Township of Lower Providence, PA Chapter 79 Emergency Services [1]

[HISTORY: Adopted by the Board of Supervisors of the Township of Lower Providence as indicated in article histories. Amendments noted where applicable.]

GENERAL REFERENCES

Police Department — See Ch. 40.

Fire prevention — See Ch. 83.

[1] Editor's Note: Former Ch. 79, Electrical Standards, adopted 12-12-1977 by Ord. No. 228, as amended 4-3-2003 by Ord. No. 484, was repealed 4-15-2004 by Ord. No. 511. See Ch. 67, Art. II, Uniform Construction Code.

Article I Reimbursement of Costs

[Adopted 2-5-2015 by Ord. No. 619]

§ 79-1 Title.

This article shall be known as the Lower Providence Township Emergency Service Cost Reimbursement Ordinance

§ 79-2 Authority; findings; purpose.

A. Authority. Under Sections 1803(b) and 1553 of the Second Class Township Code, 53 P.S. §§ 66803(b) and 66553, the Township has the authority to make rules and regulation for the government of fire services and emergency service located within the Township.

B. Findings. The Township recognizes that the duties of volunteer fire companies require specialized tools for fire suppression, safety, and rescue responses, including but not limited to emergency rescue tools and equipment, emergency rescue materials, hazardous material abatement equipment, and hazardous abatement materials during emergency responses. The Township recognizes that such tools and equipment place a financial burden on volunteer fire companies, and the replacement of such materials and specialized training add to the additional financial burden for volunteer fire companies. The Township itself also incurs substantial costs in connection with hazardous abatement incidents, environmental incidents, and fire and safety rescue responses which occur within the Township.

C. Purpose. To grant any fire company ("Fire Departments ") and emergency medical ambulance service ("EMS") operating in Lower Providence Township the authority to seek reimbursement for the reasonable cost of responding to such incidents, either directly or in coordination with the Office of Emergency Management, as provided below and to authorize Lower Providence Township to seek reimbursement for the reasonable cost of responding to such incidents.

§ 79-3 Recovery of costs.

A. The Township authorizes the Fire Departments, EMS and Lower Providence Township to recover the reasonable cost of emergency rescue tools, equipment, and materials; hazardous material abatement tools, equipment, and materials; and personnel hours involving any hazardous material, environmental, firesafety, and/or rescue incident or operation, including vehicular accidents.

B. The reasonable costs incurred by the Fire Departments and EMS outlined above may be recovered directly by the Fire Departments and EMS or through a third-party billing service as an authorized agent for the collection of such costs. The reasonable costs incurred by Lower Providence Township outlined above may be recovered directly by the Township or through a third-party billing service as an authorized agent for the collection of such costs.

C. The Township, Fire Departments, EMS or third-party billing service shall only have the authority to recover the aforementioned costs from the applicable insurance company/carrier.

D. The reimbursement rates for the aforementioned tools, equipment, and materials shall be set by the Fire Departments and EMS from time to time and shall be applied only to the recovery of applicable costs. These rates shall be submitted to the Township and shall be kept on file in the Township Building. The reimbursement costs for the aforementioned tools, equipment, and materials as set forth on the attached Exhibit A[1] are hereby approved and may be modified from time to time by separate resolution of the Board of Supervisors.

[1] Note: Exhibit A is on file in the Township offices.

E. In addition to the aforementioned reasonable costs, Lower Providence Township, the Fire Departments, EMS or third-party billing service shall be authorized to collect reasonable interest, as well as a reasonable administrative fee for collecting the same, and any and all additional fees as may be authorized by the Hazardous Material Emergency Planning and Response Act[2] or authorized by any other statute or law.

[2] Editor's Note: See 35 P.S. § 6022.101 et seq.

§ 79-4 Responsibility of Township.

Except for recovery of costs incurred by the Township, the Township shall not be responsible for any aspect of the recovery of costs under this article. The Township shall not take any steps to assist the Fire Departments, EMS or any third party billing service in recovery of costs under this article.