HB 1352 - AS INTRODUCED
2024 SESSION
24-2222
12/08
HOUSE BILL 1352
AN ACT relative to firefighting personal protective equipment.
SPONSORS: Rep. Goley, Hills. 21; Rep. O'Brien, Hills. 10; Rep. Soucy, Merr. 21; Rep. S. Pearson, Rock. 13; Rep. MacKenzie, Hills. 40; Rep. Proulx, Hills. 15; Rep. Doucette, Rock. 25
COMMITTEE: Executive Departments and Administration
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ANALYSIS
This bill increases protections for firefighters from PFAS chemicals in their uniforms and personal protective equipment.
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Explanation: Matter added to current law appears in bold italics.
Matter removed from current law appears [in brackets and struckthrough.]
Matter which is either (a) all new or (b) repealed and reenacted appears in regular type.
24-2222
12/08
STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE
In the Year of Our Lord Two Thousand Twenty Four
AN ACT relative to firefighting personal protective equipment.
Be it Enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court convened:
1 Firefighting Personal Protective Equipment; Limit Exposure to PFAS Chemicals. Amend RSA 154:8-c to read as follows:
154:8-c Firefighting Personal Protective Equipment.
I. In this section:
(a) "Department" means the department of safety.
(b) "Firefighting personal protective equipment" means any clothing designed, intended, or marketed to be worn by firefighting personnel in the performance of their duties, designed with the intent for use in fire and rescue activities, including jackets, pants, shoes, gloves, helmets, hoods, and respiratory equipment.
(c) “Firefighting station wear” means uniforms, garments, or apparel worn by firefighting personnel while in the performance of their duties, often worn under their personal protective equipment. For the purpose of this section, firefighting station wear shall refer to uniform shirts or pants only.
[(c)] (d) "Manufacturer" includes any person, firm, association, partnership, corporation, governmental entity, organization, joint venture, importer, or domestic manufacturer or distributor of firefighting agents or firefighting equipment. For the purposes of this section, "importer" means the owner of the product.
[(d)] (e) "Municipalities" means any county, city, town, fire district, regional fire district, or other special purpose district that provides firefighting services.
[(e)] (f) "Perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances" or "PFAS chemicals" means, for the purposes of firefighting agents and firefighting equipment, a class of fluorinated organic chemicals containing at least one fully fluorinated carbon atom.
II. Beginning January 1, 2020, a manufacturer or other person that sells firefighting personal protective equipment to any person, municipality, or state agency shall provide written notice to the purchaser at the time of sale that [if] the firefighting personal protective equipment does or does not [contains] contain PFAS chemicals. The written notice shall include a statement that the firefighting personnel protective equipment does or does not [contains] contain PFAS chemicals. All notices shall be included in all personnel files of all employees using the firefighting personal protective equipment and a copy of the same shall be provided directly to the employee,
III. The manufacturer or person selling firefighting personal protective equipment and the purchaser of the equipment shall retain the notice in procurement files for at least 3 years from the date of the transaction. Upon the request of the department, a person, manufacturer, or purchaser shall furnish the notice, or written copies, and associated sales documentation to the department within 60 days.
IV. The department shall assist other state agencies, fire protection districts, and other municipalities to give priority and preference to the purchase of firefighting personal protective equipment that does not contain PFAS chemicals.
V.(a) Should a safe alternative to the current firefighting personal protective equipment be designed and manufactured, fire departments shall be required to give preference to that alternative as part of their existing personal protective equipment replacement program.
(b) Until such time that a safe alternative is provided to the employee, fire departments shall have in place a policy that limits the unnecessary exposure to firefighting personal protective equipment. Nothing in this sub-section shall refute that it remains the best practice for firefighting personal protective equipment to be worn while operating in an environment that poses an immediate danger to life or health.
VI. Beginning January 1, 2025, fire departments shall not provide as an option the wearing of firefighting station wear that contains intentionally added PFAS or fire-resistive chemicals which contain fluorine, chlorine, bromine, lead, or antimony. Manufacturers of firefighting station wear shall provide fire departments with safer alternatives should they exist.
2 Effective Date. This act shall take effect 60 days after its passage.