Report 2019-103 Recommendation Responses
Report 2019-103: California Is Not Adequately Prepared to Protect Its Most Vulnerable Residents From Natural Disasters (Release Date: December 2019)
Recommendation for Legislative Action
To ensure that, as the leader of emergency response efforts in California, Cal OES meets its responsibility to provide local jurisdictions with critical support in planning to meet access and functional needs of the population during natural disasters, the Legislature should require Cal OES to do the following: involve representatives of individuals with the full range of access and functional needs in the development of the state plan, the state emergency management system, and the guidance and training it provides to local jurisdictions; assess local jurisdictions' emergency response and recovery efforts during natural disasters, review their after-action reports to identify lessons learned, and annually disseminate guidance summarizing those lessons.
Description of Legislative Action
AB 580 (Chapter 744, Statutes of 2021) requires the director of Cal OES to appoint representatives of the access and functional needs population to serve on pertinent committees related to the emergency management system and to ensure the needs of that population are met within that system. Specifically, this provision requires that at least a majority of appointees to the evacuation, sheltering, communication, recovery, and other pertinent Standardized Emergency Management System committees be representatives of the access and functional needs population and include representatives with specified disabilities. Cal OES is required, on or before July 1, 2022, in consultation with the access and functional needs community, including people with specified disabilities, to develop guidelines for alerting and warning the public of an emergency and, within six months of making the guidelines available, and at least annually, through its California Specialized Training Institute, and with involvement of representatives from the access and functional needs community, to develop an alert and warning training.
- Legislative Action Current As-of: December 2021
California State Auditor's Assessment of Annual Follow-Up Status: Legislation Enacted
Description of Legislative Action
AB 3267 (Chapter 260, Statutes of 2020) requires Cal OES to coordinate with representatives of the access and functional needs population when it updates the state plan. Cal OES is also required to complete an after-action report within 180 days after each declared disaster instead of 120 days after a declared disaster.
- Legislative Action Current As-of: December 2020
California State Auditor's Assessment of 1-Year Status: Partially Implemented
Description of Legislative Action
AB 2064 (Patterson) would require Cal OES to review the emergency plans of all local governments to determine if they are consistent with the proposed best practices provisions and, upon request by a local government, provide necessary technical assistance to that local government. This bill would require Cal OES to develop and update annually, in coordination with organizations representing the access and functional needs population, a guidance document for local governments based, in part, on a review of recent emergency and natural disaster incidents and what did or did not go well in the response efforts. The bill would require Cal OES to post the guidance document, and its annual update, on its website.
AB 2428 (Fong) would require Cal OES to work with representatives from the access and functional needs population when updating the State Emergency Plan. The bill would also require Cal OES to develop and post, on or before July 1, 2021, on its website a guidance document regarding best practices for, and the lessons learned regarding, emergency and natural preparedness, for use by local governments. The bill would require Cal OES to update and post this guidance document by July 1 of each year, commencing with the year 2022.
AB 3267 (Smith) would require Cal OES to coordinate with representatives of the access and functional needs population when it updates the State Emergency Plan. The bill would increase the time Cal OES is required to complete an after-action report after each declared disaster from 120 days to 180 days.
- Legislative Action Current As-of: June 2020
California State Auditor's Assessment of 6-Month Status: Legislation Introduced
Description of Legislative Action
AB 2064 (Patterson/Lackey) would require Cal OES to develop, in coordination with organizations representing individuals with a variety of access and functional needs, a guidance document for local governments regarding the lessons learned about emergency and natural disaster preparedness. The bill would also require Cal OES, on or before July 31, 2021, to post the guidance document on its website, and update and post it annually, by July 31 of each year, commencing in 2022.
- Legislative Action Current As-of: February 2020