Rep. Mike Bost
Filed: 3/23/2004
|
|||||||
| |||||||
| |||||||
1 | AMENDMENT TO HOUSE BILL 4959
| ||||||
2 | AMENDMENT NO. ______. Amend House Bill 4959 on page 1, | ||||||
3 | immediately below line 3, by inserting following:
| ||||||
4 | "Section 1. Short title. This Act may be cited as the | ||||||
5 | Technical Rescue Team Response Reimbursement Act. | ||||||
6 | Section 5. Intent. The General Assembly finds that the cost | ||||||
7 | to fire departments and fire protection districts for training, | ||||||
8 | equipping, and using technical rescue teams is high and beyond | ||||||
9 | a basic level of service. It is the intent of the General | ||||||
10 | Assembly to establish the Technical Rescue Team Reimbursement | ||||||
11 | Fund to alleviate the financial hardships imposed upon any | ||||||
12 | community that uses technical rescue teams to respond to | ||||||
13 | emergency incidents. | ||||||
14 | Section 10. Definitions. In this Act: | ||||||
15 | "Emergency action" means any action taken at or near the | ||||||
16 | scene of an emergency incident to prevent or minimize harm to | ||||||
17 | human health, to property, or to the environment. | ||||||
18 | "Emergency response agency" means a fire department or | ||||||
19 | volunteer fire protection organization that provides | ||||||
20 | firefighting services, emergency rescue services, or emergency | ||||||
21 | medical services. | ||||||
22 | "Person" means an individual, a corporation, a | ||||||
23 | partnership, an unincorporated association, or any unit of |
| |||||||
| |||||||
1 | federal, State, or local government. | ||||||
2 | "Responsible party" means any person who is responsible for | ||||||
3 | causing the need for technical rescue team services from an | ||||||
4 | emergency response agency. | ||||||
5 | "Technical rescue team" means any State or Mutual Aid Box | ||||||
6 | Alarm System (MABAS) technical rescue team providing | ||||||
7 | specialized rescue services. | ||||||
8 | Section 15. Creation of Fund. The Technical Rescue Team | ||||||
9 | Reimbursement Fund is hereby created as a special fund in the | ||||||
10 | State Treasury. | ||||||
11 | Section 20. Reimbursement to agencies. | ||||||
12 | (a) It shall be the duty of the responsible party to | ||||||
13 | reimburse, in a timely and reasonable manner, the emergency | ||||||
14 | response agencies responding to an emergency incident for the | ||||||
15 | costs incurred in using technical response teams to provide | ||||||
16 | emergency action. All responsible parties shall be jointly and | ||||||
17 | severally liable for the costs incurred in using technical | ||||||
18 | response teams to provide emergency action. | ||||||
19 | (b) If the emergency response agencies are not reimbursed | ||||||
20 | by a responsible party, then moneys in the Technical Rescue | ||||||
21 | Team Reimbursement Fund shall be used to reimburse emergency | ||||||
22 | response agencies for the cost of using technical rescue teams | ||||||
23 | to provide emergency action. | ||||||
24 | (c) Application for reimbursement from the Fund shall be | ||||||
25 | made to the State Fire Marshal or his or her designee. The | ||||||
26 | State Fire Marshal shall establish a standard form for the | ||||||
27 | application and promulgate rules for the administration of this | ||||||
28 | Act. | ||||||
29 | Section 25. Reimbursement to the Fund. | ||||||
30 | (a) The responsible party shall reimburse the Fund for | ||||||
31 | money provided by the Fund to emergency response agencies as |
| |||||||
| |||||||
1 | the result of the failure of the responsible party to reimburse | ||||||
2 | the emergency response agencies, as required under Section 20. | ||||||
3 | (b) A voluntary contribution to the Fund or directly to an | ||||||
4 | emergency response agency does not constitute an admission of | ||||||
5 | responsibility relative to this Act or to any other State or | ||||||
6 | federal laws, rules, or regulations. | ||||||
7 | (c) If no party to the incident provides reimbursement to | ||||||
8 | the emergency response agency or to the Fund, the Attorney | ||||||
9 | General may, at the request of the State Fire Marshal, | ||||||
10 | institute a civil action to recover costs. | ||||||
11 | (d) If the emergency response agency receives payment from | ||||||
12 | any responsible party or the federal government, the emergency | ||||||
13 | response agency shall pay into the Fund an amount equal to any | ||||||
14 | reimbursement received from the Fund for that incident. | ||||||
15 | Section 30. Administrative panel. | ||||||
16 | (a) An administrative panel, consisting of 7 members, shall | ||||||
17 | be formed by the State Fire Marshal for the purposes described | ||||||
18 | in this Section. Members shall serve without compensation but | ||||||
19 | shall be reimbursed from the Fund for their reasonable expenses | ||||||
20 | incurred in the performance of their duties under this Act. The | ||||||
21 | State Fire Marshal or his or her designee shall serve as | ||||||
22 | chairman of the panel for an indeterminate term of years. The | ||||||
23 | chairman shall appoint 6 members to the panel who shall serve | ||||||
24 | for a term of not more than 2 years. The appointed members | ||||||
25 | shall consist of: | ||||||
26 | (1) Three members who are representatives of emergency | ||||||
27 | response agencies; | ||||||
28 | (2) Four members who are not representatives of | ||||||
29 | emergency response agencies. | ||||||
30 | (b) The panel shall meet at quarterly intervals each year. | ||||||
31 | The chairman, at his discretion, may schedule additional | ||||||
32 | meetings to meet the needs of the panel. | ||||||
33 | (c) The panel shall be responsible for: |
| |||||||
| |||||||
1 | (1) Reviewing claims made against the Fund and | ||||||
2 | determining (i) the identity of all responsible parties and | ||||||
3 | (ii) reasonable and necessary expenses to be reimbursed to | ||||||
4 | an emergency response agency; and | ||||||
5 | (2) Affirming that the emergency response agency has | ||||||
6 | made a reasonable effort to recover expended costs from the | ||||||
7 | involved parties. | ||||||
8 | (d) Final decisions of the panel may be reviewed in | ||||||
9 | accordance with the Administrative Review Law."; and
| ||||||
10 | on page 1, line 4, by changing "Section 5" to "Section 90"; and | ||||||
11 | on page 2, immediately below line 8, by inserting the | ||||||
12 | following: | ||||||
13 | "Section 99. The State Finance Act is amended by adding | ||||||
14 | Section
5.625 as follows:
| ||||||
15 | (30 ILCS 105/5.625 new)
| ||||||
16 | Sec. 5.625. The Technical Rescue Team Response Fund. ".
|