Source: http://emergencymanagementlaw.com/category/proposed-legislation/page/2/
Timestamp: 2019-04-21 19:12:19+00:00

Document:
The Security and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) has issued a request for comments on it’s proposed rules requiring Investment Advisors to prepare and maintain Business Continuity and Transition Planning. Over the past few years, the SEC has noticed a disparity among Investment Advisors in their Business Continuity planning. Some have very robust programs, while others do not and often face interruptions in their operations. With these new rules, the SEC is looking to change all that.
The SEC reasons that 15 USC § 80b6 (“Prohibited Transactions by Investment Advisors”) and the adviser’s fiduciary duty makes an adviser’s representation of a client tantamount to fraud, if they have not taken reasonable steps to develop and maintain a Business Continuity Plan. Many other areas of the finical industry require that their regulated parties have Business Continuity Plans. In fact, the Financial Regulatory Authority (“FINRA”), Commodity Futures Trading Commission (“CFTC”) require their regulated parties to maintain Business Continuity Plans. The North American Securities Administrator Association (“NASAA”) has even published a model rule that requires such Business Continuity Plans for Investment Advisors in adopting states. So bottom line, this has been starting to develop for some time.
§ 275.206(4)–4 Investment adviser business continuity and transition plan.
(2) Annual review. Review, no less frequently than annually, the adequacy of the business continuity and transition plan and the effectiveness of its implementation.
(b) Content of business continuity and transition plan.
(ii) Business transition in the event the investment adviser is unable to continue providing investment advisory services to clients.
(E) An assessment of the applicable law and contractual obligations governing the adviser and its clients, including pooled investment vehicles, implicated by the adviser’s transition.
In addition, the SEC provides a very in-depth reasoning and analysis of what they are seeking to do. Even more, they have specific questions they want to get feedback from the field on centered around what the impacts of a regulation like this would be.
FEMA is working on an update to the NIMS documents and wants your thoughts!
FEMA is working on an update (what they are calling a “refresh”) of the National Incident Management System (“NIMS”). NIMS was last reviewed in 2004 and 2008, incorporating lessons learned, best practices, national policy updates that occurred between publishing. Part of the development of new governmental policies is the input from stakeholders. I know wherever I have been we’ve had practitioners with great ideas and thoughts of how to make programs better; this is the chance to be heard.
Most significant to the NIMS update is the introduction of Center Management System (“CMS”) guidance that helps provide a common structure and activation scheme for operations and coordination centers. Though its not mandatory as part of preparedness grant programs. However as we all know with most things in the government, once something is introduced it’s usually a matter of time before it becomes required.
To take a look at the draft document and the feedback form Visit FEMA’s document page by Clicking Here.
The Comment Period will end on May 9th at 5:00 PM Eastern, so don’t wait too long to think about those ideas and write them down!
Visit FEMA’s Statement by Clicking Here.
The 2016 Sales Tax Holiday for Emergency Preparedness Supplies will happen in Texas from April 23-25, 2016.
Did you know that Texas has a sales tax holiday specifically for Emergency Preparedness Supplies? It does! It is designed to mirror the School Supplies Tax Holiday that has been in effect for many years. However, this hasn’t always been the case.
State Senator Juan “Chuy” Hinojosa from McAllen, Texas authored the bill in March 2015 and was passed in June 2015 by signature of the Governor. A review of the legislative history of SB 904 (the bill that then turned into Tex. Tax §151.3565) shows a very easy path with relatively no opposition to the bill.
Since 2016 will be the first ever “Emergency Preparation Supplies Sales Tax Holiday” there might be some confusion on what exactly is tax free from 12:01 am on Saturday, April 23, and ending at midnight on Monday, April 25, 2016. If you are interested in reading the full statute, you can find what is covered at Tex. Tax Code § 151.3565(b) (West 2016). The great part about this whole process is that–like the School Supplies Sales Tax Holiday–you don’t need to show an exemption form to be exempted from sales tax and there’s no limit to the number of items you can purchase! Keep in mind though, if there is shipping, handling or any other charges on the item when it is purchased, that is considered part of the sales price.
Portable Generators that are sales priced at $3,000 or less and used for light, communications, and/or perishable foods in the event of a power outage (Tex. Tax Code § 151.3565(b)(1)).
Storm Protection Devices, that are”manufactured, rated, and marketed specifically to prevent damage to a glazed or non-glazed opening during a storm” sales priced less than $300 (Tex. Tax Code § 151.3565(b)(2)(A)).
Emergency or Rescue Ladders sales priced less than $300 (Tex. Tax Code § 151.3565(b)(2)(B)).
Battery-powered or hand crank radio and a weather radio with tone alert.
And family unique items (such as pet supplies, medicines, formula, or diapers).
The Texas Comptroller’s website has an announcement speaking about this tax holiday at: http://comptroller.texas.gov/taxinfo/taxpubs/tx98_1017.html.
As states and tribes legalize marijuana, are there any problems that emergency managers face? Regardless of personal/political opinions, are there tertiary impacts we in the profession should be thinking and advising our political leaders about?
As states and tribes legalize marijuana, emergency managers are faced problem of controlling the impact of a disaster without the assistance of federal programs that are heavily relied upon. The Emergency Management Cycle is the standardized method emergency managers use to understand how to approach their job. Each of the cycle’s four phases present a unique problem for consideration concerning marijuana legalization. This article is second in a series of four articles related to marijuana legalization and potential issues related to Emergency Management. This article asks whether or not legalized marijuana grow operations and dispensaries are eligible for Disaster Loans from the U.S. Small Business Administration.
Note: This article does not state a position on the legalization of marijuana and merely identifies potential issues for emergency management as it is legalized at state and tribal levels. This article is not legal advice! Consult with a licensed attorney in your jurisdiction!
Background: After the President issues a federal disaster declaration, the U.S. Small Business Administration (“SBA”) can offer low-interest loans to businesses and individuals. Businesses can qualify for up to $2 million in low-interest physical disaster loans to cover damage to their business. Further, small businesses, and agricultural operations who suffer an economic impact from a disaster can apply for the Economic Injury and Disaster Loan program (“EIDL”).
Hypothetical: California just experienced its first tsunami from a 8.7 magnitude earthquake centered around the Cascadia subduction zone (predicted to be the most dangerous part of the San Andreas fault). You represent a legalized medical marijuana grower in Northern California. The grow operation lost everything to the tsunami, including: plants, equipment, inventories, and facilities. The owner wants to know if she can qualify for either a Physical or EIDL SBA loan to get everything started again. What do you advise her?
Answer: Apply, but don’t expect to get a yes. Under 13 CFR § 123.201(d), illegal activities are generally ineligible for both disaster loan programs. However, the SBA encourages everyone to apply for a disaster loan simply because things can change depending on the disaster. Upon receiving the denial letter from the SBA, the owner will have six months to submit a written request for reconsideration of the application by a different SBA loan officer. If the request is denied for a second time, the owner will have at a minimum 30 days to appeal to the SBA’s Office of Hearings and Appeals. An additional 60 days may be granted if the second denial letter states new reasons for denying the application. At any one of these points the argument could be made that the grow operation was legal. There are no general cases on point regarding what “concerns” are illegal and the statute is vague enough, making the approval of a grow operation’s application subject to the discretion of an SBA loan officer or Administrative Judge.
Next Step: Though immediate reaction might be to lobby for some sort of policy change, doing so might create more hurdles for marijuana businesses. Currently a single sentence in both statute and operating procedure guide loan officers on marijuana businesses. Advocating for policy reform independent of rescheduling efforts may lead to more barriers. Lack of formal guidance enables owners to make better arguments during reviews and hearings.
FAA seeks to increase accountability of drone operators due to recent near misses. This could be a sign of relief for Emergency Managers.
According to the FAA, pilot sightings of unmanned aircraft near airplanes and at sporting events have doubled since last year. Some of these reports included interference with wildfire-fighting operations on the West Coast this year. Despite the increase, no accidents have been reported to the FAA.
Though there are no current requirements in place, Secretary of Transportation has directed a Task Force to develop and deliver a report by November 20th to have registration requirements in place by mid-December–just in time for the holidays. This gets interesting as the Consumer Electronics Association predicts that 700,000 drones will be sold this holiday season.
What does this mean for emergency managers? Really not much for internal operations. Currently government entities are required to receive a Certificate of Authorization from the FAA before operating their own unmanned aviation program. Hobbyists and some commercial entities have typically been afforded less regulation. However, emergency managers should see this as a somewhat sigh of relief. The ability to assign ownership of a specific unmanned aircraft could lead to more accountability and more responsible airborne operation. This may reduce the risk assessment emergency managers currently assess unmanned aircraft incidents at.
However, questions remain as to how this will be regulated, if state and local law enforcement entities will have the ability to enforce. Further, just because there are regulations doesn’t mean that everyone will follow them. Without an effective enforcement mechanism, any new FAA regulation of unmanned aircraft wouldn’t really have the desired impact. A pressing question–though it is unclear how this could be addressed–is how do you distinguish between the unmanned aircraft operated by regulated and approved operators and those operated by individuals with more of a nefarious intent?
Though the last statement may seem to contradict the sigh of relief emergency managers may feel, it really could help weed out the nefarious intenders from the responsible ones. For example: there are 100 unmanned aircraft within a jurisdiction owned by the citizenry. 90 are registered and operated by those following the rules (i.e. don’t fly near a stadium) and 10 are not. This form of deterrence reduces the logical leap required to identify those unmanned aircraft with a higher likelihood of nefarious intent. But without mandatory registration at purchase, it would be extremely hard for authorities to identify the owner of the nefarious unmanned aircraft–especially if it is not recovered by authorities.
FEMA has approved disaster assistance for 3 of the most severely hit counties in Oklahoma with more expected to come in the near future as damage assessments are completed. All 77 counties in Oklahoma remain under a state of emergency.
Oklahoma Governor Mary Fallin announced yesterday that FEMA has approved the state’s request for disaster assistance for three of the most severely hit counties in the state. Currently, all 77 counties in Oklahoma are under a state of emergency. The approval makes assistance available to individuals and business owners impacted by the flooding, tornados, severe storms, and straight line winds that occurred in Cleveland, Grady and Oklahoma counties since May 5th, 2015. FEMA has approved federal assistance for: (i) housing repairs or temporary housing, (ii) US Small Business Administration low-interest loans for individuals and business to repair or replace damaged property, (iii) disaster unemployment assistance, and (iv) grants for other needs and expenses not met by other programs. Though these three counties are the first to receive assistance, others may soon receive similar types of assistance in the near future as the damage assessments from storms striking other parts of the state since May 10th are still in progress.
Part of the request process for assistance from the federal government is completion of a damage assessment. This assessment tells the federal government what conditions on the ground are and expected to manifest into in the near future. This may seem like a bureaucracy at its finest, but it is imperative to complete. Without an accurate damage different state and federal agencies who are willing to provide assistance, may not provide the right assistance at the right time. For example, if you need assistance removing debris, having a National Guard or Army Reserve Engineer Battalion mobilized to assist would be a lot better than the Red Cross showing up with Coffee and Blankets (though this is merely an example to show the difference in assistance and support, the Red Cross does much more than hand out Coffee and Blankets. The American Red Cross is actually chartered by the federal government to oversee sheltering during disasters).
Read the Oklahoma Governor’s statement here.
Read the Oklahoma Governor’s Amended Executive Order here.
Read FEMA’s Press Release from May 26th, 2015 here.
The Tornado Family Safety Act of 2015 helps clarify that SBA disaster loans may be used by homeowners to construct safe rooms in their rebuilt homes.
Representative Tom Cole (Oklahoma District 4 which includes Moore, OK) introduced the “Tornado Family Safety Act of 2015 on May 18th. The bill was then referred to the House Small Business Committee. The idea behind the bill would be to clearly allow for Small Business Administration Disaster Loans to be used to build storm safe room shelters as homeowners rebuild homes devastated by severe weather. Currently safe rooms meeting FEMA and ICC (International Code Council) standards cost anywhere between $3,000 and $12,000 to install.
See the bill’s status in congress here.
President Obama announced on May 18th that the federal government would cease the flow of certain types of equipment to police departments following the recommendations of a multi-agency working group on the subject.
President Obama announced on May 18th, 2015 that the federal government would cease the flow of certain types of equipment to police departments through the federal surplus programs. The announcement follows one of several recommendations made by a multi-agency federal working group tasked with reviewing what could have been done different or better following the riots in Ferguson, Missouri.
Specifically, the program would no longer allow for tracked armored vehicles, bayonets, grenade launchers, camouflage uniforms, and large-caliber weapons and ammunition to flow through these programs to police departments. The programs would still be allowed to still provide aircraft, wheeled tactical vehicles, mobile command centers, battering rams, and riot gear. This equipment would be provided to departments who meet national policing standards and agree to not transfer or sell the equipment unless they receive approval from the federal government.
Emergency Managers and Law Enforcement Planners should be aware of these federal recommendations and state control measures as they are implemented. I estimate that we will start seeing these rules start going out in draft format later this summer ahead of the fiscal year. Most importantly though, it might be a wise decision to sit down with the agency’s legal counsel to lean forward and assess the potential impact these control measures will have on your agency’s plans, protocols, and overall operating procedures.
Read USA Today’s Full Article here.
Read our article on state’s actions to control surplus military equipment sales here.
With only two weeks left, the Texas House Advances a bill establishing search and rescue response teams in each of the Texas disaster response regions.
With two weeks left in the legislative session, the Texas House of Representatives advanced a bill establishing regional search and rescue teams to the floor vote. The next phase is for the bill to be considered by Senate Committee hearings and a vote by the full senate before moving to the governor for action.
This bill represents one of the only disaster management related legislative actions to advance from committee this legislative cycle. HB 1970 (defining a new disaster victim lighted identification system), 2376 (relating to the creation of a disaster relief fund), and 4085 (relating to state disaster declarations are made) were either withdrawn from the schedule or left pending in committee.
The State of Texas currently operates six field response regions. The state expects for this bill to have no impact on local government fiscal requirements, while adding nine state employees to administer the program and provide training to local entities. The concept behind this program would be to synchronize training and coordination among individual volunteers and volunteer organizations instead of creating a new organization of full-time employees.
With an estimated initial investment in 2016 of $12.5 Million into starting the program (equipment, facilities, hiring, and initial training), it is estimated that approximately $1.6 million will be spent annually on upkeep.
Read the State Committee Report here.
The United States House of Representatives Transportation and Infrastructure Committee (Economic Development, Public Buildings, and Emergency Management Subcommittee) introduced the “FEMA Disaster Assistance Reform Act of 2015” as H.R. 1471.
Commission an assessment of trends in disaster losses—their causes and amounts—and recommendations that will result in the reduction of losses and increased cost savings.
Reauthorizing the Emergency Management Assistance Compacts (EMAC) Grants through FY 2018, consistent with current funding levels.
Clarifying mitigation activities related to wildfires and earthquakes.
I’ll keep you updated as we watch this legislation move through the process. We are also going to start a new section of our blog that will track updates to legislation related to Emergency Management. I’m hoping to get it up and running over the next few weeks.

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