Firefighters are expected to respond to situations that require training and experience. State and federal regulations mandate many hours of training to prepare firefighters for a variety of situations and should fund these mandated training requirements. Volunteers and paid on-call firefighters make a substantial commitment of personal time for training.
When a property owner is conducting a legal burn, the property owner should not be responsible for costs incurred by an unnecessary fire department dispatch.
Local governments have begun charging farms a fee for emergency preparation inspections. These inspections are completed by a local fire department to comply with requirements authorized by the Michigan Occupational Safety and Health Administration (MIOSHA). We believe local governments should consider:
- Farms financially support fire protection service through property taxes.
- Farms pay a tax on fertilizer and pesticides purchased to support voluntary emergency tubes through the Michigan Agriculture Environmental Assurance Program.
Therefore, we support policy that prohibits local units of government and fire authorities from charging for emergency preparation inspections. Furthermore, emergency tubes should suffice as an appropriate level of information.
Per the Emergency Planning and Community Right-To-Know Act, we encourage producers to comply with Tier II reporting of any threshold planning quantity materials (Environmental Protection Agency listed chemicals) to the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy on or before March 1 of each year.
Firefighters are welcome to visit farms to be prepared for emergency planning and firefighter safety, but at their own expense.
Michigan Farm Bureau supports the use of soy-based foam as a replacement for chemical AFFF (aqueous film-forming foam) to help eliminate PFAS contamination.