NY Exec L § 21 (2021)
2021 New York Laws EXC - Executive Article 2-B - State and Local Natural and Man-Made Disaster Preparedness 21 - Disaster Preparedness Commission Established; Meetings; Powers and Duties.

§ 21. Disaster  preparedness  commission established; meetings; powers and duties. 1. There is hereby created in  the  executive  department  a disaster  preparedness  commission  consisting  of  the commissioners of transportation,  health,  division   of   criminal   justice   services, education,  economic  development,  agriculture and markets, housing and community renewal, general services, labor, environmental  conservation, mental  health,  addiction  services and supports, parks, recreation and historic preservation, corrections and community  supervision,  children and  family  services,  homeland  security  and  emergency services, and people with developmental disabilities, the president of  the  New  York state  energy research and development authority, the superintendents of state police and financial services, the secretary of state,  the  state fire  administrator,  the  chair  of  the public service commission, the adjutant general, the office of information technology services, and the office of victim services, the chairs  of  the  thruway  authority,  the office  for  the  aging,  the metropolitan transportation authority, the port authority of New  York  and  New  Jersey,  the  chief  professional officer  of the state coordinating chapter of the American Red Cross and three additional members, to be appointed by the governor, two  of  whom shall be chief executives. Each member agency may designate an executive level   officer   of  that  agency,  with  responsibility  for  disaster preparedness matters, who may represent that agency on  the  commission. The  commissioner  of  the  division  of homeland security and emergency services shall serve as chair of the commission, and the governor  shall designate  the  vice  chair  of  the  commission.  The  members  of  the commission, except those who serve ex officio, shall  be  allowed  their actual  and  necessary  expenses  incurred  in  the performance of their duties under this article but shall receive no  additional  compensation for services rendered pursuant to this article.   2.  The  commission,  on  call of the chairperson, shall meet at least twice each year and at such other times as may be necessary. The  agenda and meeting place of all regular meetings shall be made available to the public  in  advance of such meetings and all such meetings shall be open to the public. The commission shall establish  quorum  requirements  and other  rules  and procedures regarding conduct of its meetings and other affairs.   3.   The   commission   shall   have   the   following   powers    and responsibilities:   a.  study  all  aspects  of  man-made  or natural disaster prevention, response and recovery;   b. request and obtain from any state or local officer  or  agency  any information  necessary  to  the  commission  for  the  exercise  of  its responsibilities;   c. prepare and, as appropriate, revise a state comprehensive emergency management plan. The commission shall report all revisions to such  plan by  March thirty-first of each year to the governor, the legislature and the chief judge of the state, unless a current version of  the  plan  is available  to  the  public  on  the  website of the division of homeland security and emergency services. In preparing such plans, the commission shall consult  with  federal  and  local  officials,  emergency  service organizations including both volunteer and commercial emergency response organizations,  and  the  public  as it deems appropriate. To the extent such plans impact upon administration of the civil and criminal  justice systems  of  the  state, including their operational and fiscal needs in times of disaster emergency, the commission, its staff and  any  working group,  task  force,  agency  or  other  instrumentality to which it may delegate responsibility to assist it in its duties  shall  consult  with  the  chief  administrator of the courts and coordinate their preparation with him or her or with his or her representatives;   d. prepare, keep current and distribute to chief executives and others an  inventory  of programs directly relevant to prevention, minimization of  damage,  readiness,  operations  during  disasters,   and   recovery following disasters;   e.  direct  state  disaster  operations  and coordinate state disaster operations with local disaster operations following the declaration of a state disaster emergency;   f.  (1)  unless  it  deems  it  unnecessary,  create,  following   the declaration  of  a state disaster emergency, a temporary organization in the disaster area to provide for integration and coordination of efforts among  the  various  federal,  state,  municipal  and  private  agencies involved.  The  commission,  upon a request from a municipality and with the approval of the governor, shall direct the temporary organization to assume direction of the local disaster operations of such  municipality, for  a  specified  period of time not to exceed thirty days, and in such cases such temporary organization shall assume direction of  such  local disaster  operations, subject to the supervision of the commission. Upon the expiration of the thirty day period the commission, at  the  request of  the  municipality, may extend the temporary organization's direction of such local disaster operations for additional periods not  to  exceed thirty  days.  The  commission,  upon  a  finding that a municipality is unable to manage local disaster operations, may, with  the  approval  of the  governor,  direct the temporary organization to assume direction of the local disaster operations of  such  municipality,  for  a  specified period  of  time  not  to  exceed  thirty  days,  and in such cases such temporary organization shall assume direction  of  such  local  disaster operations,   subject   to  the  supervision  of  the  commission.  Upon expiration of the thirty day period the commission,  after  consultation with the municipality, and with the approval of the governor, may extend the temporary organization's direction of such local disaster operations for  additional  periods  not to exceed thirty days. In such event, such temporary organization may utilize such municipality's local  resources, provided,  however,  that the state shall not be liable for any expenses incurred in using such municipality's resources. The state shall not  be liable  for  the  expenses  incurred  in  using  third  party, non-state resources deployed to the affected area by the  temporary  organization, which are necessary to protect life and safety;  (2) The state incident management team shall have the authority to act as  the  operational  arm  of the temporary organization. When called to duty and deployed by the state, members of any state or  local  incident management  team  shall  be  deemed temporary employees of the state and shall have the same privileges and immunities afforded to regular  state employees,  subject  to  the  rules  and  regulations promulgated by the president of the state civil service commission pursuant to section  one hundred sixty-three of the civil service law;   g.  assist  in  the  coordination  of  federal  recovery  efforts  and coordinate recovery assistance by state and private agencies;   h. provide for periodic briefings, drills, exercises or other means to assure that all state personnel  with  direct  responsibilities  in  the event  of a disaster are fully familiar with response and recovery plans and the manner in which they shall carry out their responsibilities, and coordinate with federal, local or other state personnel. Such activities may take place on a regional or county  basis,  and  local  and  federal participation shall be invited and encouraged;    i.  submit to the governor, the legislature and the chief judge of the state by March thirty-first of each year an annual  report  which  shall include but need not be limited to:  (1)  a  summary of commission and state agency activities for the year and  plans  for  the  ensuing  year  with  respect  to  the  duties  and responsibilities of the commission;  (2)  recommendations  on ways to improve state and local capability to prevent, prepare for, respond to and recover from disasters;  (3) the status of the state and local plans for disaster  preparedness and  response,  including  the  name of any locality which has failed or refused to develop and implement its own disaster preparedness plan  and program;  and  the extent to which all forms of local emergency response assets have been included, and accounted for in planning and preparation for disaster preparedness and response; and   j.  develop  public  service  announcements  to  be   distributed   to television  and  radio  stations  and  other  media throughout the state informing the public how to  prepare  and  respond  to  disasters.  Such public  service  announcements  shall be distributed in English and such other languages as such commission deems appropriate.   4. All powers of the state civil defense commission  are  assigned  to the commission.   5.  The  state  office  of emergency management within the division of homeland security and emergency services shall serve as the  operational arm  of  the  commission  and  shall  be  responsible  for  implementing provisions of this article and the rules and  policies  adopted  by  the commission.  The  director  of  the state office of emergency management within the division of homeland security and  emergency  services  shall exercise  the authority given to the disaster preparedness commission in section twenty-nine of this article,  to  coordinate  and  direct  state agencies  and  assets in response to a state disaster emergency, through their respective agency heads, on behalf of the governor and  the  chair of   the  disaster  preparedness  commission,  when  the  governor,  the lieutenant  governor,  and  the  chair  of  the  disaster   preparedness commission  are  incapacitated or without an available means of reliable communication with the state office  of  emergency  management.  If  the director  of  the  state  office  of  emergency  management is unable to exercise this authority, then the executive deputy commissioner  of  the division  of  homeland security and emergency services shall act in this capacity. In the event that the executive deputy commissioner is  unable to  exercise  this  authority, then such authority shall be exercised by the official willing and able to do  so  in  the  following  order:  the superintendent   of  the  division  of  state  police;  the  state  fire administrator; or the director of the office of counterterrorism  within the  division  of  homeland  security and emergency services. Nothing in this subdivision shall be  construed  to  limit  the  authority  of  the governor, lieutenant governor, or the chair of the disaster preparedness commission  to  oversee  the  director  of the state office of emergency management within  the  division  of  homeland  security  and  emergency services  or  any  official  exercising  authority given to the disaster preparedness commission in section twenty-nine of this article.