§ 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, addiction services and supports, 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, the
chief professional officer of 2-1-1 New York state 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.