Vehicles: fire department: federally recognized tribes.

(1) Existing law authorizes the commissioner to issue licenses for the operation of privately owned or operated ambulances used to respond to emergency calls, armored cars, fleet owner inspection and maintenance stations, and for the transportation of hazardous material. Existing law requires the department to inspect ambulances licensed by the department at least once per year. This bill would exempt ambulances owned or operated by a fire department of a federally recognized tribe or operators of those ambulances from the requirement to have a license and would prohibit the department from inspecting those ambulances. (2) Existing law requires an applicant for an ambulance driver certificate to satisfy prescribed requirements, including submitting an acceptable fingerprint card, and exempts specified persons operating ambulances in the line of duty, including salaried, regular, full-time police officers and members of a fire department of a public agency, from those requirements. This bill would extend that exemption to members of a fire department of a federally recognized tribe. (3) Under existing law, an authorized emergency vehicle is required to be equipped with at least one steady burning red warning lamp visible from at least 1,000 feet in front of the vehicle. Existing law defines an authorized emergency vehicle as, among other things, a vehicle owned or operated by any department or agency of the United States government when the vehicle used is responding to emergency, fire, ambulance, or lifesaving calls or is actively engaged in law enforcement work. This bill would also include in the definition of an emergency vehicle any vehicle owned or operated by a federally recognized Indian tribe used in responding to emergency, fire, ambulance, or lifesaving calls. The bill would state that a vehicle owned or operated by a federally recognized Indian tribe used in responding to emergency, fire, ambulance, or lifesaving calls is considered an authorized emergency vehicle, as specified.