Bill Text: HI HR71 | 2010 | Regular Session | Introduced

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Bill Title: Disaster Preparedness; Electrical Generators

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 4-0)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2010-03-18 - (H) The committee(s) recommends that the measure be deferred. [HR71 Detail]

Download: Hawaii-2010-HR71-Introduced.html

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HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES	H.R. NO.	71
TWENTY-FIFTH LEGISLATURE, 2010
STATE OF HAWAII

HOUSE RESOLUTION

 

 

requesting the Civil Defense Division of the Department of Defense to prepare a report on the feasibility of requiring all retail gasoline stations in the State to be pre-wired for electrical generators.

 

 

 

     WHEREAS, natural disasters occur throughout the United States; and

 

     WHEREAS, in 2005, Hurricane Katrina drew attention to many inadequacies in public agencies' ability to respond to the disaster and deliver relief; and

 

     WHEREAS, after Hurricane Katrina passed, electricity was disrupted for weeks for homes, businesses, and government offices throughout the affected areas of the Gulf Coast, including gasoline stations; and

 

     WHEREAS, although gasoline stations' storage tanks were stocked with fuel, there was no electricity to power the fuel pumps, which hampered efforts to evacuate residents or transport relief to the disaster zone; and

 

     WHEREAS, Florida, also frequently affected by hurricanes, later responded to this by requiring gasoline stations throughout the state to install wiring for electrical generators that may be connected during a natural disaster; and

 

     WHEREAS, Florida's law also mandates new construction or remodeling of gasoline stations to include the installation of a transfer switch to use a generator, copies of the installation documentation to be kept on site, and periodic testing of the equipment; and

 

     WHEREAS, Hawaii's hurricane season each year puts it in danger of possible devastation from a major storm; and

 

     WHEREAS, there are two hundred eighty-three retail gasoline stations throughout Hawaii; and

 

     WHEREAS, if Hawaii's retail gasoline stations were required to have generators on hand or available for connection to installed wiring within twenty-four hours of an emergency, this would help ensure that gasoline stations would be able to function if a hurricane or other disaster disrupted electricity, and would allow residents to evacuate affected areas quickly and return home safely; now, therefore,

 

     BE IT RESOLVED by the House of Representatives of the Twenty-fifth Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2010, that the Civil Defense Division of the Department of Defense is requested to prepare a report on the feasibility of requiring all retail gasoline stations in the State to be pre-wired for electrical generators; and

 

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that this body requests that the report contain information relating to:

 

     (1)  The estimated costs associated with the project;

 

(2)  Any federal homeland security funds or pre-disaster funds that may be available to offset the costs; and

 

(3)  Availability of qualified persons and businesses in Hawaii to prepare the installations and ongoing periodic testing; and

 

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Civil Defense Division is requested to report its findings and recommendations to the Legislature not later than twenty days prior to the convening of the Regular Session of 2011; and

 

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Resolution be transmitted to the Adjutant General and the

Director of the Civil Defense Division of the Department of Defense.

 

 

 

	OFFERED BY:	_____________________________

Report Title: 

Disaster Preparedness; Electrical Generators