Existing law establishes the California Fire Service Training and Education Program in the office of the State Fire Marshal. Existing law requires the State Fire Marshal, with policy guidance and advice from the State Board of Fire Services, to carry out the management of the program. Existing law authorizes the State Fire Marshal to, among other things, establish and collect admission fees and other fees that may be necessary to be charged for seminars, conferences, and specialized training given, as provided. Existing law also authorizes the State Fire Marshal to establish and collect fees to implement the California Fire and Arson Training Act, which requires the State Fire Marshal to, among other things, establish and make recommendations related to minimum standards for fire protection personnel and fire personnel instructors, develop course curricula for arson, fire technology, and apprenticeship training, and promote the California Fire Academy System, as provided.

This bill would instead authorize the State Fire Marshal to establish and collect the admission fees and other fees associated with the California Fire Service Training and Education Program, and to establish the fees to implement the California Fire and Arson Training Act, only to the extent that state appropriations and other funding sources are insufficient to cover the necessary costs of the activities eligible to be paid from those fees.