Title: Disaster Response and Preparedness

Summary: Modifying requirements for the state comprehensive emergency management plan and statewide public awareness programs administered by the Division of Emergency Management; requiring the division to establish and maintain a registry with homeless shelters and service providers for specified purposes; requiring that, upon the request of the director of a local emergency management agency, Florida College System institutions and state universities participate in emergency management activities through the provision of facilities and personnel, etc.

Full Text:
An act relating to disaster response and preparedness; amending s. 252.35, F.S.; modifying requirements for the state comprehensive emergency management plan and statewide public awareness programs administered by the Division of Emergency Management; requiring the division to deploy resources to provide certain guidance to entities to ensure the receipt of maximum allowable reimbursements from the Federal Government for disaster-related expenditures; creating s. 252.3551, F.S.; requiring the division to establish and maintain a registry with homeless shelters and service providers for specified purposes; amending s. 252.3568, F.S.; revising requirements for the development of strategies regarding the sheltering of persons with service animals; requiring the division to publish information on its website regarding policies on the acceptance of service animals or pets at shelters; amending s. 252.38, F.S.; requiring that, upon the request of the director of a local emergency management agency, Florida College System institutions and state universities participate in emergency management activities through the provision of facilities and personnel; requiring Florida College System institutions and state universities that provide transportation assistance in an emergency evacuation to coordinate the use of vehicles and personnel with local emergency management agencies; amending s. 252.385, F.S.; updating references to community colleges; providing an effective date. Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: Section 1. Paragraphs (a) and (i) of subsection (2) of section 252.35, Florida Statutes, are amended, present paragraph (y) of that subsection is redesignated as paragraph (z), and a new paragraph (y) is added to that subsection, to read: 252.35 Emergency management powers; Division of Emergency Management.  (2) The division is responsible for carrying out the provisions of ss. 252.31-252.90. In performing its duties, the division shall: (a) Prepare a state comprehensive emergency management plan, which shall be integrated into and coordinated with the emergency management plans and programs of the Federal Government. The division must adopt the plan as a rule in accordance with chapter 120. The plan shall be implemented by a continuous, integrated comprehensive emergency management program. The plan must contain provisions to ensure that the state is prepared for emergencies and minor, major, and catastrophic disasters, and the division shall work closely with local governments and agencies and organizations with emergency management responsibilities in preparing and maintaining the plan. The state comprehensive emergency management plan shall be operations oriented and: 1. Include an evacuation component that includes specific regional and interregional planning provisions and promotes intergovernmental coordination of evacuation activities. This component must, at a minimum: contain guidelines for lifting tolls on state highways; ensure coordination pertaining to evacuees crossing county lines; set forth procedures for directing people caught on evacuation routes to safe shelter; establish strategies for ensuring sufficient, reasonably priced fueling locations along evacuation routes; and establish policies and strategies for emergency medical evacuations. 2. Include a shelter component that includes specific regional and interregional planning provisions and promotes coordination of shelter activities between the public, private, and nonprofit sectors. This component must, at a minimum: contain strategies to ensure the availability of adequate public shelter space in each region of the state; establish strategies for refuge-of-last-resort programs; provide strategies to assist local emergency management efforts to ensure that adequate staffing plans exist for all shelters, including medical and security personnel; provide for a postdisaster communications system for public shelters; establish model shelter guidelines for operations, registration, inventory, power generation capability, information management, and staffing; and set forth policy guidance for sheltering people with special needs or mental illness and individuals experiencing homelessness.3. Include a postdisaster response and recovery component that includes specific regional and interregional planning provisions and promotes intergovernmental coordination of postdisaster response and recovery activities. This component must provide for postdisaster response and recovery strategies according to whether a disaster is minor, major, or catastrophic. The postdisaster response and recovery component must, at a minimum: establish the structure of the state s postdisaster response and recovery organization; establish procedures for activating the state s plan; set forth policies used to guide postdisaster response and recovery activities; describe the chain of command during the postdisaster response and recovery period; describe initial and continuous postdisaster response and recovery actions; identify the roles and responsibilities of each involved agency and organization; provide for a comprehensive communications plan; establish procedures for monitoring mutual aid agreements; provide for rapid impact assessment teams; ensure the availability of an effective statewide urban search and rescue program coordinated with the fire services; ensure the existence of a comprehensive statewide medical care and relief plan administered by the Department of Health; and establish systems for coordinating volunteers and accepting and distributing donated funds and goods. 4. Include additional provisions addressing aspects of preparedness, response, recovery, and mitigation as determined necessary by the division. 5. Address the need for coordinated and expeditious deployment of state resources, including the Florida National Guard. In the case of an imminent major disaster, procedures should address predeployment of the Florida National Guard, and, in the case of an imminent catastrophic disaster, procedures should address predeployment of the Florida National Guard and the United States Armed Forces. 6. Establish a system of communications and warning to ensure that the state s population and emergency management agencies are warned of developing emergency situations and can communicate emergency response decisions. 7. Establish guidelines and schedules for annual exercises that evaluate the ability of the state and its political subdivisions to respond to minor, major, and catastrophic disasters and support local emergency management agencies. Such exercises shall be coordinated with local governments and, to the extent possible, the Federal Government. 8. Assign lead and support responsibilities to state agencies and personnel for emergency support functions and other support activities. The complete state comprehensive emergency management plan shall be submitted to the President of the Senate, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, and the Governor on February of every even-numbered year. (i) Institute statewide public awareness programs. This shall include an intensive public educational campaign on emergency preparedness issues, including, but not limited to, the personal responsibility of individual citizens to be self sufficient for up to hours following a natural or manmade disaster. The public educational campaign shall include relevant information on statewide disaster plans, evacuation routes, fuel suppliers, and shelters. Information on shelters must address the different types of shelters available, such as special needs shelters and shelters that accept individuals with service animals or pets. All educational materials must be available in alternative formats and mediums to ensure that they are available to persons with disabilities. (y) Deploy public or private resources to provide guidance regarding procedures and required documentation to any entity entitled to receive reimbursements for disaster-related expenditures from the Federal Emergency Management Agency in order to ensure that such entities receive the maximum allowable reimbursements. Section 2. Section 252.3551, Florida Statutes, is created to read: 252.3551 Registry for homeless shelters and service providers. The division, in coordination with each local emergency management agency in the state, shall establish and maintain a registry with each homeless shelter and homeless service provider in the state. The purpose of the registry is to help determine the number of individuals experiencing homelessness who may need assistance or shelter during an evacuation. Section 3. Section 252.3568, Florida Statutes, is amended to read: 252.3568 Emergency sheltering of persons with service animals or pets.  (1)  In accordance with s. 252.35, the division shall address strategies for the evacuation and sheltering of persons with service animals or pets in the shelter component of the state comprehensive emergency management plan and shall include the requirement for similar strategies in its standards and requirements for local comprehensive emergency management plans. The Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services shall assist the division in determining strategies regarding this activity. (2) The division shall publish information on its website regarding policies governing the acceptance of service animals or pets at shelters. Section 4. Paragraph (d) of subsection (1) of section 252.38, Florida Statutes, is amended to read: 252.38 Emergency management powers of political subdivisions. Safeguarding the life and property of its citizens is an innate responsibility of the governing body of each political subdivision of the state. (1) COUNTIES.  (d) During a declared state or local emergency and upon the request of the director of a local emergency management agency, the district school board or school boards,Florida College System institutions, and state universities in the affected area shall participate in emergency management by providing facilities and necessary personnel to staff such facilities. Each school board,Florida College System institution, and state university providing transportation assistance in an emergency evacuation shall coordinate the use of its vehicles and personnel with the local emergency management agency. Section 5. Paragraph (a) of subsection (2) and paragraph (a) of subsection (4) of section 252.385, Florida Statutes, are amended to read: 252.385 Public shelter space.  (2)(a) The division shall administer a program to survey existing schools, state universities, Florida College System institutions community colleges,and other state-owned, municipally owned, and county-owned public buildings and any private facility that the owner, in writing, agrees to provide for use as a public hurricane evacuation shelter to identify those that are appropriately designed and located to serve as such shelters. The owners of the facilities must be given the opportunity to participate in the surveys. The state university boards of trustees, district school boards, Florida College System institution community college boards of trustees, and the Department of Education are responsible for coordinating and implementing the survey of public schools, state universities, and Florida College System institutions community colleges with the division or the local emergency management agency. (4)(a) Public facilities, including schools, postsecondary education facilities, and other facilities owned or leased by the state or local governments, but excluding hospitals, hospice care facilities, assisted living facilities, and nursing homes, which are suitable for use as public hurricane evacuation shelters shall be made available at the request of the local emergency management agencies. The local emergency management agency shall coordinate with these entities to ensure that designated facilities are ready to activate prior to a specific hurricane or disaster. Such agencies shall coordinate with the appropriate school board, state university, Florida College System institution community college,state agency, or local governing board when requesting the use of such facilities as public hurricane evacuation shelters. Section 6. This act shall take effect upon becoming a law.