Emergency Preparedness Laws and Regulations
This tab includes laws, legislation, regulations, agency guidance, and executive orders relevant to emergency preparedness.
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May 13, 2019
On May 13, 2019, Governor Jay Inslee of Washington signed into law Substitute Senate Bill (SSB) 5106. The bill mandates the establishment of a Natural Disaster and Resiliency Activities Work Group, chaired by the Office of the Insurance Commissioner, tasked with reviewing disaster resiliency activities in the state and making recommendations to the legislature and governor on whether an ongoing disaster resiliency program should be created. The Work Group is noteworthy for its focus on coordinating state-level activities related to disaster mitigation in a changing climate and for its emphasis on learning from the activities and coordination efforts of other state, federal, public, and private organizations.
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November 2, 2018
Executive Order 24 (2018), issued by Governor Ralph Northam, established a statewide strategy to increase Virginia’s resilience to sea level rise and natural hazards. It clarified the duties of the Chief Resilience Officer, previously appointed as the Secretary of Public Safety and Homeland Security and subsequently formalized in House Bill 1313 (2020).
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October 17, 2018
In 2018, the City of Boston’s Public Works Department issued standards and guidelines for climate-resilient infrastructure to protect public rights-of-way from an expected 40-inch increase in sea level by 2070. In particular, the guidelines are intended to inform height adjustments for structures to account for sea-level rise, and establish a climate-resilient design process for shoreline barriers. City engineers and designers will be able to use these guidelines to inform designs for flood barriers protecting public rights-of-way to ensure they are prepared for the acute and chronic flooding conditions expected in coming years.
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October 16, 2018
North Carolina’s Hurricane Florence Disaster Recovery Act establishes the Hurricane Florence Disaster Recovery Reserve in the State General Fund, and establishes the North Carolina Office of Recovery and Resiliency within the Department of Public Safety and tasks it with overseeing long-term recovery and resiliency initiatives related to Hurricane Florence.
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September 21, 2018
California Senate Bill 901 will support the state’s adaptation and resilience to increasingly frequent and extreme wildfires. Reducing forest fuel loads with thinning and prescribed fire, reduce fire danger in hundreds of communities around the state in high-risk areas, and climate adaptation research are primary focal measures. $200 million a year through 2024, or $1billion, will be allocated to fund grants to fire departments, cities, counties and nonprofit organizations. California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (CalFire) will distribute the funding, which will come from California’s Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund (GGRF).
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May 24, 2018
Colorado’s 2018 House Bill 18-1394 amends the Colorado Disaster Emergency Act, establishing the Colorado Resiliency Office to coordinate and oversee efforts to reduce the vulnerability and improve the resilience of individuals and communities in the state.
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2017
Enacted in 2017 by the West Virginia legislature, House Bill 2935 established the State Resiliency Office within the West Virginia Department of Commerce, and formed a Joint Legislative Committee on Flooding. The legislation recognized that all 55 counties and 32 major watersheds have been impacted by flooding, resulting in hundreds of deaths and repeated federal disaster declarations.
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October 24, 2016
The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) issued this final rule to implement new planning requirements established by the Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century Act (MAP-21) and the Fixing America's Surface Transportation Act (FAST). MAP-21 and FAST require state departments of transportation (DOTs) to transition to performance-based decision-making, a large part of which is the development of a risk-based asset management plan. The new requirements are intended to ensure that federal transportation funding is spent more wisely, with specific performance targets in mind and in consideration of the likely costs to construct, operate, and maintain transportation assets over their full lifetime.
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September 30, 2016
The Federal Emergency Management Agency Public Assistance grant program provides federal assistance to to state, local, and tribal governments to support their disaster recovery effort following a Presidential disaster declaration. Specifically, the program provides assistance for debris removal, emergency protective measures, and permanent restoration of infrastructure.
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May 11, 2016
The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) released a suite of tools and guidance for Climate Resilient Mitigation Activities (CRMA) aimed at bolstering local efforts to leverage federal hazard-mitigation funding to reduce the impacts of climate change. Eligible activities include:
Author or Affiliated User: Pradeep Nair
Resource Category: Law and Governance
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