Bill Text: FL S1006 | 2018 | Regular Session | Comm Sub


Bill Title: Disaster Response and Preparedness

Spectrum: Slight Partisan Bill (Democrat 3-1)

Status: (Failed) 2018-03-10 - Died in Appropriations Subcommittee on Transportation, Tourism, and Economic Development [S1006 Detail]

Download: Florida-2018-S1006-Comm_Sub.html
       Florida Senate - 2018                             CS for SB 1006
       
       
        
       By the Committee on Military and Veterans Affairs, Space, and
       Domestic Security; and Senators Montford, Taddeo, and Torres
       
       
       
       
       583-02995-18                                          20181006c1
    1                        A bill to be entitled                      
    2         An act relating to disaster response and preparedness;
    3         amending s. 252.35, F.S.; modifying requirements for
    4         the state comprehensive emergency management plan and
    5         statewide public awareness programs administered by
    6         the Division of Emergency Management; requiring the
    7         division to deploy resources to provide certain
    8         guidance to entities to ensure the receipt of maximum
    9         allowable reimbursements from the Federal Government
   10         for disaster-related expenditures; creating s.
   11         252.3551, F.S.; requiring the division to establish
   12         and maintain a registry with homeless shelters and
   13         service providers for specified purposes; amending s.
   14         252.3568, F.S.; revising requirements for the
   15         development of strategies regarding the sheltering of
   16         persons with service animals; requiring the division
   17         to publish information on its website regarding
   18         policies on the acceptance of service animals or pets
   19         at shelters; amending s. 252.38, F.S.; requiring that,
   20         upon the request of the director of a local emergency
   21         management agency, Florida College System institutions
   22         and state universities participate in emergency
   23         management activities through the provision of
   24         facilities and personnel; requiring Florida College
   25         System institutions and state universities that
   26         provide transportation assistance in an emergency
   27         evacuation to coordinate the use of vehicles and
   28         personnel with local emergency management agencies;
   29         amending s. 252.385, F.S.; updating references to
   30         community colleges; providing an effective date.
   31          
   32  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
   33  
   34         Section 1. Paragraphs (a) and (i) of subsection (2) of
   35  section 252.35, Florida Statutes, are amended, present paragraph
   36  (y) of that subsection is redesignated as paragraph (z), and a
   37  new paragraph (y) is added to that subsection, to read:
   38         252.35 Emergency management powers; Division of Emergency
   39  Management.—
   40         (2) The division is responsible for carrying out the
   41  provisions of ss. 252.31-252.90. In performing its duties, the
   42  division shall:
   43         (a) Prepare a state comprehensive emergency management
   44  plan, which shall be integrated into and coordinated with the
   45  emergency management plans and programs of the Federal
   46  Government. The division must adopt the plan as a rule in
   47  accordance with chapter 120. The plan shall be implemented by a
   48  continuous, integrated comprehensive emergency management
   49  program. The plan must contain provisions to ensure that the
   50  state is prepared for emergencies and minor, major, and
   51  catastrophic disasters, and the division shall work closely with
   52  local governments and agencies and organizations with emergency
   53  management responsibilities in preparing and maintaining the
   54  plan. The state comprehensive emergency management plan shall be
   55  operations oriented and:
   56         1. Include an evacuation component that includes specific
   57  regional and interregional planning provisions and promotes
   58  intergovernmental coordination of evacuation activities. This
   59  component must, at a minimum: contain guidelines for lifting
   60  tolls on state highways; ensure coordination pertaining to
   61  evacuees crossing county lines; set forth procedures for
   62  directing people caught on evacuation routes to safe shelter;
   63  establish strategies for ensuring sufficient, reasonably priced
   64  fueling locations along evacuation routes; and establish
   65  policies and strategies for emergency medical evacuations.
   66         2. Include a shelter component that includes specific
   67  regional and interregional planning provisions and promotes
   68  coordination of shelter activities between the public, private,
   69  and nonprofit sectors. This component must, at a minimum:
   70  contain strategies to ensure the availability of adequate public
   71  shelter space in each region of the state; establish strategies
   72  for refuge-of-last-resort programs; provide strategies to assist
   73  local emergency management efforts to ensure that adequate
   74  staffing plans exist for all shelters, including medical and
   75  security personnel; provide for a postdisaster communications
   76  system for public shelters; establish model shelter guidelines
   77  for operations, registration, inventory, power generation
   78  capability, information management, and staffing; and set forth
   79  policy guidance for sheltering people with special needs or
   80  mental illness and individuals experiencing homelessness.
   81         3. Include a postdisaster response and recovery component
   82  that includes specific regional and interregional planning
   83  provisions and promotes intergovernmental coordination of
   84  postdisaster response and recovery activities. This component
   85  must provide for postdisaster response and recovery strategies
   86  according to whether a disaster is minor, major, or
   87  catastrophic. The postdisaster response and recovery component
   88  must, at a minimum: establish the structure of the state’s
   89  postdisaster response and recovery organization; establish
   90  procedures for activating the state’s plan; set forth policies
   91  used to guide postdisaster response and recovery activities;
   92  describe the chain of command during the postdisaster response
   93  and recovery period; describe initial and continuous
   94  postdisaster response and recovery actions; identify the roles
   95  and responsibilities of each involved agency and organization;
   96  provide for a comprehensive communications plan; establish
   97  procedures for monitoring mutual aid agreements; provide for
   98  rapid impact assessment teams; ensure the availability of an
   99  effective statewide urban search and rescue program coordinated
  100  with the fire services; ensure the existence of a comprehensive
  101  statewide medical care and relief plan administered by the
  102  Department of Health; and establish systems for coordinating
  103  volunteers and accepting and distributing donated funds and
  104  goods.
  105         4. Include additional provisions addressing aspects of
  106  preparedness, response, recovery, and mitigation as determined
  107  necessary by the division.
  108         5. Address the need for coordinated and expeditious
  109  deployment of state resources, including the Florida National
  110  Guard. In the case of an imminent major disaster, procedures
  111  should address predeployment of the Florida National Guard, and,
  112  in the case of an imminent catastrophic disaster, procedures
  113  should address predeployment of the Florida National Guard and
  114  the United States Armed Forces.
  115         6. Establish a system of communications and warning to
  116  ensure that the state’s population and emergency management
  117  agencies are warned of developing emergency situations and can
  118  communicate emergency response decisions.
  119         7. Establish guidelines and schedules for annual exercises
  120  that evaluate the ability of the state and its political
  121  subdivisions to respond to minor, major, and catastrophic
  122  disasters and support local emergency management agencies. Such
  123  exercises shall be coordinated with local governments and, to
  124  the extent possible, the Federal Government.
  125         8. Assign lead and support responsibilities to state
  126  agencies and personnel for emergency support functions and other
  127  support activities.
  128  
  129  The complete state comprehensive emergency management plan shall
  130  be submitted to the President of the Senate, the Speaker of the
  131  House of Representatives, and the Governor on February 1 of
  132  every even-numbered year.
  133         (i) Institute statewide public awareness programs. This
  134  shall include an intensive public educational campaign on
  135  emergency preparedness issues, including, but not limited to,
  136  the personal responsibility of individual citizens to be self
  137  sufficient for up to 72 hours following a natural or manmade
  138  disaster. The public educational campaign shall include relevant
  139  information on statewide disaster plans, evacuation routes, fuel
  140  suppliers, and shelters. Information on shelters must address
  141  the different types of shelters available, such as special needs
  142  shelters and shelters that accept individuals with service
  143  animals or pets. All educational materials must be available in
  144  alternative formats and mediums to ensure that they are
  145  available to persons with disabilities.
  146         (y) Deploy public or private resources to provide guidance
  147  regarding procedures and required documentation to any entity
  148  entitled to receive reimbursements for disaster-related
  149  expenditures from the Federal Emergency Management Agency in
  150  order to ensure that such entities receive the maximum allowable
  151  reimbursements.
  152         Section 2. Section 252.3551, Florida Statutes, is created
  153  to read:
  154         252.3551 Registry for homeless shelters and service
  155  providers.—The division, in coordination with each local
  156  emergency management agency in the state, shall establish and
  157  maintain a registry with each homeless shelter and homeless
  158  service provider in the state. The purpose of the registry is to
  159  help determine the number of individuals experiencing
  160  homelessness who may need assistance or shelter during an
  161  evacuation.
  162         Section 3. Section 252.3568, Florida Statutes, is amended
  163  to read:
  164         252.3568 Emergency sheltering of persons with service
  165  animals or pets.—
  166         (1) In accordance with s. 252.35, the division shall
  167  address strategies for the evacuation and sheltering of persons
  168  with service animals or pets in the shelter component of the
  169  state comprehensive emergency management plan and shall include
  170  the requirement for similar strategies in its standards and
  171  requirements for local comprehensive emergency management plans.
  172  The Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services shall assist
  173  the division in determining strategies regarding this activity.
  174         (2) The division shall publish information on its website
  175  regarding policies governing the acceptance of service animals
  176  or pets at shelters.
  177         Section 4. Paragraph (d) of subsection (1) of section
  178  252.38, Florida Statutes, is amended to read:
  179         252.38 Emergency management powers of political
  180  subdivisions.—Safeguarding the life and property of its citizens
  181  is an innate responsibility of the governing body of each
  182  political subdivision of the state.
  183         (1) COUNTIES.—
  184         (d) During a declared state or local emergency and upon the
  185  request of the director of a local emergency management agency,
  186  the district school board or school boards, Florida College
  187  System institutions, and state universities in the affected area
  188  shall participate in emergency management by providing
  189  facilities and necessary personnel to staff such facilities.
  190  Each school board, Florida College System institution, and state
  191  university providing transportation assistance in an emergency
  192  evacuation shall coordinate the use of its vehicles and
  193  personnel with the local emergency management agency.
  194         Section 5. Paragraph (a) of subsection (2) and paragraph
  195  (a) of subsection (4) of section 252.385, Florida Statutes, are
  196  amended to read:
  197         252.385 Public shelter space.—
  198         (2)(a) The division shall administer a program to survey
  199  existing schools, state universities, Florida College System
  200  institutions community colleges, and other state-owned,
  201  municipally owned, and county-owned public buildings and any
  202  private facility that the owner, in writing, agrees to provide
  203  for use as a public hurricane evacuation shelter to identify
  204  those that are appropriately designed and located to serve as
  205  such shelters. The owners of the facilities must be given the
  206  opportunity to participate in the surveys. The state university
  207  boards of trustees, district school boards, Florida College
  208  System institution community college boards of trustees, and the
  209  Department of Education are responsible for coordinating and
  210  implementing the survey of public schools, state universities,
  211  and Florida College System institutions community colleges with
  212  the division or the local emergency management agency.
  213         (4)(a) Public facilities, including schools, postsecondary
  214  education facilities, and other facilities owned or leased by
  215  the state or local governments, but excluding hospitals, hospice
  216  care facilities, assisted living facilities, and nursing homes,
  217  which are suitable for use as public hurricane evacuation
  218  shelters shall be made available at the request of the local
  219  emergency management agencies. The local emergency management
  220  agency shall coordinate with these entities to ensure that
  221  designated facilities are ready to activate prior to a specific
  222  hurricane or disaster. Such agencies shall coordinate with the
  223  appropriate school board, state university, Florida College
  224  System institution community college, state agency, or local
  225  governing board when requesting the use of such facilities as
  226  public hurricane evacuation shelters.
  227         Section 6. This act shall take effect upon becoming a law.

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