Substitute Senate Bill 6164 — County Emergency Management Plans (2024 Regular Session)

Summary

Substitute Senate Bill 6164, by Senate Local Government, Land Use & Tribal Affairs (originally sponsored by Senator Wagoner), relating to county emergency management plans and amending RCW 38.52.070. It adds that communication plans must include an expeditious notification of citizens who can reasonably be determined to be at risk during a hazardous material spill or release, via the most appropriate technology available. If a spill or release necessitates an incident command system, at least one public meeting must allow remote participation and include representatives from the department of ecology, department of fish and wildlife, and the party liable. After-action reviews must evaluate the effectiveness of communication of life safety information.

Summary drafted by a model from the document's text below and checked by script against that text before publication. It is a navigation aid, not a reading of what the document proves. Where AI is used

Full text

     S-4496.1

                           SUBSTITUTE SENATE BILL 6164


     State of Washington         68th Legislature        2024 Regular Session

     By Senate Local Government, Land Use & Tribal Affairs (originally
     sponsored by Senator Wagoner)

     READ FIRST TIME 01/31/24.




1        AN ACT Relating to      county   emergency   management   plans;   and
2    amending RCW 38.52.070.


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


 4       Sec. 1.   RCW 38.52.070 and 2017 c 312 s 4 are each amended to
 5   read as follows:
 6       (1) Each political subdivision of this state is hereby authorized
 7   and directed to establish a local organization or to be a member of a
 8   joint local organization for emergency management in accordance with
 9   the state comprehensive emergency management plan and program:
10   PROVIDED, That a political subdivision proposing such establishment
11   shall submit its plan and program for emergency management to the
12   state director and secure his or her recommendations thereon, and
13   verification of consistency with the state comprehensive emergency
14   management plan, in order that the plan of the local organization for
15   emergency management may be coordinated with the plan and program of
16   the state. Local comprehensive emergency management plans must
17   specify the use of the incident command system for multiagency/
18   multijurisdiction operations. No political subdivision may be
19   required to include in its plan provisions for the emergency
20   evacuation or relocation of residents in anticipation of nuclear
21   attack. If the director's recommendations are adverse to the plan as
                                       p. 1                           SSB 6164
 1   submitted, and, if the local organization does not agree to the
 2   director's recommendations for modification to the proposal, the
 3   matter shall be referred to the council for final action. The
 4   director may authorize two or more political subdivisions to join in
 5   the establishment and operation of a joint local organization for
 6   emergency management as circumstances may warrant, in which case each
 7   political subdivision shall contribute to the cost of emergency
 8   management upon such fair and equitable basis as may be determined
 9   upon by the executive heads of the constituent subdivisions. If in
10   any case the executive heads cannot agree upon the proper division of
11   cost the matter shall be referred to the council for arbitration and
12   its decision shall be final. When two or more political subdivisions
13   join in the establishment and operation of a joint local organization
14   for emergency management each shall pay its share of the cost into a
15   special pooled fund to be administered by the treasurer of the most
16   populous subdivision, which fund shall be known as the . . . . . .
17   emergency management fund. Each local organization or joint local
18   organization for emergency management shall have a director who shall
19   be appointed by the executive head of the political subdivision, and
20   who   shall  have   direct   responsibility  for   the  organization,
21   administration, and operation of such local organization for
22   emergency management, subject to the direction and control of such
23   executive officer or officers. In the case of a joint local
24   organization for emergency management, the director shall be
25   appointed by the joint action of the executive heads of the
26   constituent political subdivisions. Each local organization or joint
27   local organization for emergency management shall perform emergency
28   management functions within the territorial limits of the political
29   subdivision within which it is organized, and, in addition, shall
30   conduct such functions outside of such territorial limits as may be
31   required pursuant to the provisions of this chapter.
32       (2) In carrying out the provisions of this chapter each political
33   subdivision, in which any disaster as described in RCW 38.52.020
34   occurs, shall have the power to enter into contracts and incur
35   obligations necessary to combat such disaster, protecting the health
36   and safety of persons and property, and providing emergency
37   assistance to the victims of such disaster. Each political
38   subdivision is authorized to exercise the powers vested under this
39   section in the light of the exigencies of an extreme emergency
40   situation without regard to time-consuming procedures and formalities
                                     p. 2                         SSB 6164
 1   prescribed by law (excepting mandatory constitutional requirements),
 2   including, but not limited to, budget law limitations, requirements
 3   of competitive bidding and publication of notices, provisions
 4   pertaining to the performance of public work, entering into
 5   contracts, the incurring of obligations, the employment of temporary
 6   workers, the rental of equipment, the purchase of supplies and
 7   materials, the levying of taxes, and the appropriation and
 8   expenditures of public funds.
 9       (3)(a)(i) Each local organization or joint local organization for
10   emergency management that produces a local comprehensive emergency
11   management plan must include a communication plan for notifying
12   significant population segments of life safety information during an
13   emergency. Local organizations and joint local organizations are
14   encouraged to consult with affected community organizations in the
15   development of the communication plans. Communication plans must
16   include an expeditious notification of citizens who can reasonably be
17   determined to be at risk during a hazardous material spill or
18   release. Notification shall be via the most appropriate technology
19   available to determine citizen risk levels.
20       (((i))) (ii)(A) If a hazardous material release or spill
21   necessitates the establishment of an incident command system as
22   defined in RCW 38.52.010, a local organization or joint local
23   organization must provide for at least one public meeting to inform
24   the public about the hazardous material spill or release.
25       (B) A public meeting conducted under this subsection must allow
26   for remote participation and may be held jointly with the county
27   legislative authority's regularly scheduled meeting as described in
28   RCW 36.32.080 or a special meeting as provided in RCW 42.30.080.
29       (C) A public meeting conducted under this subsection must include
30   representatives from the department of ecology, department of fish
31   and wildlife, and the party liable for the hazardous material spill
32   or release.
33       (iii) In developing communication plans, local organizations and
34   joint organizations should consider, as part of their determination
35   of the extent of the obligation to provide emergency notification to
36   significant population segments, the following factors: The number or
37   proportion of the limited English proficiency persons eligible to be
38   served or likely to be encountered; the frequency with which limited
39   English proficiency individuals come in contact with the emergency
40   notification;   the   nature   and   importance   of   the   emergency
                                     p. 3                         SSB 6164
 1   notification, service, or program to people's lives; and the
 2   resources available to the political subdivision to provide emergency
 3   notifications.
 4       (((ii))) (iv) "Significant population segment" means, for the
 5   purposes of this subsection (3), each limited English proficiency
 6   language group that constitutes five percent or one thousand
 7   residents, whichever is less, of the population of persons eligible
 8   to be served or likely to be affected within a city, town, or county.
 9   The office of financial management forecasting division's limited
10   English proficiency population estimates are the demographic data set
11   for determining eligible limited English proficiency language groups.
12       (b) Local organizations and joint local organizations must submit
13   the plans produced under (a) of this subsection to the Washington
14   military department emergency management division, and must implement
15   those plans. An initial communication plan must be submitted with the
16   local organization or joint local organization's next local emergency
17   management plan update following July 23, 2017, and subsequent plans
18   must be reviewed in accordance with the director's schedule.
19       (4) When conducting emergency or disaster after-action reviews,
20   local organizations and joint local organizations must evaluate the
21   effectiveness of communication of life safety information and must
22   inform the emergency management division of the Washington military
23   department of technological challenges which limited communications
24   efforts, along with identifying recommendations and resources needed
25   to address those challenges.

                                  --- END ---




                                     p. 4                         SSB 6164


File and source

File

2024-02-20_a31987_bill_6164-s.pdf

Size

70,633 bytes

SHA-256

f957e97d951082b6a46a48e745088a3e65bb0cbb03080e74104d9b408f26d7d1

Our copy

2024-02-20_a31987_bill_6164-s.pdf

Original

No public link identified.