Bill Text: HI HB765 | 2021 | Regular Session | Amended
Bill Title: Relating To Mobile Emergency Management Services.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 3-0)
Status: (Engrossed - Dead) 2021-04-21 - Conference Committee Meeting will reconvene on Friday 04-23-21 9:15AM in conference room CR 229. [HB765 Detail]
Download: Hawaii-2021-HB765-Amended.html
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HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES |
H.B. NO. |
765 |
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THIRTY-FIRST LEGISLATURE, 2021 |
H.D. 1 |
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STATE OF HAWAII |
S.D. 1 |
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A BILL FOR AN ACT
RELATING TO MOBILE EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT SERVICES.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF HAWAII:
SECTION 1.
The legislature finds that climate change
is causing a dramatic increase in extreme weather events globally. According to the October 13, 2020, issue of Yale
Environment 360, an online publication by the Yale School of the Environment,
climate-related disasters increased eighty-three
per cent from 3,656 events during the 1980-1999 period to 6,681 in the past twenty
years. Major floods have more than
doubled, the number of severe storms has risen forty per cent, and there have
been major increases in droughts, wildfires, and heatwaves.
Here in Hawaii, effects of climate change
include increases in the number of wildfires, sea surface and air temperatures,
coastal erosion, and extreme rain. The State
has also set new records in the occurrence of tropical cyclones and recorded
more hurricanes, including 2018's Lane and Hector, in surrounding waters.
Against this backdrop, the legislature finds
that emergency management systems must be bolstered. The Hawaii emergency management agency is tasked,
among other things, with anticipating trends and promoting innovations that will
enhance the emergency management system for the State, and taking steps that include
the partial or full mobilization of emergency management forces and organizations
in advance of an actual emergency, to ensure the availability of adequately equipped
forces before, during, and after emergencies and disasters.
The legislature further finds that a key step
in this preparation is providing equipment for mobile emergency response communications,
power, and water services that will enable the Hawaii emergency management agency
to equitably distribute resources in times of disaster or hazards. Mobile emergency communications units similar to
the geographically dispersed mobile emergency response support detachments and mobile
office vehicles deployed by the Federal Emergency Management Agency would provide
a lifeline to residents whose communications services have been disrupted, including
potential for workstations and satellite communications with voice and data connectivity.
The legislature finds that a mobile emergency
water treatment system capable of treating a wide variety of contaminated water
following a natural or manmade disaster should also be available. Although bottled water is typically an easy first
choice, excessive dependence on bottled water creates a large solid waste disposal
problem, and a mobile emergency water treatment system would also provide versatility
for non-drinking water applications.
The legislature also finds that mobile power
centers or generators would help to rebuild a community struggling to recover from
disaster. A combination of these infrastructure
resources, capable of being transported to communities in need, will prove invaluable
to the agency and the State.
Accordingly, the purpose of this Act is to appropriate funds for the Hawaii emergency management agency to acquire mobile communications, water, and power service capabilities that can be deployed to each county as needed.
SECTION 2. There is appropriated out of the general revenues of the State of Hawaii the sum of $ or so much thereof as may be necessary for fiscal year 2021-2022 and the same sum or so much thereof as may be necessary for fiscal year 2022-2023 for the Hawaii emergency management agency to acquire mobile communications, water, and power service capabilities that can be deployed to each county as needed.
The sums appropriated shall be expended by the Hawaii emergency management agency for the purposes of this Act.
SECTION 3. This Act shall take effect on July 1, 2051.
Report Title:
Mobile Emergency Management Services; Hawaii Emergency Management Agency; Appropriation
Description:
Appropriates funds for the Hawaii emergency management agency to acquire mobile communications, water, and power service capabilities that can be deployed to each county as needed. Effective 7/1/2051. (SD1)
The summary description
of legislation appearing on this page is for informational purposes only and is
not legislation or evidence of legislative intent.
