Chambana Sun

State Sen. Chapin Rose (R-Mahomet) has filed a resolution to prevent OSHA from enacting the new Emergency Response rule, which he argues would be impractical for volunteer fire and emergency departments.

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has proposed updates to emergency response standards that would replace the current safety standards for fire departments. As Illinois is a State Plan State, these new OSHA rules would apply to all fire departments statewide, posing significant financial challenges and, in some cases, making volunteer fire and emergency departments unfeasible.

Senate Resolution 1018, introduced by Senator Rose, urges OSHA and the federal government to refrain from implementing new fire protection standards until a more thorough analysis can be conducted to mitigate the financial impact on small volunteer fire departments.

“While urban fire departments with substantial funding might be able to meet these new standards, our rural volunteer departments simply cannot afford the fifteen to twenty thousand dollars required,” said Sen. Rose. “These new OSHA requirements will damage recruitment and retention efforts and could force rural departments to shut down.”

OSHA’s economic impact analysis estimates an average annual cost of $14,551 for volunteer departments and $18,853 for mixed departments. However, this analysis overlooks additional administrative and personal expenses that could further increase the financial burden. OSHA has yet to verify that the proposed rule would not significantly impact rural fire departments.

“In our efforts to improve safety, we must ensure that we do not inadvertently extinguish the lifeline that volunteer fire departments provide for rural communities,” concluded Sen. Rose.

The deadline to submit a comment against this proposed rule is July 22nd. Please visit the Emergency Response Docket to submit a comment.