Bill Text: CA AB291 | 2019-2020 | Regular Session | Amended

California Assembly Bill 291 (Prior Session Legislation)

NOTE: There are more recent revisions of this legislation. Read Latest Draft

Bill Title: Local Emergency Preparedness and Hazard Mitigation Fund.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)

Status: (Engrossed - Dead) 2020-06-23 - Referred to Com. on G.O. [AB291 Detail]

Download: California-2019-AB291-Amended.html

Amended IN Assembly March 25, 2019

CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE— 2019–2020 REGULAR SESSION

Assembly Bill

No. 291

Introduced by Assembly Member Chu

January 28, 2019

An act to add Article 21 (commencing with Section 8669) to Chapter 7 of Division 1 of Title 2 of the Government Code, relating to emergency services.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST

AB 291, as amended, Chu. Emergency preparedness.

The California Emergency Services Act creates within the office of the Governor the Office of Emergency Services, which is responsible for the state’s emergency and disaster response services, as specified. Existing federal law requires a state mitigation plan as a condition for disaster assistance and authorizes the Federal Emergency Management Agency to condition mitigation grant assistance upon state, local, and Indian tribal governments undertaking coordinated disaster mitigation planning and implementation measures.

Existing law requires the Office of Emergency Services, in coordination with all interested state agencies with designated response roles in the state emergency plan and interested local emergency management agencies, to jointly establish by regulation a standardized emergency management system for use by all emergency response agencies.

This bill would ~~state the intent of the Legislature to enact legislation that would~~ establish a Local Emergency Preparedness and Hazard Mitigation Fund to support staffing, planning, and other emergency mitigation priorities ~~that helps~~ to help local governments meet emergency ~~preparedness goals and to boost emergency management programs throughout the state that remain underfunded or neglected.~~ management, preparedness, readiness, and resilience goals. The bill would require the Office of Emergency Services to distribute funds to lead agencies, as defined, throughout the state. The bill would require lead agencies to further distribute those funds to local governments pursuant to a specified schedule for specified purposes, and impose various requirements on local governments that receive funds pursuant to these provisions. The bill would require the Office of Emergency Services to establish a standardized emergency management system committee that would be required to, among other things, establish criteria for the use of the funds distributed pursuant to the provisions of this bill by establishing a baseline of the standards for emergency management, preparedness, and resilience based on local governance and hazards.

Vote: MAJORITY Appropriation: NO Fiscal Committee: NOYES Local Program: NO

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:

SECTION 1.

The heading of Article 21 (commencing with Section 8669) is added to Chapter 7 of Division 1 of Title 2 of the Government Code, to read:

Article 21. Local Emergency Preparedness and Hazard Mitigation Fund
8669.
(a) The Local Emergency Preparedness and Hazard Mitigation Fund is hereby created within the State Treasury. Moneys in the Local Emergency Preparedness and Hazard Mitigation Fund shall be available for purposes of distributing funds pursuant to subdivision (c) support, staffing, planning, and other emergency mitigation priorities to help local governments meet emergency management, preparedness, readiness, and resilience goals.
(b) (1) The Office of Emergency Services shall establish a standardized emergency management system committee. The committee shall establish criteria for the use of the funds distributed pursuant to subdivision (c), by establishing a baseline of the standards for emergency management, preparedness, and resilience based on local governance and hazards.
(2) (A) The committee shall include the following representatives:
(i) Four representatives of the largest four cities within the state.
(ii) Three representatives from cities within the state that are not also persons serving on the commission pursuant to clause (i).
(iii) Three representatives from counties within the state.
(iv) Three representatives of special districts, selected from each of the mutual aid regions within the state.
(v) The Director of the Office of Emergency Services.
(B) The representatives selected pursuant clauses (i) through (iv) of subparagraph (A) shall each serve a term of two years.
(3) On or before July 1, 2020, the committee shall do both of the following:
(A) Adopt guidelines to identify the basic benchmark activities for the mitigation, prevention, preparedness, response, and recovery phases of emergency management.
(B) Determine the items and topics that must be included in the work plan required pursuant to subparagraph (B) of paragraph (1) of subdivision (e).
(c) (1) The county, all cities within the county, and the special districts within the county that are identified in a local emergency plan shall identify, by agreement, the lead agency within an operational area.
(2) Upon appropriation, the Office of Emergency Services shall distribute funds, on an annual basis, to the lead agency within an operational area, subject to subdivision (e), as follows:
(A) (i) A base allocation of $_____ to each lead agency for distribution pursuant to this subparagraph.
(ii) The lead agency shall distribute funds pursuant to this subparagraph, subject to subdivision (e), as follows:
(I) Seventy percent to the county and all the cities within the county within the operational area on a per capita basis.
(II) Ten percent via a competitive grant process established by the lead agency to special districts within the operational area that are designated in the operational area emergency operations plan as having a role in response to an emergency.
(III) Twenty percent to an Operational Area Trust Fund established for projects of common benefit to all local governments within the operational area for purposes of this section. All of the local governments within the operational area shall mutually agree upon projects of common benefit that qualify under this subclause.
(B) The remaining amounts in the fund after making the distributions required by subparagraph (A) to each local government on a per capita basis. Any local government that receives funds pursuant to this subparagraph shall meet the requirements of subdivision (e).
(d) (1) The lead agency of the operational area shall agree to manage and control funds received pursuant to this section, in compliance with the provisions of this section.
(2) The receipt of other funds from the state to any local agency within an operational area shall not be reduced by any other local agency within the operational area due to any allocation from the Local Emergency Preparedness and Hazard Mitigation Fund or the Operational Area Trust Fund.
(e) (1) To be eligible to receive funds pursuant to subdivision (c), a local government shall do both of the following:
(A) Commit to continuing to contribute local funds equal to the average of that amount that was committed over the last five years to emergency management staffing, preparedness, readiness, and resilience.
(B) (i) Create and update, on an annual basis, a five-year work plan that identifies how funds received pursuant to this section will be spent on emergency mitigation, prevention, preparedness, response, and recovery. The work plan shall contain measurable emergency management, preparedness, readiness, resilience, and hazard mitigation goals and objectives.
(ii) The work plan shall be reviewed by the lead agency, and submitted to the Office of Emergency Services.
(iii) Each local government that has received funds pursuant to this section shall submit an annual report to the lead agency outlining expenditures and progress toward work plan goals.
(2) A local government that receives funds pursuant to this section shall not use those funds to supplant current emergency management funding.
(f) The Director of Emergency Services shall not use funds received by a local government pursuant to this section to calculate the allocation amounts for that local government pursuant to Article 4 (commencing with Section 8685) of Chapter 7.5.
(g) For purposes of this section, the following terms have the following meanings:
(1) “Committee” means the Standardized Emergency Management System Committee.
(2) “Lead agency” means the agency selected pursuant to paragraph (1) of subdivision (c).
(3) “Local government” means a city, county, city and county, or special district identified in a local emergency plan.
(4) “Operational area” has the same meaning as set forth in subdivision (b) of Section 8559.

SECTION 1.
It is the intent of the Legislature to enact legislation that would establish a Local Emergency Preparedness and Hazard Mitigation Fund to support staffing, planning, and other emergency mitigation priorities that helps local governments meet emergency preparedness goals and to boost emergency management programs throughout the state that remain underfunded or neglected.