AN ACT CONCERNING LOCAL EMERGENCY PLANS OF OPERATION.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Assembly convened:
Section 1. Subsection (a) of section 28-7 of the general statutes is repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective October 1, 2015):
(a) Each town or city of the state shall establish a local organization for civil preparedness in accordance with the state civil preparedness plan and program, provided any two or more towns or cities may, with the approval of the commissioner, establish a joint organization for civil preparedness. The authority of such local or joint organization for civil preparedness shall not supersede that of any regularly organized police or fire department. In order to be eligible for any state or federal benefits under this chapter, not later than [January 1, 2008] January 1, 2017, and [annually] biennially thereafter, each town or city of the state shall have a current emergency plan of operations that has been approved by the commissioner. The plan shall be submitted to the commissioner after it has been approved by the local emergency management director and the local chief executive. Such plan may be submitted with a notice stating that the plan remains unchanged from the [previous year's] previously submitted version. The emergency plan of operations of every town or city situated on the shoreline of the state shall contain provisions addressing an emergency caused by any existing liquefied natural gas terminal located on the Long Island Sound and every town or city situated on the shoreline of the state shall submit such plan to the joint standing committee of the General Assembly having cognizance of matters relating to public safety, in accordance with the provisions of section 11-4a, and the commissioner to obtain approval. The committee shall hold a public hearing regarding such plan not later than thirty days after receiving the plan. Not later than five days after the hearing, the committee shall (1) hold a roll-call vote to approve or reject the plan, and (2) forward the plan and a record of the committee's vote to the General Assembly. Such emergency plan of operations shall not be approved by the commissioner unless the commissioner determines that the plan proposes strategies that address all the activities and measures of civil preparedness identified in subdivision (4) of section 28-1. Each town or city of the state shall consider whether to include in such plan provisions for the nonmilitary evacuation of livestock, horses, pets and service animals, and the temporary sheltering of pets, service animals and animals trained to assist first responders.