APPROVED CHAPTER
APRIL 4, 2022 556
BY GOVERNOR PUBLIC LAW
STATE OF MAINE
_____
IN THE YEAR OF OUR LORD
TWO THOUSAND TWENTY-TWO
_____
H.P. 1338 - L.D. 1797
An Act To Amend the Laws Governing the Maine Length of Service Award
Program
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows:
Sec. 1. 5 MRSA §3372, sub-§1, ¶A-1 is enacted to read:
A-1. "Ambulance service" means an ambulance service licensed by the Emergency
Medical Services' Board pursuant to Title 32, section 88.
Sec. 2. 5 MRSA §3372, sub-§1, ¶C-1 is enacted to read:
C-1. "Department" means a fire department, an ambulance service or a nontransporting
emergency medical service.
Sec. 3. 5 MRSA §3372, sub-§1, ¶D, as enacted by PL 2015, c. 352, §1, is amended
to read:
D. "Eligible volunteer" means a bona fide volunteer performing qualified services in
a municipal fire department if that bona fide volunteer is:
(1) A firefighter who is an active part-time or on-call member of a municipal fire
department or a volunteer firefighter; or
(2) An emergency medical services person or an emergency medical services
ambulance operator who is duly licensed under rules and protocols established by
the Emergency Medical Services' Board pursuant to Title 32, section 88 and who
provides on-call, part-time or volunteer emergency medical treatment response
under the direction of the chief of a municipal fire department and who is duly
licensed under rules and protocols established by the Emergency Medical Services'
Board pursuant to Title 32, section 88 or for an ambulance service or a
nontransporting emergency medical service.
Sec. 4. 5 MRSA §3372, sub-§1, ¶D-1 is enacted to read:
D-1. "Emergency medical services ambulance operator" has the same meaning as in
Title 32, section 83, subsection 12-A.
Sec. 5. 5 MRSA §3372, sub-§1, ¶D-2 is enacted to read:
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 D-2. "Emergency Medical Services' Board" means the Emergency Medical Services'
Board established pursuant to Title 5, section 12004-A, subsection 15.
Sec. 6. 5 MRSA §3372, sub-§1, ¶G, as enacted by PL 2015, c. 352, §1, is repealed.
Sec. 7. 5 MRSA §3372, sub-§1, ¶G-1 is enacted to read:
G-1. "Fire department" means an organized firefighting unit established under
municipal charter or ordinance or under bylaws to prevent and extinguish fires and, if
authorized by charter, ordinance or bylaw, to provide emergency services.
Sec. 8. 5 MRSA §3372, sub-§1, ¶G-2 is enacted to read:
G-2. "Nontransporting emergency medical service" means a nontransporting
emergency medical service licensed by the Emergency Medical Services' Board
pursuant to Title 32, section 88.
Sec. 9. 5 MRSA §3372, sub-§3, ¶A, as enacted by PL 2015, c. 352, §1, is amended
to read:
A. The board, as established in section 12004‑G, subsection 30‑E, is composed of 7 9
trustees, as follows:
(1) Four persons who are eligible volunteers, appointed by the Governor. Three
of the persons appointed under this subparagraph must be selected from a list of 6
nominees submitted by a statewide federation of firefighters;
(2) A chief of a municipal fire department, appointed by the Governor and selected
from a list of 3 nominees submitted by a statewide association of fire chiefs;
(3) A person who is qualified through training or experience in the field of
investments, accounting, banking or insurance or who is an actuary, appointed by
the Governor; and
(4) A person designated by a statewide municipal association.; and
(5) Two persons who are licensed as emergency medical services persons under
Title 32, chapter 2-B, appointed by the Governor and selected from a list of 3
nominees submitted by the Emergency Medical Services' Board.
Sec. 10. 5 MRSA §3372, sub-§7, as enacted by PL 2015, c. 352, §1, is amended to
read:
7. Waiver of participation. An eligible volunteer may waive the right to participate
in the program by filing with the board a written, signed and irrevocable waiver of
participation that is signed by the fire chief, as described in Title 30‑A, section 3153, of a
municipal fire of the department of which the eligible volunteer is a member.
Sec. 11. 5 MRSA §3372, sub-§9, as enacted by PL 2015, c. 352, §1, is amended to
read:
9. Procedure for reporting service credit. A municipal fire department shall submit
a list of all persons who were eligible volunteers during a calendar year to the board for
review and approval by May 1st following the end of that calendar year. The list must
indicate which eligible volunteers earned service credit during the calendar year and must
be prepared, certified under oath by the fire chief of the municipal fire department, posted
in the fire department for at least 30 days and then submitted to and received by the board
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by May 1st. During the 30-day posting period, an eligible volunteer must be given the
opportunity to dispute the service credit shown for the eligible volunteer in accordance with
law. The fire chief shall indicate in writing to the board that the list was posted for at least
30 days and that all disputes regarding the service credit shown on the list as having been
earned during the year have been resolved. The board, at its sole discretion, may audit a
list prepared by a municipal fire department under this subsection. If the list is not received
by the board by May 1st, a contribution may not be credited to the program account of any
eligible volunteer whose name was or should have been reported on the list as having
earned one year of service credit during the calendar year, except as provided in subsection
12.
Sec. 12. 5 MRSA §3372, sub-§10, ¶C, as enacted by PL 2015, c. 352, §1, is
amended to read:
C. A municipal fire department or a fire company or volunteer organization associated
with a municipal fire department;
Sec. 13. 5 MRSA §3372, sub-§11, ¶C, as enacted by PL 2015, c. 352, §1, is
amended to read:
C. A municipal fire department subaccount, which is an account of a participant
derived from contributions from a specific municipal fire department or a fire company
or volunteer organization associated with a municipal fire department to the program.
A participant's municipal fire department subaccount must reflect the respective
contributions from that municipal fire department or fire company or volunteer
organization associated with a municipal fire department along with forfeitures,
investment income or loss as well as administrative and investment expenses allocated
to the subaccount and distributions paid from the subaccount. A participant's municipal
fire department subaccount is subject to the vesting schedule set forth in subsection 12.
(1) For a given calendar year, the total contribution from a specific municipal fire
department or a fire company or volunteer organization associated with a
municipal fire department, if any, must be allocated equally to the municipal fire
department subaccounts of the participants who are eligible volunteers of that
municipal fire department or fire company or volunteer organization associated
with a municipal fire department and who earned one year of service credit during
that calendar year.
(2) Forfeitures from a participant's municipal fire department subaccount must be
added to and allocated as municipal fire department contributions as designated by
the municipal fire department or fire company or volunteer organization associated
with a municipal fire department in the calendar year in which the forfeitures are
determined to occur pursuant to subsection 13;
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Statutes affected:
Bill Text LD 1797, HP 1338: 5.3372
Bill Text ACTPUB , Chapter 556: 5.3372