AN ACT to allow for volunteer firefighters to be reimbursed for certain expenses in the course of emergency response.

The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:

SECTION 1.(a)  Program. – There is established the Reimbursement for Volunteer Firefighters Pilot Program (Program). The Program shall be operated statewide by the Department of Public Safety, Division of Emergency Management. Firefighters employed by or a member of a volunteer organization in this State shall be eligible for reimbursement for mileage from their duty station to the scene of an emergency, accident, or other event necessitating a firefighter response in their service area.

SECTION 1.(b)  Reimbursement. – The rate of reimbursement for mileage shall be equal to the current standard business mileage rate issued annually by the Internal Revenue Service. Firefighters eligible for reimbursement shall also be eligible for reimbursement for use of their personal equipment used at the scene of the accident. This reimbursement shall be for any personal equipment used to secure the scene or treat individuals involved in the emergency, accident, or other event necessitating a firefighter response. The Division shall be responsible for overseeing the reimbursement program for volunteer firefighters under this section. The commanding officer or highest‑ranking officer at each volunteer firefighter organization shall be responsible for collecting the reimbursement requests from each volunteer firefighter. Each reimbursement request shall be submitted within 60 days of the reimbursable event. The Program shall terminate on June 30, 2026.

SECTION 1.(c)  Report. – The Division shall report to the Joint Legislative Emergency Management Oversight Committee by June 30, 2026, on the effectiveness of the Program. The report shall contain, at a minimum, all of the following information:

(1)        The number of reimbursement requests and amounts of each request.

(2)        Data on which volunteer firefighter organizations submitted reimbursement requests and any trends or patterns in the requests.

(3)        Whether the Division recommends expansion of the Program purposes or making it permanent, or any modification on eligible reimbursement or the manner thereof.

SECTION 2.  Appropriation. – There is appropriated from the General Fund to the Department of Public Safety, Division of Emergency Management, the nonrecurring sum of one million dollars ($1,000,000) for the 2025‑2026 fiscal year for the operation of the volunteer firefighter reimbursement program, as enacted in Section 1 of this act.

SECTION 3.  Implementation. – The Division shall seek to implement the Program in accordance with Section 1 of this act by January 1, 2026, and shall advertise the Program on their publicly accessible Division website. The Division shall consult with volunteer firefighter organizations on the implementation of this Program.

SECTION 4.  Effective Date. – This act becomes effective July 1, 2025.