HB3687ham003 94TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

Rep. Michael K. Smith

Filed: 4/14/2005

09400HB3687ham003 LRB094 06069 RXD 45177 a

AMENDMENT TO HOUSE BILL 3687

AMENDMENT NO. ______. Amend House Bill 3687, AS AMENDED, by replacing everything after the enacting clause with the following:

"Section 1. Short title. This Act may be cited as the Technical Rescue Team Response Reimbursement Act.

Section 5. Intent. The General Assembly finds that the cost to fire departments and fire protection districts for training, equipping, and using technical rescue teams is high and beyond a basic level of service.

Section 10. Definitions. In this Act:

"Emergency action" means any action taken at or near the scene of an emergency incident to prevent or minimize harm to human health, to property, or to the environment.

"Emergency response agency" means a fire department or volunteer fire protection organization that provides firefighting services, emergency rescue services, or emergency medical services.

"Person" means an individual, a corporation, a partnership, an unincorporated association, or any unit of federal, State, or local government.

"Responsible party" means any person who is responsible for causing the need for technical rescue team services from an emergency response agency.

"Technical rescue team" means a career or volunteer mobile support team that has been authorized by a unit of local government to respond to building collapse, high angle rescue, and other specialized rescue emergencies and that is primarily designated for emergency response to technical rescue events.

Section 15. Reimbursement to agencies. It shall be the duty of the responsible party to reimburse, within 90 days after the receipt of a bill for the Tactical Rescue emergency incident, the emergency response agencies responding to a Tactical Rescue incident, and any private contractor responding to a Tactical Rescue incident at the request of an emergency response agency, the costs incurred in the course of providing emergency action. All responsible parties shall be jointly and severally liable for the costs incurred in using technical response teams to provide emergency action.

Section 20. Violation.

(a) Reimbursement directly to an emergency response agency does not constitute an admission of responsibility relative to this Act or to any other State or federal laws, rules, or regulations.

(b) If no party to the incident provides reimbursement to the emergency response agency, the Attorney General may, at the request of the State Fire Marshal, institute a civil action to recover costs.".