West Virginia Code of State Rules › Agency 87 - Fire Commission › Title 87 - LEGISLATIVE RULE FIRE COMMISSION › Series 87-14 - Use of Aqueous Film-Forming Foam (AFFF) for Fire Training Program Purposes › Section 87-14-4 - Use of AFFF During Training

Current through Register Vol. XLI, No. 28, July 12, 2024
4.1. Fire
				Department fire-fighting and hazardous material training programs where use of
				AFFF exist.
4.1.1. Active and specialized
				support members of a volunteer fire department, combination fire department or
				county fire prevention unit(s), and paid fire departments that respond but do
				not operate at hazardous material incidents must have completed and achieved
				certification for training at or above the level of Hazardous Material
				Awareness, and have passed any and all testing required for this certification.
Active and specialized support members that operate at
				  hazardous materials incidents must have completed and achieved, at the minimum,
				  certification for training at the Hazardous Materials Operations Level, as set
				  forth by NFPA 1001, Standard for Fire Fighter Professional Qualifications or
				  equivalent, and have passed any and all testing required for this
				  certification. Additionally, all active members and firefighters shall have the
				  training available to them to allow them to become compliant with the NIMS
				  Training Guidelines for West Virginia as established by the West Virginia
				  Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Management.
4.1.2. Standard safe practices for the
				discharge or otherwise use class B fire-fighting foam that contains
				intentionally added polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS).
4.1.2.a. For purposes of this section:
4.1.2.a.1. "Class B fire-fighting foam" means
				any foam designed to extinguish flammable liquid fires.
4.1.2.a.2. "PFAS chemicals" means
				nonpolymeric perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances that are a group of
				man-made chemicals that contain at least two (2) fully fluorinated carbon
				atoms, excluding gases, and volatile liquids.
4.1.2.a.3. "Testing" means calibration
				testing, conformance testing, or fixed system testing.
4.1.2.a.4. "Testing Facility" allows the
				discharge of foam in a non-emergency situation for the evaluation and
				calibration of firefighting equipment and foam. This facility may also have the
				capability to provide some level of needed training for firefighters.
4.1.2.a.5. "Fixed Foam System" means a
				complete installation piped from a central foam station, discharging through
				fixed discharge devices on the flammable liquid hazard being protected. Foam
				proportioning components are permanently installed. The system has been
				engineered for the hazard and often contains multiple (UL or FM) listed
				components and foam.
4.1.2.a.6.
				"Foam Training Facility" shall mean to allow the discharge of foam in a
				non-emergency situation for the training of firefighters and readiness of
				equipment. This facility may also have the capability to provide some level of
				needed evaluation and calibration of equipment and foam.
4.1.3. On or after July 1, 2021,
				no person, fire department, state department, agency, board, bureau, office,
				commission, public corporation, or authority; county, municipal corporation,
				school district, or other political subdivision of this state may discharge or
				otherwise use class B fire-fighting foam that contains intentionally added PFAS
				chemicals unless:
4.1.3.a. The discharge or
				other use occurs in fire prevention or in response to an emergency
				fire-fighting operation; or
4.1.3.b. The discharge or other use is for
				training or testing purposes which occurs at a facility that has implemented
				containment, storage, treatment, and disposal measures to prevent uncontrolled
				releases of such class B fire-fighting foam into the environment.
4.1.4. Nothing in this code
				section may be construed to:
4.1.4.a. Restrict
				the manufacture, sale, or distribution of class B fire-fighting foam that
				contains intentionally added PFAS chemicals or restrict the discharge or other
				use of class B fire-fighting foam in response to an emergency fire-fighting
				operation; or
4.1.4.b. Prevent the
				use of nonfluorinated foams, including other class B fire-fighting foams, for
				purposes of training for fire-fighting operations.
4.1.5. Training certification records shall
				be maintained and retained by the fire department and/or their governing
				authority having jurisdiction when use of allowable AFFFs for training purposes
				are used.