PRINTER'S NO. 142
No. 136 Session of 2001
INTRODUCED BY WAGNER, LAVALLE, TARTAGLIONE, HELFRICK, STOUT,
EARLL, KUKOVICH, COSTA, THOMPSON, WAUGH, CORMAN, RHOADES,
O'PAKE, MUSTO, MOWERY, BOSCOLA AND SCHWARTZ, JANUARY 29, 2001
REFERRED TO STATE GOVERNMENT, JANUARY 29, 2001
AN ACT
1 Amending the act of June 22, 2000 (P.L.477, No.66), entitled "An
2 act establishing a grant program for volunteer fire companies
3 and volunteer ambulance services," extending the period for
4 grants.
5 The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
6 hereby enacts as follows:
7 Section 1. Sections 303, 304, 503, 504 and 901 of the act of
8 June 22, 2000 (P.L.477, No.66), known as the Volunteer Fire
9 Company and Volunteer Ambulance Service Grant Act, are amended
10 to read:
11 Section 303. Award of grants.
12 (a) Authorization.--The agency is hereby authorized to make
13 a one-time grant award to each eligible volunteer fire company
14 for the following:
15 (1) Construction and/or renovation of the fire company's
16 facility and purchase or repair of fixtures and furnishings
17 necessary to maintain or improve the capability of the
18 company to provide fire, ambulance and rescue services.
1 (2) Repair of firefighting, ambulance or rescue
2 equipment or purchase thereof.
3 (3) Debt reduction associated with paragraph (1) or (2).
4 (b) Limits.--
5 (1) Except as provided in paragraph (3), grants shall be
6 not less than $2,500 and not more than $15,000 per volunteer
7 fire company.
8 (2) Grants shall be awarded on a pro rata basis if the
9 total dollar amount of approved applications exceeds the
10 amount of funds allocated in section 701.
11 (3) In a municipality where there are two or more
12 volunteer fire companies and if two or more fire companies
13 consolidated their use of equipment, firefighters and
14 services between July 1, 1998, and the date of enactment of
15 this act, each entity from which the consolidated entity was
16 created will be eligible for a grant as though it had not
17 consolidated.
18 (c) Time for filing application and department action.--
19 (1) The agency shall provide applications for grants
20 under this act to the fire chief and president of every
21 volunteer fire company in this Commonwealth on or before July
22 7, [2000] 2001.
23 (2) Volunteer fire companies seeking grants under this
24 act shall submit completed applications to the agency on or
25 before September 1, [2000] 2001. The agency shall act to
26 approve or disapprove the application by October 4, [2000]
27 2001. Applications which have not been approved or
28 disapproved by the agency by October 4, [2000] 2001, shall be
29 deemed approved.
30 (3) Applications submitted after the September 1, [2000]
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1 2001, deadline shall be accepted by the agency, and grants
2 may be awarded at the discretion of the agency from the
3 reserve fund set aside under section 304.
4 (d) Eligibility.--To receive grant funds under this act, a
5 volunteer fire company shall have actively responded to one or
6 more fire emergencies since July 1, 1999.
7 Section 304. Reserve funds.
8 (1) The agency shall reserve an amount not to exceed 3%
9 of the funds allocated in section 701 for the grant program
10 established under this chapter for the purposes of awarding
11 grants to volunteer fire companies that submit applications
12 after September 1, [2000] 2001, that would have otherwise
13 been eligible for and been awarded a grant under the grant
14 program.
15 (2) No volunteer fire company may receive a grant from
16 reserve funds in an amount greater than the amount that it
17 would have received had it applied in a timely manner.
18 Section 503. Award of grants.
19 (a) Authorization.--The agency is hereby authorized to make
20 a one-time grant award to each eligible volunteer ambulance
21 service for the following:
22 (1) Construction and/or renovation of the volunteer
23 ambulance service's facility and purchase or repair of
24 fixtures and furnishings necessary to maintain or improve the
25 capability of the ambulance service to provide ambulance,
26 emergency medical, basic life support and advanced life
27 support services.
28 (2) Repair of ambulance equipment or purchase thereof.
29 (3) Debt reduction associated with paragraph (1) or (2).
30 (b) Limits.--
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1 (1) Grants shall be not less than $2,500 and not more
2 than $10,000 per volunteer ambulance service.
3 (2) Grants shall be awarded on a pro rata basis if the
4 total dollar amount of approved applications exceeds the
5 amount of funds allocated in section 702.
6 (c) Time for filing application and department action.--
7 (1) The agency shall provide applications for grants
8 under this act to the president of every volunteer ambulance
9 service in this Commonwealth on or before July 7, [2000]
10 2001.
11 (2) Volunteer ambulance services seeking grants under
12 this chapter shall submit completed applications to the
13 agency on or before September 1, [2000] 2001. The agency
14 shall act to approve or disapprove the application by October
15 4, [2000] 2001. Applications which have not been approved or
16 disapproved by the agency by October 4, [2000] 2001, shall be
17 deemed approved.
18 (3) Applications submitted after the September 1, [2000]
19 2001, deadline shall be accepted by the agency, and grants
20 may be awarded at the discretion of the agency from the
21 reserve fund set aside under section 504.
22 Section 504. Reserve funds.
23 (1) The agency shall reserve an amount not to exceed 3%
24 of the funds allocated in section 702 for the grant program
25 established under this chapter for the purposes of awarding
26 grants to volunteer ambulance services that submit
27 applications after September 1, [2000] 2001, that would have
28 otherwise been eligible for and been awarded a grant under
29 the grant program.
30 (2) No volunteer ambulance service may receive a grant
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1 from reserve funds in an amount greater than the amount that
2 it would have received had it applied in a timely manner.
3 Section 901. Expiration of authority.
4 The authority of the agency to award grants under Chapters 3
5 and 5 shall expire June 30, [2001] 2002.
6 Section 2. This act shall take effect in 60 days.
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