2019 New York Laws
EXC - Executive
Article 2-B - State and Local Natural and Man-Made Disaster Preparedness
21 - Disaster Preparedness Commission Established; Meetings; Powers and Duties.

§ 21. Disaster  preparedness  commission established; meetings; powers
and duties. 1. There is hereby created in  the  executive  department  a
disaster  preparedness  commission  consisting  of  the commissioners of
transportation,  health,  division   of   criminal   justice   services,
education,  economic  development,  agriculture and markets, housing and
community renewal, general services, labor, environmental  conservation,
mental  health, parks, recreation and historic preservation, corrections
and  community  supervision,  children  and  family  services,  homeland
security   and   emergency   services,  and  people  with  developmental
disabilities, the president of the New York state  energy  research  and
development authority, the superintendents of state police and financial
services,  the  secretary  of  state,  the state fire administrator, the
chair of the public service commission, the adjutant general, the office
of information technology services, and the office of  victim  services,
the  chairs  of  the  thruway  authority,  the office for the aging, the
metropolitan transportation authority, the port authority  of  New  York
and New Jersey, the chief professional officer of the state coordinating
chapter  of  the  American Red Cross and three additional members, to be
appointed by the governor, two of whom shall be chief  executives.  Each
member  agency  may designate an executive level officer of that agency,
with responsibility for disaster preparedness matters, who may represent
that agency on the commission.  The  commissioner  of  the  division  of
homeland  security  and  emergency  services shall serve as chair of the
commission, and the governor shall  designate  the  vice  chair  of  the
commission.  The  members  of  the commission, except those who serve ex
officio, shall be allowed their actual and necessary  expenses  incurred
in  the performance of their duties under this article but shall receive
no additional  compensation  for  services  rendered  pursuant  to  this
article.
  2.  The  commission,  on  call of the chairperson, shall meet at least
twice each year and at such other times as may be necessary. The  agenda
and meeting place of all regular meetings shall be made available to the
public  in  advance of such meetings and all such meetings shall be open
to the public. The commission shall establish  quorum  requirements  and
other  rules  and procedures regarding conduct of its meetings and other
affairs.
  3.   The   commission   shall   have   the   following   powers    and
responsibilities:
  a.  study  all  aspects  of  man-made  or natural disaster prevention,
response and recovery;
  b. request and obtain from any state or local officer  or  agency  any
information  necessary  to  the  commission  for  the  exercise  of  its
responsibilities;
  c. prepare and, as appropriate, revise a state comprehensive emergency
management plan. The commission shall report all revisions to such  plan
by  March thirty-first of each year to the governor, the legislature and
the chief judge of the state, unless a current version of  the  plan  is
available  to  the  public  on  the  website of the division of homeland
security and emergency services. In preparing such plans, the commission
shall consult  with  federal  and  local  officials,  emergency  service
organizations including both volunteer and commercial emergency response
organizations,  and  the  public  as it deems appropriate. To the extent
such plans impact upon administration of the civil and criminal  justice
systems  of  the  state, including their operational and fiscal needs in
times of disaster emergency, the commission, its staff and  any  working
group,  task  force,  agency  or  other  instrumentality to which it may
delegate responsibility to assist it in its duties  shall  consult  with

the  chief  administrator of the courts and coordinate their preparation
with him or her or with his or her representatives;
  d. prepare, keep current and distribute to chief executives and others
an  inventory  of programs directly relevant to prevention, minimization
of  damage,  readiness,  operations  during  disasters,   and   recovery
following disasters;
  e.  direct  state  disaster  operations  and coordinate state disaster
operations with local disaster operations following the declaration of a
state disaster emergency;
  f.  (1)  unless  it  deems  it  unnecessary,  create,  following   the
declaration  of  a state disaster emergency, a temporary organization in
the disaster area to provide for integration and coordination of efforts
among  the  various  federal,  state,  municipal  and  private  agencies
involved.  The  commission,  upon a request from a municipality and with
the approval of the governor, shall direct the temporary organization to
assume direction of the local disaster operations of such  municipality,
for  a  specified  period of time not to exceed thirty days, and in such
cases such temporary organization shall assume direction of  such  local
disaster  operations, subject to the supervision of the commission. Upon
the expiration of the thirty day period the commission, at  the  request
of  the  municipality, may extend the temporary organization's direction
of such local disaster operations for additional periods not  to  exceed
thirty  days.  The  commission,  upon  a  finding that a municipality is
unable to manage local disaster operations, may, with  the  approval  of
the  governor,  direct the temporary organization to assume direction of
the local disaster operations of  such  municipality,  for  a  specified
period  of  time  not  to  exceed  thirty  days,  and in such cases such
temporary organization shall assume direction  of  such  local  disaster
operations,   subject   to  the  supervision  of  the  commission.  Upon
expiration of the thirty day period the commission,  after  consultation
with the municipality, and with the approval of the governor, may extend
the temporary organization's direction of such local disaster operations
for  additional  periods  not to exceed thirty days. In such event, such
temporary organization may utilize such municipality's local  resources,
provided,  however,  that the state shall not be liable for any expenses
incurred in using such municipality's resources. The state shall not  be
liable  for  the  expenses  incurred  in  using  third  party, non-state
resources deployed to the affected area by the  temporary  organization,
which are necessary to protect life and safety;
  (2) The state incident management team shall have the authority to act
as  the  operational  arm  of the temporary organization. When called to
duty and deployed by the state, members of any state or  local  incident
management  team  shall  be  deemed temporary employees of the state and
shall have the same privileges and immunities afforded to regular  state
employees,  subject  to  the  rules  and  regulations promulgated by the
president of the state civil service commission pursuant to section  one
hundred sixty-three of the civil service law;
  g.  assist  in  the  coordination  of  federal  recovery  efforts  and
coordinate recovery assistance by state and private agencies;
  h. provide for periodic briefings, drills, exercises or other means to
assure that all state personnel  with  direct  responsibilities  in  the
event  of a disaster are fully familiar with response and recovery plans
and the manner in which they shall carry out their responsibilities, and
coordinate with federal, local or other state personnel. Such activities
may take place on a regional or county  basis,  and  local  and  federal
participation shall be invited and encouraged;

  i.  submit to the governor, the legislature and the chief judge of the
state by March thirty-first of each year an annual  report  which  shall
include but need not be limited to:
  (1)  a  summary of commission and state agency activities for the year
and  plans  for  the  ensuing  year  with  respect  to  the  duties  and
responsibilities of the commission;
  (2)  recommendations  on ways to improve state and local capability to
prevent, prepare for, respond to and recover from disasters;
  (3) the status of the state and local plans for disaster  preparedness
and  response,  including  the  name of any locality which has failed or
refused to develop and implement its own disaster preparedness plan  and
program;  and  the extent to which all forms of local emergency response
assets have been included, and accounted for in planning and preparation
for disaster preparedness and response; and
  j.  develop  public  service  announcements  to  be   distributed   to
television  and  radio  stations  and  other  media throughout the state
informing the public how to  prepare  and  respond  to  disasters.  Such
public  service  announcements  shall be distributed in English and such
other languages as such commission deems appropriate.
  4. All powers of the state civil defense commission  are  assigned  to
the commission.
  5.  The  state  office  of emergency management within the division of
homeland security and emergency services shall serve as the  operational
arm  of  the  commission  and  shall  be  responsible  for  implementing
provisions of this article and the rules and  policies  adopted  by  the
commission.  The  director  of  the state office of emergency management
within the division of homeland security and  emergency  services  shall
exercise  the authority given to the disaster preparedness commission in
section twenty-nine of this article,  to  coordinate  and  direct  state
agencies  and  assets in response to a state disaster emergency, through
their respective agency heads, on behalf of the governor and  the  chair
of   the  disaster  preparedness  commission,  when  the  governor,  the
lieutenant  governor,  and  the  chair  of  the  disaster   preparedness
commission  are  incapacitated or without an available means of reliable
communication with the state office  of  emergency  management.  If  the
director  of  the  state  office  of  emergency  management is unable to
exercise this authority, then the executive deputy commissioner  of  the
division  of  homeland security and emergency services shall act in this
capacity. In the event that the executive deputy commissioner is  unable
to  exercise  this  authority, then such authority shall be exercised by
the official willing and able to do  so  in  the  following  order:  the
superintendent   of  the  division  of  state  police;  the  state  fire
administrator; or the director of the office of counterterrorism  within
the  division  of  homeland  security and emergency services. Nothing in
this subdivision shall be  construed  to  limit  the  authority  of  the
governor, lieutenant governor, or the chair of the disaster preparedness
commission  to  oversee  the  director  of the state office of emergency
management within  the  division  of  homeland  security  and  emergency
services  or  any  official  exercising  authority given to the disaster
preparedness commission in section twenty-nine of this article.