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 search and rescue worker is an employee of the State within the meaning of this Act while that person is performing search and rescue activity at the request of a state, county or local government entity. In computing the average weekly wage of a certified search and rescue worker injured while performing such activity, the average weekly wage must be taken to be the earning capacity of the injured employee in the occupation in which the employee is regularly engaged.
Sec. 3. Appropriations and allocations. The following appropriations and allocations are made.
INLAND FISHERIES AND WILDLIFE,
DEPARTMENT OF
Departmentwide - Inland Fisheries
and Wildlife 0600
Initiative: Allocates funds for the purchase of workers' compensation coverage for search and rescue workers as certified by the Director of the Maine Emergency Management Agency pursuant to the provisions of the Maine Revised Statutes, Title 39-A, section 102, subsection 11, paragraph F.
Other Special Revenue Funds 2003-04 2004-05
Personal Services $8,000 $8,000
__________ __________
Other Special Revenue
Funds Total $8,000 $8,000
Effective September 13, 2003, unless otherwise indicated.
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