SB-0372, As Passed Senate, October 14, 2015
June 4, 2015, Introduced by Senators ZORN, HORN, HANSEN, MARLEAU, JONES, O'BRIEN, SCHMIDT, NOFS, KNEZEK, HUNE and ANANICH and referred to the Committee on Regulatory Reform.
A bill to amend 1966 PA 291, entitled
"Firefighters training council act,"
by amending section 9 (MCL 29.369), as amended by 2013 PA 166.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF MICHIGAN ENACT:
Sec. 9. (1) The state fire marshal, with the approval of the
council, shall prepare and publish standards with due consideration
to varying factors and special requirements of organized fire
departments in the following areas:
(a) Advisory standards of physical, educational, mental and
moral fitness, which shall govern the recruitment, selection, and
appointment of firefighters.
(b) The approval by the council of firefighter training
schools. The standards shall address, at least, the following
issues:
(i) The qualification and certification of instructors.
(ii) The courses of study, attendance, record-keeping
requirements, equipment, and facilities.
(iii) The visitation and evaluation of instructors and schools.
(c) The establishment of subordinate regional training centers
in strategic geographic locations in order to serve the greatest
number of organized fire departments that are unable to support
their own training programs.
(2) Each organized fire department shall file a statement with
the council designating at least 1 training officer or training
coordinator for the fire department. If a training officer or
training coordinator is changed, the organized fire department,
within 7 days of the change, shall file a statement notifying the
council of the change.
(3) The council shall develop and provide to each organized
fire department, upon request of the organized fire department and
at
no charge, a videotape, digital video disc, or other electronic
form
of video display to be used in training firefighters. The
videotape,
digital video disc, or other electronic form of video
display
shall not include training that requires a practical
demonstration.
as proposed by the state fire
marshal, training
material in an electronic format to be used in training
firefighters.
The videotape, digital video disc,
or other
electronic
form of video display electronic
training material shall
be based on the standards for fire fighter I and fire fighter II
set
forth in "standard for fire fighter professional
qualifications",
national fire protection association "Standard for
Fire Fighter Professional Qualifications", National Fire Protection
Association
standard no. 1001. The council may
impose a reasonable
fee
for loss, damage, or late return of a videotape, digital video
disc,
or other electronic form of video display provided to an
organized
fire department under this subsection.
(4) The state fire marshal, with the approval of the council,
shall develop and administer an examination, which shall include a
practical demonstration, a written or oral test, or a combination
thereof, to determine a person's competency in regard to the
knowledge and skill requirements set forth in standards for fire
fighter
I and fire fighter II set forth in "standard for fire
fighter
professional qualifications", national fire protection
association
"Standard for Fire
Fighter Professional
Qualifications", National Fire Protection Association standard no.
1001. The council, upon the request of an organized fire
department, shall administer the examination in each county at
least once every year. The examination shall be administered in 2
parts. Part 1 shall test the knowledge and skill requirements set
forth in fire fighter I, and part 2 shall test the knowledge and
skill requirements set forth in fire fighter II. The examination
may be retaken, as necessary, upon request from an organized fire
department.
(5)
Except as provided in subsection subsections (7) and (9),
by 12 months after a person's hiring date as a full-time
firefighter, the person must pass both part 1 and part 2 of the
examination to be eligible for continued or permanent full-time
employment as a firefighter.
(6)
Except as provided in subsection subsections (7) and (9),
by 24 months after a person's appointment date as a volunteer or
paid on-call firefighter, a person must pass part 1 of the
examination to be eligible for continued volunteer or paid on-call
service as a firefighter.
(7)
The examination described in requirements
under this
section
does do not apply to a person who is employed or under
appointment as a firefighter on October 1, 1988, unless the person
subsequently changes his or her status from a volunteer or paid on-
call firefighter to a full-time firefighter. The state fire marshal
may
waive the examination requirements in under this section for a
veteran who served in and is separated from the armed forces and
provides a form DD214 or DD215 or any other form that is
satisfactory to the department that demonstrates that he or she was
separated from service with an honorable character of service or
under honorable conditions (general) character of service, upon
verification that the veteran completed firefighter training that
meets the standards for fire fighter I and fire fighter II set
forth
in "standard for fire fighter professional qualifications",
national
fire protection association "Standard
for Fire Fighter
Professional Qualifications", National Fire Protection Association
standard no. 1001, while serving in the armed forces of the United
States. As used in this subsection, "armed forces" means that term
as defined in section 2 of the veteran right to employment services
act, 1994 PA 39, MCL 35.1092.
(8) The state fire marshal, with the approval of the council,
shall review and monitor the state and federal standards relating
to live fire training exercises in structures and make
recommendations to the general industry safety standards commission
for any new or modified standards necessary for the protection of
firefighter trainees.
(9) The state fire marshal shall waive the examination
requirements under this section and extend reciprocity
certification to a firefighter from another state who seeks to work
as a firefighter in this state if the firefighter was certified in
the other state after successfully completing a program that meets
or exceeds the standards for firefighter I and II set forth in
"Standard for Fire Fighter Professional Qualifications", National
Fire Protection Association standard no. 1001 by an international
accreditation fire service organization.
(10) The presentation of records evidencing certification
under subsection (9) shall automatically result in certification by
this state.