House Bill 2257 — Back Country Search and Rescue Grant Program (Washington, 2024 Regular Session)

Summary

House Bill 2257 of the State of Washington, 68th Legislature, 2024 Regular Session, by Representatives Goehner, Peterson, Low, Chapman, Davis, Steele, Ramel, Doglio, Berg, and Timmons. It was read first time 01/10/24 and referred to the Committee on Innovation, Community & Economic Development, & Veterans. The act relates to supporting back country search and rescue organizations and volunteers through the creation of the back country search and rescue grant program, amends RCW 38.52.010 and RCW 38.52.020, and adds to chapter 38.52 RCW. The text provides that account expenditures may only be used by the department to provide grants to search and rescue organizations and to political subdivisions that incur or budget for back country search and rescue costs.

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Full text

     H-2328.2

                                HOUSE BILL 2257


     State of Washington       68th Legislature       2024 Regular Session

     By Representatives Goehner, Peterson, Low, Chapman, Davis, Steele,
     Ramel, Doglio, Berg, and Timmons

     Read first time 01/10/24.      Referred to Committee   on   Innovation,
     Community & Economic Development, & Veterans.




1        AN ACT Relating to supporting back country search and rescue
2    organizations and volunteers through the creation of the back country
3    search and rescue grant program; amending RCW 38.52.010 and
4    38.52.020; and adding a new section to chapter 38.52 RCW.


 5   BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:


 6       Sec. 1.   RCW 38.52.010 and 2022 c 203 s 2 are each amended to
 7   read as follows:
 8       As used in this chapter:
 9       (1) "911 emergency communications system" means a public 911
10   communications system consisting of a network, database, and on-
11   premises equipment that is accessed by dialing or accessing 911 and
12   that enables reporting police, fire, medical, or other emergency
13   situations to a public safety answering point. The system includes
14   the capability to selectively route incoming 911 voice and data to
15   the appropriate public safety answering point that operates in a
16   defined 911 service area and the capability to automatically display
17   the name, location, and telephone number of incoming 911 voice and
18   data at the appropriate public safety answering point.
19       (2) "Automatic location identification" means information about a
20   caller's location that is part of or associated with an enhanced or
21   next generation 911 emergency communications system as defined in
                                     p. 1                            HB 2257
 1   this section and RCW 82.14B.020 and intended for the purpose of
 2   display at a public safety answering point with incoming 911 voice or
 3   data, or both.
 4       (3) "Automatic number identification" means a method for uniquely
 5   associating a communication device that has accessed 911 with the
 6   incoming 911 voice or data, or both, and intended for the purpose of
 7   display at a public safety answering point.
 8       (4) "Back country search and rescue" is a subset of search and
 9   rescue and includes locating lost, injured, or deceased persons in
10   remote areas. Back country search and rescue requires specialized
11   training and equipment to assess and mitigate hazardous terrain or
12   conditions; access injured, stuck, stranded, entrapped, or deceased
13   persons; provide emergency medical and psychological care; and
14   evacuate or transport the rescued persons.
15       (5) "Baseline level of 911 service" means access to 911 dialing
16   from all communication devices with service from a telecommunications
17   provider within a county's jurisdiction so that incoming 911 voice
18   and data communication is answered, received, and displayed on 911
19   equipment at a public safety answering point designated by the
20   county.
21       (((5))) (6) "Broadcaster" means a person or entity that holds a
22   license issued by the federal communications commission under 47
23   C.F.R. Part 73, 74, 76, or 78.
24       (((6))) (7)(a) "Catastrophic incident" means any natural or
25   human-caused incident, including terrorism and enemy attack, that
26   results in extraordinary levels of mass casualties, damage, or
27   disruption   severely   affecting  the   population,   infrastructure,
28   environment, economy, or government functions.
29       (b) "Catastrophic incident" does not include an event resulting
30   from individuals exercising their rights, under the first amendment,
31   of freedom of speech, and of the people to peaceably assemble.
32       (((7))) (8) "Communication plan," as used in RCW 38.52.070, means
33   a section in a local comprehensive emergency management plan that
34   addresses emergency notification of life safety information.
35       (((8))) (9) "Continuity of government planning" means the
36   internal effort of all levels and branches of government to provide
37   that the capability exists to continue essential functions and
38   services following a catastrophic incident. These efforts include,
39   but are not limited to, providing for: (a) Orderly succession and
40   appropriate changes of leadership whether appointed or elected; (b)
                                     p. 2                          HB 2257
 1   filling vacancies; (c) interoperability communications; and (d)
 2   processes and procedures to reconvene government following periods of
 3   disruption that may be caused by a catastrophic incident. Continuity
 4   of government planning is intended to preserve the constitutional and
 5   statutory authority of elected officials at the state and local level
 6   and provide for the continued performance of essential functions and
 7   services by each level and branch of government.
 8       (((9))) (10) "Continuity of operations planning" means the
 9   internal effort of an organization to provide that the capability
10   exists to continue essential functions and services in response to a
11   comprehensive array of potential emergencies or disasters.
12       (((10))) (11) "Department" means the state military department.
13       (((11))) (12) "Director" means the adjutant general.
14       (((12))) (13) "Emergency management" or "comprehensive emergency
15   management" means the preparation for and the carrying out of all
16   emergency functions, other than functions for which the military
17   forces are primarily responsible, to mitigate, prepare for, respond
18   to, and recover from emergencies and disasters, and to aid victims
19   suffering from injury or damage, resulting from disasters caused by
20   all hazards, whether natural, technological, or human caused, and to
21   provide support for search and rescue operations for persons and
22   property   in    distress.   However,   "emergency    management"   or
23   "comprehensive emergency management" does not mean preparation for
24   emergency evacuation or relocation of residents in anticipation of
25   nuclear attack.
26       (((13))) (14)(a) "Emergency or disaster" as used in all sections
27   of this chapter except RCW 38.52.430 means an event or set of
28   circumstances which: (i) Demands immediate action to preserve public
29   health, protect life, protect public property, or to provide relief
30   to any stricken community overtaken by such occurrences; or (ii)
31   reaches such a dimension or degree of destructiveness as to warrant
32   the governor proclaiming a state of emergency pursuant to RCW
33   43.06.010.
34       (b) "Emergency" as used in RCW 38.52.430 means an incident that
35   requires a normal police, coroner, fire, rescue, emergency medical
36   services, or utility response as a result of a violation of one of
37   the statutes enumerated in RCW 38.52.430.
38       (((14))) (15) "Emergency response" as used in RCW 38.52.430 means
39   a public agency's use of emergency services during an emergency or
40   disaster as defined in subsection (((13))) (14)(b) of this section.
                                     p. 3                          HB 2257
 1       (((15))) (16) "Emergency services communication system" means a
 2   multicounty or countywide communications network, including an
 3   enhanced or next generation 911 emergency communications system,
 4   which provides rapid public access for coordinated dispatching of
 5   services, personnel, equipment, and facilities for police, fire,
 6   medical, or other emergency services.
 7       (((16))) (17) "Emergency services communications system data"
 8   includes voice or audio; multimedia, including pictures and video;
 9   text messages; telematics or telemetrics; or other information that
10   is received or displayed, or both, at a public safety answering point
11   in association with a 911 access.
12       (((17))) (18) "Emergency worker" means any person who is
13   registered with a local emergency management organization or the
14   department and holds an identification card issued by the local
15   emergency management director or the department for the purpose of
16   engaging in authorized emergency management activities or is an
17   employee of the state of Washington or any political subdivision
18   thereof who is called upon to perform emergency management
19   activities.
20       (((18))) (19) "Executive head" and "executive heads" means the
21   county executive in those charter counties with an elective office of
22   county executive, however designated, and, in the case of other
23   counties, the county legislative authority. In the case of cities and
24   towns, it means the mayor in those cities and towns with mayor-
25   council or commission forms of government, where the mayor is
26   directly elected, and it means the city manager in those cities and
27   towns with council manager forms of government. Cities and towns may
28   also designate an executive head for the purposes of this chapter by
29   ordinance.
30        (((19))) (20) "Expense of an emergency response" as used in RCW
31   38.52.430 means reasonable costs incurred by a public agency in
32   reasonably making an appropriate emergency response to the incident,
33   but shall only include those costs directly arising from the response
34   to the particular incident. Reasonable costs shall include the costs
35   of providing police, coroner, firefighting, rescue, emergency medical
36   services, or utility response at the scene of the incident, as well
37   as the salaries of the personnel responding to the incident.
38        (((20))) (21) "First informer broadcaster" means an individual
39   who:


                                     p. 4                          HB 2257
 1       (a) Is employed by, or acting pursuant to a contract under the
 2   direction of, a broadcaster; and
 3       (b)(i)    Maintains,   including    repairing   or    resupplying,
 4   transmitters, generators, or other essential equipment at a broadcast
 5   station or facility; or (ii) provides technical support services to
 6   broadcasters needed during a period of proclaimed emergency.
 7       (((21))) (22) "Incident command system" means: (a) An all-
 8   hazards, on-scene functional management system that establishes
 9   common standards in organization, terminology, and procedures;
10   provides a means (unified command) for the establishment of a common
11   set of incident objectives and strategies during multiagency/
12   multijurisdiction operations while maintaining individual agency/
13   jurisdiction authority, responsibility, and accountability; and is a
14   component of the national interagency incident management system; or
15   (b) an equivalent and compatible all-hazards, on-scene functional
16   management system.
17       (((22))) (23) "Injury" as used in this chapter shall mean and
18   include accidental injuries and/or occupational diseases arising out
19   of emergency management activities.
20       (((23))) (24) "Interconnected voice over internet protocol
21   service provider" means a provider of interconnected voice over
22   internet protocol service as defined by the federal communications
23   commission in 47 C.F.R. Sec. 9.3 on January 1, 2009, or a subsequent
24   date determined by the department.
25       (((24))) (25) "Life safety information" means information
26   provided to people during a response to a life-threatening emergency
27   or disaster informing them of actions they can take to preserve their
28   safety. Such information may include, but is not limited to,
29   information regarding evacuation, sheltering, sheltering-in-place,
30   facility lockdown, and where to obtain food and water.
31       (((25))) (26) "Local director" means the director of a local
32   organization of emergency management or emergency services.
33       (((26))) (27) "Local organization for emergency services or
34   management" means an organization created in accordance with the
35   provisions of this chapter by state or local authority to perform
36   local emergency management functions.
37       (((27))) (28) "Next generation 911" means an internet protocol-
38   based system comprised of managed emergency services internet
39   protocol networks, functional elements (applications), and databases
40   that replicate enhanced 911 features and functions as defined in RCW
                                     p. 5                          HB 2257
 1   82.14B.020(4) that provide additional capabilities designed to
 2   provide   access   to   emergency   services   from   all   connected
 3   communications sources and provide multimedia data capabilities for
 4   public safety answering points.
 5       (((28))) (29) "Next generation 911 demarcation point" means the
 6   location and equipment that separates the next generation 911 network
 7   from:
 8       (a) A telecommunications provider's network, known as the ingress
 9   next generation 911 demarcation point; and
10       (b) A public safety answering point, known as the egress next
11   generation 911 demarcation point.
12       (((29))) (30) "Next generation 911 emergency communications
13   system" means a public communications system consisting of networks,
14   databases, and public safety answering point 911 hardware, software,
15   and technology that is accessed by the public in the state through
16   911. The system includes the capability to: Route incoming 911 voice
17   and data to the appropriate public safety answering point that
18   operates in a defined 911 service area; answer incoming 911 voice and
19   data; and receive and display incoming 911 voice and data, including
20   automatic    location    identification    and    automatic    number
21   identification, at a public safety answering point. "Next generation
22   911 emergency communications system" includes future modernizations
23   to the 911 system.
24       (((30))) (31) "Next generation 911 emergency services internet
25   protocol network" means a managed internet protocol network used for
26   911 emergency services communications that is managed and maintained,
27   including security and credentialing functions, by the state 911
28   coordination office to provide next generation 911 emergency
29   communications from the ingress next generation 911 demarcation point
30   to the egress next generation 911 demarcation point. It provides the
31   internet protocol transport infrastructure upon which application
32   platforms and core services are necessary for providing next
33   generation 911 services. Next generation 911 emergency services
34   internet protocol networks may be constructed from a mix of dedicated
35   and shared facilities and may be interconnected at local, regional,
36   state, federal, national, and international levels to form an
37   internet protocol-based inter-network (network of networks).
38       (((31))) (32) "Next generation 911 service" means public access
39   to the next generation 911 emergency communications system and its
40   capabilities by accessing 911 from communication devices to report
                                     p. 6                          HB 2257
 1   police, fire, medical, or other emergency situations to a public
 2   safety answering point.
 3       (((32))) (33) "Political subdivision" means any county, city or
 4   town.
 5       (((33))) (34) "Public agency" means the state, and a city,
 6   county, municipal corporation, district, town, or public authority
 7   located, in whole or in part, within this state which provides or may
 8   provide firefighting, police, ambulance, medical, or other emergency
 9   services.
10       (((34))) (35) "Public safety answering point" means the public
11   safety location that receives and answers 911 voice and data
12   originating in a given area as designated by the county. Public
13   safety answering points must be equipped with 911 hardware, software,
14   and technology that is accessed through 911 and is capable of
15   answering incoming 911 calls and receiving and displaying incoming
16   911 data.
17       (a) "Primary public safety answering point" means a public safety
18   answering point, as designated by the county, to which 911 calls and
19   data originating in a given area and entering the next generation 911
20   network are initially routed for answering.
21       (b) "Secondary public safety answering point" means a public
22   safety answering point, as designated by the county, that only
23   receives 911 voice and data that has been transferred by other public
24   safety answering points.
25       (((35))) (36) "Radio communications service company" means every
26   corporation, company, association, joint stock, partnership, and
27   person, their lessees, trustees, or receivers appointed by any court,
28   and every city or town making available facilities to provide
29   commercial mobile radio services, as defined by 47 U.S.C. Sec.
30   332(d)(1), or cellular communications services for hire, sale, and
31   both facilities-based and nonfacilities-based resellers, and does not
32   include radio paging providers.
33       (((36))) (37) "Search and rescue" means the acts of searching
34   for, rescuing, or recovering by means of ground, marine, or air
35   activity any person who becomes lost, injured, or is killed while
36   outdoors or as a result of a natural, technological, or human-caused
37   disaster, including instances involving searches for downed aircraft
38   when ground personnel are used. Nothing in this section shall affect
39   appropriate activity by the department of transportation under
40   chapter 47.68 RCW.
                                     p. 7                          HB 2257
 1       (((37))) (38) "Search and rescue organization" means a Washington
 2   domestic nonprofit corporation organized under chapter 24.03A RCW and
 3   registered with the Washington secretary of state or a group of
 4   emergency workers recognized by and working with the local director,
 5   whose primary purpose is search and rescue, has its principal place
 6   of business established in a political subdivision of the state of
 7   Washington, and is formally recognized by the local emergency
 8   management organization of that political subdivision as being
 9   available   for  participation  in   search  and   rescue  activities
10   consistent with RCW 38.52.400.
11       (39) "Telecommunications provider" means a telecommunications
12   company as defined in RCW 80.04.010, a radio communications service
13   company as defined in ((RCW 38.52.010)) this section, a commercial
14   mobile radio service provider as defined in 47 C.F.R. Sec. 20.3,
15   providers of interconnected voice over internet protocol service as
16   defined in ((RCW 38.52.010)) this section, and providers of data
17   services.
18       (((38))) (40) "Washington state patrol public safety answering
19   points" means those designated as primary or secondary public safety
20   answering points by the counties in which they provide service.


21       Sec. 2. RCW 38.52.020 and 2015 c 61 s 2 are each amended to read
22   as follows:
23       (1) Because of the existing and increasing possibility of the
24   occurrence of disasters of unprecedented size and destructiveness as
25   defined in RCW 38.52.010(((5))) (14), and in order to insure that
26   preparations of this state will be adequate to deal with such
27   disasters, to insure the administration of state and federal programs
28   providing disaster relief to individuals, and further to insure
29   adequate support for search and rescue operations, and generally to
30   protect the public peace, health, and safety, and to preserve the
31   lives and property of the people of the state, it is hereby found and
32   declared to be necessary:
33       (a) To provide for emergency management by the state, and to
34   authorize   the  creation   of  local   organizations  for  emergency
35   management in the political subdivisions of the state;
36       (b) To confer upon the governor and upon the executive heads of
37   the political subdivisions of the state the emergency powers provided
38   herein;


                                     p. 8                          HB 2257
 1       (c) To provide for the rendering of mutual aid among the
 2   political subdivisions of the state and with other states and to
 3   cooperate with the federal government with respect to the carrying
 4   out of emergency management functions;
 5       (d) To provide a means of compensating emergency ((management))
 6   workers who may suffer any injury, as herein defined, or death; who
 7   suffer economic harm including personal property damage or loss; or
 8   who incur expenses for transportation, telephone or other methods of
 9   communication, and the use of personal supplies as a result of
10   participation in emergency management or back country search and
11   rescue activities;
12       (e) To provide programs, with intergovernmental cooperation, to
13   educate and train the public to be prepared for emergencies; and
14       (f) To provide for the prioritization, development, and exercise
15   of continuity of operations plans by the state.
16       (2) It is further declared to be the purpose of this chapter and
17   the policy of the state that all emergency management functions of
18   this state and its political subdivisions be coordinated to the
19   maximum extent with the comparable functions of the federal
20   government including its various departments and agencies of other
21   states and localities, and of private agencies of every type, to the
22   end that the most effective preparation and use may be made of the
23   nation's manpower, resources, and facilities for dealing with any
24   disaster that may occur.


25       NEW SECTION.   Sec. 3.   A new section is added to chapter 38.52
26   RCW to read as follows:
27       (1) Subject to the availability of amounts appropriated for this
28   specific purpose, the back country search and rescue grant program is
29   established. The department shall administer the program. The
30   department may adopt rules, in consultation with the emergency
31   management council, to administer the program.
32       (2) The back country search and rescue account is created in the
33   state treasury. All receipts from legislative appropriations,
34   donations, gifts, grants, or funds directed to the account from other
35   public or private sources must be deposited in the account. Moneys in
36   the account may be spent only after appropriation. Expenditures from
37   the account may only be used by the department to provide grants to:
38       (a) Search and rescue organizations for anticipated and incurred
39   back country search and rescue costs by search and rescue volunteers,
                                     p. 9                          HB 2257
1   including planning, equipment, training, exercise, and operations;
2   and
3       (b) Political subdivisions which incur or budget for costs
4   related to back country search and rescue operations that are not
5   available for reimbursement through another mechanism.

                               --- END ---




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