UNOFFICIAL COPY 23 RS HB 157/GA
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AN ACT relating to urban search and rescue and making an appropriation therefor. 1
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Kentucky: 2
SECTION 1. A NEW SECTION OF KRS CHAPTER 39A IS CREATED TO 3
READ AS FOLLOWS: 4
(1) The Division of Emergency Management shall establish the Kentucky Urban 5
Search and Rescue Program. 6
(2) The Kentucky Urban Search and Rescue Program shall develop, coordinate, 7
respond to, and maintain the Commonwealth's efforts toward providing resources 8
to locate and extricate victims entrapped by man-made or natural disasters as 9
well as conducting other operations within the boundaries of the Commonwealth 10
or in coordinated response with other states or the federal government. This 11
program shall function in addition to and shall not supplant other disaster and 12
emergency response efforts in this chapter. 13
(3) The director of the Division of Emergency Management shall employ an 14
individual to assist with the administrative requirements associated with the 15
establishment and maintenance of the Kentucky Urban Search and Rescue 16
Program who shall report directly to the director. The director shall employ other 17
personnel to assist in the operations of the program including personnel 18
overseeing urban search and rescue operations, planning, and logistics. In 19
addition, the division shall provide technical, clerical, and administrative 20
assistance for the program, together with necessary office space and facilities that 21
shall include necessary training facilities and warehouses for equipment, and 22
personnel, and shall provide any other services and support necessary for the 23
program to perform its functions. 24
(4) (a) The division shall develop policies and procedures for the following: 25
1. Organization and decision-making processes to establish lines of 26
authority and control, goals, and objectives required to accomplish 27 UNOFFICIAL COPY 23 RS HB 157/GA
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missions of the program response teams; 1
2. Membership of the response teams; 2
3. Staffing, in the administrative capacities of the program and of the 3
response teams themselves; 4
4. Participation and qualification requirements of response team 5
members, including but not limited to training, meeting times, skills 6
and abilities, removals, and resignations; 7
5. Uniforms and equipment; 8
6. Discipline and professional conduct of response teams; 9
7. Operations of the division in relation to response teams, including but 10
not limited to mobilization, deployment, and bases of operation; and 11
8. Any other issues concerning the operation of the program. 12
(b) The division shall promulgate administrative regulations in accordance 13
with KRS Chapter 13A for the following: 14
1. Accidents and injuries of response team members, who shall be 15
covered by workers' compensation benefits paid by the division when 16
responding to, performing, or returning from urban search and rescue 17
operations that are authorized by the division and when those 18
individuals have registered for benefits as required by the division; 19
2. Procedures for the reimbursement of agencies participating in the 20
program for expenses related to response team deployment; and 21
3. Any other issues concerning the operation of the program. 22
(5) (a) There is hereby established in the State Treasury a restricted fund to be 23
known as the Kentucky Urban Search and Rescue Program fund. 24
(b) The fund shall consist of moneys received from grants, gifts, state 25
appropriations, and federal funds. 26
(c) The fund shall be administered by the division. 27 UNOFFICIAL COPY 23 RS HB 157/GA
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(d) Amounts in the fund shall be used only for the administration of the 1
program. 2
(e) Notwithstanding KRS 45.229, fund amounts not expended at the close of a 3
fiscal year shall not lapse but shall be carried forward to the next fiscal 4
year. 5
(f) Any interest earnings of the fund shall become a part of the fund and shall 6
not lapse. 7
(g) Moneys deposited in the fund are hereby appropriated for the purposes set 8
forth in this section and shall not be appropriated or transferred by the 9
General Assembly for any other purposes. 10
Section 2. The Division of Emergency Management shall make a report to the 11
Interim Joint Committee on Appropriations and Revenue prior to December 1, 2023, that 12
contains draft language of the policies procedures and administrative regulations 13
pertaining to the operations of the urban search and rescue program set out in Section 1 of 14
this Act. 15
Section 3. The Division of Emergency Management shall only be required to 16
provide for the staffing, technical, clerical, administrative assistance, office space, and 17
facilities of the Kentucky Urban Search and Rescue Program, all as set out in subsection 18
(3) of Section 1 of this Act, when moneys are made available in the restricted fund as set 19
out in subsection (5) of Section 1 of this Act. The provisions in subsection (3) of Section 20
1 of this Act may be phased in by the Division as funding is made available. 21