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General Assembly Substitute Bill No. 7203
January Session, 2025
AN ACT PERMITTING A CERTAIN COUNCIL TO SERVE AS A
SUBCOMMITTEE OF THE COMMISSION ON FIRE PREVENTION AND
CONTROL.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General
Assembly convened:
Section 1. Section 7-323k of the general statutes is repealed and the 1
following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective July 1, 2025): 2
(a) (1) There is established a Commission on Fire Prevention and 3
Control. Until June 30, 2025, the commission shall consist of twelve 4
members appointed by the Governor. The State Fire Marshal or the State 5
Fire Marshal's designee and the chancellor of the Connecticut State 6
Colleges and Universities or the chancellor's designee shall serve as ex-7
officio, voting members of said commission. Of the twelve members 8
appointed by the Governor, two shall represent The Connecticut State 9
Firefighter's Association, two shall represent the Connecticut Fire Chiefs 10
Association, two shall represent the Uniformed Professional Firefighters 11
of the International Association of Firefighters, AFL-CIO, two shall 12
represent the Connecticut Fire Marshals Association, two shall 13
represent the Connecticut Fire Department Instructors Association and 14
two shall represent the Connecticut Conference of Municipalities. The 15
term of any member appointed pursuant to this subdivision shall end 16
on June 30, 2025. 17 Substitute Bill No. 7203
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(2) On and after July 1, 2025, the commission shall consist of the 18
following members: 19
(A) Two members of The Connecticut State Firefighter's Association, 20
one of whom is the chairperson of the association's education 21
committee, appointed by the Governor; 22
(B) Two members of the Connecticut Fire Chiefs Association, 23
appointed by the Governor; 24
(C) Two members of the Connecticut Career Fire Chiefs' Association, 25
appointed by the Governor; 26
(D) Two members of the Uniformed Professional Firefighters of the 27
International Association of Firefighters, AFL-CIO, appointed by the 28
Governor; 29
(E) Two members of the Connecticut Fire Marshals Association, 30
appointed by the Governor; 31
(F) Two members of the Connecticut Fire Department Instructors 32
Association, appointed by the Governor; 33
(G) A representative of the Connecticut Council of Small Towns, 34
appointed by the Governor; 35
(H) A representative of the Connecticut Conference of Municipalities, 36
appointed by the Governor; 37
(I) A representative of the Connecticut Council of Small Towns, 38
appointed by the House chairperson of the joint standing committee of 39
the General Assembly having cognizance of matters relating to public 40
safety and security; 41
(J) A representative of the Connecticut Conference of Municipalities, 42
appointed by the Senate chairperson of the joint standing committee of 43
the General Assembly having cognizance of matters relating to public 44
safety and security; 45 Substitute Bill No. 7203
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(K) A member of the Connecticut Fire Equipment Mechanics 46
Association, appointed by the House ranking member of the joint 47
standing committee of the General Assembly having cognizance of 48
matters relating to public safety and security; 49
(L) A representative of the Emergency Medical Services Advisory 50
Board, appointed by the Senate ranking member of the joint standing 51
committee of the General Assembly having cognizance of matters 52
relating to public safety and security; 53
(M) The State Fire Marshal, who shall be a nonvoting member; 54
(N) The forest protection supervisor within the Forestry Division of 55
the Department of Energy and Environmental Protection, or such 56
supervisor's designee, who shall be a nonvoting member; and 57
(O) The commanding officer of the Fire and Explosion Investigation 58
Unit of the Division of State Police within the Department of Emergency 59
Services and Public Protection, or such officer's designee, who shall be 60
a nonvoting member. 61
(b) On or before July fifteenth, annually, each organization to be 62
represented on said commission shall submit to the appropriate 63
appointing authority a list of nominees for appointment to said 64
commission, which list the appointing authority may use when making 65
appointments to said commission. Appointing authorities shall appoint 66
members to said commission to serve for three years, or until a successor 67
is appointed. Any vacancy in the membership of the commission shall 68
be filled by the appointing authority for the unexpired portion of the 69
term. Persons appointed to said commission shall be qualified, by 70
experience or education, in the fields of fire protection, fire prevention, 71
fire suppression, fire fighting and related fields. 72
(c) The commission shall meet at such times and at such places as it 73
deems proper. On and before June 30, 2025, the commission shall elect 74
from its membership a chairperson, vice chairperson and secretary who 75
shall serve a one year term commencing on October first of the year in 76 Substitute Bill No. 7203
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which they are elected, provided such terms shall expire on June 30, 77
2025, and nothing contained herein shall prevent their reelection to such 78
office. On and after July 1, 2025, the Governor shall appoint the 79
chairperson of the commission from the commission's membership, and 80
the commission shall elect from its membership a vice chairperson and 81
secretary, who shall serve one year terms, provided nothing contained 82
herein shall prevent their reelection to such office. No member of said 83
commission shall receive compensation for such member's services. 84
(d) Members of the commission shall not be considered as holding 85
public office solely by virtue of their membership on said commission. 86
(e) On and after July 1, 2025, the members of the education committee 87
of the Connecticut State Firefighters Association, Inc., shall serve as a 88
subcommittee of the commission on matters relating to fire schools. 89
(f) On and after July 1, 2026, the members of a council tasked with 90
identifying rural fire issues for the Department of Energy and 91
Environmental Protection may serve as a subcommittee of the 92
commission on the following matters: (1) Coordination and integration 93
of the state's wildfire mitigation and response strategies with the state's 94
general fire prevention and control strategies, (2) wildfire risks in rural 95
and wildland-urban interface areas, (3) the resources, training and 96
operational support necessary to rural fire departments to effectively 97
respond to wildfires, and (4) any policy changes, amendments to the 98
general statutes or other changes necessary to reduce the vulnerability 99
of rural areas to wildfires. 100
[(f)] (g) The commission shall be within the Department of 101
Emergency Services and Public Protection. 102
This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following
sections:
Section 1 July 1, 2025 7-323k
PS Joint Favorable Subst. Substitute Bill No. 7203
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