The recent four-year reauthorization of the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) includes provisions that could have a significant impact on safety within the air ambulance industry.
Signed into law on Feb. 14, the FAA reauthorization bill authorizes the FAA administrator to report on the availability, survivability and costs of voice communications and flight data recorders on existing and new helicopters and fixed-wing aircraft used in EMS operations and to issue regulations to require these devices on such aircraft.
Another provision requires the administrator to study low-altitude aircraft weather observation technology and the feasibility of requiring ambulance service helicopter pilots to use night vision goggles and to report to Congress on both within one year. The administrator must also require air ambulance service providers to report annually on the number of aircraft used, flights and hours, and the number of on-duty accidents involving helicopters.
The bill requires the FAA to complete its rulemaking to address such issues as maintaining Federal Aviation Regulations Part 135 operating requirements when a medical crew is on board, flight and dispatch procedures, and pilot training.
Timothy Pickering, president of the Association of Air Medical Services, said in a release that his organization had worked for years to achieve such action and was pleased with the final legislation.
Senators Lobby to Save Fire Grants
Leading fire organizations called on fire and emergency responders to urge their legislators to support an amendment introduced by Sens. Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.) and Susan Collins (R-Maine) to reauthorize the federally funded Assistance to Firefighters Grant (AFG) and the Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response (SAFER) grant program.
The amendment to The Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century Act, the federal highway aid reauthorization legislation offered in February, is the latest effort to protect these programs. Similar legislation is pending, but nothing has succeeded yet in either House. Both AFG and SAFER help local departments retain and maintain their force levels and provide training and other capability-building programs.
The Senate has not been able to reach agreement, and debate continued into early March with no resolution as of this writing. The House has not yet passed its version of a highway funding bill.
The letter from fire organizations, which contains details about the grant programs, is at nvfc.org/files/documents/
Letter_Lieberman-Collins_amendment_021412.pdf.
D Block Victory
In accordance with legislation signed by President Obama in February, and after years of hard work, EMS responders have 10 megahertz of the broadband spectrum dedicated solely for public safety use. The D-Block bill was part of the Middle Class Tax Relief and Jobs Creation Act, which passed the House and Senate on Feb. 17 after a conference committee enabled agreement on the issues. It was signed into law on Feb. 22.
The legislation passed Congress after much lobbying by responders, who won many of the provisions the community sought. The block of the spectrum will enable responders to develop a system to provide for the transmission of medical data, video, floor plans and other important information that cannot be conveyed now. Responders and their allies in Congress won seats on the governing board for responders and saw about $7 billion dedicated to construct the national broadband network. The governing board will be located within the National Telecommunications and Information Administration of the Department of Commerce.
The bill requires that the UHF 470–512MHz spectrum in the T Band, currently used in some large metropolitan areas in the country, must be returned in about 11 years. The transition will be paid by the federal government, per the bill, and the T Band will be auctioned for commercial use.
More Reductions for Responder Programs
The president’s proposed budget for fiscal year 2013 continues some funding reductions we’ve witnessed in recent years. The approximate $3.8 trillion budget includes $39.5 billion for homeland security spending, a 0.5 percent decrease from FY 2012 levels. To achieve this reduction, the president proposes:
- $42.52 million for the U.S. Fire Administration, about $1.5 million less than 2012
- $335 million each for the Assistance to Firefighters Grant (AFG) program and the Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency
Response (SAFER) grant program, down from $337.5 million each in FY 2012
- $55.5 million for the State Fire Assistance program, the same as 2012
- $6.366 million for the Volunteer Fire Assistance programs, the same as 2012
In a bit of good news, funding was increased in the wildland fire area:
- $1.97 billion for the Department of Agriculture’s Wildland Fire Management program, a $233 million increase from 2012
- $726.5 million for the Department of Interior’s Wildland Fire Management program, a $160 million increase
The administration proposes to consolidate 16 individual state and local grants—excluding AFG, SAFER and the Emergency Management Performance Grant but including the State Homeland Security Grant and the Urban Area Security Initiative programs—into a block grant called the National Preparedness Grant Program. The new grant would be funded at more than $1.5 billion.
The president’s budget serves as a recommendation to Congress, which produces the budget and sends it to the president for signature.
