2005-2006 Bill 4366: Volunteer Strategic Assistance and Fire Equipment Act of 2006 - South

1 South Carolina General Assembly 2 116th Session, 2005-2006 3 4 H. 4366 5 6 STATUS INFORMATION 7 8 General Bill 9 Sponsors: Reps. Cooper, Cotty, Battle, Ceips, G.R. Smith, M.A. Pitts, Branham, Delleney, Davenport, 10 McLeod, J. Brown, Phillips, Ballentine, Rhoad, Umphlett, Kirsh, Bailey, White, Miller, Jefferson, 11 Townsend, Emory, Clark, Haley, Lucas, Littlejohn, Sandifer, J.R. Smith, Altman, Cobb-Hunter, 12 Mahaffey, Vick, Agnew, J.M. Neal, Funderburk, Brady, Thompson and Hodges 13 Document Path: l:\council\bills\swb\6608cm06.doc 14 Companion/Similar bill(s): 1056 15 16 Introduced in the House on January 10, 2006 17 Introduced in the Senate on April 26, 2006 18 Last Amended on April 25, 2006 19 Currently residing in the Senate Committee on Finance 20 21 Summary: Volunteer Strategic Assistance and Fire Equipment Act of 2006 22 23 24 HISTORY OF LEGISLATIVE ACTIONS 25 26 Date Body Action Description with journal page number 27 12/7/2005 House Prefiled 28 12/7/2005 House Referred to Committee on Ways and Means 29 1/10/2006 House Introduced and read first time HJ-46 30 1/10/2006 House Referred to Committee on Ways and Means HJ-46 31 1/10/2006 House Member(s) request name added as sponsor: J.M.Neal, Funderburk 32 1/24/2006 House Member(s) request name added as sponsor: Brady 33 1/25/2006 House Member(s) request name added as sponsor: Thompson 34 4/20/2006 House Committee report: Favorable with amendment Ways and Means HJ-3 35 4/25/2006 House Member(s) request name added as sponsor: Hodges 36 4/25/2006 House Amended HJ-81 37 4/25/2006 House Read second time HJ-81 38 4/26/2006 House Read third time and sent to Senate HJ-16 39 4/26/2006 Senate Introduced and read first time SJ-6 40 4/26/2006 Senate Referred to Committee on Finance SJ-6 41 42 43 VERSIONS OF THIS BILL 44 45 12/7/2005 46 4/20/2006 47 4/25/2006 48 1 AMENDED 2 April 25, 2006 3 4 H. 4366 5 6 Introduced by Reps. Cooper, Cotty, Battle, Ceips, G.R. Smith, 7 M.A. Pitts, Branham, Delleney, Davenport, McLeod, J. Brown, 8 Phillips, Ballentine, Rhoad, Umphlett, Kirsh, Bailey, White, 9 Miller, Jefferson, Townsend, Emory, Clark, Haley, Lucas, 10 Littlejohn, Sandifer, J.R. Smith, Altman, Cobb-Hunter, Mahaffey, 11 Vick, Agnew, J.M. Neal, Funderburk, Brady, Thompson and 12 Hodges 13 14 S. Printed 4/25/06--H. 15 Read the first time January 10, 2006. 16 17 18

1 [4366-1] 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 A BILL 10 11 TO ENACT THE “VOLUNTEER STRATEGIC ASSISTANCE 12 AND FIRE EQUIPMENT ACT OF 2006 (V-SAFE)” BY 13 ADDING CHAPTER 51 TO TITLE 23, CODE OF LAWS OF 14 SOUTH CAROLINA, 1976, SO AS TO REQUIRE THE 15 GENERAL ASSEMBLY TO APPROPRIATE FUNDS 16 ANNUALLY FOR GRANTS THAT MUST BE AWARDED TO 17 CERTAIN VOLUNTEER AND COMBINATION FIRE 18 DEPARTMENTS FOR THE PURPOSE OF PROTECTING 19 LOCAL COMMUNITIES AND REGIONAL RESPONSE 20 AREAS FROM INCIDENTS OF FIRE, HAZARDOUS 21 MATERIALS, TERRORISM, AND TO PROVIDE FOR THE 22 SAFETY OF VOLUNTEER FIREFIGHTERS. 23 Amend Title To Conform 24 25 Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of South 26 Carolina: 27 28 SECTION 1. Title 23 of the 1976 Code is amended by adding: 29 30 “CHAPTER 51 31 32 Volunteer Strategic Assistance and Fire Equipment Act 33 34 Section 23-51-10. This chapter is known and may be cited as 35 the ‘Volunteer Strategic Assistance and Fire Equipment Act of 36 2006 (V-SAFE)’. 37 38 Section 23-51-20. The General Assembly shall appropriate in 39 the general appropriations act not more than three million dollars 40 annually to offer grants of not more than thirty thousand dollars to 41 eligible volunteer and combination fire departments for the 42 purpose of protecting local communities and regional response

1 [4366] 1 1 areas from incidents of fire, hazardous materials, terrorism, and to 2 provide for the safety of volunteer firefighters. 3 4 Section 23-51-30. (A) As contained in this chapter: 5 (1) ‘fire department’ means a public or governmental 6 sponsored organization providing fire suppression activities with a 7 minimum of a Class 9 rating from the Insurance Services Office; 8 (2) ‘volunteer fire department’ means a fire department 9 whose personnel serves with no compensation or is paid on a per 10 call basis; and 11 (3) ‘combination fire department’ means a fire department 12 with both members who are paid and members who serve as 13 volunteer firefighters. 14 (B) Volunteer fire departments and combination fire 15 departments with a staffing level that is at least eighty-five percent 16 volunteer are eligible to receive grants pursuant to this chapter. A 17 fire department that receives a grant must comply with the 18 firefighter registration provisions of Act 60 of 2001 and sign the 19 statewide mutual aid agreement with the South Carolina 20 Emergency Management Division. 21 22 Section 23-51-40. The amount of the grants awarded shall not 23 exceed thirty thousand dollars per year for each eligible fire 24 department with no matching or in-kind money required. A fire 25 department may be awarded only one grant in a three-year period. 26 27 Section 23-51-50. The grant money received by a fire 28 department must be used for the following purposes: 29 (1) fire suppression equipment; 30 (2) self-contained breathing apparatus; 31 (3) portable air refilling systems; 32 (4) hazardous materials spill leak detection, repair, and recover 33 equipment; 34 (5) protective clothing and equipment; 35 (6) new and used fire apparatus; 36 (7) incident command vehicles; 37 (8) special operations vehicles; 38 (9) training; 39 (10) rescue equipment; 40 (11) medical equipment; 41 (12) decontamination equipment; and 42 (13) safety equipment. 43

1 [4366] 2 1 Section 23-51-60. (A) The South Carolina State Firefighters’ 2 Association shall administer the grants in conjunction with a peer 3 review panel. 4 (B) The peer review panel shall consist of nine voting members 5 who shall serve without compensation. Seven members must be 6 fire chiefs from each of the seven regions of the State as defined 7 by the State Fire Marshal. The Chairman of the House Ways and 8 Means Committee shall appoint fire chiefs from Regions 1, 2, 3, 9 and 7. The Chairman of the Senate Finance Committee shall 10 appoint fire chiefs from Regions 4, 5, and 6. The State Fire 11 Marshal also shall serve as a member. The President of the South 12 Carolina State Firefighters’ Association shall serve as Chairman of 13 the committee. 14 (C) The peer review committee shall establish 15 performance-based guidelines for a successful grant application 16 and award grants based on these guidelines. 17 (D) The South Carolina State Firefighters’ Association shall: 18 (1) develop a grant application package utilizing the 19 guidelines developed by the peer review committee; 20 (2) establish and market a written and electronic version of 21 the grant application package; 22 (3) provide an annual report of all grant awards and 23 corresponding fire department purchases to the respective 24 Chairmen of the House Ways and Means Committee and Senate 25 Finance Committee; 26 (4) provide all administrative support to the peer review 27 committee; 28 (5) provide a grants web page for electronic applications; 29 and 30 (6) retain three percent of all grant awards for administering 31 the grants.” 32 33 SECTION 2. This act takes effect upon approval by the 34 Governor. 35 ----XX---- 36

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