(a)  To the extent permitted by federal law and upon appropriation in the annual Budget Act or another statute, the Director of Finance may transfer any moneys in the Federal Trust Fund established pursuant to Section 16360 of the Government Code to the Emergency Medical Services Authority if the money is made available by the United States for expenditure by the state for purposes consistent with the implementation of this section.

(b)  Moneys appropriated pursuant to subdivision (a) shall be allocated by the authority to the California Fire Fighter Joint Apprenticeship Program to do all of the following:

(1)  Offset the cost of paramedic training course development.

(2)  Enter into reimbursement contracts with eligible state and local agencies that in turn may contract with educational institutions for the delivery of paramedic training conducted in compliance with the requirements of subdivision (a) of Section 1797.172.

(3)  Allocate funds, in the form of grants, to eligible state and local agencies to defray the cost of providing paramedic training for fire services personnel, including, but not limited to, instructional supplies and trainee compensation expenses.

(c)  To the extent permitted by federal law, the authority shall recover its costs for administration of this section from the funds transferred pursuant to subdivision (a).

(d)  In order to be eligible for a grant under paragraph (3) of subdivision (b), a state or local agency shall demonstrate a need for additional paramedics.

(e)  For purposes of this section, the following definitions apply:

(1)  “Fire service personnel” includes, but is not limited to, a firefighter or prehospital emergency medical worker employed by a state or local agency.

(2)  “Local agency” means any city, county, city and county, fire district, special district, joint powers agency, or any other political subdivision of the state that provides fire protection services.

(3)  “State agency” means any state agency that provides residential or institutional fire protection, including, but not limited to, the Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.

(Amended by Stats. 2003, Ch. 62, Sec. 180. Effective January 1, 2004.)