Bill Text: NY S00094 | 2023-2024 | General Assembly | Introduced
Bill Title: Adds elderly persons to disaster preparedness registries; creates a state emergency assistance database; provides that the disaster preparedness commission shall establish the state emergency assistance database; provides that all records relating to SEAD shall be confidential and the commission shall not be liable for any claim based upon a good faith exercise or performance of duty.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)
Status: (Introduced) 2024-01-03 - REFERRED TO VETERANS, HOMELAND SECURITY AND MILITARY AFFAIRS [S00094 Detail]
Download: New_York-2023-S00094-Introduced.html
STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 94 2023-2024 Regular Sessions IN SENATE (Prefiled) January 4, 2023 ___________ Introduced by Sen. TEDISCO -- read twice and ordered printed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Veterans, Homeland Securi- ty and Military Affairs AN ACT to amend the executive law, in relation to adding elderly persons to disaster preparedness registries and creating a state emergency assistance database The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem- bly, do enact as follows: 1 Section 1. The section heading and subdivisions 1, 2, 3 and 4 of 2 section 23-a of the executive law, as added by chapter 658 of the laws 3 of 1996, are amended to read as follows: 4 County registry of elderly or disabled persons; notice. 1. In each 5 county having a local disaster preparedness plan pursuant to section 6 twenty-three of this article, in order to meet the special needs of 7 persons who would need assistance during evacuations or other emergency 8 situations and sheltering because of physical or mental handicaps, [it9is recommended that] or whose ability to care for themselves during an 10 emergency situation is adversely affected by advanced age, or permanent 11 or temporary medical condition, each chief executive shall maintain a 12 registry of elderly or disabled persons located within the county. The 13 registration shall identify those persons in need of assistance and plan 14 for resource allocation to meet those identified needs. To assist the 15 chief executive in identifying such persons, the county department of 16 health, or such other county department or agency as designated by the 17 chief executive, shall provide voluntary registration information to all 18 of its special needs clients and to all incoming clients as part of the 19 intake process. The registry shall be updated annually at a minimum. 20 The registration program shall give elderly or disabled persons the 21 option of pre-authorizing emergency response personnel to enter their 22 homes during search and rescue operations if necessary to assure their 23 safety and welfare during disasters. 24 2. Upon the establishment of a voluntary registry of elderly or disa- 25 bled persons as provided in subdivision one of this section, the chief EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [] is old law to be omitted. LBD00298-01-3S. 94 2 1 executive shall make such registry available to the appropriate county, 2 state and federal agencies for their use in delivering services in the 3 event of a local or state disaster. The chief executive shall[, upon the4request of the state emergency management office,] provide such registry 5 information to [such office] the state emergency management office, 6 including all annual updates to such registry information, for placement 7 in the State Emergency Assistance Database. The chief executive may, at 8 his discretion, use the registry information for local disaster 9 preparedness only in coordination with other political subdivisions of 10 the state. 11 3. Upon the establishment of a voluntary registry of elderly or disa- 12 bled persons as provided in subdivision one of this section, at least 13 semi-annually, each chief executive shall cause to be published in a 14 newspaper of general circulation within the county a notice of the 15 availability of the voluntary registration program. 16 4. All records, data, information, correspondence and communications 17 relating to the registration of elderly or disabled persons as provided 18 in subdivision one of this section are confidential, except that such 19 information shall be available to other county chief executives for 20 local disaster preparedness only as the chief executive of the county 21 maintaining such registry deems necessary. Provided, however, the indi- 22 vidual file of a person having registered with the registry of disabled 23 persons shall be made available to that person upon request. 24 § 2. Section 23-a of the executive law is amended by adding a new 25 subdivision 7 to read as follows: 26 7. (a) The commission shall establish the State Emergency Assistance 27 Database (SEAD). The SEAD shall be a comprehensive listing of all 28 persons located in the state, who have voluntarily requested placement 29 on any county registry of elderly or disabled persons as established 30 pursuant to this section, and in addition shall accept voluntary regis- 31 trants directly as needed, at which time such registration information 32 collected shall be forwarded to the appropriate county registry. 33 (b) The SEAD shall be made accessible to all such appropriate state 34 and county emergency response personnel and organizations as may be 35 deemed appropriate by the commission in order to properly plan for 36 securing the needs, safety, and well-being of the registrants. This 37 shall include, but not be limited to, planning for evacuations, assess- 38 ing the need for individual evacuations during emergency situations that 39 may not require the evacuation of the general public, prepositioning 40 equipment and supplies, or such other measures as the commission deems 41 necessary to accomplish the objectives of this article. In addition, the 42 SEAD shall be made accessible to all appropriate federal emergency 43 response organizations and shall be made available to such other volun- 44 tary relief organizations as the commission deems necessary. 45 (c) All records, data, information, correspondence and communications 46 relating to the SEAD shall be confidential, except that such information 47 may be made available at the discretion of the commission in furtherance 48 of the objectives of this article. The individual file of a person 49 having registered with the SEAD shall be made available to that person 50 upon request. 51 (d) The commission shall not be liable for any claim based upon the 52 good faith exercise or performance or the good faith failure to exercise 53 or perform a function or duty on the part of any officer or employee in 54 the maintenance or usage of the SEAD. 55 § 3. This act shall take effect immediately.
