BILL ANALYSIS �
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | AB 1420|
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THIRD READING
Bill No: AB 1420
Author: Assembly Governmental Organization Committee
Amended: As introduced
Vote: 21
SENATE GOVERNMENTAL ORGANIZATION COMM. : 12-0, 6/14/11
AYES: Wright, Anderson, Calderon, Cannella, Corbett, De
Le�n, Evans, Hernandez, Padilla, Strickland, Wyland, Yee
NO VOTE RECORDED: Berryhill
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE : Senate Rule 28.8
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 77-0, 5/23/11 - See last page for vote
SUBJECT : Emergency Management Assistance Compact
SOURCE : California Emergency Management Agency
DIGEST : This bill removes the March 1, 2012, sunset date
for the operation of the Emergency Management Assistance
Compact (EMAC). The purpose of EMAC is to provide mutual
aid among the states in meeting any emergency or disaster.
Specifically, this bill repeals the requirement that the
EMAC, which becomes inoperative on March 1, 2012, and
repealed as of January 1, 2012, thereby making the compact
operative indefinitely.
ANALYSIS :
Existing Law :
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1. Establishes the California Emergency Services Act and
charges the California Emergency Management Agency (Cal
EMA) with the responsibility for overseeing and
coordinating emergency preparedness, response, recovery,
and homeland security activities.
2. Declares the intent of the State of California to
continue its long history of sharing emergency response
resources with other states during emergencies and times
of disasters by entering into the EMAC.
3. Ratifies, approves, and sets forth the provisions of the
EMAC which allows for the provision of mutual aid
between California and other states in the event of an
emergency or disaster that requires more resources than
the state can provide. Providing mutual aid to another
state is voluntary and the decision of whether or not to
provide assistance is made based on the amount of
resources available at the time of the emergency. Under
existing law, California's ratification of EMAC expires
on March 1, 2012, and as of January 1, 2013, is
repealed.
4. Removes the March 1, 2012, sunset date for the operation
of the EMAC. The purpose of EMAC is to provide mutual
aid among the states in meeting any emergency or
disaster. Specifically, this bill repeals the
requirement that the EMAC, which becomes inoperative on
March 1, 2012, and repealed as of January 1, 2012,
thereby making the compact operative indefinitely.
This bill removes the March 1, 2012, sunset date for the
operation of the EMAC. The purpose of EMAC is to provide
mutual aid among the states in meeting any emergency or
disaster. Specifically, this bill repeals the requirement
that the EMAC, which becomes inoperative on March 1, 2012,
and repealed as of January 1, 2012, thereby making the
compact operative indefinitely.
Background
In the 1970s, California played a major role in creating
the Interstate Civil Defense and Disaster Compact (ICDDC),
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which was eventually adopted by nearly all other states and
ratified by Congress. ICDDC enabled states to share
emergency management resources during times of disaster and
encouraged the coordination of emergency preparedness
activities between states.
In 1992, a group of southern states initiated a project to
update the ICDDC. That project resulted in EMAC, which was
ratified by Congress in 1996 and has now been adopted by
all 50 states, including California. Upon adoption of
EMAC, many states rescinded the older ICDDC. California
did not rescind it.
AB 823 (Nava), Chapter 233, Statutes of 2005, enacted
urgency legislation to adopt EMAC. This provision became
effective September 13, 2005. In 2007, AB 1564 (Nava),
extended the EMAC sunset date for a period of five years.
However, unless a new provision is enacted to either extend
the sunset date or make the compact permanent, EMAC will
cease to be operative on March 1, 2012 and will sunset on
January 1, 2013.
The California Professional Firefighters Association (CPF)
had initial concerns with the adoption of EMAC. Their
concern stemmed from the EMAC requirement that emergency
responders be considered agents of the receiving state for
tort liability and immunity purposes. CPF argued that
California firefighters and other emergency personnel
should be protected by California law when they are sent to
other states in emergency situations. A compromise,
however, was reached near the close of the 2005 legislative
session that, despite these liability provisions, requires
California to make whole emergency personnel injured or
killed in another state.
EMAC allows states impacted by a disaster to request and
receive assistance from other member states quickly and
efficiently. Each year, California sends resources, such as
firefighting equipment, rescue aircraft, search teams,
emergency managers, and other specialized personnel and
equipment, to assist other states during disasters.
Similarly, California has received emergency assistance
from other states over the years when facing disasters such
as earthquakes and firestorms. The EMAC mutual aid system
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has worked successfully and has benefitted both California
and other states in numerous situations; some examples of
EMAC resource sharing are outlined below.
In 2005, California sent a wide assortment of emergency
personnel to New Orleans and Biloxi, Mississippi to
assist with their response and recovery from Hurricane
Katrina. The resources sent included law enforcement
officers from the California Highway Patrol, personnel to
help staff the states' State Operations Centers, fire
personnel and equipment, various aircraft, care and
shelter workers, building inspectors, California National
Guard troops, and various medical teams.
During 2007 and 2008, California sent Swift Water Rescue
Teams and emergency management personnel to the Gulf
States affected by Hurricanes Rita, Ike, and Gustav.
When southern California experienced catastrophic wild
fires in 2007, the state requested EMAC assistance. A
total of 43 states sent aid to California. Over 27,000
out-of-state firefighters were deployed to California to
help with firefighting and fire prevention efforts. This
is the largest and most significant instance of
California receiving aid through the EMAC. Without the
EMAC aid, California would not have been able to fight
the large firestorm effectively.
The quick, legally established EMAC process allows for
relative ease in sharing emergency resources between the
states that adopted EMAC. Prior to adopting EMAC, sharing
resources between states, as seen in the examples above,
would have been much more difficult. California had few
options - it could either share resources through some
federal legal mechanism, or it could create an ad hoc
agreement with the other state(s) needing or providing
assistance, but only as permitted by existing law
If California allows EMAC to sunset, no established process
beyond ad hoc state-to-state agreements will be in place to
allow California to receive assistance should another large
scale event occur. Although the ICDDC still exists in
statute, there is a provision in the law that states it
shall be in effect only among those states that have
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enacted or adopted it. Since all the other states have
adopted EMAC and no longer use the ICDDC, this compact
would not provide the protection California needs to
receive aid from other states during an emergency.
Continuation of EMAC will allow uninterrupted sharing of
resources between California and the rest of the country.
Because the EMAC statute will become inoperable on March 1,
2012, legislation must be enacted immediately to repeal
that date and permanently establish EMAC in statute.
Comments
This bill repeals the current sunset provision (AB 1564
�Nava], Chapter 414, Statutes of 2007) applicable to EMAC.
EMAC statute will become inoperable March 1, 2012, which
will make it difficult for California to receive or provide
aid to other states during disasters. EMAC is an
interstate compact, ratified by Congress, which enables
mutual aid among the states in meeting any emergency or
disaster, whether natural or man-made. EMAC has now been
adopted by all 50 states, as well as the six U.S.
territories.
Prior legislation
AB 1564 (Nava), Chapter 414, Statutes of 2007, extends from
January 1, 2008, to January 1, 2013, the operation of the
EMAC. In addition, the bill prohibits the state from giving
or receiving assistance for any condition resulting from a
labor controversy
AB 823 (Nava), Chapter 233, Statutes of 2005, enacts a
modified version of the EMAC however; it became inoperative
on March 1, 2007.
SB 1102 (Budget Committee), Chapter 227, Statutes of 2004,
among other things, continued until January 1, 2006, the
Disaster Response Emergency Operations Account (DREOA)
within the Special Fund for Economic Uncertainties and
allocated $1 million to the DREOA at the beginning of each
fiscal year.
FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: Yes
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Local: No
SUPPORT : (Verified 6/28/11)
California Emergency Management Agency (source)
California Military Department
ASSEMBLY FLOOR :
AYES: Achadjian, Alejo, Allen, Ammiano, Atkins, Beall, Bill
Berryhill, Block, Blumenfield, Bonilla, Bradford,
Brownley, Buchanan, Butler, Charles Calderon, Campos,
Carter, Cedillo, Chesbro, Conway, Davis, Dickinson,
Donnelly, Eng, Feuer, Fletcher, Fong, Fuentes, Furutani,
Beth Gaines, Galgiani, Garrick, Gatto, Gordon, Grove,
Hagman, Halderman, Hall, Harkey, Hayashi, Roger
Hern�ndez, Hill, Huber, Hueso, Huffman, Jeffries, Jones,
Knight, Lara, Logue, Bonnie Lowenthal, Ma, Mansoor,
Mendoza, Miller, Mitchell, Monning, Morrell, Nestande,
Nielsen, Olsen, Pan, Perea, V. Manuel P�rez, Portantino,
Silva, Skinner, Smyth, Solorio, Swanson, Torres, Valadao,
Wagner, Wieckowski, Williams, Yamada, John A. P�rez
NO VOTE RECORDED: Cook, Gorell, Norby
PQ:do 8/26/11 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
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