Relates to the establishment of special districts for general ambulance services and requires a report on issues of volunteer firefighter and ambulance services staffing.
NEW YORK STATE ASSEMBLY MEMORANDUM IN SUPPORT OF LEGISLATION submitted in accordance with Assembly Rule III, Sec 1(f)
 
BILL NUMBER: A9589
SPONSOR: Jones
 
TITLE OF BILL: An act to amend the general municipal law, in relation
to the establishment of special districts for general ambulance
services; and to amend the executive law, in relation to a report on
volunteer firefighter and ambulance services staffing
 
PURPOSE:
This bill would authorize municipalities to establish a special district
for general ambulance services, and would require a report by the
commissioner of the Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Services
to identify challenges concerning volunteer emergency services or
personnel.
 
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:
This bill would allow any county, city, town or village, to establish a
special district for the financing and operation of general ambulance
services. This bill would also require a report with recommendations on
volunteer firefighter and ambulances services by the commissioner of the
Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Services.
 
JUSTIFICATION:
Article 11 of the Town Law governs the requirements to form a fire
district. Presently, a town board or village board of trustees may
establish a joint fire district, when the territory in the joint fire
district is contiguous. However, for a town to establish a new fire
district, it must be outside of any village or city. This restriction
creates difficulty for districts in rural communities or those with
unique geography such as waterways or mountains, as transportation
networks can be limited and response times unavoidably delayed. This
difficulty has led to difficulty obtaining volunteer crews, as each
individual crew member can be required to cover more territory and put
in more hours than in other areas of the state.
According to the New York State Department of Health, a 2013 analysis
showed that the average scene to destination time throughout New York
State was 13.16 minutes. However, in the Adirondack mountain region, for
instance, it was significantly higher in many areas, with the average
scene to destination time in Clinton County being 17.77 minutes, Essex
County 25.55 minutes, Franklin County 18.32 minutes, Hamilton County
53.46 minutes, and Warren County 21.59 minutes. These delayed response
times pose a great threat to saving lives, protecting property and
encouraging the recruitment and retention of volunteers.
This bill seeks to address this issue in two ways. First, it would allow
a municipality to establish a special district with any county, city,
town, or village, thereby allowing communities to establish districts
with economy of scale and participants, in an effort to increase the
quality of emergency protection services.
Second, it would further require a study by the Division of Homeland
Security and Emergency Services, calling upon its experts in the state
office of fire prevention and control, to investigate, report and make
recommendations on how to encourage recruitment of crews and improved
response times for their operations.
 
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
This is a new bill.
 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:
None Noted.
 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act would take effect immediately.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
9589
IN ASSEMBLY
January 25, 2018
___________
Introduced by M. of A. JONES, WOERNER, STEC -- read once and referred to
the Committee on Local Governments
AN ACT to amend the general municipal law, in relation to the establish-
ment of special districts for general ambulance services; and to amend
the executive law, in relation to a report on volunteer firefighter
and ambulance services staffing
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. Paragraphs d, e and f of subdivision 1 of section 122-b of
2 the general municipal law, as amended by chapter 303 of the laws of
3 1980, are amended to read as follows:
4 (d) Establish a special district for the financing and operation of
5 general ambulance services as set forth by this section, whereby any
6 county, city, town or village, acting individually, or jointly with any
7 other county, city, town and/or village, through its governing body or
8 bodies, following applicable procedures as are required for the estab-
9 lishment of fire districts in article eleven of the town law or follow-
10 ing applicable procedures as are required for the establishment of joint
11 fire districts in article eleven-A of the town law, with such special
12 district being authorized by this section to be established in all or
13 any part of any such participating county or counties, town or towns,
14 city or cities and/or village or villages;
15 (e) Employ any combination of the methods authorized in paragraph (a),
16 (b) [or], (c) or (d);
17 [(e)] (f) No contract shall be entered into pursuant to the provisions
18 of this section for the services of an emergency rescue and first aid
19 squad of a fire department or fire company which is subject to the
20 provisions of section two hundred nine-b of the general municipal law;
21 [(f)] (g) Consider prehospital emergency treatment as that care
22 provided by certified emergency medical technicians or certified
23 advanced emergency medical technicians certified pursuant to the
24 provisions of article thirty of the public health law.
25 § 2. The executive law is amended by adding a new section 719 to read
26 as follows:
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD14231-01-8
A. 9589 2
1 § 719. Report on volunteer firefighter and ambulance services staff-
2 ing. 1. On or before the first day of January two thousand nineteen, the
3 commissioner, in consultation with the state office of fire prevention
4 and control, shall prepare and publish a report on the staffing of
5 volunteer firefighter and ambulance services in New York state. Such
6 report shall examine and evaluate the challenges and issues concerning
7 the recruiting and maintenance of trained, available staffing by volun-
8 teer fire departments, districts and companies as well as for volunteer
9 ambulance districts and companies. Such report shall specifically exam-
10 ine and evaluate the challenges and issues that are particular to rural
11 areas of the state and areas with geographic challenges such as moun-
12 tains, waterways or limited transportation networks.
13 2. In addition to identifying challenges and issues concerning the
14 recruiting and maintenance of trained, available staffing by volunteer
15 fire departments, districts and companies as well as for volunteer ambu-
16 lance districts and companies across New York state, as required by
17 subdivision one of this section, such report shall also make recommenda-
18 tions on how to address and remediate the challenges and issues identi-
19 fied, with such recommendations being submitted to the governor, the
20 temporary president of the senate, the speaker of the assembly, the
21 chair of the senate standing committee on local government and the chair
22 of the assembly standing committee on local government at the time of
23 the publishing of the report.
24 § 3. This act shall take effect immediately.