Bill Text: VA HB1998 | 2017 | Regular Session | Comm Sub
Bill Title: Secure and Resilient Commonwealth Panel; revises membership and duties, report.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)
Status: (Passed) 2017-03-16 - Governor: Acts of Assembly Chapter text (CHAP0512) [HB1998 Detail]
Download: Virginia-2017-HB1998-Comm_Sub.html
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia:
1. That §§2.2-222.3 and 44-46.40 of the Code of Virginia are amended and reenacted as follows:
§2.2-222.3. Secure and Resilient Commonwealth Panel; membership; duties; compensation; staff.
A. The Secure and Resilient Commonwealth Panel (the
Panel) is established as an advisory board, within the meaning of §2.2-2100,
in the executive branch of state government. The Panel shall consist of 34
35 members as follows: three members of the House of Delegates, one of
whom shall be the Chairman of the House Committee on Militia, Police and Public
Safety, and two nonlegislative citizens to be appointed by the Speaker of
the House of Delegates; three members of the Senate of Virginia, one of whom
shall be the Chairman of the Senate Committee on General Laws and Technology,
and two nonlegislative citizens to be appointed by the Senate Committee on
Rules; the Lieutenant Governor; the Attorney General; the Executive Secretary
of the Supreme Court of Virginia; the Secretaries of Commerce and Trade, Health
and Human Resources, Technology, Transportation, Public Safety and Homeland
Security, and Veterans and Defense Affairs,; the State Coordinator of
Emergency Management; the Superintendent of State Police; and the Adjutant
General of the Virginia National Guard, or their designees; two local first
responders; three two local government representatives; two
physicians with knowledge of public health; four five members
from the business or industry sector; and four two citizens from
the Commonwealth at large. Except for appointments made by the Speaker of the
House of Delegates and the Senate Committee on Rules, all appointments shall be
made by the Governor. The Public Safety Subcommittee of the Senate Finance
Committee shall appoint one ex officio member who is either a member of such
subcommittee or a member of the Senate Finance Committee staff. The Public
Safety Subcommittee of the House Appropriations Committee shall appoint one ex
officio member who is either a member of such subcommittee or a member of the
House Appropriations Committee staff. Additional ex officio members may be
appointed to the Panel by the Governor. Legislative members shall serve terms
coincident with their terms of office or until their successors shall qualify.
Nonlegislative citizen members shall serve for terms of four years. Ex
officio members shall serve at the pleasure of the person or entity by whom
they were appointed. The Secretary of Public Safety and Homeland Security
shall be the chairman of the Panel.
B. The Panel shall have as its primary focus emergency
management and homeland security within the Commonwealth to ensure that
prevention, protection, mitigation, response, and recovery programs,
initiatives, and activities, both at the state and local levels, are fully
integrated, suitable, and effective in addressing risks from man-made and
natural disasters. The Panel shall monitor and assess the implementation
of statewide prevention, preparedness, response, and recovery initiatives and
where necessary review, evaluate, and make recommendations relating to the
emergency preparedness of government at all levels in the Commonwealth
concerning implementation of such initiatives. The Panel shall also make such
recommendations as it deems necessary to enhance or improve the resiliency of
public and private critical infrastructure to mitigate against man-made and
natural disasters. The
C. The Panel shall carry out the provisions of Title 3, Public Law 99-499. The Panel shall convene at least biennially to discuss (i) changing and persistent risks to the Commonwealth from threats, hazards, vulnerabilities, and consequences and (ii) plans and resources to address those risks.
D. On or before October 1 of each year, the Panel shall
make annual reports report to the Governor, the Senate Committee
on Finance, the Senate Committee on General Laws and Technology, the House
Committee on Appropriations, and the House Committee on Militia, Police and
Public Safety concerning the state's state of the Commonwealth's
emergency preparedness, response, recovery, and prevention,
protection, mitigation, response, and recovery efforts and the resources
necessary to implement them. Such report may, with the concurrence of
the Governor, include sensitive information, which information is excluded from
disclosure in accordance with subdivisions 2, 3, 4, and 6 of §2.2-3705.2 and
which, if revealed publicly, would jeopardize or compromise security plans and
procedures in the Commonwealth designed to protect (i) the public or (ii)
public or private critical infrastructure. Any sensitive information presented
to any committee of the General Assembly shall be discussed in a closed meeting
as provided in subdivision 19 of §2.2-3711.
E. The Panel shall designate an Emergency Management Awareness Group (the Group) consisting of the Secretary of Public Safety and Homeland Security, the Lieutenant Governor, the Attorney General, and the Chairmen of the House Committee on Militia, Police and Public Safety and the Senate Committee on General Laws and Technology to facilitate communication between the executive, legislative, and judicial branches of state government. The Group shall convene at the call of the Secretary of Public Safety and Homeland Security during a state of emergency to share critical information concerning such situation and the impact on the Commonwealth and its branches of government. The Secretary of Public Safety and Homeland Security shall (i) advise the Panel whenever the Group meets and (ii) facilitate communication between the Group and the Panel. The Secretary of Public Safety and Homeland Security shall assist, to the extent provided by law, in obtaining access to classified information for the Group when such information is necessary to enable the Group to perform its duties.
C. F. Members of the Panel shall serve without
compensation but shall be reimbursed for all reasonable and necessary expenses
incurred in the discharge of their duties as provided in §2.2-2825.
D. G. Staff support for the Panel and funding
for the costs of expenses of the members shall be provided by the Secretary of
Public Safety and Homeland Security.
E. H. The Secretary shall facilitate
cabinet-level coordination among the various agencies of state government
related to emergency preparedness and shall facilitate private sector
preparedness and communication.
§44-146.40. Joint emergency planning committee; certain localities.
A. There is hereby created the Virginia Emergency Response
Council to carry out the provisions of Title 3, Public Law 99-499.
B. The Virginia Emergency Response Council shall consist of
such state agency heads or designated representatives with technical expertise
in the emergency response field as the Governor shall appoint. The Governor
shall designate a chairman from among its members.
C. The Virginia Emergency Response Council, known as the
"Virginia Council," shall designate an appropriate state agency to
receive funds provided under Title 3, Public Law 99-499.
D. The Virginia Council shall adopt rules and procedures in
accordance with the provisions of the Administrative Process Act, Chapter 40 (§
2.2-4000 et seq.) for the conduct of its business.
E. Any person appointed by the Virginia Emergency Response
Council as a member of a local emergency planning committee shall be immune
from civil liability for any official act, decision or omission done or made in
performance of his duties as a member of such local council, provided that the
act, decision or omission was not done or made in bad faith or with malicious
intent or does not constitute gross negligence. No member of any emergency
planning committee nor any state agency on behalf of such member need make a
payment into the state insurance trust fund under §2.2-1835 for this purpose.
F. Any joint emergency planning committee serving
Fairfax County and the City of Fairfax shall have the authority to require any
facility within its emergency planning district to submit the information
required and participate in the emergency planning provided for in Subtitle A
of Title 3 of Public Law 99-499. For the purposes of this subsection
section, "facility" shall include any development or installation
having an aggregate storage capacity of at least one million gallons of oil as
defined in §62.1-44.34:10, or the potential for a sudden release of 10,000
pounds or more of any other flammable liquid or gas not exempt from the
provisions of §327 of Title 3 of Public Law 99-499. This requirement shall not
occur until after public notice and the opportunity to comment. The committee
shall notify the facility owner or operator of any requirement to comply with
this subsection section.