(a) Duty to establish guidelines.--The commissioner shall establish guidelines for the development, delivery and maintenance of fire and emergency services training and an education certification management system.
(b) Training.--Training shall be lecture-based, hands on or online. Training may be conducted at the Pennsylvania State Fire Academy, a county training center, a community college or other approved educational training agency. The training records shall be incorporated into the training and education certification management system approved by the commissioner.
(c) Certificate of completion.--The commissioner shall provide a certificate of completion to an individual who successfully completes a fire or emergency services training program. The training and education certification management system shall include a method by which the trainee can download and print the certificate.
(d) Publication.--(Deleted by amendment).
(e) Accessibility.--The commissioner shall facilitate access to each available fire and emergency services training course through a publicly accessible Internet website or portal. The Internet website or portal shall record firefighter training and certification. The commissioner shall establish and maintain or participate in an existing electronic database or portal that meets all of the following criteria:
(1) Allows for user registration for an individual trainee or an accredited provider.
(2) Allows a user to register for courses offered through the database or portal and in any other format authorized under this section.
(3) Establishes a course completion transcript and certificate for a registered user.
(4) Facilitates communication and access to training materials between an accredited provider and a registered trainee using the database or portal.
(f) Fees.--The commissioner may establish a fee of no more than $1 per course on the training and education certification management system, which shall be used for administrative costs within the Office of the State Fire Commissioner.
(g) Annual reports.--
(1) The commissioner shall prepare an annual report on the training and education certification management system.
The report shall include all of the following information:
(i) The total number of firefighters in the system, delineated between paid and volunteer firefighter.
(ii) The number of firefighters under subparagraph (i) who took a course on the system during the previous year.
(iii) The number of firefighters under subparagraph (i) who are certified as Firefighter 1, Firefighter 2, Fire Instructor 1 or Fire Officer 1.
(iv) A summary of courses that were taken by firefighters under subparagraph (i).
(v) A summary of how the funds under this section were expended.
(2) The commissioner shall submit the annual report under paragraph (1) no later than October 1, 2023, and by October 1 of each year thereafter, to all of the following:
(i) The chair and minority chair of the Veterans Affairs and Emergency Preparedness Committee of the Senate.
(ii) The chair and minority chair of the Veterans Affairs and Emergency Preparedness Committee of the House of Representatives.
(3) The commissioner shall post the annual report under paragraph (1) on the Office of the State Fire Commissioner's publicly accessible Internet website.
(Oct. 29, 2020, P.L.739, No.91, eff. 60 days; Nov. 3, 2022, P.L.1674, No.104, eff. imd.)
Structure Pennsylvania Consolidated & Unconsolidated Statutes
Pennsylvania Consolidated & Unconsolidated Statutes
Chapter 73 - Commonwealth Services
Section 7301 - General authority of Governor
Section 7302 - Temporary housing
Section 7303 - Debris and wreckage removal
Section 7304 - Community disaster loans
Section 7305 - Individual and family assistance
Section 7305.1 - Grants for hazard mitigation
Section 7306 - Appropriation of Federal funds
Section 7307 - Use and appropriation of unused Commonwealth funds (Repealed)
Section 7308 - Laws suspended during emergency assignments
Section 7313 - Powers and duties
Section 7314 - Utilization of existing services and facilities
Section 7315 - Pennsylvania State Fire Commissioner (Repealed)
Section 7316 - Pennsylvania State Fire Academy (Repealed)
Section 7317 - Pennsylvania Volunteer Loan Assistance Program (Repealed)
Section 7318 - Fire Safety Advisory Committee (Repealed)
Section 7319 - Appropriations (Repealed)
Section 7320 - Radiological emergency response preparedness, planning and recovery program
Section 7321 - Unconventional well 911 emergency response information
Section 7331 - Purpose of subchapter
Section 7333 - Intrastate Mutual Aid Committee
Section 7336 - License, certificate and permit portability
Section 7338 - Workers' compensation
Section 7340 - Effect on other agreements
Section 7351 - Establishment, purpose and name
Section 7352 - Supervision and control
Section 7353 - Powers and duties
Section 7354 - Persons admitted
Section 7355 - Application for admission
Section 7356 - Acquisition of site
Section 7357 - Conveyance of land and plans for buildings and structures
Section 7358 - Leasing by Commonwealth
Section 7361 - Scope of subchapter
Section 7362 - Legislative findings and declaration of purpose
Section 7364 - Assistance to fire companies and EMS companies
Section 7365 - Fire and Emergency Medical Services Loan Fund
Section 7366 - Powers and duties of office
Section 7367 - Authority to borrow
Section 7368 - Bonds, issue, maturity and interest
Section 7370 - Refunding bonds
Section 7371 - Disposition and use of proceeds
Section 7372 - Registration of bonds
Section 7373 - Information to General Assembly
Section 7374 - Fire and Emergency Medical Services Loan Sinking Fund and investments
Section 7375 - Expenses of preparation, issue and sale of bonds
Section 7376 - Repayment obligations for principal and interest
Section 7378 - Temporary financing authorization
Section 7378.1 - Referendum for additional indebtedness
Section 7378.2 - Authorization of contracts, reimbursement procedure and amount
Section 7378.3 - Reimbursement procedure and amount
Section 7378.4 - Referendum to expand loan assistance
Section 7378.5 - Annual report and distribution of information
Section 7381 - Scope of subchapter
Section 7383 - State Fire Commissioner
Section 7383.1 - Curriculum, training and education certification management system
Section 7384 - Pennsylvania State Fire Academy
Section 7385 - Pennsylvania Fire and Emergency Medical Services Loan Program
Section 7385.1 - Capital grants for municipal fire departments
Section 7385.2 - Capital grants for emergency service training centers
Section 7386 - State Fire Advisory Board
Section 7388 - Online training for firefighters
Section 7388.1 - Money for online training for firefighters
Section 7389 - Money for reimbursement to Pennsylvania bomb squads