California Assembly Bill AB2601 Introduced / Bill

 BILL NUMBER: AB 2601INTRODUCED BILL TEXT 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 introduced, 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  Office of Emergency Services   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  director   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, and rescue equipment for the purposes of extricating or rescuing entrapped persons from mass casualty emergency incidents. (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 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.