Some volunteer firefighters are expressing concerns about changes by the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration that could potentially drive up fire departments budgets and hurt recruitment across the country, including those in Chautauqua County.

However, any changes don’t appear to be imminent.

Recently, the Chautauqua County Legislature’s Public Safety Committee met with Falconer volunteer firefighter Greg Scott, Bemus Point Fire Chief Randy Apperson, and county Emergency Services Director Noel Guttman to discuss proposed changes to the OSHA Fire Brigade Standard.

OSHA rolled out the proposed changes in February. Scott noted it was the first major update since 1980.

Scott said OSHA is looking to incorporate the National Fire Protection Association’s standards, which he believes would be a hardship on volunteer firefighters.

“When you incorporate the NFPA, you’re bringing in probably the strictest fire laws that could be imposed,” he said.

He gave the example that a physical currently costs $200-$300 for volunteer firefighters. The NFPA Standard physical can cost $1,500 per person per year.

Another example he gave was NFPA’s recommendation to replace turnout gear every 10 years.

“You’re talking $4,000 for a set of gear and some of this stuff doesn’t get used very much. It’s still good gear,” Scott said.

At this point the new regulations have not been adopted, but Scott warned that if they were adopted today, about 70% of all fire departments in the county would not be compliant.

“I’m not saying they’re going to fold. They’re not going to close their doors, they’re just going to run under a non-compliance, which will end up being a problem the next time somebody gets hurt and there’s going to be a lawsuit,” he said.

Apperson said he was able to give testimony to OSHA directly and discussed issues with training.

“What I tried to put into perspective is that we agree with safety. There’s not a chief in the country that doesn’t agree with safety,” he said.

But the number of hours of training can be difficult. Apperson noted that firefighters need 79 hours of basic training and another 50 hours of training to go into the interior of a burning building.

For chiefs, another 40 hours of training is required for the lower levels, and more training is required for the higher level.

The classes cost money and sometimes are only offered during the day when volunteers may be working.

Apperson said if the requirements get too high, there won’t be new chiefs because it will be too difficult for them to get the training in.

“This is great stuff for a career firefighter or chief because this is what they need to do, but for us volunteer chiefs, it’s going to create a stagnant body. Nobody is going to want to go to these schools or be qualified so you’re going to have the same chief for a hundred years,” he said.,

Guttman said in general career firefighters back the training requirements, but volunteers are concerned about the time, cost and intensity.

For now, a date has not been set as to when these proposed changes are going to take effect. Scott said comments are still being accepted until the middle of January. At that point OSHA is expected to take another six to 18 months to make a final recommendation.

Scott said volunteer fire departments are asking for five to seven years to get them into compliance.

Public Safety Committee Chairman Terry Niebel, R-Sheridan, said the committee would be willing to create a motion or resolution on behalf of the local fire departments to take a stance regarding the new regulations in the future if requested.