AN ACT Relating to providing public notices of public health, safety, and welfare in a language other than English; amending RCW 38.52.010 and 38.52.070; adding new sections to chapter 38.52 RCW; and creating new sections.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 2.  A new section is added to chapter 38.52 RCW to read as follows:

Beginning December 1, 2019, a state agency that provides life safety information in an emergency or disaster must provide, to the relevant committees of the legislature, a copy of its current communication plan for notifying significant population segments of such information, including the agency's point of contact. The state agency must also submit an annual report to the relevant committees of the legislature identifying those instances of emergency or disaster in the preceding year in which life safety information was provided and what public messaging strategies and means were used to notify citizens with limited English proficiency.

Sec. 3.  RCW 38.52.010 and 2015 c 61 s 1 are each reenacted and amended to read as follows:

As used in this chapter:

(1) "Communication plan," as used in RCW 38.52.070, means a section in a local comprehensive emergency management plan that addresses emergency notification of life safety information.

(2) "Continuity of operations planning" means the internal effort of an organization to assure that the capability exists to continue essential functions and services in response to a comprehensive array of potential emergencies or disasters.

(((2))) (3) "Department" means the state military department.

(((3))) (4) "Director" means the adjutant general.

(((4))) (5) "Emergency management" or "comprehensive emergency management" means the preparation for and the carrying out of all emergency functions, other than functions for which the military forces are primarily responsible, to mitigate, prepare for, respond to, and recover from emergencies and disasters, and to aid victims suffering from injury or damage, resulting from disasters caused by all hazards, whether natural, technological, or human caused, and to provide support for search and rescue operations for persons and property in distress. However, "emergency management" or "comprehensive emergency management" does not mean preparation for emergency evacuation or relocation of residents in anticipation of nuclear attack.

(((5))) (6)(a) "Emergency or disaster" as used in all sections of this chapter except RCW 38.52.430 shall mean an event or set of circumstances which: (i) Demands immediate action to preserve public health, protect life, protect public property, or to provide relief to any stricken community overtaken by such occurrences, or (ii) reaches such a dimension or degree of destructiveness as to warrant the governor declaring a state of emergency pursuant to RCW 43.06.010.

(b) "Emergency" as used in RCW 38.52.430 means an incident that requires a normal police, coroner, fire, rescue, emergency medical services, or utility response as a result of a violation of one of the statutes enumerated in RCW 38.52.430.

(((6))) (7) "Emergency response" as used in RCW 38.52.430 means a public agency's use of emergency services during an emergency or disaster as defined in subsection (((5))) (6)(b) of this section.

(((7))) (8) "Emergency worker" means any person who is registered with a local emergency management organization or the department and holds an identification card issued by the local emergency management director or the department for the purpose of engaging in authorized emergency management activities or is an employee of the state of Washington or any political subdivision thereof who is called upon to perform emergency management activities.

(((8))) (9) "Executive head" and "executive heads" means the county executive in those charter counties with an elective office of county executive, however designated, and, in the case of other counties, the county legislative authority. In the case of cities and towns, it means the mayor in those cities and towns with mayor-council or commission forms of government, where the mayor is directly elected, and it means the city manager in those cities and towns with council manager forms of government. Cities and towns may also designate an executive head for the purposes of this chapter by ordinance.

(((9))) (10) "Expense of an emergency response" as used in RCW 38.52.430 means reasonable costs incurred by a public agency in reasonably making an appropriate emergency response to the incident, but shall only include those costs directly arising from the response to the particular incident. Reasonable costs shall include the costs of providing police, coroner, firefighting, rescue, emergency medical services, or utility response at the scene of the incident, as well as the salaries of the personnel responding to the incident.

(((10))) (11) "Incident command system" means: (a) An all-hazards, on-scene functional management system that establishes common standards in organization, terminology, and procedures; provides a means (unified command) for the establishment of a common set of incident objectives and strategies during multiagency/multijurisdiction operations while maintaining individual agency/jurisdiction authority, responsibility, and accountability; and is a component of the national interagency incident management system; or (b) an equivalent and compatible all-hazards, on-scene functional management system.

(((11))) (12) "Injury" as used in this chapter shall mean and include accidental injuries and/or occupational diseases arising out of emergency management activities.

(((12))) (13) "Life safety information" means information provided to people during a response to a life-threatening emergency or disaster informing them of actions they can take to preserve their safety. Such information may include, but is not limited to, information regarding evacuation, sheltering, sheltering-in-place, facility lockdown, and where to obtain food and water.

(14) "Local director" means the director of a local organization of emergency management or emergency services.

(((13))) (15) "Local organization for emergency services or management" means an organization created in accordance with the provisions of this chapter by state or local authority to perform local emergency management functions.

(((14))) (16) "Political subdivision" means any county, city or town.

(((15))) (17) "Public agency" means the state, and a city, county, municipal corporation, district, town, or public authority located, in whole or in part, within this state which provides or may provide firefighting, police, ambulance, medical, or other emergency services.

(((16))) (18) "Radio communications service company" has the meaning ascribed to it in RCW 82.14B.020.

(((17))) (19) "Search and rescue" means the acts of searching for, rescuing, or recovering by means of ground, marine, or air activity any person who becomes lost, injured, or is killed while outdoors or as a result of a natural, technological, or human caused disaster, including instances involving searches for downed aircraft when ground personnel are used. Nothing in this section shall affect appropriate activity by the department of transportation under chapter 47.68 RCW.

Sec. 4.  RCW 38.52.070 and 1997 c 49 s 4 are each amended to read as follows:

(1) Each political subdivision of this state is hereby authorized and directed to establish a local organization or to be a member of a joint local organization for emergency management in accordance with the state comprehensive emergency management plan and program: PROVIDED, That a political subdivision proposing such establishment shall submit its plan and program for emergency management to the state director and secure his or her recommendations thereon, and verification of consistency with the state comprehensive emergency management plan, in order that the plan of the local organization for emergency management may be coordinated with the plan and program of the state. Local comprehensive emergency management plans must specify the use of the incident command system for multiagency/multijurisdiction operations. No political subdivision may be required to include in its plan provisions for the emergency evacuation or relocation of residents in anticipation of nuclear attack. If the director's recommendations are adverse to the plan as submitted, and, if the local organization does not agree to the director's recommendations for modification to the proposal, the matter shall be referred to the council for final action. The director may authorize two or more political subdivisions to join in the establishment and operation of a joint local organization for emergency management as circumstances may warrant, in which case each political subdivision shall contribute to the cost of emergency management upon such fair and equitable basis as may be determined upon by the executive heads of the constituent subdivisions. If in any case the executive heads cannot agree upon the proper division of cost the matter shall be referred to the council for arbitration and its decision shall be final. When two or more political subdivisions join in the establishment and operation of a joint local organization for emergency management each shall pay its share of the cost into a special pooled fund to be administered by the treasurer of the most populous subdivision, which fund shall be known as the . . . . . . emergency management fund. Each local organization or joint local organization for emergency management shall have a director who shall be appointed by the executive head of the political subdivision, and who shall have direct responsibility for the organization, administration, and operation of such local organization for emergency management, subject to the direction and control of such executive officer or officers. In the case of a joint local organization for emergency management, the director shall be appointed by the joint action of the executive heads of the constituent political subdivisions. Each local organization or joint local organization for emergency management shall perform emergency management functions within the territorial limits of the political subdivision within which it is organized, and, in addition, shall conduct such functions outside of such territorial limits as may be required pursuant to the provisions of this chapter.

(2) In carrying out the provisions of this chapter each political subdivision, in which any disaster as described in RCW 38.52.020 occurs, shall have the power to enter into contracts and incur obligations necessary to combat such disaster, protecting the health and safety of persons and property, and providing emergency assistance to the victims of such disaster. Each political subdivision is authorized to exercise the powers vested under this section in the light of the exigencies of an extreme emergency situation without regard to time-consuming procedures and formalities prescribed by law (excepting mandatory constitutional requirements), including, but not limited to, budget law limitations, requirements of competitive bidding and publication of notices, provisions pertaining to the performance of public work, entering into contracts, the incurring of obligations, the employment of temporary workers, the rental of equipment, the purchase of supplies and materials, the levying of taxes, and the appropriation and expenditures of public funds.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 5.  A new section is added to chapter 38.52 RCW to read as follows:

(1) Beginning December 1, 2019, the Washington military department emergency management division must submit a report every five years to the relevant committees of the legislature containing the status of communication plans produced under RCW 38.52.070(3)(a).

(2) The emergency management division of the Washington military department must provide the legislature an annual report on instances of emergency or disaster in which communication of life safety information was technologically infeasible, as reported to the department pursuant to RCW 38.52.070(4). When potential technology solutions exist, the report must include recommendations and an estimate of resources required to remedy the infeasibility. The first annual report is due December 1, 2019.

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