81R5246 EAH-D
By: Corte H.B. No. 1831
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to emergency management.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Sections 418.005(a) and (b), Government Code,
are amended to read as follows:
(a) This section applies only to an elected or appointed
public officer of the state or of a political subdivision who has
management or supervisory responsibilities and:
(1) whose position description, job duties, or
assignment includes emergency management responsibilities; or
(2) who plays a role in emergency preparedness,
response, or recovery.
(b) Each person described by Subsection (a) shall complete a
course of training provided or approved by the division of not less
than three hours regarding the responsibilities of state and local
governments under this chapter not later than the 180th day after
the date the person:
(1) takes the oath of office, if the person is required
to take an oath of office to assume the person's duties as a [an
appointed] public officer; or
(2) otherwise assumes responsibilities as a [an
appointed] public officer, if the person is not required to take an
oath of office to assume the person's duties.
SECTION 2. Section 418.013, Government Code, is amended by
amending Subsection (b) and adding Subsection (d) to read as
follows:
(b) The emergency management council is composed of
representatives [the heads] of state agencies, boards, [and]
commissions, and [representatives of] organized volunteer groups
designated by the head of each entity.
(d) The council shall assist the division in identifying,
mobilizing, and deploying state resources to respond to major
emergencies and disasters throughout the state.
SECTION 3. Section 418.042(a), Government Code, is amended
to read as follows:
(a) The division shall prepare and keep current a
comprehensive state emergency management plan. The plan may
include:
(1) provisions for prevention and minimization of
injury and damage caused by disaster;
(2) provisions for prompt and effective response to
disaster;
(3) provisions for emergency relief;
(4) provisions for energy emergencies;
(5) identification of areas particularly vulnerable
to disasters;
(6) recommendations for zoning, building
restrictions, and other land-use controls, safety measures for
securing mobile homes or other nonpermanent or semipermanent
structures, and other preventive and preparedness measures
designed to eliminate or reduce disasters or their impact;
(7) provisions for assistance to local officials in
designing local emergency management plans;
(8) authorization and procedures for the erection or
other construction of temporary works designed to protect against
or mitigate danger, damage, or loss from flood, fire, or other
disaster;
(9) preparation and distribution to the appropriate
state and local officials of state catalogs of federal, state, and
private assistance programs;
(10) organization of manpower and channels of
assistance;
(11) coordination of federal, state, and local
emergency management activities;
(12) coordination of the state emergency management
plan with the emergency management plans of the federal government;
(13) coordination of federal and state energy
emergency plans; and
(14) [provisions for education and training of local
officials on activation of the Emergency Alert System established
under 47 C.F.R. Part 11; and
[(15)] other necessary matters relating to disasters.
SECTION 4. Section 418.045, Government Code, is amended to
read as follows:
Sec. 418.045. TEMPORARY PERSONNEL. (a) The division may
employ or contract with temporary personnel from funds appropriated
to the division, from federal funds, or from the disaster
contingency fund. The merit system does not apply to the temporary
or contract positions.
(b) The division may enroll, organize, train, and equip a
cadre of disaster reservists with specialized skills in disaster
recovery, hazard mitigation, community outreach, and public
information to temporarily augment its permanent staff. The
division may activate enrolled disaster reservists to support
recovery operations in the aftermath of a disaster or major
emergency and pay them at a daily rate commensurate with their
qualifications and experience. Chapter 654, Chapter 2254, and
Subtitle D, Title 10, do not apply in relation to a disaster
reservist under this subsection.
SECTION 5. Section 418.048, Government Code, is amended to
read as follows:
Sec. 418.048. MONITORING WEATHER[; SUSPENSION OF WEATHER
MODIFICATION]. [(a)] The division shall keep continuously
apprised of weather conditions that present danger of climatic
activity, such as precipitation, severe enough to constitute a
disaster.
[(b) If the division determines that precipitation that may
result from weather modification operations, either by itself or in
conjunction with other precipitation or climatic conditions or
activity, would create or contribute to the severity of a disaster,
it shall request in the name of the governor that the officer or
agency empowered to issue permits for weather modification
operations suspend the issuance of permits. On the governor's
request, no permits may be issued until the division informs the
officer or agency that the danger has passed.]
SECTION 6. Section 418.1015, Government Code, is amended by
adding Subsection (d) to read as follows:
(d) An emergency management director exercising under
Subsection (b) a power granted to the governor may not seize or use
state or federal resources without prior authorization from the
state or federal agency having responsibility for those resources.
SECTION 7. Section 418.107(b), Government Code, is amended
to read as follows:
(b) Political subdivisions may make agreements for the
purpose of organizing emergency management service divisions and
provide for a mutual method of financing the organization of units
on a basis satisfactory to the subdivisions. [The functioning of
the units shall be coordinated by the emergency management
council.]
SECTION 8. Section 418.108(d), Government Code, is amended
to read as follows:
(d) A declaration of local disaster activates the
appropriate recovery and rehabilitation aspects of all applicable
local or interjurisdictional emergency management plans and
authorizes the furnishing of aid and assistance under the
declaration. The appropriate preparedness and response aspects of
the plans are activated as provided in the plans and take effect
immediately after the local state of disaster is declared.
SECTION 9. Section 418.117, Government Code, is amended to
read as follows:
Sec. 418.117. LICENSE PORTABILITY. If the assistance of a
person who holds a license, certificate, permit, or other document
evidencing qualification in a professional, mechanical, or other
skill is requested by a state agency or local government entity
under the system, the person is considered licensed, certified,
permitted, or otherwise documented in the political subdivision in
which the service is provided as long as the service is required,
subject to any limitations imposed by the chief executive officer
or the governing body of the requesting state agency or local
government entity.
SECTION 10. Section 418.172(b), Government Code, is amended
to read as follows:
(b) If sufficient funds are not available for the required
insurance, an agency may request funding from [petition] the
disaster contingency fund [emergency funding board] to purchase the
insurance [on the agency's behalf. The board may spend money from
that fund for that purpose].
SECTION 11. Section 771.051(a), Health and Safety Code, is
amended to read as follows:
(a) The commission is the state's authority on emergency
communications. The commission shall:
(1) administer the implementation of statewide 9-1-1
service and the telecommunications requirements for poison control
centers under Chapter 777;
(2) develop minimum performance standards for
equipment and operation of 9-1-1 service to be followed in
developing regional plans under Section 771.055, including
requirements that the plans provide for:
(A) automatic number identification by which the
telephone number of the caller is automatically identified at the
public safety answering point receiving the call; and
(B) other features the commission considers
appropriate;
(3) examine and approve or disapprove regional plans
as provided by Section 771.056;
(4) recommend minimum training standards, assist in
training, and provide assistance in the establishment and operation
of 9-1-1 service;
(5) allocate money to prepare and operate regional
plans as provided by Section 771.056;
(6) develop and provide public education materials and
training;
(7) plan, implement, operate, and maintain poison
control center databases and assist in planning, supporting, and
facilitating 9-1-1 databases, as needed;
(8) provide grants or contracts for services that
enhance the effectiveness of 9-1-1 service;
(9) coordinate emergency communications services and
providers;
(10) make reasonable efforts to gain voluntary
cooperation in the commission's activities of emergency
communications authorities and providers outside the commission's
jurisdiction, including:
(A) making joint communications to state and
federal regulators; and
(B) arranging cooperative purchases of equipment
or services; [and]
(11) provide education for local officials on the
operation of the Emergency Alert System, including how to:
(A) access the system to issue warnings to the
public; and
(B) provide information about emergency
situations to the public; and
(12) accept, receive, and deposit in its account in
the general revenue fund gifts, grants, and royalties from public
and private entities. Gifts, grants, and royalties may be used for
the purposes of the commission.
SECTION 12. On the effective date of this Act, the disaster
emergency funding board is abolished.
SECTION 13. Section 418.072, Government Code, is repealed.
SECTION 14. The changes in law made by this Act by the
amendment of Section 418.005, Government Code, apply only to a
public officer elected or appointed on or after the effective date
of this Act. A public officer elected or appointed before the
effective date of this Act is governed by the law in effect
immediately before that date, and the former law is continued in
effect for that purpose.
SECTION 15. This Act takes effect September 1, 2009.