An Act amending Title 35 (Health and Safety) of the Pennsylvania Consolidated Statutes, in Commonwealth services, further providing for assistance to fire companies and EMS companies.

PRINTER'S NO. 388
THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF PENNSYLVANIA
SENATE BILL
No. 457
Session of
2025
INTRODUCED BY MUTH, TARTAGLIONE, FONTANA, KANE, COSTA AND
SCHWANK, MARCH 17, 2025
REFERRED TO VETERANS AFFAIRS AND EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS,
MARCH 17, 2025
AN ACT
Amending Title 35 (Health and Safety) of the Pennsylvania
Consolidated Statutes, in Commonwealth services, further
providing for assistance to fire companies and EMS companies.
The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
hereby enacts as follows:
Section 1. Section 7364(a), (b) and (b.1) of Title 35 of the
Pennsylvania Consolidated Statutes are amended to read:
§ 7364. Assistance to fire companies and EMS companies.
(a) General rule.--The office is authorized, upon
application of any fire company or EMS company, to make loans
for the following purposes:
(1) Establishing or modernizing facilities that house
firefighting equipment, ambulance or rescue vehicles. The
amount of a loan for establishing or modernizing facilities
made to any one fire company or EMS company shall not exceed
50% of the total cost of the facilities or modernization or
[$450,000] $750,000, whichever is less, and a notarized
financial statement filed under subsection (c) shall show
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that the applicant has available 20% of the total cost of the
facilities in unobligated funds. Proceeds of the loan shall
be used only for purposes of structure or land acquisition or
renovation or construction and shall not be used for payment
of fees for design, planning, preparation of applications or
any other cost not directly attributable to structure or land
acquisition or renovation or construction.
(2) Purchasing firefighting apparatus, ambulances or
rescue vehicles. The amount of a loan made for purchasing
firefighting apparatus to any one fire company shall not
exceed [$250,000] $375,000 for any single firefighting
apparatus equipment or utility or special service vehicle or
heavy duty rescue vehicle as defined by regulation or
guideline, or 50% of the total cost of the equipment or
vehicle, whichever is less, except for loans for aerial
apparatus as defined by regulation or guideline, which shall
not exceed [$350,000] $750,000. The amount of a loan made to
any one fire company or EMS company for any ambulance or
light duty rescue vehicle as defined by regulation or
guideline shall not exceed [$125,000] $200,000 and for a
watercraft rescue vehicle shall not exceed [$35,000] $75,000
or 50% of the cost of the ambulance or rescue vehicle,
whichever is less, and a notarized financial statement filed
under subsection (c) shall show that the applicant has
available 20% of the total cost of the vehicle in unobligated
funds.
(3) Purchasing protective, accessory or communication
equipment. No fire company or EMS company shall receive a
loan for protective, accessory or communicative equipment
more than once in any five-year period. Each fire company or
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EMS company may apply for a loan for a mobile and portable
radio unit for each existing serviceable apparatus equipment,
ambulance or rescue vehicle. Radio equipment obtained through
loans under this subchapter shall be equipped with a
frequency or frequencies licensed by the Federal
Communications Commission for firefighting or emergency
response purposes. Protective equipment obtained through
loans under this subchapter must meet standards adopted by
the commissioner to ensure that the protective equipment does
not contain perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances. A
notarized financial statement shall be filed and loans under
this subchapter for the purchase of protective, accessory or
communicative equipment shall not exceed [$25,000] $75,000.
(4) Refinancing debt incurred or contracts entered into
after November 4, 1975, and used for the purchase of
apparatus equipment or for the construction or modernization
of facilities or for modification of apparatus equipment in
order to comply with National Fire Protection Association
standards.
(5) Repair or rehabilitation of apparatus equipment.
Where it has been determined that existing apparatus
equipment no longer meets the standards of the National Fire
Protection Association and the repair or rehabilitation of
such equipment will bring it in compliance with National Fire
Protection Association standards, loans for the repair or
rehabilitation for a single apparatus equipment shall be for
at least $3,000 but shall not exceed the lesser of [$80,000]
$150,000 or 80% of the total cost of repair or
rehabilitation.
(6) Purchasing of used firefighting apparatus,
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equipment, used ambulances, used rescue vehicles, used
communications equipment, used accessory equipment or used
protective equipment, except that the used vehicles and
equipment shall meet the National Fire Protection Association
(NFPA) standards and loans for the purchase of a used single
apparatus equipment shall not exceed [$200,000] $300,000 or
80% of the total cost of the equipment, whichever is less.
* * *
(b) Loans.--Loans made by the office in the amount of
$50,000 or less shall be for a period of not more than ten
years. Loans in excess of $50,000 but not in excess of $300,000
shall be for a period of not more than [15] 20 years. The
payback period of any loan in excess of $300,000 shall not
exceed [20] 30 years. Loans shall be subject to the payment of
interest at 2% per year and shall be subject to such security as
shall be determined by the commissioner. The total amount of
interest earned by the investment or reinvestment of all or any
part of the principal of any loan shall be returned to the
office and transferred to the Fire and Emergency Medical
Services Loan Fund and shall not be credited as payment of
principal or interest on the loan. Except as provided in
subsection (a)(5) and (7), the minimum amount of any loan shall
be $25,000.
(b.1) Inflation adjustment.--Beginning [one year after the
effective date of this subsection and biannually] January 1,
2027, and annually thereafter, all loan limits under this
section shall increase at the rate of inflation as outlined in
the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers for the
Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD area for the most
recent 12-month period for which the figures have been reported
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by the United States Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor
Statistics. If the rate of inflation does not increase, all loan
limits shall remain the same as they were for the previous year.
The office shall transmit notice of loan limit increases to the
Legislative Reference Bureau for publication in the next
available issue of the Pennsylvania Bulletin.
* * *
Section 2. This act shall take effect in 60 days.
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