Disasters « Jeff Braun's Emergency Management Blog

Congress Considering Emergency Management Bills

2 04 2011

A small number of bills in Congress deal with disaster planning or recovery efforts.

* Reacting to the earthquake in Japan, Rep. Steve Cohen (D-Tenn.) introduced the Critical Infrastructure Earthquake Preparedness Act of 2011 (HR 1132) on March 16. The bill would direct the administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to create a grant program specifically for improving the ability of hospitals and airports to withstand earthquakes. Communities on active fault lines could be eligible for funding under his measure. Cohen’s own district in Tennessee is located along the New Madrid Fault Line, and in a press release on the bill, he notes that Memphis could obtain funds to reinforce its airport under this bill. It has not had committee or floor action.

* HR 570 is the Dental Emergency Responder Act of 2011, and passed the House on March 8. The bill, from Rep. Michael C. Burgess (R-Texas), would clarify that dentists could be considered as voluntary disaster-response public health workers under the federal disaster-response framework. The bill has not had Senate action.

* HR 175 is the Smart Housing in Disasters Act of 2011, and was introduced on Jan. 5, by Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.), who is the ranking member on the House Homeland Security Committee. The bill would direct the administrator of FEMA to develop “lifecycle plans and tracking procedures” for housing provided after a disaster. It has not had committee or floor action.

* HR 57 is the Disaster Recovery Improvement Act and was introduced on Jan. 5, by Rep. Steve Scalise (R-La.). It would amend the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act to require swifter decisions on appeals of decisions pertaining to eligibility for, and amounts of, federal disaster assistance; direct the president to implement certain regulations pertaining to the repair of public facilities damaged by disasters; direct FEMA to revise the evaluation process for governors’ requests for major disaster declarations; and authorize the president to provide assistance for pets and service animals during emergencies. It has not had committee or floor consideration.

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Tags: Disasters, earthquake, Emergency Management, Legislation
Categories : Disasters, Emergency Management, Legislation, USA

On This Date: March 28, 1979

28 03 2011

The Three Mile Island accident was a partial core nuclear meltdown in Unit 2 (a pressurized water reactor manufactured by Babcock & Wilcox) of the Three Mile Island Nuclear Generating Station in Dauphin County, Pennsylvania near Harrisburg in 1979.

The power plant was owned and operated by General Public Utilities and Metropolitan Edison (Met Ed). It was the most significant accident in the history of the USA commercial nuclear power generating industry, resulting in the release of up to 481 PBq (13 million curies) of radioactive gases, and less than 740 GBq (20 curies) of the particularly dangerous iodine-131.

The accident began at 4 a.m. on Wednesday, March 28, 1979, with failures in the non-nuclear secondary system, followed by a stuck-open pilot-operated relief valve (PORV) in the primary system, which allowed large amounts of nuclear reactor coolant to escape. The mechanical failures were compounded by the initial failure of plant operators to recognize the situation as a loss-of-coolant accident due to inadequate training and human factors, such as human-computer interaction design oversights relating to ambiguous control room indicators in the power plant’s user interface. In particular, a hidden indicator light led to an operator manually overriding the automatic emergency cooling system of the reactor because the operator mistakenly believed that there was too much coolant water present in the reactor and causing the steam pressure release.

The scope and complexity of the accident became clear over the course of five days, as employees of Met Ed, Pennsylvania state officials, and members of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) tried to understand the problem, communicate the situation to the press and local community, decide whether the accident required an emergency evacuation, and ultimately end the crisis. The NRC’s authorization of the release of 40,000 gallons of radioactive waste water directly in the Susquehanna River led to a loss of credibility with the press and community.

In the end, the reactor was brought under control, although full details of the accident were not discovered until much later, following extensive investigations by both a presidential commission and the NRC. The Kemeny Commission Report concluded that “there will either be no case of cancer or the number of cases will be so small that it will never be possible to detect them. The same conclusion applies to the other possible health effects”.Several epidemiological studies in the years since the accident have supported the conclusion that radiation releases from the accident had no perceptible effect on cancer incidence in residents near the plant, though these findings are contested by one team of researchers.

Public reaction to the event was probably influenced by The China Syndrome, a movie which had recently been released and which depicts an accident at a nuclear reactor.Communications from officials during the initial phases of the accident were felt to be confusing.The accident crystallized anti-nuclear safety concerns among activists and the general public, resulted in new regulations for the nuclear industry, and has been cited as a contributor to the decline of new reactor construction that was already underway in the 1970s.

The incident was rated a five on the seven-point International Nuclear Event Scale: Accident With Wider Consequences.

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Tags: Disasters, Emergency Management, Power Outage, Radiological Incident, Three Mile Island
Categories : Disasters, Electrical Grid, Emergency Management, Power Outages, Radiological Incident

2011 Texas Legislative Session – March 13th

13 03 2011

Below you will find a listing of Emergency Management related bills as of March 13, 2011. Information about 53 bills is noted below.

The 82nd Texas Legislature will be in session 140 days. The first day of the session was Tuesday, January 11, 2011 and the last day of the session is Monday, May 30, 2011. The last day to file regular bills was Friday, March 11, 2011. Governor Perry has until June 19th to review bills passed by the State Legislature. He can sign a bill to authorize new law, or he can let a bill become law without signing, or he can veto a bill.

HB 1 – (Pitts) Relating to General Appropriations. Among other things, this bill would reduce expenditures for 9-1-1 Network by 27%; reduce by 48% disaster funding to state and local agencies when the Governor finds the demands on funds regularly appropriated are insufficient to respond to a particular disaster; reduce by Criminal Justice grants by 55%, impacting the number of grants awarded from an estimated 900 in FY 2011 to approximately 520 each fiscal year of the 2012-13 biennium; and eliminate funding for the Flood Control Dam Grant Program which provides operations and maintenance, structural repair, and rehabilitation needs to flood control dams across the State.

HB 614 - (Hopson) Relating to allowing health care providers to provide services across state lines in catastrophic circumstances.

HB 803 – (Bonnen) Relating to the penalty for failure to make a timely installment payment of ad valorem taxes on property in a disaster area. SB 432 is identical.

HB 805 – (Callegari) Relating the requirement that certain water service providers ensure emergency operations during an extended power outage.

HB 837 – (Taylor, Van) Relating to the authority of peace officers to request thumbprints during motor vehicle stops.

HB 993 – (Rodriguez, E.) Relating to the closure of a road or highway by certain firefighters.

HB 1030 – (Miller) Relating to the powers and duties of certain emergency services districts.

HB 1075 – (Anderson) Relating to the consolidation of certain alert system into a single statewide alert system and to the addition of other factors that will prompt an alert under the consolidated system.

HB 1092 – (Christian) Relating to the exemption from certain construction requirements for volunteer fire departments in certain counties.

HB 1125 – (Burnam) Relating to a study regarding the odorization of natural gas transported in gathering and transmission lines located in populated areas.

HB 1147 – (Smith) Relating to notice by a governmental entity regarding certain geospatial data products. SB 442 is identical.

HB 1174 – (Workman) Relating to the expiration of a county burn ban.

HB 1217 – (Miles) Relating to a residential tenant’s right to vacate a dwelling and avoid liability for rent following the declaration of a state of disaster; providing a civil penalty.

HB 1319 – (Laubenberg) Relating to the calculation and reporting of water usage and conservation by municipalities and water utilities.

HB 1354 – (Davis, S.) Relating to liability of certain certified municipal inspector for services rendered during an emergency or disaster.

HB 1379 – (Anchia) Relating to the purchasing of a firearm from the county by an honorably retired law enforcement officer.

HB 1476 - (Riddle) Relating to the grounds for revocation of an emergency medical services personnel certification.

HB 1561 - (Orr) Relating to the authority of a municipality to implement a photographic traffic signal enforcement system and impose civil penalties.

HB 1619 – (Orr) Relating to emergency services districts.

HB 1711 – (Davis, John) Relating to disaster remediation contracts; providing penalties.

HB 1750 – (Darby) Relating to the authority of the Texas Department of Transportation to lease and contract for the operation of rolling stock during certain emergencies.

HB 1765 – (Miller, Sid) Relating to an emergency public service messaging network. Identical to SB 971

HB 1791 – (Kleinschmidt) Relating to emergency services districts.

HB 1861 – (Anchia) Relating to the continuation and functions of the Commission on State Emergency Communications. Identical to SB 648.

HB 1878 – (Miller, Doug) Relating to emergency service districts. Identical to SB 917.

HB 1911 – (Bonnen) Relating to the liability of certain persons for damages arising from training exercises to prepare the persons to respond to certain emergencies. Brazoria County emergency management officials worked to get this legislation proposed for consideration.

HB 1917 – (Schwertner) Relating to the removal of appointed emergency services commissioners by a commissioners court.

HB 1986 – (Turner) Relating to the authority of the Public Utility Commission of Texas to ensure the Electric Reliability Council of Texas has adequate reserve power to prevent blackout conditions.

HB 2035 – (Hamilton) Relating to the temporary relocation of alcoholic beverage distributor’s or wholesaler’s premises during a period of emergency and delivery of alcoholic beverages to a distributor’s or wholesaler’s premises.

HB 2040 – (Hamilton) Relating to critical incident stress management and crisis response services.

HB 2075 – (Martinez, Mando) Relating to certain diseases or illnesses suffered by firefighters and emergency medical technicians.

HB 2099 – (Truitt) Relating to an alert for a missing person with an intellectual disability.

HB 2158 – (Coleman) Relating to a prohibition against the use of a stun gun or taser by school district peace officers, security personnel, and other employees against certain public school students. Identical to SB 1239.

HB 2239 – (Coleman) Relating to the minimum number of county jailers necessary to staff a county jail.

HB 2257 – (Phillips) Relating to communications during a disaster or an emergency by public service providers. Identical to SB 1238.

HB 2369 – (Quintanilla et al) Relating to the accreditation of training programs and examinations for certain emergency medical services personnel.

HB 2390 – (Davis, Sarah) Relating to the types of information relating to emergency responses that are confidential.

HB 2411 – (Miles) Relating to a residential tenant’s right to vacate a dwelling and avoid liability for rent under certain circumstances following the declaration of a state of disaster; providing a civil penalty.

HB 2462 – (Bonnen) Relating to motor vehicles used for fire, emergency or disaster response purposes.

HB 2858 – (Gallego) Relating to the definition of emergency services personnel for purposes of the enhanced penalty prescribed for an assault committed against a person providing services in that capacity.

HB 2979 – (Hunter) Relating to county authority to provide certain exemptions to restrictions on outdoor burning.

HB 3060 – (Smithee) Relating to arbitration of certain claims under residential property insurance policies.

HB 3219 – (Thompson) Relating to intelligence data standards and protected personal information.

SB 9 – Relating to Homeland Security. The content of this proposed legislation relates to verification of immigration status of person charged with committing offense.

SB 106 – (Davis, Wendy) Relating to condemnation of municipal property for, and municipal regulation of, pipeline operations.

SB 319 – (Carona) Relating to financing programs for low-income electric customers and certain other electric customers.

SB 389 – (Williams) Relating to emergency preparedness during an extended power outage of a water service provider with at lease 250 connections.

SB 418 - (Williams) Relating to the carrying of concealed handguns by certain persons attending a school board meeting.

SB 617 - (Rodriguez) Relating a manifest system to record the transportation of certain liquid wastes.

SB 917 – (Wentworth) Relating to emergency service districts.

SB 969 – (Nelson) Relating to the establishment of the Public Health Funding and Policy Advisory Committee with the Department of State Health Services.

SB 1205 – (Jackson) Relating to the application of the limit on appraised value of a residence homestead for ad valorem tax purposes to an improvement that is a replacement structure for a structure that was rendered uninhabitable or unusable by a casualty or by wind or water damage.

SB 1206 – (Deuell) Relating to medical care and health care services provided by a health care professional in a licensed freestanding emergency medical care facility.

SB 1461 – (Lucio) Relating to the creation of the disaster reconstruction coordination office withing the governor’s office; creating the disaster contingency account.

For a PDF listing: billreport 3-13-11

The PDF lists the bills, and includes information on the status of each bill. At this point, many of the bills have been assigned to committees for review. Public hearings have been called to hear testimony on some bills.

If you know of other bills that I may have missed, please leave me a comment and let me know! Thanks to those of you who have contacted me and made suggestions.

Also, please consider subscribing to this blog to receive the legislative information directly.

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Tags: bills, Communications, Disasters, Emergency Management, EMS, Fire, Legislation, Municipal Utility Districts, Police, Power Outage, Public Health Emergency, State of Texas, utilities
Categories : Communications, Electrical Grid, Emergency Management, Emergency Medical Service, Fire, Immigration, Law Enforcement, Legislation, Police, Power Outages, Schools, State of Texas

Functional Needs Support Services (FNSS)

6 03 2011

In November of 2010, I had the opportunity to hear Craig Fugate, FEMA Administrator, speak at the IAEM Conference in San Antonio. He really focused on one message more than all others——–the concept of the emergency management doing a better job of serving individuals with disabilities during disasters. Very pointedly, he impressed on all that were in attendance that FEMA would be working to change the guidance and standards for sheltering those Americans with disabilities.

He spoke to the attendees of the development of the Guidance on Planning for Integration of Functional Needs Support Services (FNSS) in General Population Shelters. A Texas-based organization, Baptist Child & Family Services (BCFS), was contracted by FEMA to put together this important Guidance.

In a general sense, FNSS planning guidance will provide standards for the sheltering of those with disabilities; in the past, those with disabilities were treated differently— as a separate population group. Fugate noted that treating individuals differently was a direct violation of the American with Disabilities (ADA) Act. The guidance will ensure that those with functional and access needs will receive equitable and adequate care in shelters during disasters.

The following article was published on the Texas Emergency Management Online recently; specifically 2011, Volume 58, No 3. It is written by Kari Tatro, Executive Director of BCFS’ Emergency Services Division. It is very timely. It provides more background on FNSS; and it explains the steps being taken by Chief Nim Kidd and the Texas Division of Emergency Management to ensure compliance with the new Guidance. Please take the time to read the article.

Our communities are changing. Many individuals with disabilities are living independently. People with chronic illnesses are living longer. And the fastest growing age group in the United States is 85 years of age and older. Emergency managers have a legal, as well as an ethical, obligation to put plans in place to meet the needs of all members of their communities during disasters. FEMA Administrator Craig Fugate is leading this charge.

More than a year ago, FEMA tapped Texas’ own BCFS to develop a nationwide Guidance on Planning for Integration of Functional Needs Support Services (FNSS) in General Populations Shelters. This guide is based on existing law and applies to all general population sheltering plans. At its core is an effort to help state and local sheltering operations understand what planning is necessary to comply with federal key non-discrimination concepts and equality statutes.

Persons who may require FNSS in general population shelters include children, the elderly, adults with physical, sensory, mental health, cognitive and/or intellectual disabilities affecting their ability to function independently without assistance. It includes women in late stages of pregnancy, and people needing bariatric services. The list is not intended to be limited to these populations, and could include non-English speaking individuals, the homeless, persons from different cultures, and those with pharmacological dependency.

While the Fair Housing Act and the American with Disabilities Act have been on the books for years, it’s a fact that individuals who fit the above descriptions have not always received the same treatment as others during sheltering operations.

The FEMA guidance clarifies requirements for providing FNSS in general population shelters, ensuring that all individuals in the community, with or without disabilities, have equal access to services in disasters. Complying with this directive requires strategic planning and coordination among state agencies, local governments and community partners.

The Texas Division of Emergency Management is working toward this goal along with BCFS, State Mass Care, the Department of State Health Services, the Department of Aging and Disabilities Services, the Department of Assistive and Rehabilitative Services, the Texas Governor’s Committee on People with Disabilities, the Texas Department of Licensing Regulation, the American Red Cross, several local Emergency Management Coordinators, as well as other state and voluntary agencies.

This work group will lead the effort to ensure that the state and local jurisdictions will be in compliance with the new FEMA guidance, and that they have tools to assist this process. During the Texas Emergency Management Conference, BCFS will present a workshop providing a brief overview of the guidance describing those planning considerations that will need to be addressed in local jurisdiction general population shelter plans. Additionally, the workshop will present the findings of the TDEM FNSS stakeholder group, including recommendations and tools to support local government in the integration of FNSS into their shelter plans. Jurisdictions should plan to attend one of the workshops in order to ascertain the State of Texas recommendations for the Federal Guidance Implementation.

If your jurisdiction would like more information about FNSS or how BCFS can assist you in effectively and efficiently adopting and implementing recently released federal requirements, please contact us at 1-800-830-2246 or www.bcfs.net/emergencyservices.

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Tags: BCFS, Disasters, FNSS, Nim Kidd, State of Texas, TDEM
Categories : BCFS, Disasters, Emergency Management, FNSS, Nim Kidd, Shelters, State of Texas, TDEM

2011 Texas Legislative Session – March 5th

5 03 2011

Below you will find a listing of Emergency Management related bills as of March 5, 2011. Information about 42 bills is shown below.

The 82nd Texas Legislature will be in session 140 days. The first day of the session was Tuesday, January 11, 2011 and the last day of the session is Monday, May 30, 2011. The last day to file regular bills be Friday, March 11, 2011. Governor Perry has until June 19th to review bills passed by the State Legislature. He can sign a bill to authorize new law, or he can let a bill become law without signing, or he can veto a bill.

HB 614 - (Hopson) Relating to allowing health care providers to provide services across state lines in catastrophic circumstances

HB 803 – (Bonnen) Relating to the penalty for failure to make a timely installment payment of ad valorem taxes on property in a disaster area. SB 432 is identical

HB 805 – (Callegari) Relating the requirement that certain water service providers ensure emergency operations during an extended power outage

HB 837 – (Taylor, Van) Relating to the authority of peace officers to request thumbprints during motor vehicle stops

HB 993 – (Rodriguez, E.) Relating to the closure of a road or highway by certain firefighters

HB 1030 – (Miller) Relating to the powers and duties of certain emergency services districts

HB 1092 – (Christian) Relating to the exemption from certain construction requirements for volunteer fire departments in certain counties

HB 1125 – (Burnam) Relating to a study regarding the odorization of natural gas transported in gathering and transmission lines located in populated areas

HB 1147 – (Smith) Relating to notice by a governmental entity regarding certain geospatial data products. SB 442 is identical

HB 1174 – (Workman) Relating to the expiration of a county burn ban

HB 1217 – (Miles) Relating to a residential tenant’s right to vacate a dwelling and avoid liability for rent following the declaration of a state of disaster; providing a civil penalty

HB 1319 – (Laubenberg) Relating to the calculation and reporting of water usage and conservation by municipalities and water utilities

HB 1354 – (Davis, S.) Relating to liability of certain certified municipal inspector for services rendered during an emergency or disaster

HB 1379 – (Anchia) Relating to the purchasing of a firearm from the county by an honorably retired law enforcement officer

HB 1476 - (Riddle) Relating to the grounds for revocation of an emergency medical services personnel certification

HB 1561 - (Orr) Relating to the authority of a municipality to implement a photographic traffic signal enforcement system and impose civil penalties

HB 1619 – (Orr) Relating to emergency services districts

HB 1711 – (Davis, John) Relating to disaster remediation contracts; providing penalties

HB 1750 – (Darby) Relating to the authority of the Texas Department of Transportation to lease and contract for the operation of rolling stock during certain emergencies

HB 1765 – (Miller, Sid) Relating to an emergency public service messaging network. Identical to SB 971

HB 1791 – (Kleinschmidt) Relating to emergency services districts

HB 1861 – (Anchia) Relating to the continuation and functions of the Commission on State Emergency Communications

HB 1878 – (Miller, Doug) Relating to emergency service districts. Identical to SB 917

HB 1917 – (Schwertner) Relating to the removal of appointed emergency services commissioners by a commissioners court

HB 1986 – (Turner) Relating to the authority of the Public Utility Commission of Texas to ensure the Electric Reliability Council of Texas has adequate reserve power to prevent blackout conditions

HB 2040 – (Hamilton) Relating to critical incident stress management and crisis response services.

HB 2075 – (Martinez, Mando) Relating to certain diseases or illnesses suffered by firefighters and emergency medical technicians

HB 2099 – (Truitt) Relating to an alert for a missing person with an intellectual disability.

HB 2239 – (Coleman) Relating to the minimum number of county jailers necessary to staff a county jail.

HB 2257 – (Phillips) Relating to communications during a disaster or an emergency by public service providers.

SB 9 – Relating to Homeland Security. The content of this proposed legislation relates to verification of immigration status of person charged with committing offense.

SB 106 – (Davis, Wendy) Relating to condemnation of municipal property for, and municipal regulation of, pipeline operations.

SB 319 – (Carona) Relating to financing programs for low-income electric customers and certain other electric customers.

SB 389 – (Williams) Relating to emergency preparedness during an extended power outage of a water service provider with at lease 250 connections

SB 418 - (Williams) Relating to the carrying of concealed handguns by certain persons attending a school board meeting

SB 617 - (Rodriguez) Relating a manifest system to record the transportation of certain liquid wastes

SB 917 – (Wentworth) Relating to emergency service districts

SB 969 – (Nelson) Relating to the establishment of the Public Health Funding and Policy Advisory Committee with the Department of State Health Services

For a PDF listing: billreport 3-05-11

If you know of other bills that I may have missed, please leave me a comment and let me know! Thanks to those of you who have contacted me and made suggestions.

Also, please consider subscribing to this blog to receive the legislative information directly.

2011 Texas Legislative Session – February 22nd

22 02 2011

Below you will find a listing of Emergency Management related bills as of February 22, 2011. As you will note, I have included some summary information for HB 1, the General Appropriations Bill.

HB 1 – (Pitts) Relating to General Appropriations. Among other things, this bill would reduce expenditures for 9-1-1 Network by 27%; reduce by 48% disaster funding to state and local agencies when the Governor finds the demands on funds regularly appropriated are insufficient to respond to a particular disaster; reduce by Criminal Justice grants by 55%, impacting the number of grants awarded from an estimated 900 in FY 2011 to approximately 520 each fiscal year of the 2012-13 biennium; and eliminate funding for the Flood Control Dam Grant Program which provides operations and maintenance, structural repair, and rehabilitiation needs to flood control dams across the State.