Watch Boozman’s remarks to the committee

WASHINGTON –– U.S. Senator John Boozman (R-AR) succeeded in pushing for the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) to further examine potential unintended consequences of its Emergency Response Standard proposal to ensure communities in Arkansas and across the country continue to have access to volunteer firefighter services. The senator’s language was added to the Fiscal Year 2025 Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act and encourages OSHA to conduct listening sessions and outreach with stakeholders to fully understand the impact of new requirements on volunteer fire departments.

“We must ensure firefighters have the tools and training to safeguard themselves and the community, which means any adjustments to the standards applied to them must be carefully considered. OSHA’s current one-size-fits-all proposal could jeopardize volunteer fire departments’ ability to continue operating or drastically limit their resources and personnel capacity. I’m hopeful the plan can be revised with feedback from stakeholders,” Boozman said.

Arkansas has 1,003 fire departments and 974 are at least partially staffed by volunteers.

In February, OSHA announced its proposal to modernize safety requirements for emergency responders, but volunteer fire departments in Arkansas and across the country have shared their apprehensions with Congress that parts of the plan could cause unintended consequences and lead to increased costs resulting in potential cuts to services.   

Boozman recently responded to the proposed rule and assured Arkansans of his commitment to protect volunteer fire departments from unfunded mandates. In July, members of the Arkansas Congressional Delegation voiced their concerns about the rules to the Acting Secretary of the U.S. Department of Labor.