(a) Not later than January 1, 2022, and annually thereafter, the chief of a volunteer fire department for a distressed municipality, as defined in § 32-9p, shall submit to the State Fire Administrator a report on the yearly average of the number of volunteer firefighters from such municipality’s volunteer fire department who enrolled in Firefighter I certification and recruit training based on the preceding four years, except the year commencing January 1, 2020, shall not be included in any such four preceding years for purposes of calculating such average.

(b) For the fiscal year ending June 30, 2022, and each fiscal year thereafter, the State Fire Administrator shall award a grant to any distressed municipality with a volunteer fire department for the purposes of covering costs related to the provision of Firefighter I certification and recruit training for volunteer firefighters at regional fire schools. The amount of such grant award for each such distressed municipality shall be equal to the product of (1) the average cost of a Firefighter I certification and recruit training program at a regional fire school, and (2) the average number of volunteer firefighters from such distressed municipality’s volunteer fire department who enrolled at a regional fire school for such certification and training.

(c) Not later than February 1, 2022, and annually thereafter, the State Fire Administrator shall submit, in accordance with the provisions of § 11-4a, to the joint standing committee of the General Assembly having cognizance of matters relating to appropriations and the budgets of state agencies a report on the (1) reports submitted by the chiefs of volunteer fire departments of distressed municipalities pursuant to subsection (a) of this section, and (2) average cost of a Firefighter I certification and recruit training program at a regional fire school.