Article
23. Local Resilience, Emergency Preparedness, and Mutual Aid 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 resilience and preparedness programs, develop needed emergency operations plans and response procedures, establish emergency management facilities, provide necessary training as the local hazards and state of preparedness may dictate, and enhance mutual aid capabilities.
8669.81.
For purposes of this article, the following definitions apply:(a) “Director” means the Director of Emergency Services.
(b) “Fund” means the Local Resilience, Emergency Preparedness, and Mutual Aid Fund established pursuant to Section 8669.82.
(c) “Committee” means the Local Resilience, Emergency Preparedness, and Mutual Aid 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” means a sustained action taken to reduce or eliminate long-term risk to people and property from natural or human-caused hazards and their effects.
(j) “Program” means the Long Term Care Mutual Aid Program, established pursuant to Section 8669.87.
8669.82.
(a) The Local Resilience, Emergency Preparedness, and Mutual Aid Fund is hereby created within the State Treasury. Moneys in the Local Resilience, Emergency Preparedness, and Mutual Aid Fund shall be available, upon appropriation by the Legislature, for purposes of distributing funds pursuant to this article to support, staffing, planning, emergency mitigation priorities, and enhancing mutual aid to help local governments meet emergency management, preparedness, readiness, and resilience goals.(b) Upon appropriation by the Legislature, the Controller shall transfer five hundred million dollars ($500,000,000) annually to the fund.
8669.83.
(a) The Office of Emergency Services shall establish the Local Resilience, Emergency Preparedness, and Mutual Aid 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, 2023, 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 and enhances mutual aid.
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.
(5) Enhancing mutual aid capabilities.
(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) The Office of Emergency Services, upon appropriation by the Legislature pursuant to Section 8669.82, shall establish the Long Term Care Mutual Aid Program, to be administered by the office in coordination with the California Health and Human Services Agency, for both of the following purposes:(1) Supporting responses by local governments and long-term care facilities to facility evacuations, surge capacity issues, and other disaster response issues.
(2) Providing effective mutual aid during disasters.
(b) The office shall provide noncompetitive grant funding through the program to eligible nonprofit
organizations as described by Section 8692 that represent long-term care facilities for the purpose of developing, coordinating, and providing continued readiness pursuant to the program.
(c) Facilities that participate in the program shall integrate their disaster preparedness, response, and recovery efforts with the six mutual aid regions, the Medical Health Operational Area Coordinator, state agencies, and hospitals.
(d) The program shall include, at a minimum, all of the following:
(1) A field verification of long-term care facilities participating in the program.
(2) A centralized platform for communicating situational awareness between long-term care facilities and local, county, and state emergency responders, which shall include assisting health
care providers coordinate evacuations, share resources and assets, and provide mutual assistance, as needed.
(3) Requirements for participating long-term care facilities related to continued readiness, including orientation and onboarding of facilities, regular education, training, drills, and exercises.