By: Corte, Edwards, Eiland H.B. No. 1831
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to emergency management and disaster recovery.
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 law enforcement
officer or county judge or an 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;
(14) provisions for informing [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. Subchapter C, Chapter 418, Government Code, is
amended by adding Section 418.0425 to read as follows:
Sec. 418.0425. STATE EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT PLAN ANNEX. (a)
In this section, "critical water or wastewater facility" means a
facility with:
(1) water supply, treatment, or distribution
equipment that is essential to maintain the minimum water pressure
requirements established by the governing body of a municipality or
the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality; or
(2) wastewater collection or treatment equipment that
is essential to prevent the discharge of untreated wastewater to
water in the state.
(b) The division, in cooperation with the emergency
management council, local governments, regional entities, health
and medical facilities, volunteer groups, private sector partners,
the Federal Emergency Management Agency, and other federal
agencies, shall develop an annex to the state emergency management
plan that addresses initial response planning for providing
essential population support supplies, equipment, and services
during the first 120 hours immediately following a disaster. The
annex must include:
(1) provisions for interagency coordination of
disaster response efforts;
(2) provisions for the rapid gross assessment of
population support needs;
(3) plans for the clearance of debris from major
roadways to facilitate emergency response operations and delivery
of essential population support supplies and equipment;
(4) methods to obtain food, water, and ice for
disaster victims through prearranged contracts or suppliers,
stockpiled supplies, or plans to request assistance from federal
agencies, as appropriate;
(5) guidelines for arranging temporary points of
distribution for disaster relief supplies and standardized
procedures for operating those distribution points;
(6) methods for providing basic medical support for
disaster victims, including medical supplies and pharmaceuticals;
(7) provisions, developed in coordination with fuel
suppliers and retailers, for the continued operation of service
stations to provide fuel to disaster victims and emergency
responders; and
(8) provisions for the dissemination of emergency
information through the media to aid disaster victims.
(c) The division, in coordination with the Texas Commission
on Environmental Quality and electric, gas, water, and wastewater
utility providers, shall develop for inclusion in the annex to the
state emergency management plan provisions to provide emergency
power to restore or continue the operation of critical water or
wastewater facilities following a disaster. The provisions must:
(1) establish an online resource database of available
emergency generators configured for transport that are capable of
providing backup power for critical water or wastewater facilities
following a disaster;
(2) include procedures for the maintenance,
activation, transportation, and redeployment of available
emergency generators;
(3) develop a standardized form for use by a water or
wastewater utility provider in developing and maintaining data on
the number and type of emergency generators required for the
operation of the provider's critical water or wastewater facilities
following a disaster; and
(4) include procedures for water or wastewater utility
providers to maintain a current list of generators available in
surrounding areas through mutual aid agreements and through
commercial firms offering generators for rent or lease.
SECTION 5. 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 6. 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 7. 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
governor or the state or federal agency having responsibility for
those resources.
SECTION 8. 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 9. 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 10. 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 11. 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 12. Title 5, Finance Code, is amended by adding
Chapter 397 to read as follows:
CHAPTER 397. MORTGAGE SERVICERS
Sec. 397.001. DEFINITIONS. In this chapter, "mortgage
servicer" and "mortgagee" have the meanings assigned by Section
51.0001, Property Code.
Sec. 397.002. INTEREST ON DISASTER REPAIR MONEY HELD BY
MORTGAGE SERVICER. (a) A mortgage servicer holding money for more
than 10 business days that is received from an insurance provider
for repairs to a mortgagee's property following a disaster declared
under Section 418.014, Government Code, shall pay interest to the
mortgagee.
(b) For purposes of interest payments, the interest shall
accrue from the time a mortgage servicer receives the money from an
insurance provider.
(c) The interest rate that applies for the first 10 days
after the money is received must be not less than the rate that the
mortgage servicer receives on money held in the account in which the
mortgage servicer held the money received from the insurance
provider.
(d) The interest rate that applies after the 10th day is the
minimum rate described by Subsection (c) plus two percent a year.
SECTION 13. On the effective date of this Act, the disaster
emergency funding board is abolished.
SECTION 14. Section 418.072, Government Code, is repealed.
SECTION 15. 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 16. This Act takes effect September 1, 2009.