SB 457 — 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
 1   Amending Title 35 (Health and Safety) of the Pennsylvania
 2      Consolidated Statutes, in Commonwealth services, further
 3      providing for assistance to fire companies and EMS companies.
 4      The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
 5   hereby enacts as follows:
 6      Section 1.     Section 7364(a), (b) and (b.1) of Title 35 of the
 7   Pennsylvania Consolidated Statutes are amended to read:
 8   § 7364.    Assistance to fire companies and EMS companies.
 9      (a)    General rule.--The office is authorized, upon
10   application of any fire company or EMS company, to make loans
11   for the following purposes:
12             (1)   Establishing or modernizing facilities that house
13      firefighting equipment, ambulance or rescue vehicles. The
14      amount of a loan for establishing or modernizing facilities
15      made to any one fire company or EMS company shall not exceed
16      50% of the total cost of the facilities or modernization or
17      [$450,000] $750,000, whichever is less, and a notarized
18      financial statement filed under subsection (c) shall show
 1    that the applicant has available 20% of the total cost of the
 2    facilities in unobligated funds. Proceeds of the loan shall
 3    be used only for purposes of structure or land acquisition or
 4    renovation or construction and shall not be used for payment
 5    of fees for design, planning, preparation of applications or
 6    any other cost not directly attributable to structure or land
 7    acquisition or renovation or construction.
 8        (2)   Purchasing firefighting apparatus, ambulances or
 9    rescue vehicles. The amount of a loan made for purchasing
10    firefighting apparatus to any one fire company shall not
11    exceed [$250,000] $375,000 for any single firefighting
12    apparatus equipment or utility or special service vehicle or
13    heavy duty rescue vehicle as defined by regulation or
14    guideline, or 50% of the total cost of the equipment or
15    vehicle, whichever is less, except for loans for aerial
16    apparatus as defined by regulation or guideline, which shall
17    not exceed [$350,000] $750,000. The amount of a loan made to
18    any one fire company or EMS company for any ambulance or
19    light duty rescue vehicle as defined by regulation or
20    guideline shall not exceed [$125,000] $200,000 and for a
21    watercraft rescue vehicle shall not exceed [$35,000] $75,000
22    or 50% of the cost of the ambulance or rescue vehicle,
23    whichever is less, and a notarized financial statement filed
24    under subsection (c) shall show that the applicant has
25    available 20% of the total cost of the vehicle in unobligated
26    funds.
27        (3)   Purchasing protective, accessory or communication
28    equipment. No fire company or EMS company shall receive a
29    loan for protective, accessory or communicative equipment
30    more than once in any five-year period. Each fire company or

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 1    EMS company may apply for a loan for a mobile and portable
 2    radio unit for each existing serviceable apparatus equipment,
 3    ambulance or rescue vehicle. Radio equipment obtained through
 4    loans under this subchapter shall be equipped with a
 5    frequency or frequencies licensed by the Federal
 6    Communications Commission for firefighting or emergency
 7    response purposes. Protective equipment obtained through
 8    loans under this subchapter must meet standards adopted by
 9    the commissioner to ensure that the protective equipment does
10    not contain perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances. A
11    notarized financial statement shall be filed and loans under
12    this subchapter for the purchase of protective, accessory or
13    communicative equipment shall not exceed [$25,000] $75,000.
14        (4)   Refinancing debt incurred or contracts entered into
15    after November 4, 1975, and used for the purchase of
16    apparatus equipment or for the construction or modernization
17    of facilities or for modification of apparatus equipment in
18    order to comply with National Fire Protection Association
19    standards.
20        (5)   Repair or rehabilitation of apparatus equipment.
21    Where it has been determined that existing apparatus
22    equipment no longer meets the standards of the National Fire
23    Protection Association and the repair or rehabilitation of
24    such equipment will bring it in compliance with National Fire
25    Protection Association standards, loans for the repair or
26    rehabilitation for a single apparatus equipment shall be for
27    at least $3,000 but shall not exceed the lesser of [$80,000]
28    $150,000 or 80% of the total cost of repair or
29    rehabilitation.
30        (6)   Purchasing of used firefighting apparatus,

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 1      equipment, used ambulances, used rescue vehicles, used
 2      communications equipment, used accessory equipment or used
 3      protective equipment, except that the used vehicles and
 4      equipment shall meet the National Fire Protection Association
 5      (NFPA) standards and loans for the purchase of a used single
 6      apparatus equipment shall not exceed [$200,000] $300,000 or
 7      80% of the total cost of the equipment, whichever is less.
 8      * * *
 9      (b)   Loans.--Loans made by the office in the amount of
10   $50,000 or less shall be for a period of not more than ten
11   years. Loans in excess of $50,000 but not in excess of $300,000
12   shall be for a period of not more than [15] 20 years. The
13   payback period of any loan in excess of $300,000 shall not
14   exceed [20] 30 years. Loans shall be subject to the payment of
15   interest at 2% per year and shall be subject to such security as
16   shall be determined by the commissioner. The total amount of
17   interest earned by the investment or reinvestment of all or any
18   part of the principal of any loan shall be returned to the
19   office and transferred to the Fire and Emergency Medical
20   Services Loan Fund and shall not be credited as payment of
21   principal or interest on the loan. Except as provided in
22   subsection (a)(5) and (7), the minimum amount of any loan shall
23   be $25,000.
24      (b.1)   Inflation adjustment.--Beginning [one year after the
25   effective date of this subsection and biannually] January 1,
26   2027, and annually thereafter, all loan limits under this
27   section shall increase at the rate of inflation as outlined in
28   the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers for the
29   Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD area for the most
30   recent 12-month period for which the figures have been reported

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1   by the United States Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor
2   Statistics. If the rate of inflation does not increase, all loan
3   limits shall remain the same as they were for the previous year.
4   The office shall transmit notice of loan limit increases to the
5   Legislative Reference Bureau for publication in the next
6   available issue of the Pennsylvania Bulletin.
7      * * *
8      Section 2.   This act shall take effect in 60 days.




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