Bill Text: NJ S2436 | 2016-2017 | Regular Session | Amended
Bill Title: Establishes central registry of residents with special needs for use during emergencies.
Spectrum: Bipartisan Bill
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2017-05-08 - Referred to Senate Budget and Appropriations Committee [S2436 Detail]
Download: New_Jersey-2016-S2436-Amended.html
Sponsored by:
Senator CHRISTOPHER "KIP" BATEMAN
District 16 (Hunterdon, Mercer, Middlesex and Somerset)
Senator LINDA R. GREENSTEIN
District 14 (Mercer and Middlesex)
SYNOPSIS
Establishes central registry of residents with special needs for use during emergencies.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
As reported by the Senate Law and Public Safety Committee on May 8, 2017, with amendments.
An Act concerning a central registry of residents with special needs for use in an emergency and supplementing P.L.1989, c.3 (C.52:17C-1 et seq.).
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. a. The Office of Emergency Telecommunications Services in the Office of Information Technology shall establish a central registry of residents with special needs who require additional assistance 1[provided to them]1 during an emergency. The office shall maintain the central registry created pursuant to this section, which shall be composed of information voluntarily provided by each registrant including, but not limited to, the registrant's address, telephone number, and particular condition or assistance needs.
b. The office shall provide to each municipal, county, and regional police department, fire department, and emergency service organization a list of residents with special needs 1[that] who1 have registered with the central registry and 1[who]1 reside in a municipality, county, or region 1which is served by1 that 1[the]1 police department, fire department, or emergency service organization 1[serves]1.
c. 1[The office shall conduct a public awareness campaign, utilizing the Internet and any other available resources, to inform the public of the importance of identifying and registering individuals with special needs prior to an emergency so that appropriate preparations may be made to ensure that these individuals receive necessary assistance during an emergency.
d.]1 Municipal, county, and regional police departments, fire departments, and emergency service organizations shall use information collected for purposes of a central registry created pursuant to this section to prepare for and provide assistance to residents with special needs when responding to 9-1-1 calls and other emergencies, and shall not otherwise divulge or make the information publicly available.
1d. The office shall conduct a public awareness campaign, utilizing the Internet and any other available resources, to inform the public of the importance of identifying and registering individuals with special needs prior to an emergency so that appropriate preparations may be made to ensure that these individuals receive necessary assistance during an emergency.1
e. The Director of the State Office of Emergency Management, at the director's discretion, may access and obtain information from the central registry to prepare an Emergency Operations Plan required pursuant to section 19 of P.L.1989, c.222 (C.App.A:9-43.2).
f. The central registry maintained by the office and any information contained therein, or accessed and provided to municipal, county, and regional police departments, fire departments, and emergency service organizations in accordance with subsection b. of this section, or accessed and provided to the Director of the State Office of Emergency Management in accordance with subsection e. of this section, shall not be included under materials available for public inspection pursuant to P.L.1963, c.73 (C.47:1A-1 et seq.) or P.L.2001, c.404 (C.47:1A-5 et al.).
g. The provisions of this section shall not limit the ability of a county to establish its own central registry of residents with special needs who require additional assistance 1[provided to them]1 during an emergency pursuant to section 6 of P.L.2011, c.178 (C.App.A:9-43.13).
2. This act shall take effect immediately.
