Current through Register Vol. 46, No. 19, March 20, 2024
(1) The county
board of supervisors, city councils, and sheriff in each county shall cooperate
with the homeland security and emergency management department to establish a
local emergency management commission to carry out the provisions of Iowa Code
chapter 29C.
a. The local commission shall be
named the (county name) county emergency management commission.
b. The commission shall be comprised of the
following members:
(1) A member of the county
board of supervisors.
(2) The
county sheriff.
(3) The mayor from
each city within the county.
c. The commission is a municipality as
defined in Iowa Code section 670.1.
d. A commission member may designate an
alternate to represent the designated entity. For any activity relating to Iowa
Code section 29C.17, subsection 2, or Iowa Code chapter 24, participation shall
only be by a commission member or a designated alternate that is an elected
official for the same designated entity.
(2) Local commission bylaws. The commission
shall develop bylaws to specify, at a minimum, the following information:
a. The name of the commission.
b. The list of members.
c. The date for the commencement of
operations.
d. The commission's
mission.
e. The commission's powers
and duties.
f. The manner for
financing the commission and its activities and maintaining a budget
therefor.
g. The manner for
acquiring, holding and disposing of property.
h. The manner for electing or appointing
officers and the terms of office.
i. The manner by which members may
vote.
j. The manner for appointing,
hiring, disciplining and terminating employees.
k. The rules for conducting meetings of the
commission.
l. Any other necessary
and proper rules or procedures.
The bylaws, as adopted, shall be signed by each member of the
commission. The commission shall record the signed bylaws with the county
recorder and shall forward a copy of the bylaws to the director of the homeland
security and emergency management department.
(3) Commission business. Commission business
shall be conducted in compliance with Iowa Code chapter 21, "Official Meetings
Open to Public," and Iowa Code chapter 22, "Examination of Public
Records."
(4) The commission shall
have the following minimum duties and responsibilities:
a.
Administration and
finance.
(1) Establish and maintain
a local emergency management agency responsible for the local emergency
management program. The primary responsibility of this agency is to develop and
maintain a comprehensive emergency management capability in cooperation with
other governmental agencies, volunteer organizations, and private sector
organizations. The name of this agency shall be the (county name) county
emergency management agency.
(2)
Determine the mission of the agency and its program.
(3) Develop and adopt a budget in accordance
with the provisions of Iowa Code chapter 24 and Iowa Code section 29C.17 in
support of the commission and its programs. The commission shall be the fiscal
authority and the chairperson or vice chairperson shall be the certifying
official for the budget.
(4)
Appoint an emergency management coordinator who meets the qualifications
established in subrule 7.4(3).
(5)
Develop and adopt policies defining the rights and liabilities of commission
employees, emergency workers and volunteers.
(6) Provide direction for the delivery of the
emergency management services of planning, administration, coordination,
training, exercising, and support for local governments and their
departments.
(7) Coordinate
emergency management activities and services among county and city governments
and the private sector agencies under the jurisdiction of the
commission.
b.
Hazard identification, risk assessment, and capability
assessment.
(1) The commission
should continually identify credible hazards that may affect their
jurisdiction, the likelihood of occurrence, and the vulnerability of the
jurisdiction to such hazards. Hazards to be considered should include natural,
technological, and human-caused.
(2) The commission should conduct an analysis
to determine the consequences and impact of identified hazards on the health
and safety of the public, the health and safety of responders, property and
infrastructure, critical and essential facilities, public services, the
environment, the economy of the jurisdiction, and government operations and
obligations.
(3) The hazard
analysis should include identification of vital personnel, systems, operations,
equipment, and facilities at risk.
(4) The commission should identify mitigation
and preparedness considerations based upon the hazard analysis.
(5) A comprehensive assessment of the
emergency management program elements should be conducted periodically to
determine the operational capability and readiness of the jurisdiction to
address the identified hazards and risks.
c.
Resource management.
(1) The commission should develop a method to
effectively identify, acquire, distribute, account for, and utilize resources
essential to emergency functions.
(2) The commission shall utilize, to the
maximum extent practicable, the services, equipment, supplies and facilities of
the political subdivisions that are members of the commission.
(3) The commission should identify resource
shortfalls and develop the steps and procedures necessary to overcome such
shortfalls.
(4) The commission
shall, in collaboration with other public and private agencies within this
state, develop written mutual aid agreements. Such agreements shall provide
reciprocal disaster services and recovery aid and assistance in case of
disaster too great to be dealt with by the jurisdiction unassisted. Mutual aid
agreements shall be in compliance with the appropriate requirements contained
in Iowa Code chapter 28E.
d.
Planning.
(1) The commission shall develop a
comprehensive emergency plan that is capabilities-based, multihazard and
multifunctional in nature. The plan shall conform to the Comprehensive
Preparedness Guide 101 as established by the Federal Emergency Management
Agency.
(2) Plans shall contain the
following common elements:
1. Identification
of the functional roles and responsibilities of internal and external agencies,
organizations, departments, and individuals during mitigation, preparedness,
response and recovery.
2.
Establishment and identification of lines of authority for those agencies,
organizations, departments, and individuals.
(3) Plans shall be regularly reviewed and
amended as appropriate in accordance with a five-year schedule established by
the commission, which shall include, at a minimum, a complete review, and
amendment as appropriate, at a minimum of every five years. However, a review,
and amendment as appropriate, of the hazardous materials portion and of a
minimum of 20 percent of the remaining annexes or portions of the plan shall be
conducted on a yearly basis. The complete operations plan must be reviewed
entirely, and amended as appropriate, every five years. A copy of the portions
of the plan that are reviewed, regardless of amendment, must be certified and
submitted to the department for approval by August 1 of each year.
(4) To be certified, the plan must be adopted
by the members of the commission and attested to by the chairperson and the
local emergency management coordinator on a signature document as specified by
the department.
(5) In addition to
the standards heretofore established in paragraph 7.3(4)"d,"
the operations plan shall include provisions for damage assessment.
(6) Hazardous materials plans shall meet the
minimum requirements of federal law, 42 U.S.C. §
11003.
(7) Counties designated as risk or host
counties for a nuclear facility emergency planning zone shall meet the
standards and requirements as published by the United States Nuclear Regulatory
Commission and the Federal Emergency Management Agency in NUREG-0654,
FEMA-REP-1, Rev. 1, March 1987.
(8)
Commissions participating in or conducting exercises or experiencing real
disaster incidents which require after-action and corrective action reports
have 180 days from the date of the publication of the corrective action report
to incorporate the corrective actions, as appropriate, into the commission's
plans.
(9) Within 60 calendar days
from the receipt of the plan, the department shall review plans or portions of
plans submitted by a commission for approval. The department shall notify the
local emergency management agency in writing of the approval or nonapproval of
the plan. If the plan is not approved, the department shall state the specific
standard or standards that are not being met and offer guidance on how the plan
may be brought into compliance.
(10) A comprehensive emergency plan shall not
be considered approved by the homeland security and emergency management
department as required in Iowa Code subsection 29C.9(8) unless such plan
adheres to and meets the minimum standards as established in paragraph
7.3(4)"d."
(11)
Iowa Code section 29C.6 provides that state participation in funding financial
assistance in a presidentially declared disaster is contingent upon the
commission's having on file a state-approved, comprehensive emergency plan as
provided in Iowa Code section 29C.9(8).
(12) Iowa Code section 29C.7 as enacted by
2020 Iowa Acts, Senate File 2188, provides that state participation in funding
financial assistance in a non-presidentially declared disaster is contingent
upon the commission's having on file a state-approved, comprehensive emergency
plan as provided in Iowa Code section 29C.9(8).
e.
Direction, control and
coordination.
(1) The commission
shall execute and enforce the orders or rules made by the governor, or under
the governor's authority.
(2) The
commission shall establish and maintain the capability to effectively direct,
control and coordinate emergency and disaster response and recovery
efforts.
(3) The commission shall
establish a means of interfacing on-scene management with direction and control
personnel and facilities.
(4) The
commission should actively support use of the Incident Command System (ICS)
model by all emergency and disaster response agencies within the jurisdiction.
f.
Damage
assessment.
(1) The commission shall
develop and maintain a damage assessment capability consistent with local,
state and federal requirements and shall designate individuals responsible for
the function of damage assessment.
(2) Individuals identified by the commission
to perform the function of damage assessment shall be trained through a course
of instruction approved by the department.
g.
Communications and
warning.
(1) The commission should
identify a means of disseminating a warning to the public, key officials,
emergency response personnel and those other persons within the jurisdiction
that may be potentially affected.
(2) The commission should identify the
primary and secondary means of communications to support direction, control,
and coordination of emergency management activities.
h.
Operations and
procedures. The commission should encourage public and private
agencies, which have defined responsibilities in the comprehensive emergency
plan, to develop standard operating procedures, policies, and directives in
support of the plan.
i.
Training.
(1) The commission
shall require the local emergency management coordinator to meet the minimum
training requirements as established by the division and identified in subrule
7.4(4).
(2) The commission should,
in conjunction with the local emergency management coordinator, arrange for and
actively support ongoing emergency management related training for local public
officials, emergency responders, volunteers, and support staff.
(3) Persons responsible for emergency plan
development or implementation should receive training specific to, or related
to, hazards identified in the local hazard analysis.
(4) The commission should encourage
individuals, other than the emergency management coordinator, with emergency
management responsibilities as defined in the comprehensive emergency plan, to
complete, within two years of appointment, training consistent with their
emergency management responsibilities.
(5) The commission should encourage all
individuals with emergency management responsibilities to maintain current and
adequate training consistent with their responsibilities.
j.
Exercises.
(1) The commission shall ensure that exercise
activities are conducted annually in accordance with local, state and federal
requirements.
(2) Exercise
activities should follow a progressive five-year plan that is designed to meet
the needs of the jurisdiction.
(3)
Local entities assigned to an exercise should actively participate and support
the role of the entity in the exercise.
(4) Local entities assigned to an exercise
should actively participate in the design, development, implementation, and
evaluation of the exercise activity.
k.
Public education and
information.
(1) The commission
should designate the individual or individuals who are responsible for public
education and information functions.
(2) The commission should ensure a public
information capability, to include:
1.
Designated public information personnel trained to meet local
requirements.
2. A system of
receiving and disseminating emergency public information.
3. A method to develop, coordinate, and
authorize the release of information.
4. The capability to communicate with
functional needs populations.
(3) The commission should actively support
the development of capabilities to electronically collect, compile, report,
receive, and transmit emergency public information.
(5) Two or more
commissions. Two or more commissions may, upon review by the director and with
the approval of their respective boards of supervisors, cities, and sheriffs,
enter into agreements pursuant to Iowa Code chapter 28E for the joint
coordination and administration of emergency management services throughout the
multicounty area.