Today's Law As Amended


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AB-291 Local Emergency Preparedness and Hazard Mitigation Fund.(2019-2020)



As Amends the Law Today


SECTION 1.

 Article 23 (commencing with Section 8669.8) is added to Chapter 7 of Division 1 of Title 2 of the Government Code, to read:

Article  23. Local Emergency Preparedness and Hazard Mitigation Fund
8669.8.
 The Legislature finds and declares all of the following:
(a) To protect public health and safety and the environment, it is necessary to establish a high level of preparedness in counties, cities, and special districts to respond to disasters. The establishment of a high level of preparedness at the local government level is of statewide concern because of the possibility of catastrophic disasters striking the citizens of the state especially as the state faces the impacts of climate change.
(b) The establishment of a local disaster preparedness fund is the basis for achieving the stable funding necessary to maintain a high level of local preparedness and readiness, including the ongoing evaluation and hazard mitigation of existing risks before a disaster strikes, that the citizens of the state deserve and need.
(c) The funds generated pursuant to this article should be available to eligible local governments in order to provide flexibility to manage hazard mitigation programs, develop needed emergency operations plans and response procedures, establish emergency management facilities, and provide necessary training as the local hazards and state of preparedness may dictate.
(d) The funds generated pursuant to this article should be administered to benefit the overall state of preparedness of all eligible local government agencies, to enhance regional planning and response and hazard mitigation, and to ensure a high degree of accountability to the public and its elected representatives.
8669.81.
 For purposes of this article, the following definitions apply:
(a) “Director” means the Director of Emergency Services.
(b) “Fund” means the Local Emergency Preparedness and Hazard Mitigation Fund established pursuant to Section 8669.82.
(c) “Committee” means the Local Emergency Preparedness and Hazard Mitigation Fund Committee established pursuant to Section 8669.83.
(d) “Board” means the Standardized Emergency Management System Advisory Board.
(e) “Eligible local government” means a local government with responsibilities to respond or assist in response to disasters, consistent with local emergency plans.
(f) “Lead agency” means the lead agency of an operational area.
(g) “Local government” means a city, county, city and county, or special district.
(h) “Operational area” has the same meaning as set forth in Section 8559.
(i) “Hazard mitigation” has the same meaning as defined in the most current version of the State of California Emergency Plan.
8669.82.
 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, upon appropriation by the Legislature, for purposes of distributing funds pursuant to this article to support, staffing, planning, and other emergency mitigation priorities to help local governments meet emergency management, preparedness, readiness, and resilience goals.
8669.83.
 (a) The Office of Emergency Services shall establish the Local Emergency Preparedness and Hazard Mitigation Fund Committee under the supervision of the Standardized Emergency Management System Advisory Board.
(b) The committee shall include the following representatives:
(1) The director or the director’s appointee.
(2) The following representatives that each of the three Office of Emergency Services Mutual Aid Administrative Regions shall select:
(A) One representative of a city with a population among the 10 largest in the state and one representative of a county with a population among the 10 largest in the state.
(B) One representative of a city that both has a population not less than 100,000 and is not represented pursuant to subparagraph (A) and one representative of a county that both has a population not less than 100,000 and is not represented pursuant to subparagraph (A).
(C) One representative of a city with a population less than 100,000 and one representative of a county with a population less than 100,000.
(D) One representative of a special district.
(E) One representative from a tribal government.
(F) For purposes of this paragraph, population shall be based on the most recent estimate of population data determined by the Demographic Research Unit of the Department of Finance.
(3) The Director of CAL FIRE or the director’s designee.
(4) The Executive Director of the Seismic Safety Commission or that person’s designee.
(5) The Chief Executive Officer of the California Earthquake Authority or that person’s designee.
(c) The committee members selected pursuant to subdivision (b) shall each serve a term of two years.
8669.84.
 (a) The committee shall report to the board. The board shall meet every six months to hear committee reports.
(b) On or before July 1, 2021, the committee shall adopt guidelines identifying eligible uses of the funds consistent with Section 8669.86 for the mitigation, prevention, preparedness, response, and recovery phases of emergency management that supports the development of a resilient community.
8669.85.
 (a) To receive funds pursuant to this article, an eligible local government shall maintain their local hazard mitigation plan, multiyear training and exercise plan, and threat and hazard identification and risk assessment plan, in accordance with regulations adopted by the Office of Emergency Services. If a local government does not have any of these plans, it may use funds allocated from the Fund to develop a plan. The updates to these plans shall form the work plan for the local government. The local government work plans, together, shall become part of an operational area work plan and shall guide the use of all funds allocated from the Fund to jurisdictions within an operational area. The work plan shall contain measurable disaster preparedness and hazard mitigation goals and objectives.
(b) (1) The lead agency for an operational area, as identified by the agreement that establishes the operational area, shall forward annually a copy of the updated work plan and shall submit a biennial report on work plan projects to the Office of Emergency Services.
(2) Within 160 days following a proclaimed emergency, the Governor and the Legislature may request an operational area to report on how funds allocated pursuant to this article contributed to the area’s response.
8669.86.
 (a) A local government that receives funds pursuant to this article shall identify in the work plan how the funds are to be used, in the following categories:
(1) Implementing hazard mitigation projects, including, but not limited to, the following:
(A) Physical projects that will reduce risk or loss from earthquakes, floods, fires, or other disaster agents.
(B) Local share requirements for state or federal hazard mitigation grants.
(2) Developing emergency operations plans, protocols, procedures, field operation guidance, or similar planning and response tools, including establishment and maintenance of emergency supply stockpiles.
(3) Upgrading or establishing emergency facilities from which the agency can manage personnel and resource response to an emergency or disaster. For purposes of this paragraph, “emergency facilities” includes, but is not limited to, emergency operations centers and communications systems used for coordination within a jurisdiction or between jurisdictions.
(4) Training in emergency management and disaster response, including, but not limited to, ensuring that staff can address emergency preparedness and response needs for those projects that serve the access and functional needs population, as defined in subdivision (b) of Section 8593.3.
(b) At the end of each fiscal year, an eligible local government shall confirm that funds were used for programs in the categories described in subdivision (a), and shall submit appropriate documentation to the lead agency with an annual update to the eligible local government’s element of the work plan.
8669.87.
 (a) (1) A local government that receives funds shall submit reports to their respective operational area, and the operational area shall forward the reports to the Office of Emergency Services.
(2)  The Office of Emergency Services shall present reports forwarded to it pursuant to paragraph (1) to the committee. The committee may make recommendations for improvement of the eligible projects and programs, improvement of the reporting structure, and may withhold future project allocations if it determines program funds are not being appropriately spent.
(b) The Office of Emergency Services shall, upon appropriation by the Legislature, receive one million dollars ($1,000,000) annually and each county shall receive five hundred thousand dollars ($500,000) annually for administrative costs and other purposes to implement this article. Subject to paragraph (2) of subdivision (a), the Office of Emergency Services shall distribute the remaining funds, on an annual basis, to the lead agency of an operational area. The lead agency of the operational area shall agree to manage and control funds received pursuant to this article, in compliance with this article. The lead agency shall distribute the funds as follows:
(1) Sixty percent of the funds for direct distribution to cities and unincorporated areas within the operational area on a per capita basis, with a minimum distribution amount of one hundred thousand dollars ($100,000).
(2) Fifteen percent for high risk zones with high hazard risk factors based on maps produced by the Office of Emergency Services in the State Hazard Mitigation Plan that identify areas of the state with the most vulnerable population, including people that are located in areas with earthquake, flood, and fire hazards and have access and functional needs or social vulnerabilities.
(3) Twenty-five percent distributed per capita, per operational area to establish a competitive grant process agreed upon by all jurisdictions within the boundary of each county to support projects of common benefit for two or more eligible local governments. Funds can be used to support projects that include unincorporated counties, cities, special districts, tribal governments, and nonprofit, faith-based, and other voluntary organizations active in disaster preparedness.
(c) (1) The operational area and local governments within the operational area shall determine mitigation and preparedness stakeholders, and shall facilitate the coordination and input from government departments on cross-departmental and cross-jurisdictional projects identified in the respective local hazard mitigation plan.
(2) The amount of state funds received by a local agency within an operational area shall not be reduced by any other local agency within the operational area due to an allocation from the fund or an operational area trust fund.
(d) (1) To be eligible to receive funds pursuant to this article, a local government shall do 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) Create and update, on an annual basis, a work plan that addresses projects or programs identified in a local hazard mitigation plan, a multiyear training and exercise plan, or a threat hazard identification and risk assessment plan that identifies how funds received pursuant to this section shall 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. The work plan shall be reviewed by the lead agency, and submitted to the Office of Emergency Services.
(C) Submit an annual report to the lead agency outlining expenditures and progress toward the local hazard mitigation plan goals.
(2) A local government that receives funds pursuant to this section shall not use those funds to supplant current emergency management funding.
(e) An operational area or other recipient of funds pursuant to this article may use a percentage of funds received, consistent with federal emergency preparedness grants, for the purposes of management and administration costs.
(f) The director shall not use funds received by a local government pursuant to this section to calculate the allocation amounts for the local government pursuant to Article 4 (commencing with Section 8685) of Chapter 7.5.