BILL NUMBER: AB 880	CHAPTERED  09/07/99

	CHAPTER   356
	FILED WITH SECRETARY OF STATE   SEPTEMBER 7, 1999
	APPROVED BY GOVERNOR   SEPTEMBER 7, 1999
	PASSED THE ASSEMBLY   AUGUST 23, 1999
	PASSED THE SENATE   AUGUST 19, 1999
	AMENDED IN SENATE   AUGUST 16, 1999
	AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY   MAY 28, 1999
	AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY   APRIL 20, 1999

INTRODUCED BY   Assembly Member Dutra

                        FEBRUARY 25, 1999

   An act to add Section 8588.7 to the Government Code, relating to
emergency services.


	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   AB 880, Dutra.  Emergency services:  communications.
   Under the California Emergency Services Act, the Office of
Emergency Services, under its director, is required to coordinate the
emergency activities of all state agencies in connection with a
state of emergency.
   This bill would require the office to procure mobile communication
translators to enable mutual-aid emergency response agencies to
communicate effectively while operating on incompatible frequencies.
The office would be required to implement these provisions to the
extent that funds are appropriated for that purpose.


THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:


  SECTION 1.  The Legislature finds and declares all of the
following:
   (a) The ability of emergency response agencies, particularly those
under mutual-aid agreements, to communicate during disaster
situations is critical to saving lives and property.
   (b) During recent disasters, such as the Loma Prieta earthquake,
the Oakland-East Bay Hills Fire, and the Northridge earthquake,
mutual-aid emergency response agencies experienced difficulties
communicating because they operated on incompatible frequency bands.

   (c) Compounding the problem is the fact that conventional
communications' systems such as hard-wire telephones and cellular
telephones are vulnerable to failing, particularly to the forces
generated by earthquakes, placing a greater reliance on the
communication capabilities of mutual-aid emergency response agencies.

   (d) It is necessary for the state, in the interest of protecting
the lives and property of its residents, to procure and install
communication translators that will enable mutual-aid emergency
response agencies that operate on incompatible frequencies to
communicate.
  SEC. 2.  Section 8588.7 is added to the Government Code, to read:
   8588.7.  (a) The Office of Emergency Services shall procure mobile
communication translators to enable mutual-aid emergency response
agencies to communicate effectively while operating on incompatible
frequencies.
   (b) Translators shall be located in the San Francisco Bay area and
the Los Angeles metropolitan area, made ready for use by local
public safety officials by the Office of Emergency Services, and
provided to the appropriate state-established mutual-aid region
pursuant to Section 8600.
   (c) The Office of Emergency Services shall implement this section
only to the extent that funds are appropriated to the office for this
purpose in the Budget Act or in other legislation.