Relates to the establishment of special districts for general ambulance services; 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: A3432
SPONSOR: Jones TITLE OF BILL:
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
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:
Section 1 -This bill would allow any county, city, town or village, to
establish a special district for the financing and operation of general
ambulance services.
Section 2 - 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.
Section 3 -Provides effective date
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 economies 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:
2023-2024: S3039 referred to Local Government; A2812 referred to Local
Governments
2022/2021: S5331 referred to Local Government; A857 referred to Local
Government
2020/2019: S1996 referred to Local Governments; A1577 referred to Local
Governments
2018: S7443 passed Senate; A9589 referred to Local Governments
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:
None
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act would take effect immediately.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
3432
2025-2026 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY
January 27, 2025
___________
Introduced by M. of A. JONES -- 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
2 122-b of the general municipal law, paragraphs (d) and (f) as amended by
3 chapter 303 of the laws of 1980 and paragraph (e) as amended by section
4 2 of part KK of chapter 55 of the laws of 2022, are amended and a new
5 closing paragraph is added to read as follows:
6 (d) Establish a special district for the financing and operation of
7 general ambulance services as set forth by this section, whereby any
8 county, city, town or village, acting individually, or jointly with any
9 other county, city, town and/or village, through its governing body or
10 bodies, following applicable procedures as are required for the estab-
11 lishment of fire districts in article eleven of the town law or follow-
12 ing applicable procedures as are required for the establishment of joint
13 fire districts in article eleven-A of the town law, with such special
14 district being authorized by this section to be established in all or
15 any part of any such participating county or counties, town or towns,
16 city or cities and/or village or villages;
17 (e) Employ any combination of the methods authorized in paragraph (a),
18 (b) [or], (c) or (d);
19 [(e)] (f) A contract may be entered into pursuant to the provisions of
20 this section for the services of an emergency rescue and first aid squad
21 of a fire department or fire company which is subject to the provisions
22 of section two hundred nine-b of this chapter;
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD06723-01-5
A. 3432 2
1 [(f)] (g) Consider prehospital emergency treatment as that care
2 provided by certified emergency medical technicians or certified
3 advanced emergency medical technicians certified pursuant to the
4 provisions of article thirty of the public health law.
5 Any county, city, town or village which establishes or participates in
6 a joint district pursuant to paragraph (d) of this subdivision shall
7 dissolve and abolish any preexisting local district serving the same
8 jurisdiction.
9 § 2. Paragraph (e) of subdivision 1 of section 122-b of the general
10 municipal law, as amended by chapter 303 of the laws of 1980, is amended
11 to read as follows:
12 [(e)] (f) No contract shall be entered into pursuant to the provisions
13 of this section for the services of an emergency rescue and first aid
14 squad of a fire department or fire company which is subject to the
15 provisions of section two hundred nine-b of [the general municipal law]
16 this chapter;
17 § 3. The executive law is amended by adding a new section 720 to read
18 as follows:
19 § 720. Report on volunteer firefighter and ambulance services staff-
20 ing. 1. On or before the first day of January two thousand twenty-seven,
21 the commissioner, in consultation with the state office of fire
22 prevention and control, shall prepare and publish a report on the staff-
23 ing of volunteer firefighter and ambulance services in New York state.
24 Such report shall examine and evaluate the challenges and issues
25 concerning the recruiting and maintenance of trained, available staffing
26 by volunteer fire departments, districts and companies as well as for
27 volunteer ambulance districts and companies. Such report shall specif-
28 ically examine and evaluate the challenges and issues that are partic-
29 ular to rural areas of the state and areas with geographic challenges
30 such as mountains, waterways or limited transportation networks.
31 2. In addition to identifying challenges and issues concerning the
32 recruiting and maintenance of trained, available staffing by volunteer
33 fire departments, districts and companies as well as for volunteer ambu-
34 lance districts and companies across New York state, as required by
35 subdivision one of this section, such report shall also make recommenda-
36 tions on how to address and remediate the challenges and issues identi-
37 fied, with such recommendations being submitted to the governor, the
38 temporary president of the senate, the speaker of the assembly, the
39 chair of the senate standing committee on local government and the chair
40 of the assembly standing committee on local government at the time of
41 the publishing of the report.
42 § 4. This act shall take effect immediately; provided, however, that
43 the amendments to paragraph (e) of subdivision 1 of section 122-b of the
44 general municipal law made by section one of this act shall be subject
45 to the expiration and reversion of such paragraph pursuant to section 4
46 of part KK of chapter 55 of the laws of 2022, when upon such date the
47 provisions of section two of this act shall take effect.
