Bill Text: NY A08322 | 2021-2022 | General Assembly | Introduced

---

Bill Title: Requires emergency alerts to be issued in the ten most commonly spoken languages in the area covered by such emergency alert.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 7-0)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2022-01-05 - referred to governmental operations [A08322 Detail]

Download: New_York-2021-A08322-Introduced.html

---

                STATE OF NEW YORK
        ________________________________________________________________________

                                          8322

                               2021-2022 Regular Sessions

                   IN ASSEMBLY

                                    October 20, 2021
                                       ___________

        Introduced  by  M. of A. GONZALEZ-ROJAS -- read once and referred to the
          Committee on Governmental Operations

        AN ACT to amend the executive law and the  administrative  code  of  the
          city  of  New  York,  in  relation to requiring emergency alerts to be
          issued in the ten most commonly spoken languages in the  area  covered
          by such emergency alert

          The  People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-
        bly, do enact as follows:

     1    Section 1. Subparagraph 3 of paragraph b of subdivision 3  of  section
     2  22 of the executive law, as amended by section 3 of part B of chapter 56
     3  of the laws of 2010, is amended to read as follows:
     4    (3) a system for warning populations who are or may be endangered. Any
     5  emergency  alert  issued through e-mail, text, phone, social media plat-
     6  form, or internet-based feed shall be issued in no fewer  than  the  ten
     7  most commonly spoken languages within the area covered by such emergency
     8  alert.   Such notifications shall be separated into distinct messages in
     9  separate feeds for each language. A general version of each notification
    10  may be used when a real-time translation is unavailable,  provided  that
    11  priority  shall  be  placed upon making notifications available with the
    12  greatest specificity possible;
    13    § 2. Section 30-115 of the administrative code  of  the  city  of  New
    14  York,  as  added  by local law number 31 of the city of New York for the
    15  year 2017, is amended to read as follows:
    16    § 30-115 Emergency notifications. a. Any emergency alert originated by
    17  a city office or city agency that is issued through a commercial  mobile
    18  service alert system established pursuant to section 1201 of title 47 of
    19  the  United  States  code  shall,  to  the extent practicable and to the
    20  extent permissible under regulations enacted pursuant to  such  section,
    21  be  issued in no fewer than the [two] ten most commonly spoken languages
    22  within the area covered by the emergency  alert  as  determined  by  the
    23  commissioner  in  consultation  with  the  department  of city planning,

         EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                              [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                                   LBD13171-01-1
        A. 8322                             2

     1  provided that this subdivision does not require the issuance of an emer-
     2  gency alert in a language if exigent circumstances prohibit the issuance
     3  of an alert in such language.
     4    b.  Any  emergency  notification system operated and controlled by the
     5  office of emergency management for the purposes of aggregating  informa-
     6  tion  obtained from other offices or agencies to inform the public about
     7  emergencies or disruptive events through  e-mail,  text,  phone,  social
     8  media  platform, or internet-based feed shall offer each notification in
     9  no fewer than the [seven] ten most commonly spoken languages within  the
    10  city  as determined by the commissioner in consultation with the depart-
    11  ment of city planning, provided that this requirement shall not delay or
    12  prohibit the immediate  issuance  of  notifications  in  any  individual
    13  language.  Notifications  shall  be  separated into distinct messages in
    14  separate feeds for each language. A general version of each notification
    15  may be used when a real-time translation is unavailable,  provided  that
    16  priority  shall  be  placed upon making notifications available with the
    17  greatest specificity possible. Any dissemination  limitation  applicable
    18  to  an  English  language  notification may be applied to its equivalent
    19  notification in another language. If no potential  recipient  is  regis-
    20  tered  for  a specific language, then a notification need not be dissem-
    21  inated in that language.
    22    § 3. This act shall take effect on the thirtieth day  after  it  shall
    23  have  become  a  law.    Effective  immediately, the addition, amendment
    24  and/or repeal of any rule or regulation necessary for the implementation
    25  of this act on  its  effective  date  are  authorized  to  be  made  and
    26  completed on or before such effective date.