AB 2438, Lowenthal. Vehicles: firefighter endorsements.
Existing law provides that in order to operate firefighting equipment, a driver is required to (1) obtain and maintain a firefighter endorsement issued by the Department of Motor Vehicles and obtain and maintain a restricted class A license, a noncommercial class B license, or a class C license, as specified, or (2) obtain and maintain a class A or B license, as specified, for the size and configuration of the firefighting equipment operated. To qualify for a firefighter endorsement, existing law requires a driver to provide to the Department of Motor Vehicles proof of current employment as a firefighter or volunteer firefighter and evidence of fire equipment operation training that includes directly supervised behind-the-wheel driver training.
Existing law requires a person conducting the driver training described above to be registered with the Office of the State Fire Marshal or to meet certain other requirements. Among those other requirements, existing law requires the person to possess a minimum of 5 years of fire service experience as an emergency vehicle operator, as specified, and to possess a valid class A or B license or a class A or B license restricted to the operation of firefighting equipment.
This bill would revise the licensing requirement described above for a person who conducts driver training to include a person who possesses a class C license with a firefighter endorsement.
The people of the State of California do enact as follows:
Section 12804.11 of the Vehicle Code is amended to read:
(a) To operate firefighting equipment, a driver, including a tiller operator, is required to do either of the following:
(1) Obtain and maintain a firefighter endorsement issued by the department and obtain and maintain a class C license as described in Section 12804.9, a restricted class A license as described in Section 12804.12, or a noncommercial class B license as described in Section 12804.10.
(2) Obtain and maintain a class A or B license as described in Section 12804.9 and, as appropriate, for the size and configuration of the firefighting equipment operated.
(b) To qualify for a firefighter endorsement the driver shall do all of the following:
(1) (A) Provide to the department proof of current employment as a firefighter or registration as a volunteer firefighter with a fire department and evidence of fire equipment operation training by providing a letter or other indication from the chief of the fire department or his or her designee.
(B) For purposes of this section, evidence of fire equipment operation training means the applicant has successfully completed Fire Apparatus Driver/Operator 1A taught by an instructor registered with the Office of the State Fire Marshal or fire department driver training that meets all of the following requirements:
(i) Meets or exceeds the standards outlined in NFPA 1002, Chapter 4 (2008 version) or the Fire Apparatus Driver/Operator 1A course adopted by the Office of the State Fire Marshal.
(ii) Prepares the applicant to safely operate the department’s fire equipment that the applicant will be authorized to operate.
(iii) Includes a classroom (cognitive) portion of at least 16 hours.
(iv) Includes a manipulative portion of at least 14 hours, which includes directly supervised behind-the-wheel driver training.
(C) Driver training shall be conducted by a person who is registered with the Office of the State Fire Marshal to instruct a Fire Apparatus Driver/Operator 1A course or a person who meets all of the following criteria:
(i) Possesses a minimum of five years of fire service experience as an emergency vehicle operator, three of which must be at the rank of engineer or higher.
(ii) Possesses a valid California class A or B license or a class A or B license restricted to the operation of firefighting equipment or a class C license with a firefighter endorsement.
(iii) Is certified as a qualified training instructor or training officer by the State of California, the federal government, or a county training officers’ association.
(2) Pass the written firefighter examination developed by the department with the cooperation of the Office of the State Fire Marshal.
(3) Upon application and every two years thereafter, submit medical information on a form approved by the department.
(c) There shall be no additional charge for adding a firefighter endorsement to an original license or when renewing a license. To add a firefighter endorsement to an existing license when not renewing the license, the applicant shall pay the fee for a duplicate license pursuant to Section 14901.
(d) (1) A driver of firefighting equipment is subject to the requirements of subdivision (a) if both of the following conditions exist:
(A) The equipment is operated by a person employed as a firefighter by a federal or state agency, by a regularly organized fire department of a city, county, city and county, or district, or by a tribal fire department or registered as a volunteer member of a regularly organized fire department having official recognition of the city, county, city and county, or district in which the department is located, or of a tribal fire department.
(B) The motor vehicle is used to travel to and from the scene of an emergency situation, or to transport equipment used in the control of an emergency situation, and which is owned, leased, or rented by, or under the exclusive control of, a federal or state agency, a regularly organized fire department of a city, county, city and county, or district, a volunteer fire department having official recognition of the city, county, city and county, or district in which the department is located, or a tribal fire department.
(2) A driver of firefighting equipment is not required to obtain and maintain a firefighter endorsement pursuant to paragraph (1) of subdivision (a) if the driver is operating the firefighting equipment for training purposes, during a nonemergency, while under the direct supervision of a fire department employee who is properly licensed to operate the equipment and is authorized by the fire department to provide training.
(e) For purposes of this section, a tiller operator is the driver of the rear free-axle portion of a ladder truck.
(f) For purposes of this section, “firefighting equipment” means a motor vehicle, that meets the definition of a class A or class B vehicle described in subdivision (b) of Section 12804.9, that is used to travel to and from the scene of an emergency situation, or to transport equipment used in the control of an emergency situation, and that is owned, leased, or rented by, or under the exclusive control of, a federal or state agency, a regularly organized fire department of a city, county, city and county, or district, or a volunteer fire department having official recognition of the city, county, city and county, or district in which the department is located.
(g) Notwithstanding paragraph (1) of subdivision (a), a regularly organized fire department, having official recognition of the city, county, city and county, or district in which the department is located, may require an employee or a volunteer of the fire department who is a driver or operator of firefighting equipment to hold a class A or B license.
(h) This section applies to a person hired by a fire department, or to a person renewing a driver’s license, on or after January 1, 2011.
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