CHAPTER 489

H.P. 1054 - L.D. 1435

An Act To Clarify Immunity and Workers' Compensation for

Search and Rescue Volunteers

Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows:

Sec. 1. 14 MRSA §8102, sub-§1, as amended by PL 1995, c. 196, Pt. D, §1, is further amended to read:

1. Employee. "Employee" means a person acting on behalf of a governmental entity in any official capacity, whether temporarily or permanently, and whether with or without compensation from local, state or federal funds, including elected or appointed officials; volunteer firefighters as defined in Title 30-A, section 3151; emergency medical service personnel; members and staff of the Consumer Advisory Board pursuant to Title 34-B, section 1216; members of the Maine National Guard but only while performing state active service pursuant to Title 37- B; and sheriffs' deputies as defined in Title 30-A, section 381 when they are serving orders pursuant to section 3135,; and persons while performing a search and rescue activity when requested by a state, county or local governmental entity, but the term "employee" does not mean a person or other legal entity acting in the capacity of an independent contractor under contract to the governmental entity.

Sec. 2. 39-A MRSA §102, sub-§11, ¶F is enacted to read:

F.__A person certified by the Director of the Maine Emergency Management Agency within the Department of Defense, Veterans and Emergency Management as a qualified