{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.boozman.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/press-releases?ID=83CCE86D-92F6-46A2-BF89-CACE835C64CC", "Boozman, Moran, Coons, Colleagues Call for Rule Exemption to Protect Volunteer Firefighters", "2024-08-27", "2024", "2024-08", "Republican", "Senate", "AR", "John Boozman", "B001236", "www.boozman.senate.gov", "boozman", "https://www.boozman.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/press-releases", "scraper", "WASHINGTON \u2013\u2013 U.S. Senator John Boozman (R-AR) joined Senators Jerry Moran (R-KS) and Chris Coons (D-DE) in calling on the Department of Labor to exempt volunteer fire departments from parts of a proposed rule that would put burdensome regulations on volunteer fire departments across the country.\n\nThe Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) proposed a new rule earlier this year that would require fire departments to furnish new reports, trainings, equipment and health services.\n\n\u201cVolunteer firefighters have indicated they lack the financial resources and personnel to comply with this rule,\u201d the senators wrote to Acting Secretary of Labor Julie Su. \u201cFor many departments, implementation of this rule would render significant shares of their equipment non-compliant. The financial burden associated with replacing that equipment and furnishing the reports, assessments, trainings, and health services required by the rule would be prohibitive for volunteer departments, whose budgets are already strained.\u201d\n\n\u201cIt is our intention to insulate our volunteers and the communities they serve from the negative impacts of a regulation that could jeopardize their fire services,\u201d the senators continued. \u201cThe rule must provide volunteer departments with the flexibility to perform their duties unencumbered by impracticable requirements.\u201d\n\nJoining Boozman, Moran and Coons\u2019 push were Sens. Susan Collins (R-ME), John Hoeven (R-ND), Angus King (I-ME), Thom Tillis (R-NC), John Barrasso (R-WY) and Tom Cotton (R-AR).\n\nRead the full letter below.\n\nDear Acting Secretary Su,\n\nIn February of this year, OSHA proposed a rule \u2013 the \u201cEmergency Response\u201d standard \u2013 to replace the \u201cFire Brigades\u201d standard covering firefighters in the UnitedStates. In order to protect our volunteer departments, we believe it is critical to explicitly exempt volunteer fire departments from the standard, or parts of the standard, as OSHA finalizes the new rule.\n\nOver 85% of America\u2019s fire departments are either volunteer or mostly volunteer. Nearly 700,000 of America\u2019s 1,056,000 firefighters are volunteers or paid per call firefighters. Communities across America, particularly in rural areas, rely on these departments and their volunteers for firefighting services, and it is our priority to ensure that the \u201cEmergency Response\u201d standard does not damage their ability to effectively serve and protect their communities.\n\nThe proposed rule would apply to more workers than the existing standard and would require fire departments to furnish new reports, trainings, equipment, and health services. Volunteer firefighters have indicated they lack the financial resources and personnel to comply with this rule. For many departments, implementation of this rule would render significant shares of their equipment non-compliant. The financial burden associated with replacing that equipment and furnishing the reports, assessments, trainings, and health services required by the rule would be prohibitive for volunteer departments, whose budgets are already strained. Moreover, many of the training requirements would be impractical for volunteers working full-time in other capacities.\n\nIn the executive summary of the rule, OSHA suggests the rule will not apply to most volunteers. However, there is widespread concern this new standard would be imposed on non-profit volunteer fire departments, even in states without an OSHA-approved State Plan. Chad Russell, President of the Kansas Fire Chief\u2019s Association, estimated that implementation of this rule could shutter up to 80% of volunteer departments nationwide. Many volunteer firefighters have echoed this projection and anticipate closure of their departments for fear of compliance and liability issues.\n\nSteve Hirsch, Chair of the National Volunteer Fire Council, explained the potential negative impact of this rule on communities: \u201cAs written, this proposed standardcould\u2026 compromise the safety and emergency response capabilities of many small communities, particularly small communities in rural areas served by volunteer departments.\u201d\n\nIt is our intention to insulate our volunteers and the communities they serve from the negative impacts of a regulation that could jeopardize their fire services. The rulemust provide volunteer departments with the flexibility to perform their duties unencumbered by impracticable requirements. We urge OSHA to add explicit exemptions for volunteer fire departments in the final version of the \u201cEmergency Response\u201d standard.\n\nThank you for your consideration and your attention to this important issue. I look forward to your reply.", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T18:41:32Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://www.boozman.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/press-releases?ID=83CCE86D-92F6-46A2-BF89-CACE835C64CC"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 2.327432157471776, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}