HB455ENROLLED
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508NM3-3
By Representatives Standridge, Lovvorn, Shedd, Harbison,
Shaver, Smith, Sorrells, Hammett, Robertson, Crawford,
Chestnut, Travis, Pringle, Reynolds, Hill
RFD: Urban and Rural Development
First Read: 09-May-23
2023 Regular Session
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Enrolled, An Act,
Relating to volunteer fire departments; to amend
Sections 9-3-11, 9-3-12, and 9-3-13, Code of Alabama 1975, to
create and provide duties and procedures for the Rural and
Community Fire Protection Advisory Committee; and to add
Section 9-3-21 to the Code of Alabama 1975, to create and
provide procedures for administration of the Rural and
Community Fire Protection Development and Improvement Grant
Program.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF ALABAMA:
Section 1. Sections 9-3-11, 9-3-12, and 9-3-13, Code of
Alabama 1975, are amended to read as follows:
"§9-3-11
The State Forester is hereby authorized and required to
shall create a steering committee the Rural and Community
Fire Protection Advisory Committee to represent rural
community certified volunteer fire departments and to support
the development and improvement of rural and community fire
protection throughout the state ."
"§9-3-12
Said steering committee shall be composed of 13
members; one from each of the 10 administrative districts of
the Alabama Forestry Commission, one member from the Alabama
Association of Volunteer Fire Departments, one member from the
Alabama Association of Fire Chiefs and one member from the
Alabama Firemen's Association. The President of the Alabama
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Association of Fire Chiefs shall appoint one member of his
association to serve on the committee, the President of the
Alabama Association of Volunteer Fire Departments shall
appoint one member of his association to serve on the
committee, and the President of the Alabama Firemen's
Association shall appoint a member of his association to serve
on the committee. The State Forester shall appoint the
remaining committee members from each administrative district
of the Alabama Forestry Commission, with each such member
being a volunteer fireman. All members shall serve at the
pleasure of their appointing authority. Vacancies on the
committee shall be filled by the same appointing authority who
appointed the vacating member.
(a) The Rural and Community Fire Protection Advisory
Committee shall be composed of 13 members, all of whom must be
volunteer firefighters, to be appointed as follows:
(1) One member of the Alabama Association of Fire
Chiefs, who is an active chief of a volunteer fire department,
shall be appointed by the president of that association.
(2) One member of the Alabama Association of Volunteer
Fire Departments shall be appointed by the president of that
association.
(3) One member of the Alabama Firefighter's Association
shall be appointed by the president of that association.
(4) One member from each of the following districts,
all of whom must be volunteer firefighters and reside in the
district they represent, shall be appointed by the State
Forester:
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a. District 1: Calhoun, Cherokee, DeKalb, Etowah,
Jackson, Madison, and Marshall counties.
b. District 2: Blount, Cullman, Jefferson, Shelby, St.
Clair, Walker, and Winston counties.
c. District 3: Fayette, Greene, Hale, Lamar, Pickens,
Sumter, and Tuscaloosa counties.
d. District 4: Chambers, Clay, Cleburne, Coosa,
Randolph, Talladega, and Tallapoosa counties.
e. District 5: Autauga, Bibb, Chilton, Dallas, Marengo,
Perry, and Wilcox counties.
f. District 6: Barbour, Coffee, Dale, Geneva, Henry,
Houston, and Pike counties.
g. District 7: Butler, Conecuh, Covington, Crenshaw,
Escambia, and Monroe counties.
h. District 8: Baldwin, Choctaw, Clarke, Mobile, and
Washington counties.
i. District 9: Colbert, Franklin, Lauderdale, Lawrence,
Limestone, Marion, and Morgan counties.
j. District 10: Bullock, Elmore, Lee, Lowndes, Macon,
Montgomery, and Russell counties.
(b) All members shall serve at the pleasure of their
appointing authority. Any vacancy on the committee shall be
appointed by the appointing authority of the vacating member.
All appointing authorities shall coordinate their appointments
to assure the committee's membership is inclusive and reflects
the racial, gender, geographic, urban and rural, and economic
diversity of the state. "
"§9-3-13
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The steering advisory committee shall make
recommendations to the State Forester regarding how to improve
the rural community fire program and how to solve immediate
problems including parts exchange, training and financial
assistance through federal grants the development and
improvement of rural and community fire protection throughout
this state. The advisory committee shall also make
recommendations to the Alabama Forestry Commission regarding
rural and community fire protection grants awarded pursuant to
Section 9-3-21."
Section 2. Section 9-3-21 is added to the Code of
Alabama 1975 to read as follows:
§9-3-21
(a) The Alabama Forestry Commission shall establish and
administer the Rural and Community Fire Protection Development
and Improvement grant program to aid volunteer fire
departments in providing rural and community fire protection
in this state.
(b) There is established the Rural and Community Fire
Protection Development and Improvement Fund in the State
Treasury. The fund shall be subject to appropriations by the
Legislature and any gifts, grants, or other donations received
by the commission on behalf of the fund. This fund shall be
administered by the commission and all monies disbursed from
the fund shall be under the supervision of the State Forester.
To defray costs of administering the fund, the commission may
retain five percent of all monies appropriated to the fund
each fiscal year to be used for any purpose. Any unexpended or
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unencumbered funds remaining in the fund at the end of the
fiscal year shall not revert but shall be retained for
continued use in accordance with this section.
(c) Grants awarded from the fund shall only be to
volunteer fire departments certified in accordance with
Section 9-3-17, including nonprofit corporations,
municipalities, and fire districts which have formed or have
otherwise authorized such certified volunteer fire
departments, county volunteer fire associations organized and
incorporated in this state, or other nonprofit entities
established for the provision or support of rural and
community fire protection in this state.
(d) Each fiscal year in which funds are appropriated or
otherwise made available for the grant program, the commission
shall only award grants that address one or more of the
following goals:
(1) To increase volunteer fire service recruitment and
encourage existing firefighters to remain in the volunteer
fire service.
(2) To provide compensation or other benefits to
increase staffing by departments.
(3) To form new volunteer fire departments in areas of
this state without sufficient fire protection.
(4) To build, expand, or maintain structures having the
primary purpose of housing certified volunteer fire
departments and their equipment.
(5) To enable or improve communication capabilities for
certified volunteer fire departments, including creating or
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expanding broadband Internet access, erecting or maintaining
communication towers and equipment, and acquiring real
property upon which to place communication towers having the
primary purpose of serving a department.
(6) To acquire real property to be used as sites for
fire stations for certified volunteer fire departments.
(7) To provide firefighting apparatus and equipment for
certified volunteer fire departments.
(8) To provide training of all types to certified
volunteer fire departments.
(9) To increase the availability of water supplies for
certified volunteer fire departments, including installing wet
or dry fire hydrants.
(e) All grant proposals shall first be reviewed by the
Rural and Community Fire Protection Advisory Committee who
shall then recommend to the commission which proposals should
be given priority for funding. The commission shall give
consideration to the advisory committee's recommendations but
shall retain full discretion in determining which proposals
are funded.
(f) Proposals may be fully funded as submitted or
awarded in a different amount than proposed, as determined by
the commission. When awarding funding pursuant to this
section, the commission shall consider both the geographic and
racial diversity of the state.
(g) The commission may also directly expend a portion
of the funds in the Rural and Community Fire Protection
Development and Improvement Fund in furtherance of any of the
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goals stated in subsection (d).
(h)(1) The commission shall coordinate and implement a
statewide training program for the entities eligible to
receive a grant. The program shall provide basic instruction
concerning fiscal policies and procedures and any other legal
requirements regarding receiving, accounting for, and
disbursing grant funds. The costs of administering this
program shall be paid from the Rural and Community Fire
Protection Development and Improvement Fund.
(2) No entity shall receive any funding pursuant to
this section unless at least two of its current officers,
including its chief fiscal officer, have received training in
accordance with this subsection.
(3) All agencies of the state are hereby authorized and
directed to extend their cooperation and give assistance to
the commission in providing training required by this
subsection.
(i) No compensation or benefits paid or provided to
volunteer firefighters in furtherance of this section shall
affect the minimum percentage of unsalaried membership of a
certified volunteer fire department as required by Section
9-3-17(a)(2).
(j) The Alabama Forestry Commission may adopt rules as
necessary to implement and administer this section.
(k) Notwithstanding any other provision of law to the
contrary, the powers, authority, and jurisdiction of the
Division of Construction Management within the Department of
Finance shall not extend to any property or construction
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project purchased or funded, in whole or in part, with monies
derived from the Rural and Community Fire Protection
Development and Improvement Fund; provided, that the Division
of Construction Management shall retain its authority to adopt
a uniform minimum building standards code that will apply to
such properties and construction projects.
Section 3. This act shall become effective on the first
day of the third month following its passage and approval by
the Governor, or its otherwise becoming law.
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________________________________________________
Speaker of the House of Representatives
________________________________________________
President and Presiding Officer of the Senate
House of Representatives
I hereby certify that the within Act originated in and
was passed by the House 16-May-23 as amended.
John Treadwell
Clerk
Senate 24-May-23 Passed
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