[HISTORY: Adopted by the Board of Supervisors of the Township of West Rockhill as indicated in article histories. Amendments noted where applicable.]
[Adopted 4-27-1993 by Ord. No. 108]
As used in this article, the following terms shall have the meanings indicated:
BUSINESS
Any person or persons, corporations or partnerships or other entity engage in the buying, selling, storing, transferring, transporting and/or manufacturing of properties, merchandise, chemicals, fuels, goods, monies, sources and/or other means of compensation for the purpose stated or otherwise, of realizing a profit and/or other gains.
EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT ORGANIZATION
The staff groups outlined and comprised of, in the planning and operational flowchart, the Emergency Management Coordinator or Co-Coordinators, as contained in the West Rockhill Township Emergency Operations Plan.
INDUSTRIAL ACCIDENT
An industrial accident is any incident that occurs from the storage, transportation, use and/or manufacturing of any substance potentially dangerous to the public health and welfare at large that necessitates:
A. 
The intervention of the Pennridge Regional Police Department or any of the emergency agencies services which may service West Rockhill Township, including, but not limited, to Fire Companies or rescue squads operating in West Rockhill Township or the West Rockhill Township Emergency Management Organization or emergency response agencies employed by West Rockhill Township; or
B. 
The need for cleanup and/or abatement measures to be performed by Township employees or anything else resulting in expense to the Township.
PUBLIC THOROUGHFARE
County bridges, state highways, Township streets, any navigable waterway or any other roadway or watercourse owned by a governmental unit.
A. 
The business on whose premises an industrial accident occurs shall bear all costs that occur as a direct or consequential result of such industrial accident. In the event an industrial accident occurs during transportation on a public thoroughfare, or in delivery to an entity other than a business as defined in § 159-1 hereinabove, the entity of which or who owns or had custody and/or control of the vehicle and/or substance involved in the industrial accident shall bear all costs that occur as a direct or consequential result of such accident. Nothing contained herein shall prevent such business or entity from recovering any incurred or subsequent costs from a third party whose negligence may have caused such industrial accident.
B. 
In the event that any person undertakes, either voluntarily or upon order of the West Rockhill Township Emergency Management Organization or other Township Official, to clean up or abate the effect of an industrial accident, the West Rockhill Township Emergency Management Organization may take such action as is necessary to supervise or verify the adequacy of the cleanup or abatement. The business or entity described in § 150-2A hereinabove shall be liable to the Township for all costs incurred as a result of such supervision or verification.
C. 
For the purpose of this section, costs of an industrial accident shall include, but are not limited to, the following:
(1) 
Expenses incurred by police, fire, and/or emergency medical services;
(2) 
Actual labor costs of West Rockhill Township personnel, including benefits and administrative overhead;
(3) 
Costs of consultants or others preparing reports concerning the industrial accident;
(4) 
Costs of equipment operations;
(5) 
Costs of materials obtained directly by the Township;
(6) 
Costs of the Township Solicitor; and
(7) 
Costs of the Township Engineer connected with the industrial accident.
D. 
The costs of such industrial accident as set forth in § 159-2C hereinabove shall be determined by the Township Manager of his/her designee.
E. 
Such costs for all emergency services rendered shall be paid directly to the Township within 30 days from the date on which the Township issues an invoice for such charges.
Any person who shall violate any provision of this article shall, upon conviction thereof, be sentenced to pay a fine not more than $300, and in default of payment, to undergo imprisonment for a term not to exceed 30 days. Each day that a violation of this article continues shall constitute a separate offense.
The provisions of this article are severable. If any section, clause, sentence, part or provision thereof shall be held illegal, invalid or unconstitutional by any court of competent jurisdiction, such decision of the court shall not effect or impair any of the remaining sections, clauses, sentences, parts or provisions of this article. It is hereby declared to be the intent of the Board of Supervisors that this article would have been adopted if such illegal, invalid or unconstitutional section, clause, sentence, part or provision had not been included herein.
[Adopted 2-15-2017 by Ord. No. 235]
This article is an amendment and restatement of Ordinance No. 233, and shall be known as the "West Rockhill Township Emergency Service Cost Reimbursement Ordinance, as amended."
A. 
Authority. Under Section 1803(b) of the Second Class Township Code, 53 P.S. § 66803(b), the Township has the authority to make rules and regulation for the government of fire companies located within the Township.
B. 
Findings. The Township recognizes that the duties of volunteer fire companies require specialized 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.
C. 
Purpose. To grant any fire company operating in West Rockhill Township ("Fire Departments") 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.
A. 
The Township authorizes the Fire Departments 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, fire safety, and/or rescue incident or operation, including vehicular accidents.
B. 
The reasonable costs outlined above may be recovered directly by the Fire Departments or through a third-party billing service as an authorized agent for the collection of such costs. All claims of the Fire Departments must be made within 30 days of rendering service.
C. 
The Fire Departments 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 from time to time and shall be only applied to the recovery of costs arising out of incidents that occurred subsequent to the setting of the rates. These rates shall be approved by the Township and be kept on file in the Township Building.
E. 
In addition to the aforementioned reasonable costs, the Fire Departments 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 and Emergency Planning and Response Act[1] or authorized by any other statute or law.
[1]
Editor's Note: See 35 P.S. § 6022.101 et seq.
In the event the cost of repairing or rebuilding a building will exceed 50% of the fair market value of the building, the fire company(s) the amount requested for reimbursement shall not adversely affect the insured property owners' ability to repair or rebuild the building.
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 or any third-party billing service in recovery of costs under this article.
Each Fire Department that submits bills or receives funds under this article shall submit to the Township, twice each calendar year, a report stating each claim made by the Fire Company or a third-party biller under this article and all monies received. The report shall also include the name of the owner and the address of the property for which the claim was made.
Any attempt by a Fire Department or third-party billing service to recover costs from any individual/entity other than the appropriate insurance company/carrier shall result in the immediate revocation of the authority to recover such costs granted under this article.
If any sentence, clause, section, or part of this article is for any reason found to be unconstitutional, illegal or invalid, such unconstitutionality, illegality or invalidity shall not affect or impair any of the remaining provisions, sentences, clauses, sections or parts of this article. It is hereby declared as the intent of the Board of Supervisors that this article would have been adopted had such unconstitutional, illegal or invalid sentence, clause, section or part thereof not been included herein.