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39A.050 Responsibility of division for coordinating disaster and emergency
services -- Powers, authorities, and duties.
(1)
(2)
The Division of Emergency Management shall coordinate for the Governor all
matters pertaining to the comprehensive emergency management program
and disaster and emergency response of the Commonwealth. The division
shall be the executive branch agency of state government having primary
jurisdiction, responsibility, and authority for the planning and execution of
disaster and emergency assessment, mitigation, preparedness, response, and
recovery for the Commonwealth; the coordination of all disaster and
emergency response by and between all state agencies, all agencies of city,
county, and urban-county or charter county government, all local entities, and
all political subdivisions of the Commonwealth for an emergency, declared
emergency, disaster, or catastrophe as contemplated in KRS 39A.010,
39A.020, or 39A.030; the coordination of, and liaison with, related or concerned
federal government agencies, elected officials of other states, private
organizations or private sector companies dealing with disaster and emergency
response; the coordination of all recovery operations and mitigation initiatives
subsequent to disasters or emergencies; and the coordination of all public
information activities regarding state government disaster and emergency
response operations.
The Division of Emergency Management shall have and exercise the following
powers, authorities, and duties:
(a) To develop, administer, and maintain a statewide comprehensive
emergency management program for the Commonwealth, and through it
an integrated emergency management system for the disaster and
emergency response of the Commonwealth, which shall be coordinated
with the emergency management programs, and other related public
safety, emergency response, mitigation, or disaster recovery programs, of
all appropriate federal government agencies including the Federal
Emergency Management Agency, the federal Department of Homeland
Security, the State Department, the Federal Aviation Administration, the
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Department of
Transportation, the Environmental Protection Agency, the Occupational
Safety and Health Administration, the Department of Defense, the
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the Department of
Justice, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms, the National
Transportation Safety Board, the Chemical Safety and Hazard
Investigation Board, the Army Corps of Engineers, the National Security
Council, the Department of Health and Human Services, the Federal
Railroad Administration, the United States Geological Survey, the
Department of Energy, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, the
Department of Agriculture, the Department of Housing and Urban
Development, the American Red Cross, the other states, and other
appropriate public or private agencies, to the fullest appropriate extent;
(b) To coordinate the development, implementation, and maintenance of
comprehensive emergency management programs by local emergency
management agencies in the cities, counties, and urban-county or charter
(c)
(d)
(e)
county governments of the Commonwealth to ensure that all such
programs, agencies, and organizations are organized, administered, and
operated as functional components of the integrated emergency
management system of the Commonwealth;
To develop and maintain a comprehensive, risk-based, all-hazards
disaster and emergency response plan entitled "Kentucky Emergency
Operations Plan," the provisions of which shall establish the
organizational structure to be utilized by state government for managing
disaster and emergency response, and set forth the policies, procedures,
and guidelines for the coordination and execution of all disaster and
emergency response for an emergency, declared emergency, disaster, or
catastrophe in the Commonwealth. The Kentucky Emergency Operations
Plan shall be submitted to the Governor for approval when the Governor
assumes office following each gubernatorial election, or at other times as
the director deems appropriate. The Governor shall provide written
approval of the Kentucky Emergency Operations Plan through issuance
of an executive order, and the division shall file a copy of the executive
order with the Legislative Research Commission. The Kentucky
Emergency Operations Plan shall be the primary strategic disaster and
emergency response planning component of the integrated emergency
management system of the Commonwealth, and shall be utilized and
followed by all state agencies, all local government agencies, all local
public agencies or entities, and all other political subdivisions of the
Commonwealth which may be involved in disaster and emergency
response in the Commonwealth. The Kentucky Emergency Operations
Plan shall be updated by the division not less than annually;
To maintain and operate the State Emergency Operations Center facility,
which shall be the official and primary state government twenty-four (24)
hour warning point, communications, and command center, from which
the Governor, cabinet secretaries, department heads, and other state
agency officials can, at any time, rapidly, adequately, and effectively
manage the disaster and emergency response of the Commonwealth.
The State Emergency Operations Center facility shall be the primary state
direction and control component of the integrated emergency
management system of the Commonwealth for the coordination of all
disaster and emergency response in the Commonwealth;
To develop, monitor, and operate, on a twenty-four (24) hour per day
basis, the appropriate alerting or warning systems, public safety
telecommunications systems, or radio networks; any state trunked, fiber,
or interactive communication systems; computer, fax, other
telecommunications or information networks; and systems needed for
communication and coordination with all necessary or appropriate federal,
state, or local public safety, law enforcement, emergency management, or
other disaster and emergency response agencies, and state or local
dispatch centers in the Commonwealth, and other appropriate interests,
and through these agencies and systems to receive or disseminate
emergency information, or to receive timely notification of, and continual
assessment of, all threatened or actual emergency incidents or disaster
(f)
(g)
(h)
(i)
(j)
(k)
(l)
situations occurring anywhere in or near the Commonwealth;
To immediately notify the Governor, the adjutant general, and the
executive director of the Kentucky Office of Homeland Security, or his or
her designee, in the event of any major emergency incidents or disaster
occurrences, or the threatened or impending occurrence of any of these
events, and to keep the Governor, the adjutant general, and the executive
director of the Kentucky Office of Homeland Security, or his or her
designee, informed of all actions being taken in response to these events;
To respond to the scenes of emergencies or disasters, or their threatened
or impending occurrence and to directly and immediately investigate,
analyze, and assess the nature and seriousness of these situations; to
convene meetings, gather information, conduct briefings, and evaluate
ongoing emergency response activities; take actions to execute the
appropriate provisions of the Kentucky Emergency Operations Plan;
coordinate the establishment and operation of a state incident
management system; establish or manage sub-state or area emergency
operations centers, or on-scene command posts; and fully expedite and
coordinate the disaster and emergency response of the Commonwealth;
To establish and operate area field offices of the division, each office to
be headed by an area manager, responsible for administering the
policies, plans, programs, and duties of the division in specific geographic
areas of the Commonwealth, including the coordination of comprehensive
emergency management programs developed by the cities, counties,
urban-county, or charter county governments in the areas;
To provide funds to the cities, counties, and urban-county or charter
county governments of the Commonwealth to support the development,
administration, operation, and maintenance of local emergency
management agencies created pursuant to KRS Chapters 39A to 39F;
To require the regular submission of program administration data,
records, materials, reports, or documents from local emergency
management agencies as may be necessary and sufficient to conduct
performance reviews and assessments to ensure compliance with all
state or federal funding and program requirements, and to ensure local
program compatibility and consistency with the mission, goals, and
objectives of the comprehensive emergency management program and
integrated emergency management system of the Commonwealth;
To ascertain the requirements of the Commonwealth and its cities and
counties for emergency resources and the necessities of life in the event
of disaster or emergency; institute an emergency resource management
plan and procure emergency supplies, materials, and equipment; and use
or employ in time of emergency any of the property, services, and
resources of state or local government in the Commonwealth for the
purposes set forth in KRS Chapters 39A to 39F;
To institute public information and education programs, emergency
management training programs, and exercise programs to test and
evaluate emergency operations plans and disaster and emergency
response and recovery capabilities; and
(m) To promulgate administrative regulations to carry out the provisions of
KRS Chapters 39A to 39F.
Effective:July 12, 2006
History: Amended 2006 Ky. Acts ch. 193, sec. 5, effective July 12, 2006. -Amended 2002 Ky. Acts ch. 82, sec. 3, effective March 28, 2002. -- Created
1998 Ky. Acts ch. 226, sec. 5, effective July 15, 1998.
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