Senate Bill No. 369
(By Senators Tomblin (Mr. President) and Boley
By Request of the Executive)
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[Introduced February 13, 1996; referred to the Committee
on the Judiciary.]
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A BILL to amend and reenact section twenty-two, article five,
chapter fifteen of the code of West Virginia, one thousand
nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, relating to the
emergency management assistance compact so as to provide for
mutual assistance between the states in managing emergencies
or disasters.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That section twenty-two, article five, chapter fifteen of
the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one,
as amended, be amended and reenacted, to read as follows:
ARTICLE 5. EMERGENCY SERVICES.
§15-5-22. Emergency Management Assistance Compact.
The "Emergency Management Assistance Compact" is hereby approved, ratified, adopted, enacted into law and entered into by
the state of West Virginia with all other jurisdictions legally
joining therein in accordance with its terms, in a form
substantially as follows:
EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT ASSISTANCE COMPACT
ARTICLE I - PURPOSE AND AUTHORITIES
This compact is made and entered into by and between the
participating member states which enact this compact, hereinafter
called party states. For the purposes of this agreement, the
term "states" is taken to mean the several states, the
Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the District of Columbia, and all
United States territorial possessions.
The purpose of this compact is to provide for mutual
assistance between the states entering into this compact in
managing any emergency or disaster that is duly declared by the
governor of the affected state(s), whether arising from natural
disaster, technological hazard, man-made disaster, civil
emergency aspects of resources shortages, community disorders,
insurgency or enemy attack.
This compact shall also provide for mutual cooperation in
emergency-related exercises, testing or other training activities using equipment and personnel simulating performance of any
aspect of the giving and receiving of aid by party states or
subdivisions of party states during emergencies, such actions
occurring outside actual declared emergency periods. Mutual
assistance in this compact may include the use of the states'
National Guard forces, either in accordance with the National
Guard Mutual Assistance Compact or by mutual agreement between
states.
ARTICLE II - GENERAL IMPLEMENTATION
Each party state entering into this compact recognizes many
emergencies transcend political jurisdictional boundaries and
that intergovernmental coordination is essential in managing
these and other emergencies under this compact. Each state
further recognizes that there will be emergencies which require
immediate access and present procedures to apply outside
resources to make a prompt and effective response to such an
emergency. This is because few, if any, individual states have
all the resources they may need in all types of emergencies or
the capability of delivering resources to areas where emergencies
exist.
The prompt, full, and effective utilization of resources of the participating states, including any resources on hand or
available from the Federal Government or any other source, that
are essential to the safety, care and welfare of the people in
the event of any emergency or disaster declared by a party state,
shall be the underlying principle on which all articles of this
compact shall be understood.
On behalf of the governor of each state participating in the
compact, the legally designated state official who is assigned
responsibility for emergency management will be responsible for
formulation of the appropriate interstate mutual aid plans and
procedures necessary to implement this compact.
ARTICLE III - PARTY STATE RESPONSIBILITIES
(a) It shall be the responsibility of each party state to
formulate procedural plans and programs for interstate
cooperation in the performance of the responsibilities listed in
this article. In formulating such plans, and in carrying them
out, the party states, insofar as practical, shall:
(1) Review individual state hazards analyses and, to the
extent reasonably possible, determine all those potential
emergencies the party states might jointly suffer, whether due to
natural disaster, technological hazard, man-made disaster, emergency aspects of resource shortages, civil disorders,
insurgency or enemy attack.
(2) Review party states' individual emergency plans and
develop a plan which will determine the mechanism for the
interstate management and provision of assistance concerning any
potential emergency.
(3) Develop interstate procedures to fill any identified
gaps and to resolve any identified inconsistencies or overlaps in
existing or developed plans.
(4) Assist in warning communities adjacent to or crossing
the state boundaries.
(5) Protect and assure uninterrupted delivery of services,
medicines, water, food, energy and fuel, search and rescue, and
critical lifeline equipment, services and resources, both human
and material.
(6) Inventory and set procedures for the interstate loan and
delivery of human and material resources, together with
procedures for reimbursement or forgiveness.
(7) Provide, to the extent authorized by law, for temporary
suspension of any statutes or ordinances that restrict the
implementation of the above responsibilities.
(b) The authorized representative of a party state may
request assistance of another party state by contacting the
authorized representative of that state. The provisions of this
agreement shall only apply to requests for assistance made by and
to authorized representatives. Requests may be verbal or in
writing. If verbal, the request shall be confirmed in writing
within thirty days of the verbal request. Requests shall provide
the following information:
(1) A description of the emergency service function for
which assistance is needed, such as but not limited to fire
services, law enforcement, emergency medical, transportation,
communications, public works and engineering, building
inspection, planning and information assistance, mass care,
resource support, health and medical services, and search and
rescue.
(2) The amount and type of personnel, equipment, materials
and supplies needed, and a reasonable estimate of the length of
time they will be needed.
(3) The specific place and time for staging of the assisting
party's response and a point of contact at that location.
(c) There shall be frequent consultation between state officials who have assigned emergency management responsibilities
and other appropriate representatives of the party states with
affected jurisdictions and the United States Government, with
free exchange of information, plans and resource records relating
to emergency capabilities.
ARTICLE IV - LIMITATIONS
Any party state requested to render mutual aid or conduct
exercises and training for mutual aid shall take such action as
is necessary to provide and make available the resources covered
by this compact in accordance with the terms hereof: Provided,
That it is understood that the state rendering aid may withhold
resources to the extent necessary to provide reasonable
protection for such state.
Each party state shall afford to the emergency forces of any
party state, while operating within its state limits under the
terms and conditions of this compact, the same powers (except
that of arrest unless specifically authorized by the receiving
state), duties, rights, and privileges as are afforded forces of
the state in which they are performing emergency services.
Emergency forces will continue under the command and control of
their regular leaders, but the organizational units will come under the operational control of the emergency services
authorities of the state receiving assistance. These conditions
may be activated, as needed, only subsequent to a declaration of
a state of emergency or disaster by the governor of the party
state that is to receive assistance or commencement of exercises
or training for mutual aid and shall continue so long as the
exercises or training for mutual aid are in progress, the state
of emergency or disaster remains in effect or loaned resources
remain in the receiving state(s), whichever is longer.
ARTICLE V - LICENSES AND PERMITS
Whenever any person holds a license, certificate or other
permit issued by any state party to the compact evidencing the
meeting of qualifications for professional, mechanical or other
skills, and when such assistance is requested by the receiving
party state, such person shall be deemed licensed, certified, or
permitted by the state requesting assistance to render aid
involving such skill to meet a declared emergency or disaster,
subject to such limitations and conditions as the governor of the
requesting state may prescribe by executive order or otherwise.
ARTICLE VI - LIABILITY
Officers or employees of a party state rendering aid in another state pursuant to this compact shall be considered agents
of the requesting state for tort liability and immunity purposes;
and no party state or its officers or employees rendering aid in
another state pursuant to this compact shall be liable on account
of any act or omission in good faith on the part of such forces
while so engaged or on account of the maintenance or use of any
equipment or supplies in connection therewith. Good faith in
this article shall not include willful misconduct, gross
negligence or recklessness.
ARTICLE VII - SUPPLEMENTARY AGREEMENTS
Inasmuch as it is probable that the pattern and detail of
the machinery for mutual aid among two or more states may differ
from that among the states that are party hereto, this instrument
contains elements of a broad base common to all states, and
nothing herein contained shall preclude any state from entering
into supplementary agreements with another state or affect any
other agreements already in force between states. Supplementary
agreements may comprehend, but shall not be limited to,
provisions for evacuation and reception of injured and other
persons and the exchange of medical, fire, police, public
utility, reconnaissance, welfare, transportation and communications personnel, and equipment and supplies.
ARTICLE VIII - COMPENSATION
Each party state shall provide for the payment of
compensation and death benefits to injured members of the
emergency forces of that state and representatives of deceased
members of such forces in case such members sustain injuries or
are killed while rendering aid pursuant to this compact, in the
same manner and on the same terms as if the injury or death were
sustained within their own state.
ARTICLE IX - REIMBURSEMENT
Any party state rendering aid in another state pursuant to
this compact shall be reimbursed by the party state receiving
such aid for any loss or damage to or expense incurred in the
operation of any equipment and the provision of any service in
answering a request for aid and for the costs incurred in
connection with such requests: Provided, That any aiding party
state may assume, in whole or in part, such loss, damage, expense
or other cost, or may loan such equipment or donate such services
to the receiving party state without charge or cost: Provided,
however, That any two or more party states may enter into
supplementary agreements establishing a different allocation of costs among those states. Article VIII expenses shall not be
reimbursable under this provision.
ARTICLE X - EVACUATION
Plans for the orderly evacuation and interstate reception of
portions of the civilian population as the result of any
emergency or disaster of sufficient proportions to so warrant,
shall be worked out and maintained between the party states and
the emergency management/services directors of the various
jurisdictions where any type of incident requiring evacuations
might occur. Such plans shall be put into effect by request of
the state from which evacuees come and shall include the manner
of transporting such evacuees, the number of evacuees to be
received in different areas, the manner in which food, clothing,
housing and medical care will be provided, the registration of
the evacuees, the providing of facilities for the notification of
relatives or friends, and the forwarding of such evacuees to
other areas or the bringing in of additional materials, supplies
and all other relevant factors. Such plans shall provide that
the party state receiving evacuees and the party state from which
the evacuees come shall mutually agree as to reimbursement of
out-of-pocket expenses incurred in receiving and caring for such evacuees, for expenditures for transportation, food, clothing,
medicines and medical care, and like items. Such expenditures
shall be reimbursed as agreed by the party state from which the
evacuees come. After the termination of the emergency or
disaster, the party state from which the evacuees come shall
assume the responsibility for the ultimate support of
repatriation of such evacuees.
ARTICLE XI - IMPLEMENTATION
(a) This compact shall become operative immediately upon
its enactment into law by any two states; thereafter, this
compact shall become effective as to any other state upon its
enactment by such state.
(b) Any party state may withdraw from this compact by
enacting a statute repealing the same, but no such withdrawal
shall take effect until thirty days after the governor of the
withdrawing state has given notice in writing of such withdrawal
to the governors of all other party states. Such action shall
not relieve the withdrawing state from obligations assumed
hereunder prior to the effective date of withdrawal.
(c) Duly authenticated copies of this compact and of such
supplementary agreements as may be entered into shall, at the time of their approval, be deposited with each of the party
states and with the Federal Emergency Management Agency and other
appropriate agencies of the United States Government.
ARTICLE XII - VALIDITY
This compact shall be construed to effectuate the purposes
stated in Article I hereof. If any provision of this compact is
declared unconstitutional, or the applicability thereof to any
person or circumstances is held invalid, the constitutionality of
the remainder of this compact and the applicability thereof to
other persons and circumstances shall not be affected thereby.
ARTICLE XIII - ADDITIONAL PROVISIONS
Nothing in this compact shall authorize or permit the use of
military force by the National Guard of a state at any place
outside that state in any emergency for which the President is
authorized by law to call into federal service the militia, or
for any purpose for which the use of the Army or the Air Force
would in the absence of express statutory authorization be
prohibited under Section 1385 of title 18, United States Code.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to adopt the Emergency
Management Assistance Compact to ensure mutual assistance between the states in managing emergencies or disaster.
This section is new; therefore, strike-throughs and
underscoring have been omitted.