Bill Text: HI SB293 | 2018 | Regular Session | Amended

Hawaii Senate Bill 293 (Prior Session Legislation)

Bill Title: Relating To Statewide Interoperable Public Safety Communications.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 2-0)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2017-11-30 - Carried over to 2018 Regular Session. [SB293 Detail]

Download: Hawaii-2018-SB293-Amended.html

THE SENATE	S.B. NO.	293
TWENTY-NINTH LEGISLATURE, 2017		S.D. 1
STATE OF HAWAII

A BILL FOR AN ACT

RELATING TO STATEWIDE INTEROPERABLE PUBLIC SAFETY COMMUNICATIONS.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF HAWAII:

SECTION 1. The Oklahoma City bombing, the attacks of September 11, 2001, Hurricane Katrina in 2005, and other subsequent terrorist and natural disasters have repeatedly exposed the communications challenges faced by first responders in communicating with each other. These challenges to robust and sustainable interoperable public safety communications include a lack of essential public safety communications staff, existing staff are in disparate organizations or entities such that a lack of coordination and cooperation among agencies is the result, inadequate coordination in planning, lack of policies and procedures, incompatible communications equipment that may also be reaching the end of its useful life, equipment and resources in multiple and disparate locations with inconsistent or non-existent intra-agency or intra-entity coordination, and limitations on funding. To deal with interoperable communications issues, Congress passed Title XVIII of the Homeland Security Act of 2002, as amended, which requires the United States Department of Homeland Security, Office of Emergency Communications, to develop and update a national emergency communications plan to ensure that emergency responders at all levels of government and disciplines have interoperable communications by identifying capabilities and initiatives and setting strategic goals and national objectives. To help states improve state and local interoperability communications, homeland security grants for communication interoperability initiatives require each state to establish a statewide communication interoperability plan that includes annual updates.

The legislature finds that as a matter of policy, all efforts should be made to ensure that all county and state public safety agencies have interoperable communications and engage in coordinated planning, equipment purchases, and infrastructure development. To achieve statewide interoperability, all stakeholders must be involved in the collaboration and development of shared objectives and strategies.

The purpose of this Act is to establish a statewide governance system that includes an interoperability executive board to set the overarching policy, guidance, and direction for statewide interoperable public safety communications. It is the intent of the legislature to create a statewide governance board with this Act and that the statewide governance board shall make recommendations to the legislature for improvements and local governance structures that will coordinate with the statewide governance board.

SECTION 2. Chapter 128A is amended by adding a new part to be appropriately designated and to read as follows:

"PART II. Statewide Public Safety Communications Interoperability

§128A- Statewide interoperability executive board. (a) There is established within the department of defense for administrative purposes the statewide interoperability executive board which shall be the primary steering group for the Hawaii statewide communications interoperability plan.

(b) The members of the statewide interoperability executive board shall consist of:

(1) The adjutant general, or designee, who shall serve as the chair of the board;

(2) The attorney general, or designee, who shall serve as the co-chair of the board;

(3) The deputy director of law enforcement of the department of public safety, or designee;

(4) The director of transportation, or designee;

(5) The chairperson of the board of land and natural resources, or designee;

(6) The director of health, or designee;

(7) The comptroller, or designee;

(8) The chief information officer of the office of enterprise technology services, or designee; provided that the designee shall be a decision maker and knowledgeable with public safety communications;

(9) The mayor of each county, or designee; provided that the position of the designee shall be no lower than that of the managing director or the chief of staff;

(10) The chair of the Hawaii Fire Chiefs Association, or designee;

(11) One chief of police, or designee, who shall be selected by all chiefs of police in Hawaii;

(12) The chairperson of the enhanced 9-1-1 board, or designee;

(13) The chairperson of the 700 MHz Regional Planning Committee, or designee;

(14) One senator appointed by the president of the senate with an interest in public safety communications; and

(15) One representative appointed by the speaker of the house of representatives with an interest in public safety communications.

For purposes of this subsection, each designee shall have the authority to act on behalf of the member identified for membership.

(c) Members of the board shall receive no compensation but shall be reimbursed for travel and other reasonable and necessary expenses incurred in carrying out their duties relating to the board.

(d) Persons holding public office or employment in the state government, or any political subdivision thereof, shall be eligible for appointment to the board.

§128A- Duties of the state interoperability executive board. (a) The state interoperability executive board shall have the following duties:

(1) Develop, annually update, and monitor implementation of the statewide communication interoperability plan that shall be designed to achieve statewide interoperable public safety communications;

(2) Establish, develop, and recommend policies and strategies to improve public safety communications interoperability among state and county public safety agencies and, where possible, federal agencies;

(3) Develop standards, plans, and policies to encourage and foster consistent design and development of public safety communications infrastructure and systems;

(4) Where appropriate, recommend changes and improvements to existing public safety communications infrastructure and governance as required or appropriate for implementation of interoperability plans;

(5) Develop recommendations for legislation to promote statewide public safety communications interoperability and governance at the state and county levels;

(6) Develop recommendations for state and county policies to promote statewide public safety communications interoperability;

(7) Coordinate state and county activities relating to obtaining, implementing, and using federal grants for support and coordination of public safety interoperable communications systems, resources, staffing, infrastructure, equipment, and training;

(8) Conduct and submit an annual update of the interoperability plan to the United States Department of Homeland Security, Office of Emergency Communications, or its successor, aligning the update with standards established in the national emergency communications plan by the federal office;

(9) Coordinate statewide interoperability activities among state and county agencies, and, as appropriate, federal agencies;

(10) Advise the governor, the chief information officer, and the legislature on the implementation of the interoperability plan;

(11) Submit a report to the legislature no later than twenty days prior to the convening of each regular session on the status of the interoperability plan and the activities of the board; and

(12) Adopt rules necessary to carry out the board's duties and powers; provided that chapter 91 shall not apply to rules of the board.

§128A- Statewide interoperability coordinator. (a) There shall be a statewide interoperability coordinator to serve as the central coordination point for the Hawaii statewide communication interoperability plan and, through coordination and collaboration with agencies and entities in the homeland security and emergency response communities, the implementation of the interoperability plan.

(b) The statewide interoperability coordinator shall have the following duties:

(1) Assist the state interoperability executive board in coordinating and collaborating with state and county responders and public safety communications providers in conducting and submitting annual updates to the statewide communications interoperability plan and other communications related documents;

(2) Ensure that the state and county interoperability plans align with and support local and national communications strategies;

(3) Identify funding opportunities for planned interoperability improvements and coordinate efforts to acquire funding;

(4) Engage stakeholders in coordinating and developing strategic interoperability plans;

(5) Serve as a member of the National Council of Statewide Interoperability Coordinators;

(6) Represent the State and the state interoperability executive council in local, regional, and national efforts to plan and implement changes required to ensure communications operability, interoperability, and continuity of communications for emergency responders in Hawaii;

(7) Perform an analysis of the current status of communications resources, where they exist, the responsible agency or entity, and policies and procedures currently in place and provide the information to the board for development of a state and county public safety interoperable communications strategy;

(8) If the statewide interoperability coordinator is not the first responder network authority state point of contact, the statewide interoperability coordinator shall coordinate with the State's point of contact for all activities related to the nationwide public safety broadband network, also referred to as FirstNet;

(9) Review and approve homeland security grant applications, in coordination with the homeland security administrator, wherein public safety communications equipment is requested, pursuant to grant guidance; and

(10) Perform other duties as necessary and as required by the adjutant general."

SECTION 3. This Act shall take effect on July 1, 2017.

Report Title:

DOD; Executive Board; Public Safety Communications

Description:

Establishes a statewide interoperability executive board to guide and direct statewide interoperable public safety communications. (SD1)

The summary description of legislation appearing on this page is for informational purposes only and is not legislation or evidence of legislative intent.