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r TWENTY-THIRD LEGISLATURE OF THE VIRGIN ISLANDS

Territory of the Virgin Islands

REGULAR/SPECIAL SESSION 20

ROLL CALL

Bill No. 23-0218 Date:



Short Title: To enact the Emergency Management Assistance Compact Act



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LEGISLATIVE HISTORY



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MEMBERS



ABSENT



BENNERSON, Gregory A.



BERRY, Lorraine L.



BRYAN, Adelbert M.



OLE, Donald “Ducks”



DAVID, Roosevelt St. C.



GOLDEN, Violet Anne



GOMEZ, Judy M.



‘GOODWIN, George E.



HANSEN, Alicia “Chucky”



JN. BAPTISTE, Norman



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JONES, David S.



LIBURD, Almando “Rocky”



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DONASTORG, Adlah “Foncie” ;

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PETRUS, Allie-Allison



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RICHARDS Vargrave A. J



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Certified true and correct :



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OPERATIONS,



06/08/00 - REPORTED OUT TO THE FLOOR

06/01/00 - AMENDED AND REPORTED OUT TO THE COMMITTEE ON RULES



BILL NO. 23-028/8



Twenty-Third Legislature of the Virgin Islands

of the United States



APRIL 4, 2000



To ratify the Emergency Management Assistance Compact Act and for other

related purposes



PROPOSED BY:



Senator Vargrave A. Richards By Request of Governor



BE IT ENACTED by the Legislature of the Virgin Islands:



SECTION 1. The Legislature of the Virgin Islands hereby authorizes the

Governor of the Virgin Islands to enter into a compact on behalf of the United Sates

Virgin Islands with any other state or territory joining therein in the form set forth

in Section 2. of this Act.



SECTION 2. Title 23, Chapter 11, Virgin Islands Code is amended by



designating the existing language as “Subchapter I Civil Defense”, by renumbering



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existing sections as “sections 1091 to 1096” and by adding a new “Subchapter II” to read

as follows:



“Subchapter I] Emergency Management Assistance Compact



§1101. Short title



This subchapter may be cited as the “Emergency Management Assistance

Compact Act”



§ 1102. Purposes and Authorities



This compact is made and entered into by and between the participating member

states, which enact this compact, hereinafter called party states. For the purposes of this

agreement, the term “states” is taken to mean the several states, the Commonwealth of

Puerto Rico, the District of Columbia, and all U.S. territorial possessions.



The purpose of this compact is to provide for mutual assistance between the states

entering into this compact in managing any emergency or disaster that is duly declared by

the governor of the affected state(s), whether arising from natural disaster, technological

hazard, man-made disaster, civil emergency aspects of resources shortages, community

disorders, insurgency, or enemy attack.



This compact shall also provide for mutual cooperation in emergency-related

exercises, testing, or other training activities using equipment and personnel simulating

performance of any aspect of the giving and receiving of aid by party states or

subdivisions of party states during emergencies, such actions occurring outside actual

declared emergency periods. Mutual assistance in this compact may include the use of

states’ National Guard forces, either in accordance with the National Guard Mutual



Assistance Compact or by mutual agreement between states.

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§ 1103. General implementation



Each party state entering into this compact recognizes many emergencies

transcend political jurisdictional boundaries and that intergovernmental coordination is

essential in managing these and other emergencies under this compact. Each state further

recognizes that there will be emergencies which require immediate access and present

procedures to apply outside resources to make a prompt and effective response to such an

emergency. This is because few, if any, individual states have all the resources they may

need in all types of emergencies or the capability of delivering resources to areas where

emergencies exist.



The prompt, full, and effective utilization of resources of the participating states,

including any resources on hand or available from the Federal Government or any other

source, that are essential to safety, care, and welfare of the people in the event of any

emergency or disaster declared by a party state, shall be the underlying principle on

which all articles of this compact shall be understood.



On behalf of the governor of each state participating in the compact, the legally

designated state official that is assigned responsibility for emergency management will be

responsible for formulation of the appropriate interstate mutual aid plans and procedures

necessary to implement this compact.



§1104. Party state responsibilities



(a) It shall be the responsibility of each party state to formulate procedural

plans and programs for interstate cooperation in the performance of the responsibilities

listed in this section. In formulating such plans, and in carrying them out, the party



states, insofar as practical, shall:

(1) Review individual state hazards analyses and, to the extent

reasonably possible, determine all those potential emergencies the party states

might jointly suffer, whether due to natural disaster, technological hazard, man-

made disaster, emergency aspects of resource shortages, civil disorders,

insurgency, or enemy attack.



(2) Review party states’ individual emergency plans and develop a

plan, which will determine the mechanism for the interstate management and

provision of assistance concerning any potential emergency.



(3) Develop interstate procedures to fill any identified gaps and to



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resolve any identified inconsistencies or overlaps in existing or developed plans.



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(4) Assist in warning communities adjacent to or crossing the sate



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(5) Protect and assure uninterrupted delivery of services, medicines,



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water, food, energy and fuel, search and rescue, and critical lifeline equipment,



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services, and resources, both human and material.



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(6) Inventory and set procedures for the interstate loan and delivery of



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human and material resources, together with procedures for reimbursement or



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forgiveness.



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(7) Provide, to the extent authorized by law, for temporary suspension



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of any statutes.



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(b) The authorized representative of a party state may request assistance of



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another party state by contacting the authorized representative of that state. The



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authorized representatives. Requests may be verbal or in writing. If verbal, the requests

shall be confirmed in writing within 30 days of the verbal request. Requests shall provide

the following information:



(1) A description of the emergency service function for which

assistance is needed, such as but not limited to fire services, law enforcement,

emergency medical, transportation, communications, public works and

engineering, building inspection, planning and information assistance, mass care,

resource support, health and medical services, and search and rescue.



(2) The amount and type of personnel, equipment, materials and

supplies needed, and a reasonable estimate of the length of time they will be

needed.



(3) The specific place and time for staging of the assisting party’s

response and a point of contact at that location.



(c) There shall be frequent consultation between state officials who have

assigned emergency management responsibilities and other appropriate representatives of

the party states with affected jurisdictions and the United States Government, with free

exchange of information, plans, and resource records relating to emergency capabilities.



Section 1105. Limitations



Any party state requested to render mutual aid or conduct exercises and training

for mutual aid shall take such action as is necessary to provide and make available the

resources covered by this compact in accordance with the terms hereof; provided that it is

understood that the state rendering aid may withhold resources to the extent necessary to



provide reasonable protection for such state. Each party state shall afford to the


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immunity purposes; and no party state or its officers or employees rendering aid in

another state pursuant to this compact shall be liable on account of any act or omission in

good faith on the part of such forces while so engaged or on account of the maintenance

or use of any equipment or supplies in connection therewith. Good faith in this section

shall not include willful misconduct, gross negligence, or recklessness.



§ 1108. Supplementary agreements



Inasmuch as it is probable that the pattern and detail of the machinery for mutual

aid among two or more states may differ from that among the states that are party hereto,

this instrument contains elements of a broad base common to all states, and nothing

herein shall preclude any state from entering into supplementary agreements with another

state or affect any other agreements already in force between states. Supplementary

agreements may comprehend, but shall not be limited to, provisions or evacuation and

reception of injured and other persons and the exchange of medical, fire, police, public

utility, reconnaissance, welfare, transportation and communications personnel, and

equipment and supplies.



§1109. Compensation



Each party state shall provide for the payment of compensation and death benefits

to injured members of the emergency forces of that state and representatives of deceased

members of such forces in case such members sustain injuries or are killed while

rendering aid pursuant to this compact, in the same manner and on the same terms as if



the injury or death were sustained within their own state.

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§1110. Reimbursement



Any party state rendering aid in another state pursuant to this compact shall be

reimbursed by the party state receiving such aid for any loss or damage to or expense

incurred in the operation of any equipment and the provision of any service in answering

a request for aid and for the cost incurred in connection with such requests; provided, that

any aiding party state may assume in whole or in part such loss, damage, expense, or

other cost, or may loan such equipment or donate such services to the receiving party

state without charge or cost; and provided further, that any two or more party states may

enter into supplementary agreements establishing a different allocation of costs among

those states. Section 1109 expenses shall not be reimbursable under this provision.



§ 1111. Evacuation



Plans for the orderly evacuation and interstate reception of portions of the civilian

population as the result of any emergency or disaster of sufficient proportions to so

warrant, shall be worked out and maintained between the party states and the emergency

management/service directors of the various jurisdictions where any type of incident

requiring evacuations might occur. Such plans shall be put into effect by request of the

state from which evacuees come and shall include the manner of transporting such

evacuees, the number of evacuees to be received in different areas, the manner in which

food, clothing, housing, and medical care will be provided, the registration of the

evacuees, the providing of facilities for the notification of relatives or friends, and the

forwarding of such evacuees to other areas or the bringing in of additional materials,

supplies, and all other relevant factors. Such plans shall provide that the party state



receiving evacuees and the party state from which the evacuees come shall mutually

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agree as to reimbursement of out-of-pocket expenses incurred in receiving and caring for

such evacuees, for expenditures for transportation, food, clothing, medicines and medical

care, and like items. Such expenditures shall be reimbursed as agreed by the party state

from which the evacuees come. After the termination of the emergency or disaster, the

party state from which the evacuees come shall assume the responsibility for the ultimate

support of repatriation of such evacuees.



§ 1112. Implementation



(a) This compact shall become operative immediately upon its enactment into

law by any two (2) states; Thereafter, this compact shall become effective as to any other

state upon its enactment by such state.



(b) Any party state may withdraw from this compact by enacting a statute

repealing the same, but no such withdrawal shall take effect until 30 days after the

governor of the withdrawing state has given notice in writing of such withdrawal to the

governors of all other party states. Such action shall not relieve the withdrawing state

from obligations assumed hereunder prior to the effective date of withdrawal.



(c) Duly authenticated copies of this compact and of such supplementary

agreements as may be entered into shall, at the time of their approval, be deposited with

each of the party states and with the Federal Emergency Management Agency and other

appropriate agencies of the Unites States Government.



§ 1113. Validity



This Act shall be construed to effectuate the purposes stated in Section 1102

hereof. If any provision of this compact is declared unconstitutional, or the applicability



thereof to any person or circumstances held invalid, the constitutionality of the remainder

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of this Act and the applicability thereof to other provisions and circumstances shall not be

affected thereby.



§ 1114. Additional provision



Nothing in this compact shall authorize or permit the use of military force by the

National Guard of a state at any place outside that state in any emergency for which the

President is authorized by law to call into federal service the militia, or for any purpose

for which the use of the Army or the Air Force would in the absence of express statutory



authorization be prohibited under Section 1385 of title 18, United States Code.”



Bill SUMMARY



The Emergency Management Assistance Compact (hereinafter “EMAC”) was

initiated in September 1992, at the suggestion of Florida Governor Lawton Chiles in the

wake of the Hurricane Andrew disaster. Almost four years after Governor Chiles original

resolution, the compact was approved by the United States Congress (H. J. Res. 193), a

necessary step under the Constitution. When Congress approved EMAC as PL 104-321,

the compact became the first national, disaster-related compact since the Civil Defense

and Disaster Compact of 1950.



To join EMAC. States must pass the necessary legislation in their legislatures.

This is mandated in Section 1112, subsection (a) of the compact. Exact legislative

terminology at the beginning and at the end of the legislature’s bill of enactment may

vary slightly from state to state, but the language of the compact itself must be replicated

in full within the bill, with only very slight variations permitted. States may alter the

name of the compact, while keeping the text the same.



EMAC clarifies which sate is responsible in tort for the actions of workers from

an assisting state. Under EMAC, the requesting state is responsible. This is very

important.



Since 1979, states have not been able to rely upon sovereign immunity outside

their own borders. In the 1979 case, State of Nevada v. John M. Hall (440 U. S. 410), the

Supreme Court ruled that Nevada could be sued by California resident John Hall in a

California court for negligent activities of a Nevada state employee driving in California

on official business. Nevada claimed that sovereign immunity protected it from such

suit. The Supreme Court disagreed. Since then, one state may be sued in the courts of

another state.

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Without EMAC, emergency workers from an assisting state might be sued in the

courts of a requesting state, and the assisting state government might find itself liable for

millions of dollars. Under the terms of EMAC, the requesting state agrees to take tort

responsibility for assisting state workers. This makes it more likely that states will agree

to give assistance.



EMAC takes the uncertainty out of reimbursement. EMAC establishes rules for

reimbursement. The standardization of the rembursement process will put states more at

ease when considering whether to send assistance. The state lending assistance is

guaranteed payment, should it require it. It is up to the requesting state to provide the

necessary funds itself or to secure federal funds for the purpose. The most important

consideration is this: The state providing the assistance is guaranteed payment, whatever

the source. Note, however, that a providing state may waive reimbursement if it chooses.



Section 1105 of EMAC makes the provision of aid mandatory to a certain extent

(though a state may decline to send aid if that would leave it without “reasonable

protection” for itself). The mandatory language of the Section gives EMAC a legally

contractual aspect. This condition, according to the EMAC operations Subcommittee,

reduces the documentation requirements for the recipient to submit to FEMA for

reimbursement.



EMAC allows for a quick response to disaster with the unique resources

possessed by government (personnel, equipment, and materials).



States cannot always rely on FEMA-they must develop the capacity to utilize the

nation’s full resources. Remember (i) Federal assistance, predominantly financial, is

designed to supplement local/state efforts, (ii) not all disasters will be eligible for FEMA

assistance.



Even where FEMA assistance is merited, mutual aid assistance may be more

readily available. Under EMAC, interstate assistance may supplement federal assistance

when it is merited, and take the place of federal assistance where it is not merited. In

both cases, lives will be saved.



Section 1 authorizes the Governor to enter into the Emergency Management

Assistance Compact. Section 2 amends title 23, which governs emergencies and

disasters in the Virgin Islands, by adding the provisions of the EMAC, as required by the

federal statute establishing the compact.



BR No. 00-1230/February 14, 2000/mr

G23-0020