AN ACT ESTABLISHING THE MASSACHUSETTS MILITARY RESERVATION FIRE DEPARTMENT.
Whereas, The deferred operation of this act would tend to defeat its purpose, which is to establish forthwith the Massachusetts military reservation fire department, therefore it is hereby declared to be an emergency law, necessary for the immediate preservation of the public safety.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority of the same as follows:
SECTION 1. Section 7 of chapter 4 of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2006 Official Edition, is hereby amended by inserting after the word “Airport”, in line 387, the following words:- , or members of the Massachusetts military reservation fire department.
SECTION 2. Section 3 of chapter 32 of the General Laws, as so appearing, is hereby amended by inserting after the word “ Guard”, in line 276, the following words:- ; members of the Massachusetts military reservation fire department .
SECTION 3. Section 94 of said chapter 32, as so appearing, is hereby amended by inserting after the word “Airport”, in line 13, the following words:- , or members of the Massachusetts military reservation fire department.
SECTION 4. Section 94A of said chapter 32, as so appearing, is hereby amended by inserting after the word “Airport”, in line 8, the following words:- , or members of the Massachusetts military reservation fire department.
SECTION 5. Section 94B of said chapter 32, as so appearing, is hereby amended by inserting after the word “Airport”, in line 10, the following words:- , or members of the Massachusetts military reservation fire department.
SECTION 6. Section 100 of said chapter 32, as so appearing, is hereby amended by adding the following paragraph:-
For purposes of this section, the word “firefighter” shall include members of the Massachusetts military reservation fire department.
SECTION 7. Section 100A of said chapter 32, as so appearing, is hereby amended by adding the following paragraph:-
(h) This section shall apply to members of the Massachusetts military reservation fire department killed in the line of duty.
SECTION 8. Chapter 33 of the General Laws is hereby amended by adding the following section:-
Section 138. (a) As used in this section the following words shall, unless the context clearly requires otherwise, have the following meanings:-
“Chief”, the chief of the Massachusetts military reservation fire department.
“Department”, the Massachusetts military reservation fire department .
“Massachusetts military reservation”, approximately 22,000 acres of land owned by the commonwealth in Barnstable county established under chapter 196 of the acts of 1935 and used primarily for military purposes.
(b) There shall be within the military division a Massachusetts military reservation fire department. The department shall provide air crash crew and fire protection services on the Massachusetts military reservation. The department shall be under the supervision and control of the chief of the Massachusetts military reservation fire department.
The chief shall be appointed by the adjutant general. He may be removed by the adjutant general for cause after a hearing. He shall have charge of extinguishing fires on the Massachusetts military reservation and the protection of life and property in the event of fire, aircraft mishap or explosion. He shall enforce all state and federal fire laws and codes. He shall purchase, subject to the approval of the adjutant general or his designee, and maintain all apparatus used by the fire department, and shall make other necessary expenditures subject to such further limitations as the adjutant general or his designee may prescribe.
The chief shall enter into mutual aid agreements with surrounding cities and towns as necessary. He shall have and exercise all the powers and discharge all the duties conferred or imposed by statute upon engineers in towns except as otherwise provided by chapter 48. He shall appoint a deputy chief and such officers and firefighters as he deems necessary and may remove the same for cause after a hearing, subject to the provisions of any applicable collective bargaining agreement. The chief, deputy chief, officers and firefighters shall be civilian employees of the military division and shall not be subject to the provisions of the General Laws establishing a civil service system. New uniformed members of the department shall be subject to the provisions for firefighters set forth in sections 61A and 61B of chapter 31.
Except as otherwise provided herein, the chief shall administer the department. He shall make rules and regulations for its operation, shall report annually to the adjutant general or his designee on the condition of the department and at such other times as the adjutant general or his designee shall request.
SECTION 9. The first paragraph of section 111F of chapter 41 of the General Laws, as so appearing, is hereby amended by striking out the last sentence and inserting in place thereof the following sentence:- This section shall also apply to any permanent crash crewman, crash boatman, fire controlman or assistant fire controlman employed at the General Edward Lawrence Logan International Airport and members of the Massachusetts military reservation fire department and, for the purposes of this section, the Massachusetts Port Authority and the Massachusetts military reservation shall be fire districts.
ECTION 10. Section 59A of chapter 48 of the General Laws, as so appearing, is hereby amended by inserting after the word “department,”, in line 7, the following words:- or the Massachusetts military reservation fire district.
SECTION 11. Section 1 of chapter 148 of the General Laws, as so appearing, is hereby amended by striking out , in line 7, the word s “town or fire district” and inserting in place thereof the following words:- town, fire district or the Massachusetts military reservation fire department.
SECTION 12. Section 30A of chapter 149 of the General Laws, as so appearing, is hereby amended by inserting after the word “farm”, in line 28, the following words:- members of the Massachusetts military reservation fire department.
SECTION 13. All incumbent firefighters currently assigned to the federal fire department at the Otis Air National Guard Base may transfer to state employment as civilian firefighters in the Massachusetts military reservation fire department established pursuant to section 138 of chapter 33 of the General Laws subject to approval of the chief of the Massachusetts military reservation fire department and all other requirements of state law. Notwithstanding any general or special law to the contrary, such transferees shall have preference for these positions, provided they otherwise meet all other conditions for employment.
SECTION 14. Notwithstanding any general or special law to the contrary, for overtime purposes only, firefighters of the Massachusetts military reservation fire department established pursuant to section 138 of chapter 33 of the General Laws may be classified as so-called “7(k) eligible” under the Fair Labor Standards Act, 29 U.S.C. § 207(k) but such eligibility shall be the subject of collective bargaining pursuant to chapter 150E of the General Laws.
SECTION 15. Notwithstanding any general or special law to the contrary, members of the Massachusetts military reservation fire department established pursuant to section 138 of chapter 33 of the General Laws shall be deemed public employees under chapter 150E of the General Laws and may organize to negotiate the wages, hours, and conditions of their employment. This section shall not apply to the chief, deputy chief or shift commander.
SECTION 16. Notwithstanding any general or special law to the contrary, health benefits pursuant to chapter 32A of the General Laws for persons employed at the Massachusetts military reservation fire departmentestablished pursuant to section 138 of chapter 33 of the General Laws shall be effective upon the effective date of this act.
SECTION 17. This act shall take effect on September 1, 2008.
Approved August 12 , 2008