighting apparatus
and equipment.
(B) Will be adequately able to operate and maintain the
firefighting apparatus and equipment.
(C) Have already used other means of financing the firefighting
apparatus and equipment.
SEC. 4. Section 8589.24 is added to the Government Code, to read:
8589.24. (a) From the revenue received by the state from the
accessing of oil and gas reserves located beneath state coastal
waters, generally known as the "T-Ridge Project," forty-five million
six hundred thousand dollars ($45,600,000) shall annually be
deposited in the General Fund to be expended for firefighting
purposes, as follows:
(1) Thirty million seven hundred fifty thousand dollars
($30,750,000) shall be deposited into the State Assistance for Fire
Equipment Account for the purposes of the State Assistance for Fire
Equipment Act. In addition to firefighting apparatus and equipment,
as defined in subdivision (c) of Section 8589.10, the secretary may
use funds appropriated under this section to purchase any fire
engine, as defined as a Type 1, 2, 3, or 4 fire engine, Type 1 or 2
water tender, heavy rescue vehicle, combination lighting and air
support vehicle or squad with a rated gross vehicle weight of one ton
or greater that is not primarily designed and utilized to transport
patients, Type 1 mobile communication center vehicle, Urban
Search and Rescue equipment and apparatus, and rescue equipment
for the purposes of extricating or rescuing entrapped persons from
mass casualty emergency incidents. The secretary shall use funds
appropriated pursuant to this paragraph only for the purchase of new
equipment and apparatus.
(2) Three million three hundred thousand dollars ($3,300,000) is
hereby annually appropriated to the Department of Forestry and Fire
Protection for the purposes of conducting vegetation management and
defensible space projects and wildfire environmental restoration,
including, but not limited to, grants to local agencies and the Fire
Safe Council to employ contractors and vendors to fund vegetation
management and defensible space projects and wildfire environmental
restoration.
(3) Ten million two hundred fifty thousand dollars ($10,250,000)
is hereby annually appropriated to the Department of Forestry and
Fire Protection for the purposes of funding the purchase and
replacement of aging fire engines, bulldozers, and transports for the
department, and to fund the purchase of Urban Search and Rescue
equipment and apparatus if and when the department
assembles a USAR Team on or after July 1, 2012.
(4) One million dollars ($1,000,000) is hereby annually
appropriated to the office of the State Fire Marshal, State Fire
Training, for the purposes of providing training courses and
materials related to state or federally mandated firefighter training
and certification, including, but not limited to, training courses
on weekends for all volunteer and combination fire agencies in rural
communities.
(5) Three hundred thousand dollars ($300,000) is hereby annually
appropriated to California Volunteers for the purposes of assisting
local agencies in rural communities with volunteer firefighter
recruitment and retention materials, training, and incentive
programs.
(b) For purposes of this section, "rural communities" means any
community with a population less than or equal to 20,000 residents
with two or fewer fire stations primarily staffed by volunteer
firefighters or a combination of career and volunteer firefighters.
